(There a couple of videos from this YouTuber. Funny. – promoted by SFBrianCL)

As a Jerry Brown supporter, I think people might enjoy the following endorsement spot for Chuck Poochigian:
Big Endorsement for Poochigian

I’ve been putting all the Odds, and all the Ends, in the extended.  But this one, this one, gets front page treatment: The Sacramento Bee has endorsed Jerry McNerney:

If you prefer the politics of extremes; if you’re OK with selling off national parks; if backroom deal-making and tainted money suit you; if you embrace out-of-balance budgets and the concentration of wealth — Pombo’s your man. But he is no longer representing the true interests of his district, state or nation. That’s ample reason for voters to send Jerry McNerney to Congress.

The Bee becomes just the latest in a string of endorsements of McNerney and fellow Dem Charlie Brown.  Now, let’st get to the teasers of the stuff over the flip: Schwarzenegger drops another $3.5 mil, Garamendi cleared, Pooch’s frivilous lawsuit, Dick Mountjoy being…Dick Mountjoy, and more…

As the election approaches, I understand that people are growing tired.  But there are less than 3 weeks, and we need every ounce of effort.  There are so many reasons to be excited.  We have the opportunity to get rid of several corrupt Republicans that have grown to become national embarrassments. We have the opportunity to take back the Secretary of State’s office and really address the issues of voting.  So with that, here’s some teasers: Arnold is desperate and has no coat tails. Ken Blackwell School of electioneering in Pooch’s bid for AG. Brown and McNerney. Jerry Lewis is corrupt, and LACCD goes solar.

• George Skelton thinks Arnold’s “Phil wants to raise your taxes by $18 Billion” line is “desperate”.
• The CapWeekly thinks Arnold’s coattails might be short, very short.
• Phil is going on the offensive (LAT).  He is visibly questioning the Governor’s character.  Well, it’s something that we’ve been doing here and at Tracking Arnold for quite some time.  Arnold has a track record of sexual harassment and questionably (or not so questionably) racist statements.  Rowdy movie set or not, some lines should not be crossed.
• Pooch and the CRP are getting a whiff of desperation of their own. The Contra Costa Cty. GOP is filing a suit stating that Jerry Brown is not eligible (SacBee) to be the AG b/c some of State Bar papers aren’t in order. Sounds like Ken Blackwell has been talking with Pooch.
• The CDP is excited about Brown and McNerney. (SF Chron)
• Shocker!!! Ring the Alarm!! Rep. Jerry Lewis has taken the most money of ANY Congressman from Lobbyists. (LAT)
• In some just all around pleasant news, the LA Community College System is planning an initiative to power their campuses via solar power. (LAT)

The video can be viewed here.  Jerry holds up well, but not great.  All in all, I would have to give this one a toss up.  I’m going to bet that the Chronicle endorses Brown, simply because Pooch really is far to the right of the general population of California, doubly so than the population of SF.

Two “debates” are scheduled today.  I guess calling them debates is a bit of a stretch as the candidates won’t have much interaction with each other, but well, what can you do.  First, in CA-AG Jerry Brown will face off with Chuck Poochigian.  Pooch has been running a very negative campaign, hoping that enough people will simply vote against Jerry Brown to carry him to victory.  It’s a very risky straegy.  The debate is really a forum for the editorial board of the SF Chronicle, but will be webcast live on CBS5’s website.

As for CA-11, Jerry McNerney  faces down Evil Incarnate.  Ok, Ok, maybe that’s too far.  Let’s just call Richard Pombo corrupt and anti-environment and leave it at that.  They will be participating at a Candidate Forum hosted by the Tracy Press at 7 p.m. at Poet Christian School, 1701 S. Central Ave., in Tracy. If you want to attend, try to get there early as seating will be limited.

Ok, if you live in CA-11 or in Tracy or Stockton, or something like that, this “debate” is going to be broadcast on Public Access TV.  I would really love it if somebody knew any additional information.  Better yet, record it and post it on YouTube  or EyeSpot.  I’m thinking of heading out there, so if you want to carpool from SF, let me know. 

We need to get this “debate” out to as many people as possible.  Pombo is in trouble people, let’s make sure we are doing everything possible to make sure that happens.

The Field Poll (PDF) continues to dribble out.  In today’s installment, we get numbers for CA-Sen, CA-AG, and CA-LtG.  First of all, I must add the caveat on all of these down-ballot numbers.  Most people generally aren’t that informed about down-ballot races and don’t even care to get informed all that much.  Consider the numbers with a grain of salt. 

