Today the Sacramento Bee reported on Dan Lungren's latest conflict of interest. While Karl Rove's shadowy front group tries to bail out Lungren in a tough election, the Congressman advocates for unlimited corporate campaign spending. Even worse, if Lungren does win reelection and becomes Chairman of the House Administration Committee, he would have jurisdiction over campaign finance regulation -- Lungren would be responsible for regulating the same shadowy corporations that are funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars to save him.
This news comes just one week after Karl Rove and Big Oil billionaires invaded our living rooms, laundering over $690,000 through Rove's shadowy slush fund, American Crossroads, hoping to hijack our election through false and misleading advertisements.
It's not surprising that Big Oil is protecting Lungren - he's taken $84,950 from oil and gas companies, then does their bidding in Congress - voting to give Big Oil $2.6 billion in tax breaks.
It's also not surprising that Karl Rove is working for Dan Lungren, since Lungren's opposition to transparency paved the way for American Crossroads. Lungren voted against the DISCLOSE Act to require transparency in corporate campaign spending, and applauded the Citizens United Supreme Court decision on the floor of the House. These actions set the stage for American Crossroads to launder billions from the mega corporations who are corrupting our government. Even more egregious, Lungren accepted $15,000 from Citizens United, and is even starring in an incendiary Citizens United film alongside Ann Coulter.
It's not surprising that Karl Rove and Big Oil want to keep Dan Lungren in Congress. But we have a surprise for them, because Rove and Lungren have forgotten the most important part of our democracy: you - and thousands of voters just like you. We don't support shadowy corporations polluting our democracy, and we won't stand by while Karl Rove tries to hijack our election.
You are the strongest weapon we have against American Crossroads, and we need you now. Please, support us in any way you can, and together, we will fight back against Karl Rove and his corporate billionaires, and we will bring the kind of change our country needs.
President Obama is coming to LA tomorrow for a rally on the campus of USC, and he is bringing along a nice little endorsement for the people of the state: No on Prop 23.
"The president is opposed to Prop. 23 -- a veiled attempt by corporate polluters to block progress towards a clean energy economy," White House spokesman Adam Abrams announced Wednesday. "If passed, the initiative would stifle innovation, investment in R&D; and cost jobs for the state of California."
But it is not just about the Golden State. Abrams added, "The impacts could affect us all. If successful, corporate special interests will set their sights nationwide."
The White House might well be worried: Both proponents and opponents of the measure, which would suspend the implementation of California's sweeping global warming law, say that as California goes, so go national prospects for climate change legislation. (LA Times)
Though nationally Obama may have some approval issues, he is still quite popular here. Prop 23 is looking at an extremely steep hill to climb to get anywhere near passage. And just to make that hill steeper, here comes Bill Gates.
Bill Gates isn't the world's richest man anymore, that title belongs to Mexico's Carlos Slim. (Or at least it did at the time of Forbes' World Billionares list) At any rate, nobody's crying for Gates and his $54 Billion net worth built on the Microsoft empire.
But it is nice to see that Gates, beyond his vast network of charitable giving, has found some time for a decent spot of political giving this year:
Bill Gates, the nation's wealthiest man, has donated $700,000 to the campaign opposing the rollback of the state's landmark climate change law.
Gates donation comes as the Obama administration has expressed its opposition to the rollback initiative and a poll released today by the Public Policy Institute of California indicates that fewer Californians support the measure.
"This shows that the leaders of the new economy realize just how important clean energy and clean air are to competing in the world economy," said Steve Maviglio, spokesman for the No on 23 committee.(SacBee)
Just for comparisons sake. If you had $100,000 in savings, his $700,000 of his $54B fortune would be comparable to you putting in $1.29 for No on 23. So...Mr. Gates...$1.29? Really?
At any rate, we really need to be focusing on Props 25/26 at this point. The state desperately needs a government with power to do something. And a Yes vote on 25 for a majority vote budget along with a No on 26 for supermajority on fees, perhaps we can get there.
Sen. Jenny Oropeza, who was elected in 2006, has passed away after struggling with illness over the past few months. She was just 53.
