Very fast blog roundup for March 24, 2006 can be found on the flip:

• Bill Bradley runs down the state of the race for governor.
• From the DailyKos diaries, a Francine Busby Booster piece.
• Some Dump Doolittle folks at Dump Doolittle.
• Frank Russo at California Progress Report tells us that we as Americans and as Californians are failing black men.
• More CA voting news from the Brad Blog.
• Some good local reporting on the race for CA-20 by the Ojai Post. More like this, please.
• Calitics front-pager Words Have Power does a nice job summarizing Republican Duncan Hunter’s (CA-52) involvement in Duke Cunningham’s world.
• Last, CA-11 has his impressions of the Tri-Valley Democrat forum for the CA-11 Primary.

No, seriously, that’s pretty much it today.

According to Rasmussen Reports, a Republican-leaning polling outfit, these are the current numbers:

The latest Rasmussen Reports election poll in California shows Schwarzenegger trailing State Treasurer Phil Angelides by one percentage point, 45% to 44%. That is the same nominal edge Angelides enjoyed in our February poll, when he led 41% to 40%.

State Comptroller Steve Westly leads 45% to 44%. In our last poll, Schwarzenegger led Westly 39% to 34%.
…
The fact that both Democrats poll essentially the same numbers at this time suggests the race remains a referendum on the incumbent rather than a choice between competing candidates.

The Referendum-on-Arnold model is very different from Matthew Dowd’s (public) “it’s a choice” strategy for the Schwarzenegger campaign.

Today we offer what we hope will be a regular feature: a roundup of interesting news from across the state. It’s not all expressly political and it’s not as focused on the horserace as it will no doubt become. Today, we’ve got the anti-government crusaders in Santa Clara County, housing & sprawl, education, the fundraising competition, free speech, and San Jose public Campaign financing, all on the flip.

• Following up on Calitics’ recent post on the Santa Clara County sales tax kabuki, we find that the anti-government crusaders are now trying to prevent (or at least delay) the people from deciding if they want to increase their sales tax rate.
• California has the lowest home ownership percentage in the nation. Of course, given that the news source is the California Building Industry Association, their recommendation to fix that is essentially sprawl. Proposition 13 and our geography couldn’t have anything to do with the housing issues, nope. In related news, Governor Schwarzenegger has appointed the president of the Building Industry Association of Southern California as the new director of the Department of Housing and Community Development.
• Governor Schwarzenegger wants more veterans to go to California colleges and universities. That’s a great goal. How about properly funding our public schools to prepare more Californians generally for a secondary education. Again, Proposition 13 can’t have had anything to do with our schools’ funding shortfalls, now can it?
• The Roundup has the best example of the sad “fundraising horserace” analysis I think I’ve seen. I reckon they’ll be the go-to people for conventional wisdom of that stripe. Once, again, public financing is the way to go.
• A federal judge ruled unconstitutional California’s decades old law banning noncommercial speech visible from our highways. I’m a big fan of removing government barriers to free speech, but progressives should note that most billboards are owned by companies like ClearChannel, which has often taken (or sponsored) conservative advocacy advertising and refused to put up any alternative views.
• San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales is pressing for public financing of San Jose campaigns. That’s the Good Ron. The Bad Ron is under fire for secrecy in the conduct of the city’s affairs.

The (admittedly tardy) California Blog Roundup for March 23 is below the fold:

• The Ruth Group tells us that there’s a Debra Bowen fundraiser in Marin on April 18.
• The Democratic Daily has a set of quotes from Dianne Feinstein’s recent in-state campaign swing and radio address. It’s astonishing how liberal Senator Feinstein can sound.
• Alliance for a Better California notes that among Arnold Schwarzenegger’s fat-cat spending is about $100K / month on private jets owned by his production company. So, he’s paying himself to fly himself around, with his contributors’ money? Well, I guess that’s better than the dodge that the federal legislators use.
• Dump Doolittle notices that the local papers in CA-4 have a suspicious lack of articles concerning John Doolittle’s (ties to) corruption.
• Say No To Pombo asks what lessons the recent DCCC v. grassroots Duckworth-Cegelis primary in IL-06 has for CA-11.
• More California news than usual in the BradBlog’s daily e-voting roundup.
• Last, The California Observer reports on Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez’s steps toward reworking California’s television / high-speed Internet landscape. This is actually really important, as more broadband for rural and lower-income folks is going to help drive their ability to get information and participate in the ongoing changes in politics and the economy. People’s eyes glaze over when they hear about telecom or broadcast infrastructure laws, but consider that these are the pipes through which information flows, and control of those pipes is important. Just ask Rupert Murdoch.