Oh, and CA-Sen isn’t a race.  Why people even bother to poll this one is beyond me.  Feinstein is ahead of Crazy Dick Mountjoy 57-29. I guess if that shows us anything, it’s how messed up that Datamar poll was that showed this as a 11-point race.  Datamar really needs to work on their likely voter model.  It’s like they think that the entire state has the same voting model as San Diego.  It doesn’t.

CA-AG Jerry Brown v. Chuck Poochigian

Jerry Brown’s lead shrank down to 15 points over Chuck Poochigian.  (July)

Brown(D)  45(54)
Poochigian (R) 33(30)
Other  8(1)
Undecided  18(12)

Interestingly enough, the gains weren’t really to Pooch, but rather to Undecided and Other.  I guess that may be a function of Pooch pretty much running a negative campaign without much in the way of positive ads.  Pooch’s name ID is pretty low, so he better get to getting his name out there or the new, tougher Jerry Brown model will nameID him to death.

CA-LtG: John Garamendi v Tom McClintock

This race tightened up a bit.  Here are the numbers (July)

Garamendi(D)  41(48)
McClintock (R) 39 (38)
Other 8 (1)
Undecided 12 (13)

Garamendi is leaking some Dems to third party candidates.  So, tell your friends…there will be no 3rd party voting on Lt. Gov.  We really don’t want Tom McCrazytock getting anything of a platform.  McClintock still has a bunch of residual name ID from the recall. However, I think low-40s his really his ceiling.  He really is just too conservative for this state.  When people see his positions they get a bit queasy on voting for him, whether or not he can dish out some “straight talk”.

I’ll be updating the Poll HQ with these numbers after all of the down ballot numbers are released.

LA Times has released their down-ballot polling data:.

Attorney General: 51% Brown (D), 34% Poochigian (R), 3% Other, 12% Don’t Know
Treasurer: 50% Lockyer (D) 26% Parrish (R) 3% Other, 21% Don’t Know
Insurance Commissioner: 43% Bustamante (D) 38% Poizner (R) 4% Other 15% Don’t Know
Lieutenant Governor: 42% McClintock (R) 41% Garamendi (D) 3% Other, 14% Don’t Know
Controller: 36% Chiang (D) 30% Strickland (R) 3% Other, 31% Don’t Know
Secretary of State: 35% Bowen (D) 33% McPherson (R) 3% Other, 29% Don’t Know

I see this as pretty good news.  In most of the races there is a strong don’t know category.  Most of the state’s independent voters will typically break for the Democrat.  So, a tied poll is probably a good thing for the Democrat.  McClintock, who has a one point lead, is ahead based on name recognition from the Recall.  I’m guessing 42% is pretty much his ceiling.  He’s pretty darn conservative, too conservative for this state.

Now, I’m not totally in love with the LA Times polls, they seem to poll to the right.  For example, the 13 point lead for Westly in the primary was an LA Times poll.  Their track record ain’t so hot. 

One other point, the Times also came out with their governor’s poll.  It has a 17-point lead for Arnold at 50-33.  As I said, this polls to the Right. But quite frankly 33% is a wildly low number for a Democrat in this state, even an unpopular Dem.  However, if Angelides doesn’t pick up some steam soon, there is a bit of a danger of turnout hurting Dem candidates.

Apparently Chuck Poochigian missed the notice on this one: calling someone a liberal in this state willl not hurrt their election chances.  It just won’t.  It will get the politically active conservatives, the ones who were already going to vote, to vote for you.  But, that will not be enough to even make a serious run at Jerry Brown.  But, Pooch still thinks he’s running in Fresno:

Democrat Jerry Brown is portraying his rival, state Sen. Chuck Poochigian, as a right-wing “extremist” linked to President Bush, while the Fresno Republican has hit back calling the Oakland mayor a “flaky liberal,”…

“The ads are an effort to remind voters who recall Jerry Brown’s disastrous record as governor and mayor of Oakland and of just how out of touch he is with the majority of Californians, Spillane said.(SF Chron 9/25/06)

Oh, you must mean back in the early 80s when California still had one of the best educational systems in the world.  Now, we’re 43rd.  And why is that? Oh yeah, Prop 13 took away revenues from the state and locals and left us with a budget mess.  The good people of the Golden State will see through Poochigian’s pandering to the right.

(The Corporatist Agenda at its Finest – promoted by SFBrianCL)

There’s been a lot of talk about the recent rise of violent crime in cities across America. Chuck Poochigian, the Republican candidate for Attorney General of Cailfornia, particularly likes to celebrate the spike of violence in Oakland, California, where rival candidate Jerry Brown has been serving as mayor. But violence has many forms.

To paraphrase Woodie Guthrie, some folks kill with a gun, others with a fountain pen.

