"Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger left open the possibility Thursday that he
might endorse a Democratic candidate in a statewide political race, with the most likely recipient being U.S. Sen.
Dianne Feinstein, who is running for a third full term, reports Andy Furillo in the Bee.
"'If I like someone, absolutely,' the Republican governor said in response to a reporter who asked at a campaign event in Antioch if he might back a Democrat in the spirit of bipartisanship he has attempted to engender in Sacramento. '
Let's see. But right now, I'm just thinking about moving the state forward.'
"Schwarzenegger's campaign manager,
Steven Schmidt, said in a subsequent interview that the governor has endorsed all of the down-ticket Republican candidates --
Tom McClintock for lieutenant governor,
Chuck Poochigian for attorney general,
Bruce McPherson for secretary of state, Tony Strickland for controller,
Claude Parrish for treasurer and
Steve Poizner for insurance commissioner."
So, that means no crossing over for
Bill Lockyer to repay that recall vote?
"'
Like most Californians, he thinks Dianne Feinstein is a great senator,' Schmidt said of the governor."
Of course, Feinstein will be campaigning hard for buddy
Phil Angelides this fall, so an endorsement of Feinstein may look a bit odd.
Feinstein's Republican challenger
Richard "Mountjoy said he hasn't asked for Schwarzenegger's endorsement but said he might just give him a call now.
"'He'd have to tell me what his problem is with me,' Mountjoy said. 'I pretty much stick to the Republican platform, so he might be going against the Republican platform.'"
Ya think?
Carla Marinucci reports for the Chron on the
image the governor is bringing to the campaign trail. "The desperate and negative feel of last year's disastrous special election campaign has been jettisoned -- along with the distance from people, protesters and journalists."
"Also retooled is the California governor's right-tilted partisan GOP identity: In the course of an hour's stopover, Schwarzenegger not only lavishly praised Democrats for working with him in Sacramento, but also said when it comes to campaign help from the White House, it's practically thanks, but no thanks,
President Bush."
"
I don't need anyone to campaign with me,' Schwarzenegger said. '
This is all between me and the people of California.'"
Maria was thrilled to learn she'd be free for the next five months.
"'
They're letting Arnold be Arnold -- and that is something,' said
Duf Sundheim, the California Republican Party chairman who traveled this week with the governor on his campaign bus. 'He's loving it, and the people are loving it.'"
"Sundheim credits the new campaign team -- headed by former White House insiders
Steve Schmidt and
Matthew Dowd -- for 'doing an amazing job enabling the people of California to see who this guy really is.'"
"
Bob Mulholland, the chief strategist for Democratic candidate Angelides, said voters will see through the 'Hollywood smoke and mirrors.
They can repackage him all they want. You know, if a fish smells, you can't repackage it.'"
Meanwhile, the gov is
taking to the air with campaign ads as Angelides licks his primary wounds. "According to campaign sources, the governor will spend between $1.4 million and $2 million on broadcast time in the Los Angeles area and another $1.2 million in San Francisco. Ads will also be running in San Diego, Sacramento, Fresno, Palm Springs and Monterey. About $5,000 will go for time on stations serving the Eureka area where Team Schwarzenegger kicked off his reelection campaign Wednesday."
"
Julie Soderlund, spokeswoman for the governor's campaign, would not confirm or deny the purchase. 'When we have something to announce, we will announce it,' she said."
For everyone playing the Roundup Gubernatorial Drinking Game at home, that's two drinks every time the Schwarzenegger campaign refuses to comment about something they've obviously leaked to the press themselves. Get those livers reads for a long summer...
The LAT's Mitchell Landsberg writes that the Green Party was
excited about the second place finish of Sarah Knopp, a registered Green running in the nonpartisan race for superintendent of public instruction against
Jack O'Connell.
"'It was a surprise,' said party spokesman
Crescenzo Vellucci. Green Party leaders knew Knopp was a good candidate, he said, but had no idea she would attract far more support than the party's previous top vote-getter,
Laura Wells, who got 420,000 votes — 5.8% — in a 2002 race for state controller."
Meanwhile, "[f]rustrated by soaring gasoline prices, two of California's top elected officials
proposed legislation Thursday designed to crack down on consumer gouging by allowing a temporary price cap in times of 'abnormal market disruption,'" writes Jim Saunders in the Bee.
