Political strategist Mike Murphy, the $90,000-a-month architect of billionaire Meg Whitman's unsuccessful
run for governor, says his candidate was pulled under by the "blue riptide" of the Republican wave and the power of unions."
From the LA Times' Shane Goldmacher: "Murphy was previously the mastermind behind Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger's failed
2005 special election –- in which voters rejected every measure on the ballot
–- after unions spent millions of dollars against him."
"The
big unions in the last couple of years have spent $300 million on
politics," Murphy said. "So, you either can't raise
enough money to
compete, and they swamp you ... or you spend your own
money, but if you're a
self-funder, the press wants to make that money the issue."
Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley has taken a widening lead in the battle for state attorney
general over San Francisco D.A. Kamala Harris.
From the LAT's David Lauter: "As of 4 p.m. Sunday, the total vote reported by the
state's 58 counties was 3,674,137 for Cooley and 3,647,682 for Harris. Those figures differ from those reported by the secretary
of state, whose website has lagged behind on reports
from a number of counties."
"The lead in the attorney general’s race has see-sawed
between the two candidates since election night, and
with considerably more
than 1 million ballots remaining to count, could easily reverse
again."
Meanwhile, Backers of legalized marijuana, who lost
at the polls last week, aren't giving up the fight, reports Jim Miller of the Riverside Press Enterprise.
"California voters likely have not seen the last of
efforts to legalize marijuana despite last week's defeat
of Prop. 19. Legalization
advocates are weighing a return to the ballot in 2012."
And the
author of an unsuccessful Assembly bill to legalize
pot intends to introduce
similar legislation early next year. "We
had a debate that was just heard around the world.
The conversation has only
begun," Dale Jones, a yes-on-Prop. 19 spokeswoman, said after Tuesday's
election."
And more on pot: California Watch's Bob Salladay takes a look at the reasons why Proposition 19 was rejected.
"Indeed, the biggest marijuana-producing counties,
Humboldt and Mendocino, voted with the rest of the state – roughly 47 percent in support and about 53
percent opposed. Pot-rich Trinity County voted against the measure by an
even
larger margin, about 40 percent to 60 percent. Only 11 counties – including San
Francisco and Alameda – voted to approve the initiative."
"Prop. 19 undoubtedly failed because some of the
state's largest counties voted against it, not sparsely
populated areas in
Northern California. But that's not stopping supporters
of the initiative from
lashing out at pot producers in the so-called Golden Triangle."
Economists take a look at the GOP's national surge
and ponder on the ability of House Republicans to solve
the nation's economic ills. The Union-Tribune's Roger Showley samples the pros' opinions.
"Extending the tax cuts would help, but it would also
make
it more difficult to reduce the deficit. The deficit
is a long-term concern,
but the bigger problem in the short-run is the high unemployment rate, which is
hurting consumer spending and keeping economic growth
slow."
"Three steps I think
would help are: Keep the tax cuts for those making less than $250,000 a year...Have a payroll tax holiday for employers,
which would lower the cost of hiring
employees."
Speaking of economics, the Air Resources Board is poised to consider new rule
regulating diesel emissions, after the an earlier round of regulations came under
scientific and political fire.
From Marc Grossi in the Fresno Bee: "In December, the governing board of the Air Resources
Board will consider staff recommendations to delay
the new truck requirement to January 2017."
"Air officials are not backing off the requirements
for pollution reduction from diesel. With federal air
cleanup deadlines approaching throughout the next decade,
they have no choice."
And finally, from our "Sticky Fingers" file, robbers go after an Illinois bank, do their
thing and get caught. But there's a big problem: Thousands of dollars of the swag is still missing,
and the FBI is trying to figure out what happened to
all that dough.
"Police recovered $77,200 from a blue backpack the robbers
dropped, and $27,319 from a pink bag they abandoned in the lot, but an
audit of
the bank revealed $112,067 was lost "during the robbery," according
to the charges. That leaves $7,548 unaccounted for."
"We're still investigating," said FBI spokesman
Ross Rice, adding that the bank is doing another audit
and that investigators
don't know if the other money "blew away."
"... said that as police rushed to the scene, McCallister
ordered 10 customers and staff into the vault and held them there
for a few minutes while a bank teller filled the bags
with cash. Jones struck a woman in the head with her
gun when the woman failed to comply with her command,
the FBI said."
Bet one of those customers has the money...
