CalNewsroom’s John Hrabe uncovered a new wrinkle on an ugly story from the November election: not only did Assemblyman Mike Gipson run a deplorable photoshopped hit piece depicting his opponent, Prophet Walker, wearing a hoodie and aggressively pointing a gun at the camera, he hired a consultant who has previously been convicted of illegal mailers to do it.
“Now three months after the election – too late to make any difference – CalNewsroom.com has uncovered the tragic irony to the infamous hoodie mailer: Mike Gipson hired Angel Gonzalez, a consultant with a criminal record of producing false and illegal mailers, to lead last-minute attacks on Prophet Walker for his criminal record.
“According to Gipson’s most recent campaign disclosure report, Gipson for Assembly 2014 made two payments totaling $7,714.00 to Angel Gonzalez on October 28 for campaign literature and mailings…
“Prior to the election, Gipson repeatedly blamed the mailer on a volunteer, saying that he ‘allowed a volunteer to design and send out a mail piece to a small amount of voters… in retrospect I realize that the volunteer’s graphic design elements went too far… This mail piece was not properly vetted by my entire campaign team, it was only one volunteer and myself…’
“’…Mike had told me repeatedly that he orchestrated that photoshopped piece and that he sent it out on his own,’ [Josh] Pulliam, Gipson’s lead consultant, said. ‘But now he has admitted the fact that he hired a consultant to send out that horrific mailer, and that he lied to me about it, my professional relationship with Mike Gipson is now over.’”
Senator Mark Leno announced plans to introduce a bill protecting Californians’ electronic communications from unwarranted police searches. Again.
From Bob Egelko at SFGate: “In the last three years, Leno has won legislative passage of measures requiring warrants for police to examine the contents of cell phones seized during an arrest, to use cell phone data to trace someone’s location, and to inspect an individual’s electronic messages. Brown vetoed each of them, saying they would unduly interfere with criminal investigations.
“But in rulings last year on two cases, one of them from California, the Supreme Court barred police searches of cell phones without a warrant. An earlier ruling indicated officers would also need judicial approval before attaching a GPS tracking device to a suspect’s car.”
Governor Jerry Brown and state legislators are searching for ways to pay for road maintenance, long overdue in many parts of the state. Fenit Nirappil has the story for Associated Press:
"’We have not had in the last 25 years a revenue source in transportation that is stable, ongoing and commensurate with our needs,’ said Brian Kelly, Brown's top transportation aide. ‘We have fallen further and further behind.’
“Road maintenance is primarily funded by an 18-cent a gallon gasoline tax, which hasn't increased since 1994. Collections fell from $2.87 billion in 2003 to $2.62 billion in 2013….
“State officials say they need more money each year because of the rising costs of fixing roads. About 16 percent of the highways were in poor condition in 2013, according to the California Department of Transportation.”
Dan Walters looks at trends in political campaigns, increasingly complicated, especially in cutting edge California. From the Sacramento bee:
“[Four] seemingly immutable trends are complicating tactics of political persuasion.
“One is the steady drop in voter turnout. Only a quarter of registered voters cast ballots in last year’s June primary and fewer than 40 percent voted in the Nov. 4 general election…
“Meanwhile, ever-larger numbers of ballots are cast by mail, transforming “election day” into “election month” and devaluing once-potent last-minute barrages….
“The third factor is the top-two primary, in which the top vote-getters face off in a November runoff, regardless of party, complicating voter outreach and messaging.
“Finally, a long-term erosion of major-party registration is swelling the ranks of decline-to-state voters and making appeals to party loyalty less effective.”
And speaking of top-two, Ethan Rarick , Director of the Robert T. Matsui Center for Politics and Public Service notes that the entire new issue of the California Journal of Politics and Policy is devoted to studying the impact of top-two in California.
And, the latest on the race to replace Senator Barbara Boxer: Seema Mehta looks at dim GOP hopes to capture the seat.
From the Los Angeles Times: “Unless a surprise GOP candidate emerges, the U.S. Senate race in California will mark the third straight election with the party’s top-of-the-ticket state candidate given virtually no chance of victory, even by fellow Republicans.
“The dearth of candidates able to raise enough money to fuel a competitive bid is a reminder of how far the party has fallen in the state that gave rise to Presidents Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon.
“’I would love to say a Republican has a really decent chance,’ said GOP strategist Beth Miller. ‘But right now, given what the political landscape looks like in California, it will be an uphill battle for any Republican.’”
It sounds like the plot of a seventies porno: three lusty ladies in lingerie and sexy police costumes talk their way into a prison, promising an orgy of drinking and delights for the prison guards. In Brazil, no less. Can we guess how this is going to turn out? H/T to the Daily Mail for the story and photos.
“Police found three wardens naked and handcuffed inside the morning after the mass breakout at Nova Mutum public jail near Cuiaba.
“[The women] arrived at around 3am on Thursday morning and asked if they could come inside to 'chat and drink', police say…
“The prison guards obliged and were soon persuaded to leave their posts, before heading to the sleeping quarters with the scantily clad women.
“After drugging and handcuffing the wardens, they took their keys and unlocked all the prison's cells according to police chief Angelina de Andrades Ferreira…
“Dozens of prisoners walked straight out the main door carrying guns and ammunition they took from the prison caches…
“Police later discovered a bag of lingerie and skimpy leather police uniforms which they believe the temptresses wore to distract the wardens.”
