I simply have not had the time to do a full update of all the Congressional and legislative campaigns.  And sadly, it doesn’t look like that time will be forthcoming soon.  So I think I’ll do mini-updates where possible.

• CA-46: Debbie Cook has been endorsed by DFA (Democracy for America).  Jim Dean, the Chair of DFA, said in a statement, “Debbie Cook has been a grassroots champion for over 20 years and has a proven record of success in the private sector and as a public servant … Debbie Cook is running because she’s a committed advocate and activist who fights for her constituents and delivers results.”

In the past, DFA has been able to move some resources into districts, so we’ll see if they’re going that route in this race.  DFA has also recently endorsed Bill Hedrick (CA-44).

• CA-26: Russ Warner’s campaign is announcing via email that the DCCC named his race as “one to watch.”  That doesn’t mean they’ll get any money, but it puts them in the queue if the race tightens.  Unfortunately, the DCCC has kind of a deliberate style, where they hoard their money for the races they know are toss-ups, and then wait until the very last minute for these emerging races, sometimes beyond the point at which that money can be effective.  I understand the strategy but it wouldn’t be smart from Warner’s perspective to bank on any help from Washington in his race against David Dreier.  He needs his own resources as well as money from California lawmaker’s PACs.

Which reminds me, California Democrats, it’s time to use it or lose it.  We have a number of races where the challenger can win if they have enough resources, and in the seats where an incumbent has token or no opposition and a huge war chest, that money should not be sitting in an account somewhere.  Help our own candidates!  Expect more pressure on this very soon.

• CA-03: It’s kind of fun watching Dan Lungren try to humina-humina his way out of supporting Prop. 8.  He really has no idea what he’s talking about.  It would be bad enough if a citizen of the state had this atrocious an understanding of basic civics, but this guy is not only a US Representative but a former state Attorney General!

• AD-80: The GOP tried to get Manuel Perez’ occupational status as an “educator” thrown off the ballot, but they failed.  Now he has received the endorsement of the highest-ranking law enforcement official in Imperial County, D.A. Gilbert Otero.  Considering that his opponent, Gary Jeandron, is the former police chief of Palm Springs, I’d consider this endorsement to be significant… UPDATE re: CMR, seems that Gary Jeandron supports “traditional marriage.”  In Palm Springs.  Now, so did Bonnie Garcia, but she was able to win enough in Imperial County to offset it.  Jeandron needs the Palm Springs vote to be huge to win.

I think he just lost, if he hadn’t already.

Following up on the saga of the DCCC takeover, Matier and Ross report’s that Fiona Ma’s coup de grace to former chair Scott Wiener was not about a quid pro quo, it was payback to Gavin Newsom.

The big flip: Looks like gubernatorial politics played a big hand in Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin’s narrow victory as head of the San Francisco Democratic Central Committee.

Mayor Gavin Newsom is exploring a run for governor – and would no doubt like to have the local party’s backing. The mayor worked the phones hard to try to keep his dual detractors, Peskin and Supervisor Chris Daly, from taking control.

The key vote in Wednesday night’s showdown came from Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco.

Gay activist Scott Wiener, who was running for re-election as central committee chairman, says Ma promised to support him two months ago – only to flip and vote for Peskin, despite a long history of political run-ins with the board president.

Ma said she never promised Wiener her support. While she and Peskin certainly have had their “ups and downs” over the years, she said, none of it compares to the slights she’s suffered at the hands of Newsom and his chief political strategist, Eric Jaye.

Namely, Jaye running the campaign of Ma’s Assembly opponent, Janet Reilly, and fueling the story that appeared in our column about Ma’s relationship with a lobbyist pushing electric meter technology on the city.

Ma also points out that Newsom didn’t endorse her for the Board of Supervisors or the Assembly.

Upshot: When it came time to vote Wednesday, Ma handed her proxy to former Public Utilities Commission boss Susan Leal – whom Newsom recently fired – and she delivered the knife to the mayor’s pick.

