SUN ENDORSEMENTS

U.S. Senate You knows things are weird when a major candidate in a U.S.
Senate race breaks a leg, stops campaigning and nobody notices.

That's the situation with Democratic incumbent Dianne Feinstein in her race
against Republican Tom Campbell. She is so far ahead that being unable to
hustle around for votes isn't an issue.

Representative Campbell is an interesting guy, probably most interesting
because of his advanced views on the self-defeating nature of the "war on
drugs" as it is currently waged.

There was some wonder as to why Campbell, safe in his district, would risk
it all in a doomed race against Feinstein. The apparent answer is that
Stanford told him that he could not continue as a part-time tenured
professor while spending much of the year in D.C. So Campbell had two
possibilities: full-time politician in the Senate or full-time professor in
Palo Alto. Heck, it was worth a try. The Sun has its differences with
Feinstein's hard-nosed approach to several issues, but we still recommend
her reelection to the Senate. The Sun endorses Dianne Feinstein for U.S.
Senate.

State propositions Recommendations on how to pick among the props By Hut Landon

PROPOSITION 36 Drugs, probation and treatment programs

This statute would change the sentencing laws for offenders convicted for a
first or second time of a nonviolent drug possession-related offense, not
including sale or manufacture of drugs.

Instead of incarceration, offenders would be placed on probation and be
required to complete a drug treatment program. There are exceptions built
in, and offenders who refused or dodged treatment would be sent to jail.
Prop 36 doesn't change the nature of the charge--a felony is still a
felony--only the punishment.

Opponents, including the prison guards' union and the Drug Free America
Foundation, argue that the measure creates a danger to public safety and
sends the wrong message to children.

But supporters counter that Prop 36 is strictly limited to those convicted
of simple drug possession. More importantly, they contend that putting
these people (at last count, nearly 20,000 at an annual cost of $24,000
each) in overcrowded prisons is both expensive and ill-advised. We don't
think drug treatment programs will work for everyone, but Prop 36 is both a
cheaper and a more humane option than throwing drug holders in jail. More
to the point, it offers the possibility of rehabilitation, a goal that
seems increasingly unattainable in our current jail and prison systems. The
Sun Recommends Yes on Proposition 36.