  “The race for ‘Top Cop’ is especially critical this year,” says Chuck Poochigian, “important because of the officeholder’s ability to affect public safety, our business climate and quality of life….  California needs a ‘Top Cop’ who will fight crime head-on.  It is imperative that the office be led by someone who respects the rule of law and will always put public safety first.”

Well, I guess leaves ol’ Chucky out – except for the business climate part, of course. Chuck’s been carrying the water for big corporations in the California legislature for quite a while.

For example, the Corporate Criminal Liability Act was signed into law in 1991 by then-Governor George Deukmejian (and boss of Chuck) “as an appropriate law enforcement tool aimed at preventing socially unacceptable acts, such as when a businesses conceals a serious danger that they know is likely to injure or kill a consumer or a worker.” Good for Duke and Chuck – and California consumers!

Next election cycle, corporate America found a new ally when Chuck set up shop in the California Assembly. The bucks rolled in from oil, tobacco and booze producers and Chuck did their bidding.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Sweden, Dr. Viking O. Bjork was having trouble sleeping. Seems the heart valve that he’d help market was making people’s hearts explode. (No kidding). The doc, being a good guy, called the head of Pfizer in New York and told him to stop putting explosive devices in people’s hearts, ”… and if you continue against my advice, this is murder,” said the doc.

“Pshaw!” said Pfizer, “Don’t worry about it – and whatever you do don’t tell anybody.” Then they called somebody who called California State Assemblyman Charles Poochigian (R-Fresno) – because knowingly implanting devices into people that made their hearts explode was a clear violation of  California’s Corporate Criminal Liability Act.  According to the federal government, Pfizer had certainly done all that and more. The Bjork valves were manufactured in Irvine, Cailfornia and Chuck Pachoogian had a reputation for going to bat for giant corporations that were being picked on.

  So after cashing checks from Pfizer and the Chamber of Commerce and the Manufacturers Association (for his campaign) Chuck authored Assembly Bill 675, which would decriminalize the knowing implantation of devices that caused  hearts to explode.

In a curious twist, it took another Swede to put AB 675 over the top. In return for providing “political cover” for every Republican in the Assembly, the state Attorney General at the time, Dan Lungren, raked in about $20K. from Pfizer.  The California District Attorneys Association called that “playing politics and courting business over fellow crime fighters.”

Pfizer wound up paying out more than $100,000 to Poochigian and other Republicans – to basically let them get away with murder.

Today’s California Blog Roundup is on the flip. Teasers: Phil Angelides, Arnold Schwarzenegger, CA-11, CA-04, John Doolittle, Republican corruption, Proposition 89, Proposition 85, Jerry Brown, health care.

Governor’s Race

• Frank Russo on Phil’s “Restoring the Public Trust“. The more I learn about Phil, the happier I am.
• Julia Rosen at ABC points us to a recent election piece by Dan Walters, who is always a reliable source for conventional wisdom.
• Schwarzenegger’s team of Bush Republicans tries to attack Phil’s reform stance, but it, ah, kinda backfires.
• Ah, perks given to the Schwarzenegger administration team by corporations. And I bet that the seats next to the Schwarzenegger people were corporate lobbyists. That’s, wossname? Bribery, innit? Well, that’s a strong word, but seriously, goodies given to people in government always come with strings.
• Schwarzenegger pal managing Schwarzenegger personal finances also appointed by Schwarzenegger to help manage UC’s finances. No conflict there, no cronyism, no sirreebob.

Jerry McNerney / Paid-For Pombo / CA-11

• Voter Registration Drive, August 12.
• Interesting piece from PomboWatch on the slice of Santa Clara County in CA-11.
• Similarly, this piece on voter registration in San Joaquin County.

Charlie Brown / 15% Doolittle / CA-04

• Dump Doolittle has a couple great LTEs from disappointed 15% Doolittle constituents.
• Is 15% Doolittle a “Devoted Friend of Sex Slavery“?
• A friend of sex slavery, sure, but “devoted”? I suspect it all depends on his campaign contributors.
• I guess you really can judge a man by the friends he chooses.

Propositions

• Frank Russo: Exhibit 1 in the Case for Prop 89.
• California Labor Federation opposes Prop 85’s anti-choice agenda.
• Here comes the flood of initiative advertising: big business vs. everyone else.

The Rest

• Daraka at Hoverbike has a nice piece up on the need for (and right kind of) party unity.
• Here’s what Fabian Nunez says he’s thinking.
• Looks like Jerry Brown is well on his way to crushing Chuck Poochigian.
• Summer health care issues roundup.
• RIP, Esther Snyder. Thanks for everything.
• OC Mayor shows his stripes — the species seems to be “nativist skunk”.