As for the governor’s race? “I am urging Jerry Brown to run for governor,” Ma said.

I’m not sure which is worse, a quid pro quo or this. The deal I can sort of understand, but to knock someone off because you have a beef with another person, and to use a respected person like Susan Leal to do the dirty work is sad. This town’s political scene needs an enema.

“It just seems to me it is improper. It reduces confidence in government and also particularly the Party. I think the Party is going to have a tough time with all this publicity raising money from the smaller donors.”

-Bob Stern, President, Center for Governmental Studies on KCRW last night talking about the California Democratic Party wasting $450,000 on Senator Don Perata’s criminal defense fund. CDP flack Roger Salazar refused to go on at the same time as Stern and Rick Jacobs to debate the scandal.

Yesterday, David Dayen explained Why The Perata/CDP Scandal Threatens The Budget Fight. Yet that isn’t the only casualty from the culture in Sacramento that has put the California Democratic Party in crisis.

TPM Election Central is reporting on the target list for $34 million in DCCC reserved TV time this fall. Of the 31 races targeted, zero are in California.

Which brings me back to last night’s ill-timed fundraiser with Speaker Karen Bass. The actblue page to RSVP for the account said the money was going to support the California State Democratic Committee – Federal Account. Great idea, Madame Speaker Bass helping Madame Speaker Nancy Pelosi pick up more seats and be able to overcome the Blue Dog Caucus siding with the GOP to obstruct Pelosi’s leadership.

With California unable to count on DCCC ad money against any of the very vulnerable Republican Representatives, it is clear California Democrats need to plan to win on our own. Which is why yesterday’s LA Times editorial on the CDP wasting money on Don Perata is so counterproductive. We need the resources to win on our own and we need small dollar donors to get there. Yet the actions of the CDP discourage small dollar donations. The results are clear, including last night, the CDP has only raised $6,630 ALL CYCLE in federal money on actblue. To put in perspective, San Diego County Democrats have raised more than 20 times that much federal money on actblue — from more than 30 times as many small dollar contributions.

It could be another landslide year, but it probably will be yet another year when Democratic Congressional challengers don’t get the support they could and should count on from the CDP. In fact, when taking into account outstanding debt, the CDP Federal Account had less than $300,000 as of the end of May. And Democratic state senate challengers have already seen $450,000 wasted on not helping elect Hannah-Beth Jackson and Lois Wolk. We can trust in the CDP if the goal is to seize defeat from the jaws of victory (which it might be, Perata already called uncle on two state senate races so far this year). Or we can reform and begin fighting to beat Republicans instead of coddle the Democratic Party establishment. The first step is accountability. Again, Senator Don Perata needs to give back the $450,000 and Art Torres should step down as CDP Chair for wasting $4,450,000 not electing Democrats this fall.

This is big news.  Roll Call’s articles require subscription, but I’ll link to DKos diarist (and friend of Calitics) RandySF’s description.  Basically Chris Van Hollen is announcing that the DCCC, the campaign arm for House Democrats, will be targeting 40 seats to start in the 2008 election, 31 of them held by Republican incumbents and 9 of them open seats.  The amazing thing is that 3 of those seats are here in California.  On the top 40 list for the D-Trip are:

CA-04 (John Doolittle)

CA-26 (David Dreier)

CA-50 (Brian Bilbray)

What this means is that the DCCC will support financially challengers to those seats, and encourage Democratic donors to do the same.  Now, the D-Trip has a mixed record in getting involved in Congressional races.  In 2006 some of the seats they contested most strongly were lost at the expense of some strong progressive challengers who were beat by a mere handful of votes, and could have used the money.  But looking at the list, I perceive a shift from Rahm Emanuel’s style to Chris Van Hollen.  I think Van Hollen is rewarding strong candidates who have a chance to win.  Netroots-endorsed candidates like Linda Stender, Darcy Burner, Gary Trauner, Dan Maffei, Eric Massa and Larry Kissell are on the list.  So I am hopeful that this is not the case of a push to get a bunch of Bush Dogs into office.

