In Sunday's Bee there was a special section profiling candidates for             
public office.  I find it amazing that after all of the recently                 
published prose by John Jacobs and Dan Walters about how the new                 
"blanket" primary changes the game of politics in California, that               
The Bee would omit candidates whose names appear on everyone's                   
ballot, especially State Senate and Assembly candidates who                      
are not covered in either the voter pamphlet or the sample ballot                
pamphlet.                                                                        
The Bee is acting as if the party primary system still exists in                 
California, endorsing candidates for both major parties and ignoring             
third party candidates with the justification that they are                      
"unopposed".  The "blanket" primary offers more than a win or lose               
race to the people of California.  The "blanket" primary offers the              
people an opportunity to vote for a candidate based                              
solely on ideology without the worry that their vote is wasted, or               
will help the other side win.  It is an opportunity for the voter                
to demonstrate that they like some of the third party ideology.                  
If a third party candidate wins just 5% of the vote, you can be sure             
that the the two major parties will be looking closely at, and                   
probably adopting, his issues.  It is a shame that The Bee doesn't               
recognize the third party dynamics of a "blanket" primary, and refuses           
to give the people of Sacramento what they really wanted from the                
"blanket" primary system, new ideas injected into the the tired old              
debates between the two major parties.                                           
                                                                                 
Gerald Klaas                                                                     
Libertarian Candidate for State Senate District 6