City Life: Republican Assembly choices more similar than different

To help you determine who to elect in the upcoming election for the 74th Assembly District, here is a quiz titled, "Who said it: Assemblyman Allan Mansoor or Newport Beach Councilwoman Leslie Daigle?"

Answers appear at the end of the quiz.

1.) "I invite you to join my campaign to begin the process of returning both courage and imagination to our disgraceful state Legislature."

2.) "When the highest-taxed state in the country cannot fund education, there is a spending problem."

3.) "Voters can't understand how our public education system — once the best in the nation — is a disgrace, despite having the highest-paid teachers in the country and education getting more than half of our general fund budget."

4.) "It's addiction to spending and taxing, the lack of concern about the unprecedented deficits we face, the pension abuse that has mortgaged our future and the core belief that higher taxes are the only way out of our problems."

5.) "Reform from within is an uphill battle. Sacramento is still controlled by the same institutions that created this problem, and they will not give up until they bankrupt our state."

6.) "I am a Republican, endorsed by our county party in my successful 2006 and 2010 elections."

7.) "Job-killing regulations increase unemployment and are ruining our economy. Our future obligations for public employee pensions dwarf the entire state budget many times over. It's time for reform."

8.) "… I can tell you that voters are discouraged, and even disgusted, about Sacramento's inability to responsibly face its financial mess."

Answers: 1.) Daigle 2.) Mansoor 3.) Daigle 4.) Daigle 5.) Mansoor 6.) Daigle 7.) Mansoor 8.) Daigle

If you scored 0 to 3, you are a normal voter. That is, you cannot distinguish one candidate from another. Those who scored 4 to 6 are reading newspapers and websites and have too much time on their hands. And if you scored 7 or 8, you are Mansoor or Daigle.

The worst part about having candidates who cannot find a single issue with which to differentiate themselves is that we have to read and hear this nonsense for months during the election season.

I'm no Mansoor fan, but at least prior to his 2010 campaign, he put a stake in the ground over illegal immigration. He no longer mentions the illegal immigrants, having jettisoned that hot potato when he was elected to the Assembly. Because he now has no single issue with which he is identified, he and Daigle come across as ideological twins.