What this also shows is the faith in California to have some competitive targets in 2008.  The partisan gerrymander is supposed to negate any attempt at flipping seats out here, but times have changed.  John Doolittle is so ethically compromised that his idea of good news these days is believing his case will be delayed by a year while they fight a subpoena in the courts.  David Dreier is completely out of touch with his district, and Brian Bilbray doesn’t even live there.  So we will see some opportunities in California in 2008.  And this is great news for Charlie Brown, Russ Warner and Nick Leibham, as they have been validated as national players.  I hope that they remain true to their beliefs and run these races their way, however, and not the way the national consultants tell them.

Not to toot my own horn, but these have consistently been the top three pickup opportunities in my Congressional roundups. 🙂

This is part of a series of diaries rolling out the Congressional campaign of Ron Shepston — the veteran, aerospace engineer, athlete, and grandfather whom you may know as CanYouBeAngryAndStillDream.  For anyone who doesn’t yet know, Ron is running against the ethically-challenged Rep. Gary Miller, who apparently believes that his role in Congress is to make money for his out-of-district friends, in CA-42.  I’m running his campaign full-time.

Something significant to our campaign happened yesterday.  We met with a representative of the DCCC.  More below.

Previous diaries in the CA-42 campaign rollout series (links are to DKos diaries, many of which have been cross-posted here):

7/15: thereisnospoon’s CA-42: A Kossack is running for Congress
7/16: atdnext’s CA-42: The Case Against Dirty Gary Miller
7/17: Major Danby’s CA-42: I’m managing a netroots U.S. House campaign
7/18: CanYouBeAngryAndStillDream’s CA-42: CA-42: Hi, I’m Ron Shepston and I’m running for Congress
7/19: hekebolos’s CA-42: A Netroots campaign– politics the way it should be.
7/20: dday’s CA-42: The Lay of the Land
7/21: OrangeClouds115 CA-42: “I Know His Heart”
7/22: Shockwave’s CA-42 Ron Shepston rides into a Republican stronghold

I /almost/ wish that I didn’t feel the need to post a headline that gives away the end of the story of our meeting this afternoon so that I could build up some dramatic tension before giving you the happy news.  But some people read headlines without clicking on diaries, and I want them to have seen this too.  Speaking of which, there is an eight-pack of wonderful diaries in the text box above — with more to come — and I urge you to read anything we’ve missed.  We are so very blessed in our supporters.

Here’s the story: we received a call late last week telling us that the DCCC’s representative for the western U.S. — Montana down to New Mexico and westward — would be in Southern California today and wanted to meet with us in the afternoon.  We didn’t even tell our supporters about this, including the five great bloggers we met with on Sunday night after the DFA training in Irvine.

We had two reasons for keeping it quiet: (1) we wanted to respect the privacy of the people initiating this contact, and (2) so as not to build up expectations given the possibility that things could have gone wrong.

And we knew very well that things could have gone wrong.

First of all, I hear you say: /the DCCC/?  Rahm Emanuel’s group?  The bete noir of so many bloggers?  Well, yes.  Same group.  Different personnel.  The person with whom we met was running Francine Busby’s campaign prior to being hired to go to Washington; he’s seen things from both sides of the fence and respects the power and role of the netroots.  And, as Markos has reminded us, the D-Trip is now under the leadership of Rep. Chris van Hollen, not Rahm.  (But give Rahm some respect — he knows how to land a punch and it’s great when he aims at the right chin.)

What could have gone wrong?  The DCCC could have tried to muscle us out or tried to take us over.

