"Five months removed from the rebuke they gave him in last November's special election, California
voters are still not happy with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, but some of that disdain might be softening, according to a
new Field Poll," reports Andy Furillo in the Bee.
"Schwarzenegger's approval rating remains in
the danger zone at 39 percent, while 47 percent of registered voters disapproved of his performance. Another 14 percent had no opinion - a doubling of the undecideds since the governor's tough times at the end of the special election."
"The survey, taken April 3-10, also showed approval ratings for the Legislature remaining in the tank at 28 percent - down from the slight uptick lawmakers enjoyed in February."
"The poll found relatively strong support for Schwarzenegger's infrastructure bond plan (57 percent), and poll Director
Mark DiCamillo said the Legislature's failure to get it on the June ballot could be hurting lawmakers' standing."
"The two leading Democratic gubernatorial candidates
highlighted their support for Proposition 82 by singing "The Bus Song" with youngsters Wednesday, while the Republican governor's campaign announced he opposed the universal preschool initiative," reports Laura Mecoy in the Bee.
While Steve and Phil were signing about the wheels on the bus,
Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign
said the governor will not be joining his Democratic challengers in endorsing Proposition 82, writes Peter Nicholas in the Times. "'Put simply, the governor does not support tax increases and is opposed to Proposition 82 because it will raise taxes,'
Katie Levinson, communications director for the Schwarzenegger reelection campaign, said in a statement."
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday sought to dispel the notion that he has backtracked from tough measures to combat global warming, saying he 'can live' with capping greenhouse gas emissions by 2012."
"In response to a reporter's question at UC Davis on Wednesday, Schwarzenegger characterized the 2012 caps as "a great idea" toward achieving the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 - a 25 percent cut in pollution projections from current forecasts."
"A Republican candidate for state controller and his legislator wife have
funneled campaign money into each other's consulting firms, in effect boosting their income through political donations, campaign finance reports show," writes Evan Halper in the Times.
"Over a little more than five years,
Tony Strickland and his wife,
Audra, who replaced him as a member of the state Assembly, paid more than $138,000 raised by their supporters to businesses owned by them and a staffer living in their Moorpark home. An additional $20,000 in campaign money was deposited into a nonprofit organization run by Tony Strickland."
"'There was an investigation [by the Ventura County district attorney's office] and they sent us a letter of resolution saying the case was closed,' Tony Strickland said."
Legal resolution, however, doesn't mean political resolution.
"'I've never seen both spouses being paid to work on each other's campaign,' said
Robert Stern, president of the Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles."
Down in The OC, "Huntington Beach Assemblyman
Tom Harman was
clinging to a 289-vote lead over a fellow Republican on Wednesday in the race for an Orange County state Senate seat," reports Jean Pasco in the Times.
"Harman had 38.8% of the vote in unofficial results posted at 5 p.m. Dana Point Councilwoman
Diane Harkey had 38.5%. Democrat
Larry Caballero, the third candidate on the ballot, drew 22.7%."
The Times' Mark Barabak and Tony Perry take a
look at the June 6 runoff for the 50th congressional district. "Although [Democrat
Francine] Busby outdistanced [Republican
Brian] Bilbray, she still faces an uphill fight in a district where Republicans have a 44%-30% registration edge. Still, Democratic leaders claimed victory Wednesday."
"They said Busby's first-place finish with 44% of the vote showed the power of her anti-Washington message. Bilbray received 15% of the vote, edging out businessman Eric Roach by about 800 votes, with several thousand provisional and absentee ballots yet to be counted."
CW's Shane Goldmacher previews the San Francisco
Assembly race between Fiona Ma and Janet Reilly.
"This year's race between San Francisco Supervisor Fiona Ma and political newcomer Janet Reilly can be characterized as a race between two relatively moderate Democrats. In a city known for producing progressive firebrands, neither candidate has rallied the city's progressive community in what is expected to be one of the year's costliest and most competitive Democratic primaries."
And looking ahead to November, advocates of a new tobacco tax say the initiative would not endanger the existing tobacco settlement with the state, but
some Democratic leaders still find the measure problematic.
Despite sagging poll ratings, President Bush
is headed to California next week, according to the SF Chronicle. And he could get a sit down with the guv. "President Bush expects to visit California next week for fundraising and possible talks with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on issues that include immigration and funding for levee repairs."
We've got ten bucks that says there's no photo op of Bush and the guv...
Speaking of being ready for his close-up, the saga of
Ron Burkle continues to live on. Today, the New York Observer publishes a
detailed look at the man in the center of every gossip columnist's thoughts this week. Meanwhile, closer to home, there's a new Web site to track the latest on all things Burkle:
Burklewatch.com decided to poke a little bit of fun at the whole sordid story.
Speaking of strange developments, things continue to get stranger in the Southern California community of Vernon, council candidates were living in a condemned commercial building. "Election experts and veteran city clerks described the small industrial city's
decision to not count the ballots in the City Council race — pending resolution of legal disputes — as unprecedented. Critics, meanwhile, said it was the latest troubling sign that the election might be tainted."
"'I've never heard of not counting ballots you have on hand,' said
Deborah Wright, executive liaison to the Los Angeles County registrar. '
But you know, Vernon kind of keeps falling into this category of behavior you just don't find legal citations for. I don't suppose it's illegal, but it's very, very strange.'"
"Vernon has fewer than 100 residents, but it has seen a 50% surge in its election rolls in recent weeks."
