The
execution of Michael Morales was postponed from shortly after midnight until 7:30 p.m. tonight, after the court-ordered anesthesiologists refused to participate in the process.
Stacy Finz, Bob Egelko and Jim Doyle report for the Chron "San Quentin State Prison's warden quickly rescheduled the execution for 7:30 tonight by eliminating the anesthesiologists' role and ordering that Morales be put to death with one drug, the powerful barbiturate sodium pentothal, instead of the three that the state has used since 1996. A federal judge had given the state that option but officials had previously rejected it, because
it would take an estimated 30 to 45 minutes to kill the inmate instead of the usual eight to 10 minutes."
"If Morales is not executed before midnight, when his death warrant expires, a new execution date would be more than a month away."
Meanwhile, the governor has
united with Lite Gov candidate Tom McClintock to form an unofficial ticket and to send a message to conservative activists in advance of next weekend's Republican convention, reports Kate Folmar in the Merc News.
"Personal friendship -- and political necessity -- have forged an alliance between the two that mirrors a presidential-vice presidential slate, with each shoring up the other's weaknesses."
"Schwarzenegger helps boost McClintock's visibility and fundraising ability. McClintock, in turn, has recently rushed in to aid Schwarzenegger by tamping down trouble from his right flank."
"'There is a mutual-needs society going on here,' said veteran Democratic strategist
Kam Kuwata. '
One guy has the bottle of milk. The other guy has the glass. You need both to drink the milk.'"
Can't you just drink it out of the bottle?
Who better to spin this one than the state
Republican Party's new communications director, Patrick Dorinson. Dorinson fills the shoes of
Karen Hanretty (we apologize for that mental image), just in time to
fend off the dogs at the party confab in San Jose, reports Capitol Weekly's John Howard. And see? It's not just Schwarzenegger who hires former Democrats.
"Patrick Dorinson, a
former fundraiser in Bill Clinton's presidential campaign and former member of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration, has been selected as the new communications director of the California Republican Party," reports Howard.
In his new gig, Dorinson will be the point man for breaking news alerts like this, which came from the party yesterday:
"Governor [
George] Pataki will not be attending the California Republican Party 2006 Winter Convention as previously announced due to his
continuing recuperation from appendicitis. The California Republican Party wishes him a speedy recovery and we look forward to welcoming him to California sometime soon."
But the convention will be key for the governor to solidify his base as election season gets under way. The governor has successfully rebounded from his election defeats last November and
is well positioned for his reelection campaign, writes Carla Marinucci in the Chron.
"And as the formal filing period opened for candidates in all state races, it was clear how thoroughly that -- after revamping his political team and taking on a host of new advisers -- Schwarzenegger has regained the political footing that led him to his 2003 recall election victory."
"Former San Francisco Mayor
Willie Brown, speaking before a San Francisco Chamber of Commerce session, proclaimed that against Schwarzenegger's publicity machine, his party's lesser-known candidates -- [
Phil] Angelides and [
Steve] Westly -- appear, at least so far, to be batting '0-2.'"
"
Barbara O'Connor, professor of political communication at Cal State Sacramento, agreed, noting there are plenty of reasons why 2006 -- which looked like a great year for Democrats to retake the governor's office -- is fast becoming 'not a year of celebration in the Democratic Party.'"
"Democratic strategist
Chris Lehane cautions that at least one window of opportunity has already closed in the battle against Schwarzenegger -- and he says the party can't afford to let its guard down again."
"'There was a significant opportunity in the weeks after the special election, when the governor was very much down,' Lehane said. 'He had been defined and framed in a way that would be a real challenge to crawl out from.'"
Field Poll director Mark DeCamillo says, however, that Schwarzenegger '
is still vulnerable, and it really depends on how voters react to the Democrats.'"
"'Either Westly or Angelides can arouse interest, and voters can get excited,' he said. 'If that should happen, it's a very competitive race.'"
Dan Morain reports on new television spots, funded by
Rob Reiner's tobacco tax initiative, which
critics say are timed to help boost support for Reiner's universal preschool initiative in June. "Although Reiner did not directly approve the spots, their timing and substance highlight ties between the public commission and his private political campaigns and raise questions about whether the state-funded commercials were used to boost the initiative's prospects.
"Virtually every Sacramento home or business owner, and hundreds of thousands statewide,
would be required to buy federal flood insurance under a new legislative proposal," writes Jim Sanders in the Bee.
"Assemblyman
Dave Jones, who is pushing
the measure, said the potential for disaster in a flood-prone area like the Central Valley was demonstrated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which devastated Louisiana and neighboring states."
"'They lost their property, they lost their household possessions, they lost their homes,' said Jones, D-Sacramento. 'We believe it's absolutely critical that people get insurance.'"
Not everyone's on board, however.
"'As a matter of policy, we never like mandatory insurance,' said
Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association."
From our
Emperor Has No Clothes Files: Dan Walters
spoils the party by listing the Enron-style tricks the state has used to paper over its chronic budget deficits, and warns that pension and health care liability will make things much worse.
"The state still has a massive budget deficit and the Schwarzenegger administration projects that it will become even bigger later in the decade, which means that more hide-the-pea accounting may be coming. And as it worsens, another corporate-style crisis looms - the costs of financing pensions and health care for public workers."
"The state, in other words, has exactly the same pension-health care problem that's afflicting General Motors, United Airlines and other major corporations and the honest response would be to own up to the liabilities and begin setting aside money to cover them. Given the state's history of gimmickry, don't hold your breath."
The Register's Martin Wisckol
checks in on the competitive 34th State Senate race. "Tuesday evening, [
Lou] Correa released word of the endorsement of Senate President Pro Tem
Don Perata, a sign that Correa might pick up significant support from Sacramento Democrats for the June primary against a fellow Democrat, Assemblyman
Tom Umberg.
But by Wednesday afternoon, Umberg countered with announcements of endorsements from Lt. Gov.
Cruz Bustamante, Assembly Speaker
Fabian Núñez and the seat's termed-out incumbent,
Joe Dunn. So much for Correa's moment in the sun. Umberg is also backed by county Democratic Party Chairman
Frank Barbaro and Democratic Foundation of Orange County Chairman
Wylie Aitken."
"On the Republican side of the race, Assemblyman
Van Tran, R-Garden Grove, has released a poll of 300 Republicans in the district. Those voters favor Tran over Assemblywoman
Lynn Daucher, R-Brea. Senate Republican Leader
Dick Ackerman, who backs Daucher, called the poll credible - but said he was not worried about the findings."
"'I thought her numbers were more impressive than one might expect given where her district is,' he said. 'This is just name identification. Name ID at the front end (of a campaign) doesn't mean that much.'"
Jackie's new job? The La Daily News reports termed-out Assemblywoman
Jackie Goldberg may be in line to become the
new superintendent of the LAUSD.
"The former school board and City Council member remains coy on the topic, but sources say she has been campaigning hard for months - even before Romer announced his intended early departure - to head up the second-largest school district in the nation.
"It's not something I really want to do. However, depending on who they're looking at and whether or not somebody thinks that I could be useful, I won't say I won't work on the inside," said Goldberg, D-Los Angeles, who will be term-limited out of the Assembly in December."I'm not interested in the job. I'm not ready to throw my hat in the barrel at this time. I'm not subtle. If I wanted the job, I'd be out there saying I want the job."