Today’s CaliBlogger roundup below the fold:

• Daddy, Papa & Me notes that the San Francisco Archdiocese is looking at preventing SF Catholic Charities from placing children for adoption with GLBT couples. In related news, the SF Chronicle tells us that a new Field Poll finds a significant positive shift in Californian’s views of same-sex marriage, relationships, military service, and adoption. Can’t happen fast enough.
• Left I on The News draws a contrast between the amount that the proposed Santa Clara County sales tax bump would raise, and the amount of money already spent in Iraq. Bottom Line: Santa Clara County residents have spent way more on Iraq.
• Santa Cruz for Change notes that Christine Pelosi (Nancy Pelosi’s daughter) will be offering her perspective tomorrow night on the Reid / Pelosi plan for the 2006 mid-terms. I look forward to hearing that. Perhaps Ms. Pelosi can explain where regulating bloggers, coming out against Feingold’s censure resolution, and enforcing an ethics truce in the House play into that plan.
• On that note, one should read Robert Shaw’s piece in BeyondChron, and the resulting letters.
• Say No To Pombo has two good posts. First, Richard Pombo gets new House Ag Committee leadership role, no doubt to show that some good Pombo pork will come to the Central Valley should he be relected. Second, VPO suggests that some Dems switch their registration to Decline to State for the primary in order to vote for McCloskey in the Republican primary.
• The BradBlog (the place to go for all your voting machine news) points us to a great summary of the suit against Secretary of State Bruce McPherson to prevent him from certifying the Diebold voting machines for the upcoming elections. The summary, unsurprisingly, comes from State Sen. Debra Bowen, herself a candidate for Secretary of State.
• The California Observer points us to this handy list of the contributors who ponied up at the Schwarzenegger / McCain Corporate Interest Festival earlier this week.
• The Left Coaster’s paradox rips into Carolyn Lochhead of the Chron for failing to call Bush out on a flat-out lie. Note as well, toward the end of the article, the verbatim reprint of Bush’s Luntz-approved “Democrat Party” sneer, without even a [sic]. Maybe Lochhead and the Chron don’t know that the name of the party is the Democratic Party, now matter how many times the Republicans call it something else.

There’s lots of California bloggy goodness from the last couple days.

CA-50

There’s really only one story for CA-50 today. Francine Busby is coming up to the special election on April 11. She’s posted a diary on MyDD, and is asking for one more push for cash and phonebank volunteers. (Email to volunteer)

CA-4

Democratic candidate Charlie Brown receives the Californa Labor Federation’s endorsement in the Democratic primary. I note as well that Charlie Brown will be at the Plough & Stars this Sunday for a fund-raiser. That might be worth the price of admission.

CA-11

• Buzzword Alert: Pombowatch discusses the soundness, or lack thereof, of the “sound science” that Richard Pombo touts in support of his natural resource pillage plans.
• Pombowatch also points us to Richard Pombo’s real record on supporting the troops: Veterans Shortchanged I and Veterans Shortchanged II (now with extra McCloskey). Remember folks, what they do, not what they say. A scoundrel will be more eager to wrap himself in the flag than a patriot.
• Delta of Say No To Pombo has a good discussion discussion about the CA-11 Republican primary. The post is just the jumping off point — be sure to read the comments as well.
• Similarly, Matt Lockshin at SNTP posts on the California Labor Federation’s endorsement of Jerry McNerney, and contrasts it with Steve Filson’s backers. Again, the discussion in comments is worth reading.
• Down With Tyranny, by contrast, has an interesting discourse on the intervention in the CA-11 Democratic primary by Senator Boxer, Representative Pelosi, and the DC Dem establishment generally.

Statewide

• Bill Bradley tells us that the Angelides and Westly campaigns are going to stop the attack memos emailed to bloggers and reports. We at Calitics are grateful — now we can take our fingers out of our metaphorical ears.
• Shari of An Old Soul reminds us that partisan rancor in state capitols is a Grover Norquist goal, and points out some of the structural problems that help create that rancor in California.
• Alliance for a Better California points us to an LA Times article on Schwarzenegger’s big-money, fat-cat big-spending ways.
• And last, Cab Drollery points us to an LA Times Op-Ed on the political money trap generally, and the need for public campaign financing.

Think Piece

Kid Oakland on the absolute necessity of change whether we want it or not.

In which we investigate what various folks think happened to the bond measure last week.

Political Tactics

• R’s Rant says in part, the Republican demand that work performed under the bond be more easily contracted out, away from the union workers of the state.
• Gropinator points out Schwarzenegger’s failures in tactics, largely revolving around Schwarzenegger’s own Republican party. (I should give credit where credit is due: much of Gropinator’s analysis is based on Daniel Weintraub’s analysis, without the Weintraub “Dems are cynical politicos” snark.)
• John Drzal, of NorCal Progressive, notes that the Republican non-negotiable demand for new dams didn’t help matters.

