(cross-posted on the BetterCA blog)

The millionaires, billionaires, and corporate Interests bankrolling the Prop. 75 campaign have launched a new television ad which began airing in Los Angeles today. The ad features a paid political consultant, a republican congressional candidate and extremist activists deceptively posing as typical teachers, police officers and concerned citizens who support the governor’s  measures.  See this is the problem when you don’t really have the support of the very people you claim to be working for.  You don’t have every day teachers, nurse, firefighters and police officers to support you, and to stand up for your initiatives.   Instead, you have your political hacks play dress up, and put them in misleading ads.

Halloween is over, it’s time to take off their costumes and reveal their true identities:

Allan Mansoor as an Orange County Sheriff:

In reality Mansoor day job is serving as the “ultra-conservative” Costa Mesa Mayor who once unsuccessfully sought the endorsement of the Orange County Sherriff’s Association, posts “anti-homosexual rantings” on a citizen’s group bulletin board and believes homosexuals “are disproportionately likely to engage in pedophilia.” He counts among his supporters Martin Millard a columnist for Citizen’s Informer, the journal of the Council of Conservative Citizens, an anti-Semitic group that opposes racial intermarriage. Mansoor wanted to “eliminate city funding for programs like soup kitchens or the job center,” where Latinos waited for work.   At one time he was worked for the Orange County Sheriffs department, but that was years ago.

Jeralee Smith, Elementary Teacher in Colton:

Smith is the co-founder of the Conservative Educators Caucus in the NEA.  Smith is has co-founded another group called the NEA-Exgay Educators Caucus.  She’s also involved with the ex-gay movement through the Exodus Organization – a group whose moto is “Freedom from homosexuality through the power of Jesus Christ.”

Larry Sand, Middle School Teacher, Los Angeles:

Sand has been a vocal and extreme critic of Black History Month, Unity Day, and all cultural celebrations.

He once wrote this in an email to his Congressman:

The aforementioned Unity Day was formerly known as Multicultural Day. Only the name has changed. On this day the powers that be trot out a truly nauseating bunch of people. There is usually a homosexual telling the 11 to 13 year olds that, by golly, it is okay to be gay. Then we are treated to an Hispanic activist who claims that we need to stop spending money on war and buy more school books. And just for good measure, we get some former black street thug telling some pretty graphic stories about his life which are supposed to scare the kids straight, but in fact, sound pretty glamorous to some of them. Interestingly, this day is always the Friday before Memorial Day. I dutifully get on the PA that morning and explain to those who will listen what Memorial Day is about. I read a list of the former military men and women who work at my school and ask the students to thank them for their service. And that is it for Memorial Day. No speeches, no essays, no assemblies, no acknowledgement of the importance of fighting for your country.

Sandra Crandall, Kindergarten Teacher in Fountain Valley:

Crandall isn’t just an ordinary teacher.  She serves as the state chair and is a leading spokesperson for the Yes on 75 committee.  She also sits on the board of directors of the National Right to Work Committee a group which works to restrict workers rights to organize. She supported Prop. 226 in 1998,  and left the union, becoming an “agency fee” payer in 1994.

Jim Prunty, Arigi/Pest Control Supervisor of Glendora:

Prunty is a paid political consultant for the Yes on 75 campaign and a Republican Party candidate for Assembly District 59.

Lon Jacobs, San Bernadino County Sheriff:

Jacobs once filed a restraining order against the Safety Employees’ Benefit Association. It was thrown out of court. In August 2005, Jacobs declined to defend himself at the SEBA Board of Director’s meeting, where he was expelled from the union for, among other things, creating an anti-SEBA website and filing the restraining order against the union.

James Galley, wearing a hard hat and safety vest, Water Treatment, San Diego:

Galley is a Republican candidate for the 51st Congressional District nomination, and former candidate for the Republican State Senate primary in 2004, the San Diego City Council in 2002 and 2004, and for Mayor of San Diego in 2005.

Other posts on BetterCA.com today:

Mad Mike’s At It Again….
Mike Murphy is ignoring the Field Poll and instead playing up the Hoover Insititue Poll, which get this, is an Internet poll.

Turnout: They are Hoping You Stay Home
So far, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s special election strategy has been to target only those voters he believes will be most likely to support his agenda. He’s used codeword laden speeches, carefully selected “town hall” audiences, target ad buys, and highly restricted public appearances to keep his message at a level that will generate turnout only from those voters he expects to support him. If he went for an all out turnout campaign he would lose, because the fewer Californians go to the polls next Tuesday, the greater his advantage.

Ms. Fortune: Legend in Her Own Mind
Who is Margaret Fortune, the Governor’s education maven and head of the Yes on 74 campaign?

According to the Governor, she’s Wonder Woman with credentials galore. She has a BS from Berkeley and an MS from Harvard. But what about all her other resume bullets? Let’s check the facts.

New Field Poll is Out: Good News All Around

The Field Poll came out today, and the headline really says it all: “No side leads yes side on all four of the propositions backed by Governor Schwarzenegger”.  This is quite good news, but turnout is still going to be key to this election. The polls are quite close.  CADem has a great diary on dKos analyzing the data.

The quick jist from the Alliance for a Better California blog:

According to the poll….
Prop 74: 50% of voters oppose the governor’s attempt to punish teachers for his own lack of educational funding, with only 44% supporting the measure.

Prop 75: 50% Californian voters oppose Prop 75, with only 40% supporting the measure.

Prop 76: 60 % of voters oppose Prop 76, with only 32% supporting the governor’s budget power grab.

Prop 77: 51% of voters oppose Prop 77, the redistricting measure, with just 35% supporting the initiative.

