Local paper says Star Parker is 'bright, energetic and full of ideas' 

The following editorial was published in the local newspaper, the Long Beach Press-Telegram, in Congressional District 37 where Star Parker is running for Congress.

What's a fed-up voter supposed to do, knowing that elections are pretty much rigged to guarantee that incumbents are just about unbeatable? This time, there's something to be said for a protest vote.

Granted, it's always hard to find serious candidates willing to run against an entrenched candidate, and many voters are unwilling to "waste" their votes on someone who has almost no chance to win or, worse, has few qualifications for office. But these are unusual times.
Even candidates who are mostly unknown or new to the scene are getting turnouts at public debates. Economic hardships, coupled with out-of-control spending, have put some real energy, if not anger, into public meetings.

This election, on Nov. 2, there will be no such thing as a wasted vote. Every vote will convey a message.

Because the region's candidates for Congress and the state Legislature seem to be a slam-dunk and their opponents often are little-known and doing little, we're not publishing conventional endorsement editorials this time around. Instead, our recommendation is to vote for the incumbents only if you're happy with the way things are going.

If you're not so happy, don't stay home on Election Day, make your feelings known.

In some cases at least, an opponent has something significant to offer. One example is Star Parker, the Republican candidate running aggressively against 37th District incumbent Laura Richardson. Parker is bright, energetic and full of ideas, most of them conservative and focused on themes of personal responsibility. Richardson is hard-working and ambitious, but has had problems with the personal responsibility part, at least with the foreclosure of her Sacramento home. Richardson would be a mostly reliable vote on the liberal side, and Parker would be an entirely reliable vote on the conservative side. District voters are 60 percent Democrat and 16 percent Republican, so turnout will matter.

Read the full editorial in the Long Beach Press-Telegram.