Here's some good news for all you unpopular people out there. No matter how much people may not like you, they like the Legislature even less.
"California voters have never thought less of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state Legislature, according to a Field Poll to be released today," reports the Chron's Joe Garofoli.
"Only 27 percent of poll respondents approve of Schwarzenegger's job performance. That's the lowest approval rating for any California governor in 50 years - except for the 22 percent approval rating the Field Poll delivered in 2003 to then-Gov. Gray Davis, the man Schwarzenegger replaced six years ago in a statewide recall election.
"Just 13 percent gave lawmakers a thumbs-up, the lowest mark since the 14 percent approval rating the Legislature received in April - the last time the Field pollsters asked. It is the lowest rating in the 25 years that the Field Poll has been charting voter attitudes toward the Legislature."
The LAT's Eric Bailey and Patrick McGreevy look at the bills signed by Gov. Schwarzenegger. "After threatening a mass veto to spur a big water deal,
the governor
reversed course, revved up his ballpoint pen and signed a surprising
slate of legislation. It included bills he had vetoed in the past and a
flurry of measures that steered sharply away from the
socially
conservative Republican base the governor has rarely
embraced.
"He
outraged conservative Christians by approving a special day of
recognition for slain gay rights icon Harvey Milk. He crossed the
powerful National Rifle Assn. by signing stricter new rules for
ammunition sales. To the ire of anti-tax groups, he backed a
$2.3-billion Medi-Cal funding bill. Schwarzenegger even went along with
measures he once ridiculed, including a ban on amputating
cow tails and
creating an official blueberry commission.
"And in the final
hours, the GOP governor backed down from his threat
to kill scores of
measures if lawmakers failed to forge a landmark deal
to fix
California's water problems."
"Heading into Schwarzenegger's final year in office, his decision to forgo a mass veto "will be helpful" during the continuing water talks and beyond, Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) said. "It would have set a very negative tone."
There's a sea of stories about individual bills signed by the governor. Bob Egelko looks at new restrictions on ammunition. Neil Nispersos takes another look at the prison bill. Marc Lifsher looks at the mortgage reform bill package. Tiffany Hsu reports on energy legislation. And Jennifer Steinhauer analyses the memorializing of Harvey Milk .
Today, it's Jack Chang to fall in love with the Tom Campbell, Underdog narrative.
At a recent camapign stop, Campbell "held his fire on rival Meg Whitman's scant voting record, which was the political talk of the moment. He also didn't mention that his other rival, Steve Poizner, contributed to Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore in 2000.
"What I'm saying," he said in an interview after the speech, "is that I'll explain what I'm trying to do and I'll be driven solely by the desire to do good for the people of California. And I will prevail if people are supportive."
"Whatever Campbell is doing, it appears to be working -- eight months before the Republican primary. While Whitman outspent him 38-to-1 in the first six months of this year, Campbell is locked in a statistical tie with her for first place among Republican primary voters, according to a nonpartisan Field Poll released last week.
"Campbell also polled 11 percentage points higher than Insurance Commissioner Poizner, despite spending one-tenth as much as Poizner from January to June."
The water crisis gets the attention of the New York Times.
"The negotiations are focused on repairing the state’s fragile water ecosystem, unleashing new water supplies and increasing water conservation throughout the state. More specifically, negotiators hope to seal a deal that would make equal the goals of restoring the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta — a collection of channels, natural habitats and islands at the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers that is a major source of the state’s drinking water — and increasing the supply of water to residents, businesses and farms.
"State officials say the restoration of the delta, as envisioned in the negotiations, would be the largest environmental restoration project in the United States, surpassing the effort under way in the Florida Everglades."
And finally, news out of London that birth control pills may actually be a metrosexual magnet.
AP reports, "Researchers said that women whose hormones are chemically controlled are less likely to seek out muscular, rugged men. Whereas, they say, ovulating women not on the pill "exhibit a preference for more masculine features, are particularly attracted to men showing dominance and male-male competitiveness and prefer partners who are genetically dissimilar to themselves."
"Women on the pill tend to pick more effeminate men who look like themselves. This could lead to problems conceiving, according to the study conducted at the University of Sheffield.