Time for Something Completely Different

Appearantly
a sun-bleached-blond write-in candidate is on the verge of winning the
mayoralty of San Diego, the nation’s seventh largest city. Thisis
the kind of candidate we need to start thinking about – completely
outside of
the parameters we have been conditioned to, and able to mobilize voters.
Kowabunga!

Donna Frye, a surfer who sports long blond hair and
who refuses to get a driver’s
license, is riding a wave
of write-in votes for mayor that could sweep aside two 60-something
Republicans and carry her into City Hall.

The surf-shop owner has capitalized on a confluence of circumstances,
including a pension scandal that has shaken the city financially.

The votes have not been completely tallied, but so far, the write-in
ballots lead with 35 percent of the vote; Mayor Dick Murphy has 34 percent.

She has weathered skin, speaks in surfer lingo, and
wears colorful suits; Murphy and fellow candidate Ron Roberts, a San
Diego County supervisor, lean toward dark suits and have worked in government
for years. Frye, the wife of legendary surfer Skip Frye, was elected
to the City Council three years ago.

She differed with her opponents on hot-button social questions. Murphy
and Roberts backed keeping a Boy Scout camp in a city park; Frye supported
those who say the group discriminates against gays and atheists.

from the Boston Globe