First of all I want to say that this is a great place to catch up on California Politics, bravo for starting this blog!

I have lived in California all of my life, first in San Francisco, then a few years in Monterey, and for the last 21 years San Jose has been my home.  During my 46 years in California there have been changes politically, swings to the right, swings to the left and some moderation popping up here and there.  Right now we are seeing an attempt by the GOP to swing our state to the right, and we have a Governor that is without a doubt unqualified to lead this state.

More….

If, like me, you are fed up with the lack of leadership from this governor, if you are ready to help take your state back, come to a “Call to Action” in San Jose this Saturday morning.

“Calls to Action” are organized by the county Democratic Party to help get out the vote in upcoming elections, to organize voter registration and to distribute information to voters on upcoming elections.  If you have two hours on Saturday, from 9 am to 11 am, come to the “Call to Action” and find out how you can help defeat Ahnold in November.

The “Call to Action” will be this Saturday, here are the details:

SCCDP Call to Action
10/08/2005 09:00am
Sheriff’s Auditorium, 55 Younger St., San Jose, Central San Jose

Hurricane Katrina has exposed fundamental differences between the Republican philosophy that renders government incapable of responding to national emergencies and the Democratic philosophy that government is the agent through which we strengthen society. Join our Call to Action to learn more about the failure of the Federal Government to respond adequately to the Hurricane and to find out why Arnold’s special election will help lead California down the same path. We will discuss actions that can be taken to help make people aware of the true nature of the Republican ideology and mobilize to Stop Arnold’s special interest agenda. Our guests include Meri Maben, District Chief of Staff for Congressman Mike Honda and Assemblyman Ira Ruskin.

If you can’t come Saturday, visit the Santa Clara County Democratic Party website (www.sccdp.org) and sign up for the newsletter or check the calendar for ongoing volunteer opportunities (you can also sign up online to volunteer).  

Hope I see you this Saturday!  

In a diary yesterday, a poll by SUSA concerning Arnold’s Props came to our attention. (Thanks Alliance!)  But now there appears to be a little controversy regarding that poll.  From today’s Mattier and Ross:

— And on Proposition 76, Survey USA found 59 percent going for the measure to allow the governor to cut spending if the state doesn’t have enough money to cover the tab.

Just last month, the Public Policy Institute poll found that only 26 percent of voters surveyed approved of the idea and 63 percent opposed it.

Why the difference?

Maybe it’s that the Survey USA question didn’t mention that school funding could be affected by the measure, “and that’s right in the ballot title,” said Field pollster Mark DiCamillo.

“We ask our question in 35 words. They ask their questions in 105 words,” responded Survey USA’s Jay Leve, adding that sometimes the actual ballot language is deliberately misleading.

It won’t come as a shock that Todd Harris from the governor’s team agreed with Survey USA’s take.

“People won’t be using the ballot language to make their decision,” Harris said. “They’ll be using what they hear in the television advertising.”

By the way, KPIX news bosses haven’t aired the poll just yet — they want to take a closer look at the data.

The numbers were suspiciously different from PPIC’s poll, and I guess we know why now.  No word as to why Prop77 was so different as well.  I’ll be eagerly waiting more polling data on the Props.