A new Field Poll shows the Democratic race for governor in a dead heat, with a record number of undecided voters. "A record number of voters -- unable to distinguish between the main candidates, turned off by negative ads and just plain burned out on elections -- remain
unable to choose between Controller Steve Westly and Treasurer Phil Angelides with just four days to go before Tuesday's Democratic primary for governor," writes the Chron's political team.
The Chron charts the gubernatorial polling numbers
here.
Meanwhile, the Times' Dan Morain reports on a new Angelides mailer that
uses a pro-preschool message to skirt campaign contribution limits.
"Although the advertisements don't mention Angelides' candidacy for governor, they align him with U.S. Sens.
Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, who have publicly endorsed him over Westly. The ads say the two senators back Proposition 82 and echo lines from Angelides' campaign for governor.
'As state treasurer,' the mailers say, 'I am fighting to fully fund our schools because giving our children the resources they need and access to preschool is essential if we are to prepare our kids to compete in the global economy.'
Angelides is using similar photos and messages in ads in newspapers — though state treasurers have no direct authority over public schools."
The Merc's Steve Harmon and Mary Anne Ostrom look at
high tech's donations to Westly's campaign. "Steve Westly has tapped high-tech donors for more than a half-million dollars in his run for governor -- despite new fundraising limits and his self-imposed curb on seeking donations, instead choosing to rely almost entirely on his own fortune amassed as an early executive with eBay.
For Westly, the high-tech donations are not monetarily substantial -- though in a tight race, every dollar counts -- but they are significant nonetheless: They show he can raise money if he needs to and people of means are willing to open their wallets."
Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger has agreed to deploy 1,000 national guard troops to the Mexican border until the end of 2008. At a hastily called press conference yesterday, the governor told reporters, "I am signing a memorandum of understanding with the federal government to use the National Guard on a temporary basis to help to secure our borders," And, to secure his political base.
"Schwarzenegger
raised several questions about the president's National Guard proposal, including how much it would cost and whether it would detract from the agency's disaster response effort. The governor had previously expressed a willingness, however, to support the effort on a temporary basis," reports the Bee's Andy Furillo.
The Register's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson
looks at the campaign of Jeffrey Burns, a Republican challenging Arnold Schwarzenegger in the GOP primary.
"'Let's just say the odds are greatly against me,' says Burns, 51. 'Extremely against me. I am the underdog."
"So why would a Huntington Beach contractor plunk down a $3,500 candidate's fee to enter a race he likely will lose?"
"The answer lies back in his junior year at El Modena High School in Orange."
"The trigger? Cheerleaders."
...we'll let you read the story to learn the rest.
The Ventura County Star takes a look at
Tony Strickland's outside employment as a charter school lobbyist while he was in the winding up his career in the Assembly. "At the same time former Assemblyman Tony Strickland was lobbying the Ventura County Board of Education in July 2004 to approve a charter high school in Oxnard, he was being paid as a consultant to advise operators of the school on what they needed to do politically to secure their charter."
"Strickland, a member of the Assembly at the time and now a candidate for state controller, spoke at a county school board meeting on July 26, 2004, in support of a charter application from the Vista Real Charter School. Just three days earlier, he had signed a consulting contract with an associated firm, Desert Sands Charter Schools, with common ownership."
The LA Times' David Pierson looks at the
power pairing of Judy Chu and Mike Eng. "Chu and Eng, both products of UCLA and the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements, became voices for Chinese Americans in the battle and eventually helped beat back the rules limiting signs to English.
Twenty-five years later, they are the community's undisputed power couple — she, a veteran assemblywoman now running for the Board of Equalization; he, a Monterey Park councilman seeking the seat she will vacate.
But the married couple represent a local Chinese community that is far different than when they started in politics. Some question whether they have changed with the times."
From our
Dirty Little Shih Tzu Files, a Redwood City woman has
pled guilty to charges of not giving her dog a bath. "'This is one breed that you need to groom, but she just didn't care,' said Peninsula Humane Society investigator
Debi DeNardi. 'The owners of most of these little breeds buy cute little jackets and fancy collars for them. They don't just throw them out in the backyard.'"
"The pooch, named Benji, was found near Tolentino's Hillsborough home on June 7, 2005, by a neighbor, who took it to the humane society."
"Benji's hair was so matted and encrusted with excrement that it formed a cast-like covering that prevented him from walking or running normally, or even turning his head," a humane investigator said."
Here's hoping the woman doesn't have any children.