Structural Problems

• Here at Calitics, Brian and our learned commenters point out that California’s supermajority requirement for bonds and budgets and the Proposition 13 revenue handcuffs actually cause most of the gridlock. Schwarzenegger is not much of a leader, but Sacramento is hard to lead.
• Last, Frank Russo of California Progress Report points out that the question before the legislature wasn’t whether to approve the bond measure, but to let the voters approve it. The Republican’s refusal to do so was essentially a minority veto.

My take on it is pretty simple. The Republicans in California want to be the party of “tear it all down” just like the national Republicans. But since they can’t get a majority in the legislature, all they can be is the party of “no more progress, ever” by means of the supermajority requirements. Schwarzenegger is only a very little bit different. He’s a one-man party of “no progress except through Schwarzenegger”.

Last week, the Republicans in the legislature exercised their minority veto on the “except through Schwarzenegger” clause. No progress, ever. It’s that simple. And honestly, though California needs the infrastructure work badly, I can’t feel sorry for Schwarzenegger that his own party shot him down. After last year’s abusive and expensive failed hard-right Schwarzenegger power grab, this has the scent of poetic justice for Arnold.

[Originally Posted by LSchwark on Norcal Politics, October 21, 2005]

California’s First Lady, Maria Shriver, will be hosting a women’s conference next week, the "Governor and First Lady’s Conference on Women". This was the conference where, last year, Governor Arnold made his famous remark calling nurses "special interests" and boasting "I kick their butts every day". A women’s conference was an especially unfortunate venue for issuing a smackdown of a profession that is heavily populated by women. It was also the point at which people began resisting his agenda with a passion and his poll numbers started to sag.

So you might think he would make an effort not to ruin his wife’s conference this year. Well, you’d be wrong.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, at a Monday press conference, may have fueled the political fire when he said his wife might use the conference to talk about her view of the election ballot issues.

"You will hear from her," said Schwarzenegger after being asked a question about his wife’s positions on the special election measures.

Schwarzenegger, giving a plug for her women’s conference, then promised, "I think she’s going to talk about that there … and you will see what she thinks about my work and the initiatives and what we are trying to accomplish here."

But that has prompted a curt — and definite — denial from Shriver’s office.

Shriver won’t "use this inspirational day to discuss the upcoming special election — or her views on the various reform measures," said Terri Carbaugh, her spokeswoman. "It’s a day free from politicking, free from partisanship, free from electioneering. And the women who attend can feel safe from the political warfare that is naturally pervasive in the days prior to an election."

I can only imagine that this has Arnold in the doghouse, big time. I mean, it’s one thing to issue a statement that overshadows the conference once, but two years in a row? Even better, we may never learn her position on the issues. Her spokesperson has this to say:

As to the governor’s comments suggesting that Shriver would take a political stand at next week’s event, Carbaugh said she could not explain them. Indeed, she said he could not predict when or if Shriver would ever go public on her views on the special election.

"It’s important to remember that Maria comes from a journalist point of view, and as such, how she votes and the position she may or may not have, she tends to keep private, like most California journalists," she said. "She’ll cast her votes at the ballot box and leave it at that. "

Before I leave this issue, let me just note the actual measures he wants his wife to endorse:

• Prop 74: Blaming teachers for the problems in out schools by extending the probation period for tenure from two to five years. That means teachers could be fired without cause for three years longer. How does this put kids first? It doesn’t. It just means more teachers will leave the profession after a few years. Teacher turnover is already a problem. Making it worse seems like a bad idea, to put it mildly. Moreover, as this AP article points out, the proposition is so poorly written it actually makes it harder to fire teachers after they have tenure.
• Prop 75: Targets public employee organizations (such as teachers, nurses, firefighters, police — some of Arnold’s biggest critics) by adding additional requirements meant to restrict their participation in political campaigns. Once partially muzzled, it would be much easier to target schools, medical services, fire and police and other services for cuts if the proposal passes. It’s fairly plain — if the people who most understand what effect the cuts will have are partially silenced, the public will have a harder time learning of the true effects of further proposals.
• Prop 76: Setting school funding limits that even the state legislative analysis admits will likely result in a "ratchet effect" (see page 3, second column of the PDF) that lowers future school funding levels following years where money is short, as growth would be limited by previous years’ funding levels. Again, like nursing, teaching is a profession populated largely by women.

Now, there are lots of ways to characterize these things. You could call them anti-worker and anti-education. But teachers are affected by all three and nurses by the "stifle yourself" Prop 75. I don’t think it’s unfair to add anti-women to the list.

No wonder Maria wants none of this at her conference.