Some thoughts as we head to Tuesday:

• I thought I’d have time to put together a monthly roundup for May, but it never came together, and the primary is going to change those analyses a bit, so I’ll put something out after the primaries.

• I have to correct an error.  On Saturday I wrote that Marta Jorgensen had dropped out of the race in CA-24.  She had, but she recently got back into the race and is focusing on turning out new voters in Northern Santa Barbara County around Lompoc.  This is a crucial effort to activate Hispanic voters who traditionally have not turned out, and I both salute Ms. Jorgensen for her efforts and apologize for the error.  Hopefully she can visit Calitics and fill us in on that effort up in Lompoc.

• Doug Ose has loaned his campaign another $600,000 in the waning days before the GOP primary against Tom McClintock in CA-04.  This primary now exceeds $4 million dollars, and it’s hard to spend that much in that district.  McClintock pulled out of a debate earlier this week, and there was the Pete Wilson savaging as well.  Reading the tea leaves, I don’t think Ose would make that extra investment if he wasn’t close to nailing this down, but I could be wrong.

• In CA-03, Bill Durston offered comment on Dan Lungren’s Hawaiian pool party revealed this week by ABC News:

“Lungren’s behavior is disgusting. He claims to be a leader in ethics reform, then he turns around and subverts House ethics rules. This is just one of many examples of Lungren’s hypocrisy […] The people of the 3rd Congressional District deserve better representation than a career politician like Dan Lungren who sells out to special interests. I’ve been caring for the people of our district for over 25 years as an emergency physician. I believe we have an emergency in our government. I’m running for Congress to help restore government of, by, and for the people.”

I like it.  Durston is trying to put up a big number in the June 3 primary, despite running unopposed, to show his strength in this challenge.

• And it’s not primary-related, but I think we have the first ever Calitics mention in the LA Times in this story about Laura Richardson.  Hey guys, you could have used my name, it’s right above the title….

UPDATE (by Brian): I have said before that some of the IEs have really angered me. It seems that at least a couple of these annoying IEs have something in common: EdVoice. Chris Cabaldon’s former lobbying organization employer has been quite busy this year. In SD-23, they have the cheezy “Carbon-neutral voting” mailers.  In AD-8, EdVoice has gone all in for their former CEO, Cabaldon.  Randy Bayne has the story on a negative mailer on Mariko Yamada for supporting vocational education for mentally retarded Californians. Not cool.

The Leibham campaign has just wrapped up their week-long series of events honoring Memorial Day, which they called "Bring Our Troops Home Week." A summary of all the events is below the fold. It was my pleasure to join them for the highlight of the week, visiting patients at the VA hospital in La Jolla and delivering gift baskets.

The group was assigned to the spinal cord injury unit. Most of the patients were from the first Gulf War or Vietnam; La Jolla VA is a center of excellence for spinal cord injuries, so they were from all across the western states–Nevada, Colorado, Arizona to name a few. They travel to the La Jolla VA annually for 3-4 days filled with tests and evaluations. The medical care was universally praised. The food, not so much. One woman said she ordered her meals delivered from a variety of local restaurants! And many were especially grateful for the fudge included in Nick’s gift baskets.

Visitors are prohibited from campaigning, and the group was meticulous about observing these rules. But many patients eagerly broached the topic of politics on their own, sharing their anti-Bush sentiments. Of those who said anything, anti-Bush feelings were unanimous. Most of the time it came up in off-hand jokes/mocking/derision. The most heart-breaking was a veteran of the first Gulf War, a mother whose son is now in the military. She said she didn’t mind being deployed since it was her duty, but watching her son was too much for her. She choked up while expressing her hope for a new president with a new direction. Nick’s volunteer’s response was simply, “A lot of people are working really hard to make that happen.” Amen.

Although seeing paralyzed young guys back from Iraq was as every bit as harrowing as you would imagine it to be, it was–unexpectedly–seeing the aging veterans that hardened my resolve more than ever to get us out of Iraq. Seeing so many who weren’t really that old, but whose bodies were deteriorating in a thousand ways, well beyond their age, I began to realize how the subtler, more invisible damage of war can accumulate. A Vietnam veteran who escorted the group said that service[wo]men who have seen and survived combat still have 10-20 years shorter life expectancy than their civilian contemporaries. We have all heard how damaging stress is for the body–but seeing the evidence a few years down the road, and seeing it so starkly and visually…I have no words.

Nick spent a full hour and a half at the hospital. It was touching to see an emotion that maybe can best be described as resolve on his face during the visit. Now let me say that having spent several years as a twice-weekly volunteer at an emergency family housing shelter, we regulars developed a (admittedly somewhat elitist) contempt for the one-time feel-good volunteers. What bugged wasn’t that it was one-time–we all have different priorities–but the uncomfortable this is ickier than what I expected expression on the faces of so many. So bravo to Nick and co., who walked right in with confidence, real warmth and a sense of humor (and no icky expressions). Even for those with unusual abundance of tact and warm hearts, carrying on a normal chat with someone laying down and hooked up to various hospital machines is not easy. Double the difficulty when the war is so emotionally-charged. And–speaking just for myself here–triple the difficulty when there’s a whole foreign language going on between the veterans, having to do with their division, rank, assignments, specialties, friendly rivalries, and so on, that I’m largely clueless about. Nick has evidently spent enough time on military issues to be more fluent in this culture than I am.