She is still listed on the ballot for re-election in the 28th Senate district. But as of right now, I do not know how the party can go about changing the nominee. If anybody has any idea on that, please let me know.
The latest PPIC poll is out and it shows Democratic candidates Jerry Brown and Barbara Boxer still ahead of their Republican opponents. PPIC has Brown over Whitman 44-36 and Boxer over Fiorina 43-38. Those numbers are roughly similar to the SurveyUSA numbers from earlier this week, although Boxer's lead is larger according to PPIC.
Before we get to their polling on the ballot propositions, it's worth spending a moment to explain why Brown and Boxer have leads. As Calbuzz points out:
Despite her massive spending - which is expected to reach $180 million - Republican Whitman has been unable to break away from Democrat Brown except among Republicans, conservatives and Southern Californians outside of Los Angeles....
In the race for U.S. Senate, Boxer commands Democrats, Women, Latinos, liberals and - importantly - moderates. She also kills Republican Fiorina in Los Angeles and the Bay Area.
They also note that whereas Whitman and Brown are evenly tied among men and whites, Fiorina has a lead with both groups, keeping her in the game, if ever so slightly.
Perhaps in 1910 California that would have been enough - since white men made up the majority of the electorate (women couldn't vote and nonwhite men were a small portion of the electorate). But here in 2010, California is a far more diverse place. And you can't win an election by being what Allan Hoffenblum called "a white man's party":
Allan Hoffenblum, a former Republican consultant who publishes the California Target Book, which handicaps legislative and congressional races, says the GOP "is still perceived as a white man's party. And the fastest-growing group of voters is people of color. Every time they hear angry rhetoric about immigration, it's coming out of Republicans."
As we've explained numerous times here at Calitics over these last 5 years, this is an accurate description of the California Republican Party. It is a party whose base hates Latinos, does not believe women deserve basic rights to control their own bodies, and wants to treat LGBT Californians like second-class citizens. That is not a party that is electable in this state, and the Democrats' dominance of statewide elections since 1996 merely reinforces the point.
This is something that Arnold Schwarzenegger well understood. He realized that a Republican could not get elected statewide if they espoused anti-Latino, anti-gay, anti-woman sentiments. And yet the only reason Arnold became governor was he did not have to run in a GOP primary on his way to becoming governor.
Meg Whitman did. And therein lay her downfall. She had to prove to her "white man's party" base that she too hated Latinos, and she tried to do so during her battle against Steve Poizner while not going so far toward racism that she alienated the Latino votes she would need to win the general election. As it turned out, Whitman's anti-Latino attitudes persisted into the general election, with her shocking attack on a Latino student being just one example of how Whitman shares the anti-Latino values of her base.
Carly Fiorina has been even more overt in her courting of the "white man's party" base, praising teabaggers and denying global warming. And while it's given her a small lead among those white men (thankfully not all of us are ignorant bigots) it's not enough to win in a state as diverse as California.
Prop 19
Prop 23
Prop 24
Prop 25
Yes:
44
37
31
49
No:
49
48
38
34
So that's the good news from PPIC. What's the bad news? Well, the ballot propositions aren't looking so great, as you can see at right. PPIC polled those four propositions (wish they'd also polled Prop 26) and found that voters aren't really fired up about any of them. Prop 19 is in worse shape here than in SurveyUSA, and Prop 25 is "stuck in neutral" according to KQED's John Myers. Prop 23 is failing, thankfully, but Prop 24 should be doing much better.
There's still a long way to go over the next dozen or so days before the election, and it's very important that progressives get engaged to make sure we win.
Brought to you by the good folks at PowerPAC, a good overview of Kamala Harris's efforts to stop Prop 8. Her opponent in the Attorney General's race, Steve Cooley, has pledged to defend Prop 8 in court.
After years of abuse, Judith finally separated from her husband. In retaliation, he broke into her apartment, wrote obscenities on the walls, tore apart furniture, and smeared excrement all over Judith's belongings. The following week, the property manager of Judith's apartment building told her she was being evicted for damaging the unit. Even after learning what happened, the manager still evicted Judith and her baby from the apartment.
