Yo, Blair!

Aug 1, 2006

Editor's Note: Due to a series of serious but small catastrophes, and Mercury being seriously in retrograde, the Roundup is a trifle late this morning. Sorry for the inconvenience. Now, without further ado...


"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and British Prime Minister Tony Blair signed an agreement on Monday to work together to curb greenhouse gas emissions, promote clean-burning fuels and collaborate on research to fight global warming," report Deborah Schoch and Janet Wilson for the Times.

"Blair and Schwarzenegger announced the agreement at a meeting at the Port of Long Beach with prominent California and European business leaders on climate issues."

"'California will not wait for our federal government to take strong action on global warming,' said Schwarzenegger in a statement. 'International partnerships are needed in the fight against global warming, and California has a responsibility and a profound role to play to protect not only our environment, but to be a world leader on this issue as well.'"

While we're playing international diplomacy, can we renegotiate that Cuban embargo thing?

When asked if the agreement was a way of sidestepping the Bush Administration, "Schwarzenegger responded that California would not wait for Washington to act, and he called climate change "the single most important issue" faced by the world community.

At a morning press briefing, the governor's communications director, Adam Mendelsohn, offered a milder comment. 'Just to be clear,' he said, for the press to report that the state was 'bypassing the federal administration to enter into agreements with Great Britain would be wrong.'"

Meanwhile, "even though he faced no primary challenge, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is heading into the general election with only a modest fundraising lead over his Democratic rival, Treasurer Phil Angelides, campaign reports filed Monday show," writes Dan Morain in the Times.

"Schwarzenegger spent $16.5 million in the first half of the year, leaving him with $4 million in his reelection campaign bank account, and $1.35 million in unpaid bills as of June 30."

"Angelides was forced to spend nearly all his money — $28 million — to defeat Controller Steve Westly for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination."

"Schwarzenegger raised $19 million for his reelection account in the first half of this year, compared with Angelides' $10.4 million. The treasurer had raised additional money for the campaign in prior years."

"The governor's biggest single expense was $7.4 million for television ads. Angelides spent $21.8 million on television, most of which was used to attack Westly."

"The governor also used campaign money to pay Steve Schmidt, his chief campaign strategist, $52,500 a month. Some of the governor's other expenses include $687 to a company called Love Cigars in Rialto, $4,200 to a website called cufflinks.com and $220,000 to an executive jet company."

"'This bodes well…. They've frittered their money away,' said Roger Salazar, a California Democratic Party spokesman. The party reported having $8.9 million in the bank. The California Republican Party had not filed its report by press time."

What Salazar doesn't know is that those cufflinks are going to put Schwarzenegger over the top.

Meanwhile, there's a new Field Poll out today on the downticket statewides. "Unlike the candidates for governor barnstorming the state all summer and garnering plenty of attention, most of the candidates for the six other statewide offices remain unknown to voters, a new Field Poll shows," reports the Chron's Lynda Gledhill.

"Only candidates who have served or run for office before have any real identification with voters, and all of the races are likely to be decided much closer to election day, said Mark DiCamillo, director of the poll."

"'Most of the campaigning will occur in the final months, which is when voters will turn their attention to these races,' DiCamillo said. 'If you're going to see shifts occur, it will be late in the final months.'"

In other words, the following numbers don't really matter:

Lieutenant governor
John Garamendi - 48%
Tom McClintock - 38%
Other - 1%
Undecided - 13%

Attorney general
Jerry Brown - 54%
Chuck Poochigian - 33%
Other - 1%
Undecided - 12%

State treasurer
Bill Lockyer - 52%
Claude Parrish - 27%
Other - 1%
Undecided - 20%

State controller
John Chiang - 38%
Tony Strickland - 27%
Other - 1%
Undecided - 34%

Insurance commissioner
Cruz Bustamante - 43%
Steve Poizner - 39%
Other - 2%
Undecided - 16%

Secretary of state
Debra Bowen - 38%
Bruce McPherson - 35%
Other - 1%
Undecided - 26%

Dan Walters writes that state Republicans blew their chances in the races for treasurer and controller by eschewing moderate candidates. "With the California Democratic Party drifting leftward, Republicans had an opportunity this year to claim the decisive political middle by fielding a slate of centrist candidates for statewide office, led by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger."

"Curiously, however, Schwarzenegger did not lift a finger to help moderate Republicans in their duels with conservatives for party nominations -- not even two state legislators, state Sen. Abel Maldonado and Assemblyman Keith Richman, who had carried the governor's water in the Legislature at no small cost to themselves. Maldonado had broken with conservative Republicans to carry Schwarzenegger's version of a minimum wage bill while Richman had taken a beating from unions for fronting the governor's public pension reform campaign, but neither got so much as a token endorsement from Schwarzenegger."

