"Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger dropped by two of the [San Bernardino's] largest black churches Sunday, touting a blend of family values, education and after-school programs as the antidote to drugs and gangs that lure too many youths," reports Robert Rogers in the San Bernardino Sun.
"The day was a stark contrast to an incident two weeks ago when some black activists in Sacramento were angered that Schwarzenegger sent a senior adviser,
Margaret Fortune, in his place to a gubernatorial forum at a Methodist church."
"Still, Schwarzenegger's support among blacks statewide remains high, Fortune said."
"'The governor shares a common set of values with the African-American community,' Fortune said outside of Ecclesia. 'He shows a commitment to after-school, preschool and other youth programs, and people sense his sincerity.'"
"As Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger seeks re-election and state Treasurer
Phil Angelides hopes to take his job, both candidates
have worked to woo" environmental voters, writes Mark Martin in the Chron.
What's an environmental voter?
"Being a green candidate in California is almost a necessity, as polls show overwhelming majorities favor things like banning offshore oil drilling and requiring automakers to build cleaner-burning cars. Both Schwarzenegger and Angelides have played up their efforts to combat global warming, reduce air pollution and promote renewable energy."
"The two candidates, whose views differ significantly on issues like taxes and education, have much more nuanced differences on the environment."
"Faced with a lopsided governor's race and coffers still recovering from massive spending in last year's special election, California
labor unions are keeping a relatively low profile in this November's election," reports Harrison Shepard in the Daily News.
"'The impression I have is they're both tapped out, because of last year's special election, and (acting strategically) in that it doesn't look like a close race,' said
Bob Stern, president of the Los Angeles-based nonpartisan Center for Governmental Studies."
"
Brian Brokaw, a spokesman for the Angelides campaign, said the public shouldn't read too much into lower spending by unions this year."
"'The reality is, because of the governor's wasteful special election last year, labor unions around the state spent millions of dollars in an attempt to defeat the governor's agenda,' Brokaw said. 'The reality is their coffers were somewhat diminished.'"
"
Matt David, a spokesman for the Schwarzenegger re-election campaign, said union voters should keep in mind things the governor has done to benefit middle-class working people, such as cutting the car tax and increasing education funding."
"'Gov. Schwarzenegger is the only candidate in this election who has a record when it comes to the middle class,' David said."
"Equality California, or EQCA, is
out with its rankings of legislators and the governor in terms of their support of gay rights issues in the 2005-2006 lawmaking season, and is proud to report it was a record year," writes Steve Wiegand in the Bee's Buzz column.
"The group, which champions equal rights for 'LGBT' (that's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) Californians, says 66 legislators voted with EQCA at least 90 percent of the time, and 51 voted for all 15 EQCA-backed measures."
"The guv's rating was 71 percent (signed 10 of the bills, vetoed four and had no role in the 15th, a legislative resolution).
Schwarzie's score was up from 2005 and down from 2004. It was also 51 points higher than the highest GOP legislator's. In fact, the average Republican score was 0.01 percent."
"And they say there's no difference between the two major parties. ..."
"In recent years, the lieutenant governor's office under Cruz Bustamante
fell $300,000 behind in office rent, and vendors exasperated by unpaid bills shut off cellphone service, stopped maintaining copy machines and threatened to cancel credit cards," reports Dan Morain in the Times.
"Aides to Bustamante blame the lapses on the lieutenant governor's former fiscal officer, who used a state-issued credit card to make a down payment on a sports car, travel to Hawaii, buy stereo and computer equipment and rent videos, state documents show. The state has paid those costs."
"'This is a clear example of how he has been asleep at the wheel,' Poizner campaign manager
Tim Clark said Friday. 'In an office that is not tasked with much to do, he couldn't get that right, and taxpayers had to foot the bill.'"
"Bustamante spokesman
Stephen Green shot back: 'This happened several years ago. What's new about this? We were the victims of a crime…. [Poizner] is spending millions of dollars on smear ads on television, and now he's trying to make something out of this.'"