We’ve been aware for some time that, while there have been no prospects of a current officeholder or wealthy constituent deciding to run, that could change at any time.  We don’t want a primary challenge, but we are prepared for one should it come.  What we don’t want, most of all, is to be told “sorry, but some rich Republican-until-last-April political neophyte wants to run, so out you go.”  The odds are strong that we wouldn’t leave in such a situation anyway, but we want our focus to be on Gary Miller.

So, Ron and I were steeled for that prospect.  It didn’t happen.  The pleasant, personable guy from the DCCC instead told us that the DCCC is targeting this district, among others, and is quite /happy/ that we are running.  They’re relieved to have a viable candidate where they couldn’t recruit one.  They think they can work with us; they think that with a few breaks — which Miller seems intent on providing us — we can win.

Not only that: they know us.  They read us.  Including people here in Southern California.  “Everyone at the DCCC reads Daily Kos,” is my memory of the quote, and we found that they pay attention to Calitics as well.  (In fact, they found out about us here.)

They not only read us; they like us.

As for muscling in: no sign of it.  They want us to show our competence by raising money, among other things, but they’ve been impressed with the netroots rollout.  Our contact outlined the areas that they could help us — many of which are areas where we could use the help and expertise — but not even a gesture towards trying to squelch the netroots spirit of this campaign.  They understand what we want to do and they will help us do it.  (Most of all, they are going to help us figure out how to raise money, and they stressed that the seriousness we’ve already shown helps them take us seriously.)  If the time comes to bring in someone with 20 years experience to handle some part of the campaign for three times what I’m making, it will be because Ron and I make that decision.  (And we might someday.  What matters is winning while staying true to our convictions — our roots.  Precisely how is happens doesn’t much matter.)

Ron and I walked back to his pickup afterwards and he said: “that really couldn’t have gone much better, could it?”  The answer I wish I’d given was “sure it could — gold coins could have shot out of the guy’s nose.”  But instead I just grinned.

This is a real campaign.  It’s real enough for the DCCC and it should be real enough for all of you.  Ron and I are giving the next 15 months of our lives to it at substantial losses in income because we think that this /has to be done/.  That the DCCC agrees — well, that’s just more evidence for us that we are on the right path.

We need your help, because potential contributors are watching to see how well we are doing, and the thing they best know how to measure is money.  Please contribute what you can — /anything/ you can, but the more the merrier — to us through our ActBlue page.  As an alternative, you can mail contributions to *Ron Shepston for Congress, PO Box 97, Silverado, Ca 92676* if you prefer, but we prefer ActBlue.  If you mail it in, please see the ActBlue page so you know what information (as to employer, etc.) we need and what restrictions (not a government contractor, etc.) exist on who can donate.  You’ll save us the need to contact you for this information.

We also need the names of volunteers; I will be making initial contacts this week with those who have already spoken up.  (The cardinal rule of dealing with volunteers is that I must not waste your time, and the delay has been for me to be able to make sure I can follow that rule.)  If you live in or near the district, I really want to hear from you.  If you know of fundraising prospects, I’d like that as well.

We are going to give you a hell of a show these next 15 and here at Calitics you will have a front-row seat.  Now please help us convince other people that they should take this campaign seriously — like the DCCC does — by helping to fuel our campaign.  Many thanks to those who have already given, to those who will give now — and to the many people here who inspire us to fight this good fight.

This is a must see video, with special guest appearances by a number of California Republican Congressman. Four in fact (including the former Congressman from CA-50). It is not suprising — but somewhat shocking — that when the DCCC puts together a video on GOP corruption it is full of Californians.

Following up on dday’s great early look at vulnerable GOP seats, it is clear that California could play a huge role in picking up more seats for Speaker Pelosi. Especially considering that the Culture of Corruption could play a huge role against John Doolittle in CA-04, Jerry Lewis in CA-41, and Gary Miller in CA-42. And who knows who else, corruption doesn’t just happen in swing districts.

So I recommend everyone sign up for the new DCCC Rapid Response Network (I did).