Judith's experience is not unique. Across the state, domestic violence victims face eviction for the disturbances that result from their abuse. Landlords have relied upon the nuisance clause of standard rental agreements to evict victims and their families. The problem with this practice is that, in addition to suffering abuse, when they lose their homes, domestic violence victims are pushed further into isolation and instability. In California, domestic violence is one of the leading causes of homelessness for women and families. The children of evicted victims suffer perhaps the greatest consequences, including trauma, poor school performance, and other health and social issues.
This week will bring a lot of new polling on the November 2 statewide election, and it begins with SurveyUSA:
Governor
Brown: 47%
Whitman: 40%
Undecided: 5%
SurveyUSA says this is the lowest level of support for Whitman since July, but also that among those who have returned their ballots, the spread is much closer (likely because conservatives tend to vote earliest).
Their numbers on the Senate race show a closer contest:
US Senate
Boxer: 46%
Fiorina: 44%
Undecided: 4%
What SurveyUSA found regarding this race was very interesting: that not only are Democrats more motivated to vote in this election, but that Boxer is benefiting from a Prop 19 effect:
In California, the opposite. Uniquely motivated 2010 voters are more Democratic, turning a 4-point Democratic advantage among habitual voters in the race for Governor into the 7-point Democratic advantage that SurveyUSA reports here; turning a 2-point Democratic advantage among habitual voters in the Lieutenant Governor's contest into the 6-point Democratic advantage SurveyUSA reports here, and turning a 2-point advantage for "Yes" on marijuana into the 4-point "Yes" advantage that SurveyUSA reports here. But in the Senate contest: the incumbent Democrat trails by 4 points among habitual voters, and nominally leads by the 2 points that SurveyUSA reports here only when these uniquely motivated voters are included. Subject to the limitations of a small sample size, the data may suggest that what is motivating uniquely motivated Californians is marijuana. Uniquely motivated voters vote 7:4 to decriminalize marijuana. The even smaller subset of uniquely motivated voters interviewed on a cellphone is voting 12:1 "Yes" on marijuana. Are the "Yes" on marijuana voters the tail wagging Barbara Boxer's dog? This is more plausible to SurveyUSA than the reverse, which would be that 3-term incumbent Boxer has a unique tractor-beam in 2010 that is drawing to the polls otherwise disaffected voters who just happen to be pushing Proposition 19 over the top. [emphasis mine]
SurveyUSA's conclusion is that control of the entire US Senate may rest on Prop 19. Perhaps it's time to kick some money toward the Yes on Prop 19 campaign? That proposition clings to a 48-44 lead, according to SurveyUSA.
Finally, the poll found that Gavin Newsom has a 43-37 lead over Abel Maldonado for the Lt. Governor's seat.
More polling will come out tonight from PPIC, and later this week, from Field.
Crossposted from the Prop 8 trial tracker. I should note that I am the Public Policy Director at the Courage Campaign.
The Courage Campaign and HRC released a new video ad today asking Californians to call senate candidate Carly Fiorina and demand she reject the extremism of NOM - one of her campaign's biggest financial backers. The ad - running on the websites of the LA Times, Sacramento Bee and San Francisco Chronicle - features disturbing clips of NOM supporters from rallies, in which they can be seen and heard calling for the murder of gays and lesbians.
Fiorina recently refused to condemn a Spanish-language NOM-backed ad supporting her, despite PolitiFact.com labeling the ad's content as false. It's no surprise - NOM has poured more than $220,000 into expenditures supporting her campaign. But confronted with the hateful messages of NOM's supporters, will Fiorina do the right thing or continue bowing to special interest dollars from outside of the state?
You can help us expand the ad buy by making a $25 contribution to the Courage Campaign, so that more people can learn the truth about the extremism of Carly Fiorina's supporters.
Here are excerpts from the Courage Campaign/HRC press release:
"Californians deserve to know the truth about the out-of-state extremist group that's allied itself with Carly Fiorina," said Courage Campaign Chairman and Founder Rick Jacobs. "Time and again, the National Organization for Marriage has shown itself to be one of the most toxic elements in the political process, willing to use any means, -- including tolerance of hate speech and refusal to comply with federal tax and election laws -- to advance an agenda that advocates discrimination against millions of loving families and promotes an environment that leads LGBT teens to take their own lives."