"Bustamante fired [
Michael] Keolanui in March 2004 after aides discovered that several bills hadn't been paid, and he turned the matter over to law enforcement. Keolanui pleaded guilty to federal charges related to embezzlement of $65,000 and was sentenced in 2005 to three months in jail.
"'When we became aware, we took action,' Green said. 'When we started to hear that bills were not being paid and started looking into what he was doing, we contacted law enforcement authorities.'"
The LAT's George Skelton writes that the gubernatorial race would be more exciting
if the lite gov candidates were running for it. "Too bad Garamendi and McClintock aren't seeking that job now. There'd be fewer mind-numbing TV ads, because both are lousy at hitting up special interests for campaign bucks. Rather, there'd be several stimulating debates with straight talk."
WE may be able to test that theory in about 4 years...
"In 74 of 100 legislative races on the November ballot,
candidates face no real competition: Not one of their opponents has collected even $1,000 and some face no opposition at all," reports Nancy Vogel in the Times.
"Yet these 74 candidates between July and October together raised $8.5 million from corporations, unions, industry groups and others with a stake in how state laws are written. These candidates don't need to work for reelection — voters of their own parties dominate their districts by such wide margins that their seats are safe — but they continue to attract or solicit donations."
"Such donations trouble government watchdogs, who say they are made to win the goodwill of soon-to-be lawmakers."
"'Why would anybody give a campaign contribution to somebody who has no opposition?' asked
Robert Stern, president of the Center for Governmental Studies, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group in Los Angeles. '
There's one reason. It's not a campaign contribution; it's a government-access payment.'"
Hmmm...
like this one?
It appears Denise Ducheny's fundraiser has a sense of humor...
One race that is competitive is AD 80, where former Assemblyman
Steve Clute is running against
Bonnie Garcia, in what Democrats think is their best chance for a pick-up this year. Garcia has started running a new, hard-hitting radio spot, blasting Clute's support for naming a local highway after former Assemblyman
Walter Ignals.
According to an old Sacramento Bee article written shortly after Ignall's death, "At one time, the lawmaker chaired the Assembly Transportation Committee, where he became
infamous for temper tantrums and sexist comments. He
once described rape as unwanted touching."
"Ingalls claimed he enjoyed being irascible and obstreperous. He even joked about mistreating witnesses before his committee, saying he'd
established a prize called the Walter Ingalls Verbal Abuse of Women Award."
Charming.
"When all is said and done, the biggest winner in California's election won't be the Democrats or the Republicans, but TV -- which is
expected to rake in an estimated $300 million in political ad sales," write Matier and Ross.
"And because of new research techniques that identify voters' political preferences by what they watch, targeting voters through the tube has become one of the weapons in campaigns' arsenals."
"'There is far more market research available about viewer habits,' said
Carol Dahmen, political marketing manager for Comcast."
"The University of California and an association of fundamentalist Christian schools
are heading for a showdown over their competing views of academic freedom," writes Claire Cooper in the Bee.
"The conflict erupted over a decision by UC admissions officers a couple of years ago to reject future proposals for high school curricula based on certain Christian textbooks published by Bob Jones University Press of South Carolina and A Beka Books of Florida. Approval was not withdrawn from courses that already received an OK."
"The Christian schools sued UC, asserting a right to teach the viewpoints they choose."
"A federal judge in Los Angeles has refused to throw out the suit, ruling in August that the schools should have a chance to prove that religious discrimination was behind UC's decision. A two- or three-week trial is expected in 2007."
The Register's Martin Wisckol writes: "Rep.
Loretta Sanchez has growing influence in Washington, but is she even more dangerous than we imagined?"
"The Garden Grove congresswoman, traveling the country last week to campaign for fellow Democrats, got pulled aside in the Boise, Idaho, airport
when her name came up on the terrorist watch list."
"We keep hearing absurd stories about that list, but the Transportation Security Administration might also need a basic lesson in job politics:
It's not a good idea to detain the ranking Democrat – and possible future chairwoman – of the House Homeland Security subcommittee overseeing the TSA."
If the TSA is taking recommendations, we can think of a few more to add to the list.