"The Republican who defeated Richman, Claude Parrish, and Maldonado's erstwhile primary foe, Tony Strickland, are running far behind their Democratic rivals in the new Field Poll, as are the conservative candidates for attorney general, Chuck Poochigian, and lieutenant governor, Tom McClintock."

"The last time the Republicans fielded a moderate slate for statewide office, in 1994, they won half of them and scared Democratic leaders. That won't happen this year."

"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Monday that he intended to appoint former Rep. James E. Rogan, the onetime manager of President Clinton's impeachment and a conservative hero, as a Superior Court judge in Orange County."

The announcement of Rogan's appointment, as well as three other Republican judges and the daughter of Bush insider Gerald Parsky, on the same day as the global warming accord was probably not coincidental.

"The affable, articulate Rogan is one of the more colorful characters in California politics. A former vacuum cleaner salesman and porn theater bouncer, Rogan was raised by a single mother on welfare and food stamps."

Rogan was well liked in the Assembly before moving to Congress, and has connections to John Burton.

"'Johnny Burton grew up with my biological father, who got my mom pregnant and abandoned her. They were kids together and played basketball together,' he says. 'My mom, she was a cocktail waitress and got pregnant from one of the bartenders that worked there. There were two bartenders that worked there, my dad and John Burton.'"

The Register's Brian Joseph takes a look at the cost of providing legislators cars. "John Campbell was elected last year on the promise that he wouldn't waste tax dollars."

"About two weeks after the then-state senator announced he was running for Congress, the state bought him a yellow 2005 Ford Mustang Saleen. The price: $41,000."

"Eight months later, after the Irvine Republican was elected in December, the state sold the limited-edition Mustang for $27,000 – a loss of $14,000."

"It had been driven exactly 3,676 miles."

"Taxpayers pay when lawmakers turn over their state-owned cars in a short period of time. Legislative staff tried to get another lawmaker to take the Mustang, but nobody would because of its color.

"'I thought it was a strange request for a fiscal conservative,' said Secretary of the Senate Gregory Schmidt, who approves the purchase of cars and works for a Senate controlled by Democrats. 'I imagine it was a pretty big hit to the state,' he said."

"Ten sitting lawmakers – nine in the Assembly – received new cars within 24 months of being termed out in 2006. Sen. Kevin Murray, D-Los Angeles, received a $57,000 Lexus SUV hybrid – the most expensive car the Register found – which he will drive for only 18 months before his term ends this year."

"'Most members get the car they want and you never hear from them again,' Schmidt said. 'Some members seem to have problems with their cars.'"

"A federal judge in Sacramento has ordered the Schwarzenegger administration to expand the scope of the next week's special legislative session on corrections to include a new budget proposal to beef up mental health care staffing in the prison system," reports the Bee's Andy Furillo.

"U.S. District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton's order, dated Friday, instructs the administration to 'present to the special session of the Legislature' a request in next fiscal year's budget for 530.65 new permanent positions and another 21.2 limited-term jobs."

"The daughter of billionaire Ron Burkle said Monday she may try to settle a lawsuit against her father rather than air the family's dirty laundry in court," reports the Associated Press.

"Carrie Burkle's announcement follows Friday's ruling by the 2nd District Court of Appeal, which reversed a lower court's dismissal of her suit."

"'Both of us regret that this family matter ended up in the hands of attorneys and the legal system. We have a good and loving relationship and trust we will resolve this amongst ourselves,' Burkle and her father said in a joint statement released by Frank Quintero, a spokesman for Ron Burkle."

"Carrie Burkle's lawsuit involves $14,783 she says her father gave her to buy a 1 percent interest in a company he formed to purchase art works in 1995. According to the suit, he told her the gift was actually a loan and demanded she pay it back. She said he had also paid himself more than $107,000 from her account."

"Her suit seeks an accounting of the company's financial records so that her interest can be cashed out and paid to her."

From our Together Again Files, GOP strategist Rick Clausen and CTA consigliare Gale Kaufman have announced they are teamin up to kill the Nurses' "clean money" initiative on the November ballot.

Consumer advocate Jamie Court blasted the pairing in a statement yesterday, saying "two of the most prolific special interest campaign givers in Sacramento, the big business lobby and the California Teachers Association, gave up their usual enmity and teamed up today to announce their opposition to campaign finance overhaul, California Proposition 89, on the November ballot.

Both groups will have to file campaign finance reports today showing the scope of their political contributions to candidates, which Proposition 89 virtually eliminates."