"Will Carly Fiorina continue to associate herself with a radical fringe group like the National Organization for Marriage, or will she reject the anti-gay animus NOM stands for?" asked Joe Solmonese, HRC president.
The ad also highlights NOM's ongoing legal problems, which include refusing to comply with the election and disclosure laws of nearly a half dozen states, including California, as well as funneling charitable resources into political campaigns. The latter was the subject of a September 20th story in the Washington Independent, as well as an IRS complaint that the Human Rights Campaign and Courage Campaign filed against NOM's San Diego based tax-exempt arm, called the Ruth Institute, last week.
In a truly shocking and stunning development, Garry South has made a self-serving statement cluelessly attacking California Democrats:
After we fought through the line of folks there to kiss Willie's ring afterwards, we asked the Da Mayor about something one of the morning's speakers, former Gov. Gray Davis campaign czar Garry South, said about the lack of a Democratic ground operation.
South, who also ran Brown's erstwhile primary opponent Gavin Newsom's gov campaign, also praised Republican Meg Whitman for setting up an "operation unlike anything we've ever seen in California."
Willie agreed -- about the Dems.
"I do not believe that Jerry Brown has a ground operation," Willie said. He also wonders if it is a good idea for the Dems to rely so heavily on labor for their ground operation.
Now it IS true that Whitman has a strong ground game. I saw it here in SD-15 over the summer when it was used to help elect Sam Blakeslee in the special election. But South and Willie Brown are dead wrong when they say there's nothing to counter it. Here's John Burton's response:
Dem Party chair John Burton told us in plain Burtonese: "Willie Brown is full of (poo-poo). And Garry South never liked any politician who wasn't paying him. So you've got two full of (poo-poo) guys who aren't relevant to anything in this campaign talking about it."
In defending the Dems ground operation, Burton said "We've already made 1 million calls and have about 80 headquarters and thousands of volunteers. But Willie Brown wouldn't know that because he's too busy patting himself on the back."
CDP Executive Director (and all-around awesome person) Shawnda Westly hit back hard as well:
"In eight years he's done nothing of note and it's no surprise that Garry's on the sidelines in one of the most competitive races in history," she said. "He simply doesn't know what's happening in the current Democratic Party."
Beyond the quotes, there is plenty of evidence that South is full of it and Willie Brown clueless. Brown has a major financial disparity with Whitman, and so he had to concentrate his spending on messaging, including TV ads. At the same time, the Democratic National Committee in the form of OFA, the CDP itself, and the labor movement do indeed have a significant ground operation. It doesn't have to be housed within the Brown campaign - the division of labor (Brown does message, the others do field) is a sensible way to share the burden with the resources we've got.
In addition to those efforts, other progressive groups in California, like Courage Campaign (where I work as Public Policy Director) and CREDO Action, Planned Parenthood, and the huge coalition of groups organized to fight Prop 23 are doing work to turn out the progressive base. These groups are not engaged in any coordination with a campaign for elected office, and haven't made any endorsements in the governor's race. But that's another significant turnout operation that may well, if unintentionally, impact the governor's race.
So why would Garry South trash Jerry Brown's chances? Is it pure spite? Or might the fact that he worked with Whitman campaign flack Mike Murphy on the right-wing JOBSPAC effort in the 2004 generation election have something to do with it?
Garry South has a record unblemished by success. It's no wonder he's lashing out at the Brown campaign, which according to campaign manager Steve Glazer now has a 7 point lead in the latest SurveyUSA poll. This election isn't over, and Whitman is still a serious threat to California's future - but at least we know that Garry South is, once again, full of it.
"California public employees, both state and local, are not overpaid," the report states. Based on its research, state workers make about seven percent less in wages than private sector counterparts, but their benefits are better, so there is "no significant difference" between the two. ...