"Attorney General
Bill Lockyer and Assembly Speaker
Fabian Núñez jointly proposed the measure,
Assembly Bill 457, in response to pump prices that have jumped by more than $1 per gallon since January."
"'We need to make sure that California is not the victim of any type of market manipulation or Enron-type scheme to artificially inflate the price of gasoline at the pump,' Núñez said."
By the way,
we need to find a new Enron boogeyman.
After a contentious reelection campaign in which his integrity and management capabilities were questioned, you might think Orange County Sheriff
Mike Carona would be humbled. Instead, he's cleaning house,
putting his challenger on administrative leave and demoting two employees that supported the challenger, writes Jean Pasco in the Times.
"A lieutenant who supported Lt.
William Hunt in the campaign was demoted to sergeant, and a sergeant who backed Hunt was reassigned as an investigator."
"Hunt supporters criticized the moves as retaliation.
Tim Whitacre, Hunt's campaign advisor, condemned the moves as 'thuggery.'"
Comments,
Mr. Fleishman?
The LA Weekly's David Zahniser looks at the
questions surrounding the L.A. County Federation of Labor's get out the vote efforts, which focused heavily on
Kevin de León.
"Panicky backers of de León had wondered throughout the final days of the campaign whether their candidate might succumb to the Chavez family name. On election night, with de León winning by nearly 20 percentage points, campaign operatives were posing a different question:
Did the city’s most politically galvanized unions divert so much attention to de León that other labor candidates had been left out in the cold?"
"After all, in the nearby 43rd Assembly District, Burbank school-board member Paul Krekorian handily defeated Glendale Councilman
Frank Quintero — a man with the backing of Big Labor — in the battle for the Democratic Party nomination. Out in the San Fernando Valley, support from Villaraigosa and the County Fed wasn’t enough to save Assemblywoman
Cindy Montañez. She lost her fight for a state Senate seat to Los Angeles City Councilman
Alex Padilla, who secured the Democratic Party nomination and led his opponent by 12 percentage points."
"The southern flank of Los Angeles County offered even greater surprises. In the 48th Assembly District, a section of South Los Angeles that abuts the Harbor Freeway, political aide
Mike Davis overwhelmingly defeated trial lawyer
Anthony Willoughby, who had the strong support of the County Fed, in the fight for the Democratic Party nomination. And in the 55th Assembly District, Long Beach City Councilwoman
Laura Richardson scored a decisive victory against Los Angeles Community College District trustee
Warren Furutani, who works for Núñez and had the backing of both Villaraigosa and the County Fed."
Of course, none of those candidates are buddies with the Speaker...
Dan Walters looks at the
failure of the initiative to split Santa Barbara County and create Mission County.
"A gubernatorial commission questioned whether Mission County would be financially viable, and the
election of a swing supervisor -- vintner and former Assemblyman
Brooks Firestone --
dampened the rebellious spirit. It also became apparent that with its much-greater population growth, the northern region would soon have three of the five supervisors to itself."
"The more rational approach to the Santa Barbara dilemma and similar situations throughout the state would be to rethink the whole notion of county government in a California that is approaching 40 million residents."
From our
When Dead Dogs Attack Files: "A woman angry that her new puppy had died pushed her way into a dog breeder's home and
repeatedly hit her on the head with the dead Chihuahua, authorities said."
"The 33-year-old woman told police she had taken the puppy to a veterinarian, who said it was only 4 weeks old and needed to be returned to its mother. But before she could return the puppy, it died."
"Early Wednesday, the woman went to the breeder's home, pushed her way inside and began fighting with the breeder
as she tried to make her way to the basement to get another puppy, police said."
"
The breeder wrestled the woman out of her house to the front porch, where the woman then hit the breeder over the head numerous times with the dead puppy, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported."
And from Planet Florida, red light runners beware:
Officer Delicious is on the scene.
"Commuters in West Palm Beach may have noticed the rather large woman sitting near one of the area's busiest intersection. But she was really a he.
"The undercover officer is dressed in drag to hand out tickets to people who run red lights. He goes by the code name 'Officer Delicious.'"
"Over the past couple of months, Officer Delicious has been on the job at all the busy intersections all over the city in various get-ups and 'she' has been very successful in taking a swipe against crime."
"'So far, although traffic is a little slower than usual due to school being out, we are still being quite effective, pulling over numerous violators running the red light today,' Officer Delicious said."
Are we the only ones who don't understand why you have to be in drag to catch traffic violators? But far be it from us to criticize a police officer for living his dream...