The numbers look good now, but if we don’t turn out, we lose.  Tomorrow, the field poll for the other special election propositions comes out.  More on that tomorrow.

I went precinct walking in Oakland yesterday against Gov. Arnold. Very encouraging — if people bother to vote! That is going to take a lot of work.

Full photo essay here. Hope everyone is working on the election this week.

(The PPIC has asummary available on their download page for the report. (Where you can also download the whole report…thanks silence.) – promoted by SFBrianCL)

(cross-posted on DailyKos)

Today we saw two very different reactions to the release of the PPIC poll.  We claim it as proof that we have the momentum as we gear up for our big GOTV push.  The Governor’s spinmeisters, well, they flipped out…seriously flipped out.  Once the numbers leaked they called a press conference intended to get the press to cover the Arnold camp’s internal polling numbers along side the PPIC numbers.  It was a desperate ruse to cover their continued assurances that the Governor has some kind of support.

Then, this afternoon Schwarzenegger’s team announced they were putting a new ad in the field.  Reversing their earlier decision to pull any and all Arnold ads out of people’s living rooms, the governor faces the camera and essentially apologizes to the people of California for screwing up.  Could it be that he really wasn’t the liability people though he was?  Naaaw.  See, it turns out that the ad will only run for one day.  It is just a stunt to draw press attention away from the PPIC numbers.  It’s not only a stunt, but a pretty pathetic spot as well.  The governor practically begs for our forgiveness and asks Californians to give him another chance.  His dream diminishes every time he opens his mouth.

Speaking of the PPIC numbers …

We were being good, and got beaten to the punch by all the newspapers who leaked embargoed PPIC polling report.  But, to make up for it, we took the time to give you trend-lines and to include some big picture information on turnout and the election that you will not find in the larger outlets.

First things first, we have made significant gains over the last month, giving us the momentum as we head into the last few days of the campaign.  In the end, the only numbers that matter are the ones on November 8th.  The race is really tight and will come down to GOTV.  That said PPIC shows us winning on Proposition 74, 76 and 77.  Prop. 74 is within the margin of error and we are deadlocked at 46% on Prop. 75.

Check out how the poll numbers from the same outlet have evolved over the last three months:

Prop. 74

Prop. 75

Prop. 76

Prop. 77

This poll is one of the first that gets a good sample from people that have had a chance to see the governor’s ads and still the numbers are trending our way.  An increasing number of people are tuning in to the election with 81% of likely voters saying “they are closely or somewhat closely following news about the special election, compared to 69 percent in September.”  More people are able to identify an initiative they care the most about.  This is most likely due to the increase in advertising and permeation throughout the state.  Even though more people are tuning in, this does not translate to more support for Schwarzenegger’s positions.  There can be no more claims that people just haven’t heard the Governor’s side yet.  Simply put it he isn’t convincing and is losing ground.

PPIC points out that it isn’t just a small amount of people paying attention to the election, they now say they are seeing levels of interest reaching the “2002 gubernatorial election, which had a 51% voter turnout” says PPIC survey director Mark Maldassare.  That could have huge implications on outcomes, since most experts had been predicting turnouts in the 30s.

In the CA-48th the final push for victory will come starting November 9. That’s the day after Gov. Muscles Statewide Special Election that is filled with toxic proposistions.

Until that is over the Unions, the Democratic Clubs, the volunteer base that we would rely on are fully engaged in a war, and I do mean war over that election. After that is over it is our hope that the SEIU, The Unions in general and our Democratic  Base can immediately suck in a little more oxygen and give us the help we will need to accomplish our goals.

Since this blog is regularly visited by the competition forgive me if I don’t layout in detail the entire plan beyond the above portion…and it is just a portion that does not include the media, debates, mailings and other things.

There was a diary on dKos today asking for questions for DNC Chair Governor Dean. Apparently the poster was in a function with the Governor and was solicting good questions to ask. Mine was more specific to this campaign:

Why are you not supporting the last

Congressional race in the US, the CA-48 in Newport Beach California? Without Party support it is difficult at best.

The ’50 State Strategy’ takes on a  different meaning when a Candidate
that won his primary, has Union endorsements, national endorsement from
Progressive Democrats of America, Teachers for Excellance and many
others can’t get any Party support.

Just a question…not a judgement.

Governor Dean has done a great job and I’m sure this would be the first he’s heard of the race.

And this question is honestly asked. I sincerely doubt the Governor has ever been directly involved in any of the decision making about the race. Yet the lack of support for a Candidate, while not perfect, who is willing to spend his own money, throw himself into the race with such gusto and gather such Democratic support throughout the District who is still essentially ignored by the Party establishment brings into doubt the supposed ’50 State Strategy’.

We fight for the win. For those who read this we honestly ask for your financial support. We need that last mailing, that last unusual tactic to overcome the Republican Machine we face in this race.

We won’t give up. We ask the Blogsphere not to give up on us either.

(Dirty governator…bad…bad! – promoted by SFBrianCL)

Originally posted on the BetterCA blog.

The California Recovery Team (CRT) has been violating the law by sending out campaign mail that illegally uses discounted non-profit postage and displays a fraudulent union bug.  Both actions are violations of federal law.  We have requested an investigation by the USPS and announced possible legal action unless they cease their activities.

From our attorney Lance Olson:

CRT’s use of a non-profit permit to get cut-rate discounts on their blatantly political mailing is outrageous.  This permit was either unlawfully issued or is being unlawfully used.  Only organizations that satisfy special standards and have received official authorization from the USPS may mail items using the Nonprofit Standard Mail rate.