DiFi, who will become Chair of the Senate Rules Cmte, and Barbara Boxer, who will become Chair of the Environment Cmte. overturned Rep. Duncan Hunter’s provision to keep non-native deer and elk hunting on Santa Rosa Island.  The new agreement will allow access to the island for recreational purposes.  Hunter had wanted the island closed off for private hunting for several groups over the years.  Hopefully with his quixotic run for the presidency in 2008 and the Dem majority, this will be the last we hear of this stupid hunting on Santa Rosa Island B.S.

Full press release over the flip.

  http://feinstein.sen…

Feinstein-Boxer Amendment to MilCon/VA Appropriations Bill

Would Ensure Santa Rosa Island Remains Open to Public

Washington, DC ? U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer (both D-Calif.) today announced that the Senate has approved their amendment to the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill repealing a provision in the FY2007 Defense Authorization bill that sought to restrict public access to Santa Rosa Island.

Senator Feinstein is the ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Sub-Committee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs.

?Today, we cleared a major hurdle in the effort to repeal Representative Hunter?s provision that would have allowed private hunting to limit the use of Santa Rosa Island by the general public,? Senator Feinstein said.  ?With this amendment we can ensure this beautiful part of the Channel Islands National Park remains open and its wildlife will be enjoyed by all for years to come.?

?This amendment corrects a terrible mistake that should never have been made in the first place.  With today?s victory in the Senate, we are one step closer to protecting Santa Rosa Island and keeping this natural treasure open for Californians and all Americans,? Senator Boxer said.

?I want to thank Senators Feinstein and Boxer for continuing to work with me to protect public access to Santa Rosa Island,? said Representative Lois Capps (D-Calif), who represents the coastal area where the islands are located.  ?Their amendment to repeal Chairman Hunter’s proposal to continue hunting on Santa Rosa Island indefinitely will ensure that the public will be able to enjoy full access to its National Park.?

Senators Feinstein and Boxer?s amendment repeals a provision, sponsored by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), which effectively limited public access to the island by extending the practice of allowing privately organized deer and elk hunting expeditions.  These hunts require the closure of about 90 percent of the island to the general public for about four to five months each year.

Representative Hunter?s measure also prevented the National Park Service from carrying out a court-approved settlement to remove non-native deer and elk from Santa Rosa Island by 2011.  According to the National Park Service, the deer and elk herds pose a threat to the island?s 11 endangered species, including the bald eagle, rare plants, and native birds and fox.

Well, brace yourself dear readers.  John Doolittle has withdrawn his candidacy for the House Republican Conference Secretary. I previously noted John Doolittle’s attempt to maintain his status as a leader in the House GOP.  Apparently Doolittle feels that his narrow victory over netroots hero Charlie Brown should be a sign that he needs to lavish favors upon his district for a couple of years.  Oh yeah, I’m sure the GOP wasn’t thrilled by the corruption charges that will likely bring an indictment soon.  Other Republicans are likely to be wary of electing a man that is almost synonymous with corruption in his district. 

So, why not turn to the Congressman next door, Dan Lungren? 

Rep. Dan Lungren, who earlier this year moved to force elections for all of the Republican leadership positions in the aftermath of the Jack Abramoff scandal, is seeking election to head the House Republican Conference.

The Gold River Republican said it’s essential that the Republican leadership adjust rapidly to the fact that the party was ousted from control of the House in the elections last week. He said he wants to see the assembly of House Republicans run more democratically, with members given more opportunities to shape positions on key policy issues.(SacBee 11/14/06)

Well this idea of a bottom up organization sounds pretty un-GOP-like to me.  C’mon? You think John Boehner or his successor is going to want to let lesser members muddy his message?  Good luck on that Dan.

Lungren, the former California AG and Gubernatorial candidate, doesn’t carry the baggage of Doolittle and is facing three Congressman from the South.  The possibility of a split Southern vote and no other Western candidates leaves Lungren in a good position to win the post.

A few articles came out yesterday describing some of the demographics of the election last Tuesday.  Both are positive in terms of the Democratic coalition, regionally, statewide, and nationally, going forward.

First, unsurprisingly, Latino voters shifted towards Democrats this year. Nationally, this is likely due to the James Sensenbrenners and Duncan Hunters of the world attacking immigrants. (Oh, yeah, I’m going to love seeing Duncan Hunter in the presidential debates).

Anger over anti-immigrant rhetoric helped fuel a shift in the Latino vote to Democrats, damaging Republican hopes of luring this fast-growing population into its fold, Latino activists and political analysts said Thursday.
{snip}

Analysts said that Republican attempts to use immigration as a wedge issue to galvanize conservative voters backfired by instead rousing more Latinos to vote. Those results were particularly apparent in Arizona, “ground zero” of the immigration debate, where several Republican immigration hawks were defeated, analysts said.

“[Republicans] have done long-term permanent damage to their brand with this community,” said Simon Rosenberg, president of the Washington, D.C.-based New Democrat Network. (LAT 11/10/06)

And who else would the immigration message of the Republicans (“GO HOME!”) offend? Well there’s a wide range of groups, especially here in the cultural mish-mash of California.  One group is California’s Asian-Americans. In the SF Bay area, they voted strongly in favor of Phil and the Dem ticket.

[As for the] governor’s race, the Bay Area’s Asian-American voters favored Democratic Party candidate Phil Angelides ? about 67 percent ? while Los Angeles County voters were again nearly evenly split between Angelides and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, according to the poll.(Oak Trib 11/10/06)

It’s also important to note the role of Asian-Americans in John Chiang’s victory over Tony Strickland in the controller’s race.  Given the vast IE resources supporting Strickland, grassroots and identity politics played a big role in our victory in that race.  The state party needs to encourage outreach in the Asian-American community.  We need to cultivate a diverse range of leaders, and encourage further involvement in state and local politics.

Well, that didn’t take long.

A federal judge in San Francisco on Wednesday imposed a temporary restraining order on a key portion of the state’s newly approved Proposition 83, the controversial Jessica’s Law, blocking enforcement of a provision that would prohibit convicted sex offenders from living near a school or park.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston called the residential restrictions in Proposition 83 “punitive by design and effect” and agreed with registered sex offender “John Doe,” who had filed a lawsuit hours earlier Wednesday, a day after voters overwhelmingly passed the proposition passed at the polls.(SacBee 11/8/06)

The Runners’ version of Jessica’s Law is terribly flawed.  Just because you whip 70% of the electorate into voting for something out of fear, doesn’t make it a reasonable law.  It would seriously endanger children in rural areas and picks on rehabilitated offenders.  We have addressed these issues in a piece of legislation signed into law this term.  We don’t and didn’t need this onerous piece of legal crap.