Leibham’s Memorial Day/Bring Our Troops Home Week events:

• Monday: Nick will attend the Allied Veterans Council Annual Memorial Day ceremony in Escondido and the City of Solana Beach and VFW ceremony at the Veterans Memorial at La Colonia Community Park.
• Tuesday: Nick will release a statement condemning Bilbray’s recent vote against the G.I. Bill and our Veterans.
• Wednesday:  Nick and volunteers assemble care baskets for Iraq veterans at the VA Hospital.
• Thursday: Accompanied by members of Veterans for Peace and American Combat Veterans, Nick will personally deliver the care baskets to Veterans of the War in Iraq at the V.A. Medical Center in La Jolla.
• Friday: Nick will release a two-page statement on the War in Iraq emphasizing his commitment to a timetable to bring our troops home by 2009.

One thing I’d like to highlight is Leibham’s statement on Bilbray’s vote against the 2008 G.I. Bill. It is shameful that Bilbray and other Republicans would still walk lock-step with Bush on this war. But if they insist on doing so, the least they can do is also take the best possible care of our veterans. Bilbray voted against the 2008 G.I. Bill, which would allow our troops to attend college. He had the nerve to do this just a couple weeks before Memorial Day. I really can’t explain it–I don’t think Republicans realize how much trouble they will be in this Fall.

UPDATE: Now available in orange, please give it a rec.

(Full disclosure: I am connected with the Leibham campaign in that I signed up to be on their volunteer list. As it turns out, I've been too busy and/or lazy to actually ever do any volunteering. I support vigorous primary seasons. If you must know, on June 3rd, I'll be voting for Leibham.)

Disclosure, I’m proud to do some work for Mark Leno

From a press release:

Sierra Club protests deceptive Joe Nation campaign mailers

Illegal use of Sierra Club logo is trademark infringement

SAN FRANCISCO. May 31, 2008 – The Sierra Club has condemned deceptive campaign mailers for Joe Nation that falsely imply Sierra Club endorsement of Mr. Nation for State Senate District 3 in next Tuesday’s election. The Sierra Club also has protested the unauthorized, illegal use of its logo on campaign literature promoting Mr. Nation. The Sierra Club is demanding that these unethical and illegal activities cease immediately.

Resorting to deception usually belies weakness. Full release after the jump.

Sierra Club protests deceptive Joe Nation campaign mailers

Illegal use of Sierra Club logo is trademark infringement

SAN FRANCISCO. May 31, 2008 – The Sierra Club has condemned deceptive campaign mailers for Joe Nation that falsely imply Sierra Club endorsement of Mr. Nation for State Senate District 3 in next Tuesday’s election. The Sierra Club also has protested the unauthorized, illegal use of its logo on campaign literature promoting Mr. Nation. The Sierra Club is demanding that these unethical and illegal activities cease immediately.

Bay Area Political Chair John Rizzo spoke with Mr. Nation to inform him of the Sierra Club’s objections to the misleading mailer pieces.

Several of the mailers include the Sierra Club in a list of apparent endorsing organizations. They also falsely list the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) as supporting Nation. Another mailer uses the Sierra Club and LCV logos under the headline “You can’t get any greener than Joe Nation.”

Neither the Sierra Club nor the LCV has endorsed Joe Nation. The Sierra Club does not support Mr. Nation’s candidacy, and in April, presented incumbent Senator Carole Migden with the San Francisco Bay Chapter Environmental Stewardship Award. The League of Conservation Voters has endorsed Senator Migden, not Joe Nation.

The Nation campaign and several independent expenditures are putting out the deceptive material, which also falsely imply support of other organizations that have endorsed Mr. Nation’s opponents. The mailers that use the Sierra Club logo are paid for by a Sacramento-based, corporate-funded independent expenditure, Californians for Balance & Fairness in the Civil Justice System.

Mr. Nation and his supporters are sending the false messages in an attempt to deceive the public. The Sierra Club believes that such deceptive tactics violate at least the spirit of the California campaign practices laws. The Sierra Club has contacted the FPPC and is considering filing a complaint.

The Sierra Club logo is a registered trademark of the Sierra Club. The unauthorized reproduction of the Sierra Club logo is infringement on that trademark and is protected as such under the law.

The Sierra Club is America’s oldest and largest environmental group. (http://www.sierraclub.org) The San Francisco Bay Chapter represents 40,000 members in San Francisco, Marin, Alameda, and Contra Costa Counties. (http://sanfranciscobay.sierraclub.org/chapter/chapter_home.asp)