Today’s California Blog Roundup is on the flip. Teasers: Arnold Schwarzenegger, CA-04, CA-11, Richard Pombo, John Doolittle, corruption, immigration, environment, prisons, education, privacy, voting rights, Republican propaganda.
Top Two Today
- Local media activist Spocko has been waging a one-Vulcan war against Melanie Morgan and KSFO’s other despicable Republican propagandists. Seriously, you need to go read this stuff.
- Five of the 20 California House Republicans voted not to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act. To put that in perspective, there are 231 Republicans in the House, and only 33 voted against voting rights. And to put that in even more perspective, only eight other Republicans not from the South voted against voting rights. California’s Republicans are far more opposed to voting rights than the Republicans are nationally. Oh, in case anyone is wondering, the culprits are 15% Doolittle (CA-04), John Campbell (CA-48), Wally Herger (CA-02), Gary Miller (CA-42) and Dana Rohrabacher (CA-46). If you’re a constituent, you might call and ask them exactly what they’re afraid of.
Governor’s Race
- As is clear with Republican leaders generally, Schwarzenegger seems to think that the law is for little people.
- And of course, private security is for big people. Everyone else has to rely on the police, and Schwarzenegger doesn’t trust them.
- Some people call them the elites. Arnold Schwarzenegger calls them his base.
- Schwarzenegger is really between a rock and a hard place here. He’s a Bush Republican (political poison), and he’s too chicken to admit it even though everyone knows it (also political poison). Ah, more Bush Republicanism: Arnold spends a lot of time not being Governor — almost 20% of his time, in fact.
- Schwarzenegger likes the Minutemen, but he loves Mexico (he’s done four movies there). Given the Minutemen’s rhetoric, am I the only one who thinks that’s hard to reconcile? One also cannot help but be reminded of George Bush’s love of partying in New Orleans.
- Schwarzenegger: Election-year fake moderate, permanent Bush Republican. Sorry, Arnold, we won’t let you throw your real record down the memory hole.
Jerry McNerney / Paid-For Pombo / CA-11
15% Doolittle / CA-04
Other Republican Paragons
Environment
Prisons
Immigration
Education
Reform
Privacy
Miscellany
- Nice Ojai Post summary of the problems with the voting machines in CA-50 and why a manual recount may be appropriate. Related news: sadly, nativism beat competence as a campaign theme in CA-50. There might be a lesson there nationally…
- Friendly reminder: Your tax dollars and mine pay John Yoo’s salary.
- I actually laughed out loud at this.
- I know that some people in SF may have some concerns about Gavin Newsom, but seriously, he’s head and shoulders above the vast majority of politicians in the country on almost every issue.
- I would actually argue that conservatives can’t govern.
- Interesting think piece on party-building by Daraka Kenric at Hoverbike.
- Coup for Santa Barbara County Dems: Wes Clark will chair their Jefferson-Jackson dinner this October.
- Legislature and Governor try to unwind Prop 36 at the last minute of the budget process, without debate or even a full reading of the proposal.
- The Monterey County Dems ask whether YouTube and other online content providers can be useful campaign tools. Answer: yes, if young folks vote. I have a further question: If we use new media to provide good, motivating content that speaks to their concerns, might that influence their turnout?
- Yet another reason for universal health care: turns out that if you’re uninsured, you pay more for drugs. Collective bargaining works, people.
- Dang. Nifty.
- Look, an economy built around non-exportable real-estate assets is inherently unstable, mmmkay?