Translation: California gets its public workforce at discounted wages that it makes up for with benefits like pensions. Without those benefits, state workers are just getting ripped off for about 7% of the value of their work. Either way, the state is getting a good deal.
Jerry Brown is out with a devastating new ad that shows Meg Whitman and Arnold Schwarzenegger are, word for word, offering the same kind of failed policies and solutions for California's problems.
Pointing to the familiar echo voters are hearing from billionaire Meg Whitman on the campaign trail, the Jerry Brown for Governor Campaign today released a new television ad that features a montage of video clips in which the candidate repeats, rehashes and repackages the same talking points and utterances as our current Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
"Meg Whitman said it herself, 'Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and hoping for different results,'" said Brown for Governor Campaign Manager Steven Glazer. "Yet, the Long Island native has had no qualms about recycling the same platitudes, repackaging the same campaign events and rehiring the same high priced consultants as the state's current Governor."
The Brown Campaign's television ad began airing statewide today.
This ad is devastating not just because it shows Whitman has no new ideas and inexperienced, but also because it ties her directly to one of the most unpopular governors in state history. Arnold Schwarzenegger's approval rating is at or below the lows reached by Gray Davis before his recall.
So for Whitman to be shown to be a clone of the unpopular incumbent is a huge blow to her flailing campaign, and in a statewide buy, should help solidify Brown's lead as we head into the final two weeks of the campaign.
UPDATE: The ad aired in the Bay Area during the Giants-Phillies playoff game this afternoon, so that's a significant - and not cheap - buy for this ad.
Fasten your seatbelts: EMILY's List is going all out in these last two weeks before the election for Sen. Barbara Boxer, one of our strongest progressive advocates. Our WOMEN VOTE! project in California is hitting the airwaves and reaching out to women voters to spread the truth about Carly Fiorina: she'd be disastrous for women and for California.
This race is a dead heat for one reason and one reason alone: women voters don't have the information they need about Carly Fiorina. From her courtship of the Tea Party and Sarah Palin to her catastrophic tenure at HP - and her unwillingness to make job creation a priority - Carly Fiorina's real agenda would be devastating to women and their families in California and throughout the country.
Team EMILY, our new volunteer program, will have over 400 women making calls to potential drop-off women voters throughout California. Why? Our research makes it clear: these women voters need trusted information and explanation of why their votes matter. They need to know about Carly's extreme agenda: repealing health care reform and taking away women's rights to make their own health care choices.
Our effort, talking to voters and getting on TV, highlights Carly's long record of failure: axing 33,000 jobs while at HP; shipping nearly 10,000 jobs overseas; and floating away with a $42 million golden parachute after getting fired and leaving her company in tatters. "Opera," our hard-hitting ad that shows voters Carly's true colors, will be airing largely in LA, including shows like Good Morning America, Access Hollywood, Judge Judy, Dancing With the Stars, Dr. Phil, Letterman, and evening news programs. Watch our spot for yourself:
Back in August, Tom McClintock made some not too excited remarks about Meg Whitman. Seems the election approaching hasn't really changed his mind on that front: Meg Whitman is just not loyal enough to ummm...McClintockianism...
McClintock - a tea party favorite with a strong libertarian streak - had particularly hash words for his party's nominee for governor, former eBay CEO Meg Whitman. Asked about Whitman following his remarks, McClintock suggested she is not loyal to the "principles of the American Founders," and said he agrees with her Democratic opponent Jerry Brown as much as he agrees with Whitman:
My loyalty is to the principles of the American Founders. My loyalty to the Republican party and to its candidates extends only so far as they are loyal to those principles. And I don't see that in the current ticket. Two of the people on the Republican ticket were singularly responsible for biggest tax increase by any state in American history. These are Whitman's handpicked running mates. [...]
I look at all of these things and I realize I agree with her maybe 20 percent of the time. I agree with Jerry Brown about 20 percent of the time. I agree with the libertarians about 80 percent of the time. So I'm not making an endorsement, particularly for that!(Think Progress)
Must be hard to live up to the pure principles that exist only in the mind of Tom McClintock, but on the other hand, I'm sure it is an awesome place.
