August 5, 2026
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Opinion pieces, editorials and letters to the editor on Santa Monica issues from Santa Monica Mirror.

Thomas B. Elias, Columnist

“Polls Biased? Gripers Usually Wrong”:

Every election year at this time, radio and television airwaves, newspaper columns and political websites are suffused with poll results. Some track voter preferences daily, like www.realclearpolitics.com, which carries a daily compendium of polls on […]

Thomas B. Elias, Columnist

Prop. 31 – Strange Target For Anger On That Ultra-Right:

The strangest of all this fall’s intense initiative battles may be the small-money one being waged over Proposition 31, whose innocuous title (“State Budget. State and Local Government. Initiative constitutional amendment and statute) gives only […]

Thomas B. Elias, Columnist

Do-Gooder Billionaire May Cause Real Harm This Time:

Businesses are shying away from backing Proposition 32, the latest Republican revival of the so-called “paycheck protection” plan for emasculating the political efforts of all labor unions. This proposition would ban contributions from unions and […]