The general election has begun.  On a random Thursday night, when most political junkies were watching POW McCain’s cottage cheese and lime Jello speech at the RNC convention, in a town notoriously hard to get anywhere in on time, 2,000 people showed up at the opening of Barack Obama’s first campaign office in Southern California.

There were a couple speeches from locals (Eric Garcetti, Harb Wesson, Mark Ridley-Thomas, and a couple others) at the beginning, and they handed out a few yard signs and bumper stickers, but basically, this was an office opening.  Just a walk-through of the building.  And the campaign sent only one email out about it, with just 24 hours advance notice.

Two thousand people.

Wow.

over…

Practically every local TV station in L.A. was out there, including a NEWS CHOPPER.  It basically turned into a block party, with supporters waving signs at passersby on the street.  But there was also some positive work being done.  Most of the people who turned out to the event signed up to volunteer, whether by phone banking or traveling to Nevada.  It’s a large enough office to handle a lot of volunteers at once.  And they are organized and ready.

I was able to talk with Mitchell Schwartz, who will be the California Field Director for the next two months.  He said the goal of the office was to win California, and then help Nevada.  So there will be legitimate actions taken here to increase turnout, which bodes well for the propositions and downticket races, even though the Obama campaign will strictly be trying to identify and turn out Obama voters.  The CDP is running a coordinated campaign for downticket (they had their opening in Santa Monica on the same night, which kind of shows how the two entities aren’t really working together).

What’s more, Schwartz told me that there are going to be up to 10 field offices opening in California over the next week or two, including 3-4 more in the SoCal area (East LA and San Bernardino are likely to get one, among other locations).  There will be places to work.

There was a genuine excitement last night.  I think what we’re seeing on the ground post-Palin is a real determination to get to work.  There is a backlash to the conservative culture war backlash they are trying to ride to victory.  The community organizer slur in Republican speeches on Wednesday continues to be a rallying cry for Democrats, spawning viral videos and major media coverage.

For community organizers, the Republican vice presidential candidate didn’t just drag their profession through the mud, she mocked the entire belief that Americans can’t collectively work to solve problems.

“I think it demonstrated that they don’t take common people seriously,” says Gonzalez. “They put all their trust and faith in themself and other electeds… just elect me and I’m gonna fix your problems. Who believes that?” […]

“I think it was a cute line that she felt like she could deliver,” says Gonzalez. But, “it invites a contempt for organized Americans, and I think that is incredibly dangerous and short-sighted.”

The denigration of community organizing really hit a nerve, and I think now there’s a common opponent, one that’s bigger than McCain and more visceral.  “We’re going to show everyone what community organizing is about,” said one attendee to me.  I think  Jon Stewart summed it up best, as per usual:

So to everyone out there trying to make a difference in your communities, FUCK YOU!  You stupid asses!  You jerk-offs!  You know what you are?  You’re a thousand points of bullshit, that’s what you are.  By the way, if it seems odd that the GOP was denigrating community service, the night after making “service” their slogan… you’re confused.  Those Republicans were not praising service with those signs, they were demanding it from the waitstaff.

(Never underestimate the ability of Republicans to keep two contradictory notions in their head at the same time.  Indeed, in last night’s address, John McCain appeared to flip back to advocacy for community service and community organizing.  They are for service, except when it’s done to help scary black people.  That’s basically it in a nutshell.)

This is no joke.  The Obama campaign raised $10 million in one day this week, after a fundraising email explicitly mentioned the slur on community organizing.  That speaks volumes.  People are energized and fired up.  The spirit of 2004, as Van Jones termed it at the DNC last week, is back.  We almost carried a weaker candidate over the line that year because everybody worked together and did whatever they could to win.  And now we’re seeing that to the nth degree, with better organization and more energy.

Go out and get involved.

NOTE: Because I never gave it out, the Los Angeles HQ is at 3619 Motor Ave. in the Culver City area.

With all the talk about cutting into Prop 98, the minimum education spending requirement, we get this latest news on our schools:

California schools, required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act to lift more students over a higher academic hurdle this year, instead stumbled and slipped back, as nearly 1,400 fewer schools met test-score targets.(SF Chronicle 9/4/08)

Now, much of the blame should be laid at the feet of the terrible No Child Left Behind Act. Its focus on testing, testing, testing is antithetical to actual learning.  That being said, our failures can also be linked to our low level of spending on education. We are 46th in the nation.  46th!

Prop 98 is a minimum, not the proper level of spending.  We should be funding education at a far higher per pupil level than the slightly greater than $7K/year we currently spend.  Yet, we want to borrow from Prop 98 funds again? Prop 98 should be irrelevant because we spend so much more than that floor.

You may remember that Arnold Schwarzenegger sued John Chiang in state court to follow his order, and his dream, of cutting all state worker salaries to the minimum wage while we wait for a budget.  The court date was set for September 12, which salvaged the salaries for the month of August.  Chiang’s next move was to partner with some labor allies and move the lawsuit into the federal courts.  This not only would delay the question of whether or not Chiang needs to follow the order, but removes a serious liability problem for the state, because if they slashed salaries per a state court order and then had it overturned by the feds, they would be on the hook for expensive penalties and payments.  

Now, this has become complete, with the state canceling the September 12 court date.

This afternoon, controller spokesman Jacob Roper delivered this bit of news via e-mail to the State Worker:

Since the case has moved to the Federal court, the Sept 12th superior court hearing will not be held. A group of labor organizations has filed a motion to move the case from the Eastern Federal district to the Northern district, and a hearing on that motion is scheduled for October 31.

Roper also restated the controller’s position that cutting salaries to minimum wage would be a massive, time-consuming reprogramming task, “so there is no reason to believe that minimum wage checks would be issued anytime soon.”

While the lingering budget crisis is still incredibly painful for all manner of Californians, with missed payments sure to come if nothing is settled by the end of the month, at least the state workers have John Chiang in their corner, fighting for their interests.  And this is mirrored by the stirring testimony of everyday workers who are losing their benefits and the control of their lives as the Yacht Party turns up its nose and turns its back on the people.  John Chiang is doing his part, and Republican rank and file citizens are putting on the pressure in selected districts; the only way to ultimately win this fight is at the ballot box.