Daily Archives: March 28, 2006

Blog Roundup

News Roundup, 3/27/06

Nifty! A news roundup first thing in the morning. Whodathunkit? Teasers:Ad buy,debate set, debate silliness, salmon, student walkouts, new state revenue initative,Lake Tahoe.

  • I’m only going to mention 2 pieces of the many stories around Schwarzeneggers’ recent staged news event in the form of a small ad buy. The first is this brief and informative piece by an OC Register reporter which compares the claims made in the ad to actual facts and prior Schwarzenegger positions. The second is this Chron “blog’ entry by Carla Marinucci, which uncritically notes the existence of the ad and the pitch, and speaks only to Matthew Dowd, Schwarzenegger’s chief strategist. The Marinucci piece is particularly notable for its failure, even in this informal context, to report on the estimated size of the ad buy. One would think that a reporter charged with statewide political coverage might read at least Bill Bradley’s public stuff, and I’m sure there are insider newletters that say the same type of thing with more detail.

  • The SacBee reports that there will be at least one Angelides / Westly debate in Los Angeles, hosted by the League of Conservation Voters. Other debates continue to be the subject of pointlessly pointed semi-public argument between the two campaigns.

  • The Contra Costa Times reports that a federal judge has ordered that the Klamath River be allowed sufficient water to fully support its salmon run.

  • Tens of thousands of students walked out of schools in the Los Angeles area yesterday in support of the immigration rallies over the weekend.

  • Reed Hastings and John Doerr launch a signature drive for a parcel tax initiative — a direct strike at Proposition 13.

  • The Sacramento Bee reports on the plight of regular folks who live in Tahoe — even while vacation homes sit empty, they have a hard fime finding an affordable place to live. That’s John Doolittle country up there. Any guesses as to what kind of homes his developer contributors want to build?

That’s it for the news roundup today.

Uncategorized

Latest Polls CA-50

Two new CA-50 congressional race polls surfaced today. Both have similar results and both have much more immediate meaning for the crowded field of Republican challengers than they do for front running Democrat, Francine Busby.

A Lake Research poll, released today by the Busby campaign, conducted among likely voters on March 18-20, found Busby leading the pack with 39% of the projected vote.

Among her top three Republican rivals, Brian Bilbray came in at 15% with conservatives Howard Kaloogian and Eric Roach tied at 7%.

The rest of the Republican pack was far behind.  Big spender Alan Uke and state senator Bill Morrow at 4% and 3% respectively.

A Datamar poll, commissioned by local CBS affiliate KFMB, was conducted four days later than the Lake poll, also among likely voters. Datamar pegged Busby at 36%, but found the top three Republicans very closely clustered. According to Datamar, Bilbray and Roach were in a near dead heat, Bilbray at 11.7% and Roach at 11.2%, with Kaloogian barely trailing these two at 10.7%.

As with the Lake poll, the remainder of the predominantly Republican field is far behind the three Republican front runners. Morrow and Uke continue their lackluster performance at 4.8% and 3% respectively.

The Datamar poll leaves 3.6% undecided, where the Lake poll asks the undecided to select the candidate to which they are leaning.

At the heart of both polls is the reality that Busby is going to dominate the field in the special election and then have to go to battle with Bilbray, Roach or Kaloogian in June. Preliminary polls show that in a head-to-head contest between Busby and either Bilbray or Roach, the contest is too close to call.

On the Republican side, it is hard to determine if the ground Roach appears to have made up between the March 18-20 Lake poll and the March 22-24 Datamar poll is real or just within the two polls’ margin of error.

Blog Roundup, Environment

California Blog Roundup, 3/27/06

2 Comments

Today’s California Blog Roundup is on the flip. Too much stuff for teasers. Just have a look.

  • Frank Russo of California Progress Report reminds us to call our legislators to push for the minimum wage bills with inflation indexing. See also Hiram Johnson’s Corner, also at CalProgress.

  • Marc Cooper updates his post on the immigration marches over the weekend. Seriously, dump Pajamaline.

