The Public Policy Institute of California is expected to release a poll Friday, and
there are whispers of its findings. George Skelton writes "A new poll to be released Friday by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California is expected to show that
Schwarzenegger's ballot propositions have made no appreciable gains in recent weeks, despite heavy TV advertising by the governor."
"None is drawing support from a majority of likely voters."
"And the fate of one measure, the anti-union
Proposition 75, now seems a tossup after having been favored by a 25-point margin only two months ago."
Both the Field Poll and the LA Times Poll are supposed to release surveys before Election Day.
Skelton writes that, if the governor did more forums like Monday's in Walnut Creek, he might be able to move the polls. But, the governor refuses to debate his opponents, and is therefore having a hard time moving the numbers.
"As Republican consultant Dan Schnur observes: 'That was the best night Schwarzenegger has had in months. He was at his best. The only thing that could have made it better is if he and
[Don] Perata had gone toe to toe."
"The contrast between Schwarzenegger, 'the reformer,' and Perata, the politician, would have been overwhelming."
"
Rob Stutzman, Schwarzenegger's communications director, says strategists won't allow the enemy to share the stage with the governor because 'there's no one of comparable stature' and whoever was up there 'would have nothing to lose by taking cheap shots.'"
Capitol Weekly hits the streets today with a story on Prop. 77, and some of the Legislators who did not back the original 2001 redistricting plan. One of those legislators, Assemblyman
Paul Koretz, has come out against the governor's plan, but
explains why he voted against the redraw in 2001.
"I voted against the Senate redistricting plan, because
we had decided to do a plan that was incumbent protection," he said. But, Koretz says, he was dismayed that Assemblymembers
Fred Keeley and
Hannah-Beth Jackson were effectively drawn out of any chance of advancing to the state Senate.
"'If we were agreeing that we should protect incumbents, it didn't make sense not to provide a district for two of our sharpest, most capable members,' says Koretz."
Also this week, our intrepid reporter
tries to keep pace with Sen. Tom Torlakson on a bicycle -- with mixed results.
Maria Shriver has a public appearance today, though
the special election doesn't appear to be on the agenda."Thursday's California Governor and First Lady's
Conference on Women and Families is featuring a host of celebrity speakers, including actress
Jane Fonda, former NBC anchor
Tom Brokaw, singer
Mary J. Blige and retiring Supreme Court Justice
Sandra Day O'Connor. Among its many scheduled seminars are "The Global Goddess: How Women are Changing the World Together" and "Successful Aging with
Suzanne Somers."
Dan Morain
writes in the Times "Five years after California voters put limits on how much money politicians can raise, three of the state's most powerful officials are accepting six- and seven-figure checks from interests with a stake in their actions."
"The lack of contribution limits on initiative wars 'opens the floodgates for special interests to contribute to candidates indirectly, to the candidates' pet causes and to the candidates' governing agenda,' said
Daniel Smith, a University of Florida political science professor who studies fundraising and government by ballot measure.
"'And it opens the question of corruption or the appearance of corruption,' Smith said."
"Perata and Nuñez stepped up their fundraising when the Legislature concluded its session, after sending more than 900 bills to the governor for final action.
The Democratic leaders summoned lobbyists to private meetings and urged them to persuade their clients to donate to campaigns against the governor's package of special election initiatives — or at least not to support Schwarzenegger's measures."
"'There was nothing unlawful,' said a veteran lobbyist, speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of damaging clients' interests. '
But I understood the message…. 'You want to do OK next year? Play ball.'"
Speaking of next year, looks like yet
another Senator is joining the ranks of those who will run for seats in the Assembly. The Roundup is pleased to announce our first ever link to the Mendocino Bulletin, which breaks the news about their new candidate for state Assembly. "The North Coast hasn't seen the last of State Sen.
Wes Chebro. The Arcata Democrat announced Tuesday night to the Mendocino Coast Democratic Club that he is
planning another run for the California Legislature.
Jill Stewart writes about the
California Teachers Association, and offers her own take on the fight over Props 74, 75 and 76. "The real story, however, is that for the first time since the last big war over bilingual education in the 1990s,
teachers are sticking their necks out to challenge the CTA."
The Chronicle follows up with
Bill Simon, who dropped out of the treasurer's race earlier this week. In an interview, Simon said his exit had
nothing to do with Bill Lockyer's entry into the race.
"'Obviously, Bill Lockyer would be a formidable opponent and very well financed, but my track record shows that money hasn't scared me out in the past,' he said in a telephone interview Wednesday."
But, he did paraphrase one of the governor's
most popular movie lines, in his own way. 'I hope and expect to be a candidate for public office in the future,' he said."
This morning, the state will publish the Academic Performance Index scores for schools around the state. The API is the state measure of progress, which measures a school's performance against its performance in prior years. You can
search for your local school's performance score here.
We've written in this space about the ban on lap dancing in various municipalities. But now,
Anaheim is cracking down on ... bellydancing. What is this, Footloose?
"Business isn't likely to pick up anytime soon. After fielding hundreds of complaints from angry residents, the city council Tuesday night tentatively approved an ordinance
targeting the 11 hookah bars that have popped up along the city's Little Gaza strip in the past five years."
Little Gaza strip? If it's anything like the real Gaza Strip, bellydancing should be the least of their worries.
Finally, as of this morning there have been 118,940 searches in the
Capitol Weekly Legislative Salaries database. Roughly 1/4 of the searches were made in a popularity smackdown between
Shannan Velayas and
Irwin Nowick.
We will be adding more salaries to the database shortly, including the governor's staff and senior state employees. In the meantime, it's still available in beta form at:
www.capitolweekly.net/salaries/.