  • Apparently, I’m not the only one who got under Bill Bradley’s skin on the immigration issue. He has a post up semi-responding to Marc Cooper, but the comment thread is where all the action is. I’m sure that Bradley will be happy to know that his blowback theory is apparently also endorsed by Powerline. Bradley does have a good summary of the current gubernatorial candidates’ mostly non-responses to the marches.

  • The Citizens call for employers of undocumented immigrants to be rounded up and jailed. Demand reduction at its most direct. Americans always do seem to want to punish the lowest guy on the ladder.

  • The Talent Show has a less blunt approach, but is definitely worth a read.

  • MyDD on CA-50 polling. San Diego Politics says Busby is going after the McCain vote. Not something I would have thought of, but interesting.

  • Down With Tyranny tells us about the California Labor Federation’s endorsement of progressive candidate Louie Contreras, running against Duke Cunningham crony Jerry Lewis in CA-41. Also, they ask the question: “Is anyone in Congress more corrupt than John Doolittle?” It would be irresponsible not to speculate.

  • Dump Doolittle has a one-sided conversation with the wife of John Doolittle. Live by taking bribes for your husband, die the same way. Republican family values to warm the hardest heart.

  • Say No To Pombo has another go at the similarities to IL-06 and CA-11. They also flag the connection between the close of the salmon fishery and the dams on the Klamath. I wonder which side Pombo takes? Head of the Resources Committee, Assistant chair of the Ag Committee…

  • Gropinator is looking to help a vet get his benefits.

  • Blatherskite on housing prices in San Jose.

  • PomboWatch tells us about Pombo vs. Republicans on the question of immigration.

  • From the Capitol Observer, new official Schwarzenegger campaign ad: Arnold good for economy. Bradley notes this too, with what might be a bit of cheerleading in the comments.

  • Speak Out CA speaks out on the young culture warrior rally in SF over the weekend.
    • Uncategorized

    News Roundup, 3/27/06

    California News Roundup for today on the flip. Teasers: Pot, minimum wage, end of life choices, three strikes, State Senate District 35, CA-50, salmon, immigration, stem cells, and the race for lieutenant governor.

    Bay Area

    President Carter Gives Us Great Ammo to Use!

    crossposted from The Political Dogfight

    In his second DKos diary, former President Jimmy Carter was answering questions that had been posted in his first diary about his son Jack’s run for the Nevada Senate seat. Amazing…just like you would expect….he came back like a Southern Gentleman and answered those he found most important or interesting to him.

    One question was what a Blue State resident to do to help the elections in a Red State. Essentially he said that he had been asked by a schoolgirl why she should be a Democrat. He asked her the following questions and suggests we do the same to everyone who questions our cause:

    • I asked her a series of questions that all bloggers should use in
      discussions      :
    • Do you prefer peace or war?

    • Do favor tax breaks for the
      richest Americans or working families?

    • Would you rather destroy the
      environment or protect it?
    • Do you approve the torture of prisoners?

    • Do
      you think our government should secretly spy on your family?

    • Do you
      think we should abandon every nuclear arms control agreement negotiated
      since Dwight Eisenhower was president?

    • Do you approve of your part of
      the national debt now being $28,000 and increasing by $300 each month?
    • Do you think we should meld religion and government?

    She gave me the
    Democratic answer to all the questions, and I believe that most
    Americans will agree, no matter if their state is red or blue.

    The Big Dog agrees with President Carter completely. Like my Easy Points series I wrote last year where every issue was poll validated and every issue was supported by a majority of American across party lines, it is this kind of forward thinking, forward thinking that we need to carry in our minds or on a small wallet sized card so we get the words right.

    Few really want what we have today. It is just so bloody hard for anyone to admit that 15-20 year of beliefs have lead them and our nation to the near collapse of our freedom.

    Is that an overstatement? Yes…most likely. But I hate the ‘most likely’ part of it.
    Think of these and memorize them if you can…then the next time someone starts to disagree ask them if you can simply pose a series of easy questions and get their honest answers. It could be one of our most powerful tools.   TBD