John Doolittle, the retiring congressman who is under investigation for his ties to jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff, appears likely to campaign for state Sen. Tom McClintock, the Republican nominee for Doolittle's Roseville-area seat.
"We're talking about doing a couple of events and we're putting them together," said Doolittle spokesman Dan Blankeburg. Blankeburg declined to provide any further details, adding that the two sides had only talked in what he called "conceptual terms." [...]
Stan Devereux, a spokesman for McClintock, confirmed that the campaign had set up a meeting to discuss Doolittle's support for McClintock.
Doolittle was running 20 points behind Charlie Brown in the polls before dropping out of the race. Southern Californian McClintock may not know the rules up in the Sierras, but political common sense dictates that this is a guy you run screaming from in the other direction, not WITH.
Looks to me like McClintock hasn't locked down the "gimme gimme" base of Doolittle's support, those who received political favors and giveaways from him. Brown was undoubtedly going to tie the two together based on their shared radical ideology - apparently McClintock wants to make that easier by sharing the penchant for using government as a profit-taking machine. Maybe Doolittle can introduce ol' Tom to Jack Abramoff.
For what they are worth, here are my personal recommendations for the June 3rd California ballot. I do spend quite a bit of time reviewing competitive races before making my recommendations.
Feel free to comment, agree, disagree, forward, or ignore. But please Vote on Tuesday (polls open 7a.m.-8p.m.) or vote-by-mail if you already have an absentee ballot.
We are proud to be giving opinions on every race contested by more than one Democrat, and also every race with a Democrat facing a Republican incumbent (The Democratic incumbents facing no opposition don't much need our support or to raise their name recognition, though we will talk about the incumbents we like in a later post). It's a big job, but having covered these Congressional races for well over a year now, we feel that we have the insight into what's happening throughout the state to offer this slate of endorsements. See the flip for explanations.
UPDATE by Brian: I want to make one thing clear here. These are endorsements for the primary. We will, as we have in the past, support the Democratic nominees come November.
CA-01: no endorsement
CA-02: Jeff Morris
CA-03: Bill Durston
CA-04: Charlie Brown
CA-08: no endorsement
CA-12: Rep. Jackie Speier
CA-21: Larry Johnson
CA-24: Mary Pallant
CA-25: Jackie Conaway
CA-26: Russ Warner
CA-33: Rep. Diane Watson
CA-37: no endorsement
CA-40: Christina Avalos
CA-41: Rita Ramirez-Dean
CA-42: Ron Shepston
CA-43: Joanne Gilbert
CA-44: Bill Hedrick
CA-45: Julie Bornstein
CA-46: Debbie Cook
CA-48: Steve Young
CA-49: Robert Hamilton
CA-50: no endorsement
CA-51: Rep. Bob Filner
CA-52: Mike Lumpkin
CA-53: no endorsement
Before we get into the next round of endorsements, we have a few comments in here about how we envision this working. The endorsements are the opinion of the board, not the community as a whole - we would hope they generate a good discussion about the various candidates in every district.
Furthermore, these are primary endorsements, so somebody is not going to be happy about them. We apologize for that, but if you don't like our opinions, you should let us know that. Write a comment here. Post a diary about the candidate of your choice. Let the community know why you think your preferred candidate is the best choice in the Democratic Primary. Unlike newspapers, this is a two-way medium. We not only accept comments on these endorsements, we encourage it. So, feel free to tell us how wrong we really are.
And with that said, here are the State Senate Endorsements. Explanations over the flip.
SD-03: Mark Leno SD-05: Lois Wolk (UPDATED) SD-09: Loni Hancock & Wilma Chan SD-12: Simon Salinas / Yes on Recall SD-15: Dennis Morris SD-19: Hannah-Beth Jackson SD-23: Lloyd Levine and Fran Pavley SD-25: No Endorsement SD-33: Gary Pritchard
This is our first attempt at endorsements on a broad scale in the legislature. It is not comprehensive, we simply don't have the resources to get to every seat. But, we tried to get to most of the competitive seats. We'll provide a bit of commentary on some of these over the flip. State Senate races tomorrow, and Congressional races on Wednesday. But, today, Assembly races:
AD-08: Mariko Yamada
AD-10: Alyson Huber
AD-15: Joan Buchanan
AD-27: Emily Reilly
AD-37: Ferial Masry
AD-40: Laurette Healey
AD-78: Any Democratic candidate other than Auday Arabo.
AD-80: Manuel Perez
Proposition 98 claims to be about eminent domain and protecting the little people. But here at Calitics, we have reason to question the motives of Jon Coupal and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers' Association. And once again, they are trying to hoodwink California voters.
Proposition 98 eliminates rent control and other renter protections, making living in California's cities out of reach for a greater percentage of our population. Prop 98 would also make protecting California's environment even harder than it is presently. The effects on governance, the environment, and tenants are simply disastrous. NO on 98.
Prop 99 is not ideal, but it is tolerable. It simply blocks the use of eminent domain to transfer owner-occupied homes to private developers. Nothing fancy, but it does have a nice provision that overrules Prop 98 if it gets one more vote. It also has the potential to do the state a great favor by removing the issue of eminent domain from the ballot. YES on 99.
Post-Pennsylvania and... well, nothing much different actually. But next time, for sure! Meanwhile, here are some California-centric notes:
• The California School Employees Association made their endorsements for the June primary. In addition to Migden, they strike of an aversion to go out on a limb. They only endorsed one Congressional candidate in a Republican-held seat (Charlie Brown), and they opted out of a lot of contested primaries in the legislative seats as well. Manuel Perez did get the endorsement in the 80th AD, however (he is a school board member, so not a big shock).
• We don't get into a lot of rural issues on the site, probably because of the bias toward writers here in urban environments. But this salmon fishing ban is a big deal along the Mendocino coast. This actually goes back to the Klamath fish kill in the beginning of the decade and Darth Cheney's efforts to ensure that. I think there are going to be a lot of angry fishermen wanting answers this fall.
• I keep forgetting to write about the State Senate primary in my own backyard of SD-23, between Fran Pavley and Lloyd Levine. Here's some background on the race to succeed Sheila Kuehl. I actually attended an environmental forum with these two last week and found them both to be really solid, with different strengths. While Pavley is an astonishingly effective lawmaker - she probably has her name on more far-reaching climate change legislation than anyone in the entire country - Levine really seems to understand the nature of the fight in Sacramento and how best to bring about sweeping change. I'm not going to be disappointed on June 3, regardless of the winner. We're hoping to get both Pavley and Levine on a future Calitics Radio show.
• Here's a user-created video of our debate protest at ABC last week. We have our own video set for release as well.
• Adam Liptak in The New York Times today: "The United States has less than 5 percent of the world's population. But it has almost a quarter of the world's prisoners."
Yet we must remain "tough on crime," even though rises and falls in the crime rate are not correlative to imprisoning people (Canada's rate goes up and down roughly at the same time ours does, without a corresponding increase in the prison population).
In a letter, Yoo's lawyer told Conyers he was "not authorized" by DOJ to discuss internal deliberations.
"We have been expressly advised by the Office of Legal Counsel of the United States Department of Justice that Professor Yoo is not authorized to discuss before your Committee any specific deliberative communications, including the substance of comments on opinions or policy questions, or the confidential predecisional advice, recommendations or other positions taken by individuals or entities of the Executive Branch," Yoo's lawyer, John C. Millian, wrote in a letter to Conyers.
As we all know, the executive branch can ignore subpoenas and prevent Congressional oversight. Why, Yoo wrote it in a memo! But he can't discuss it. Because the executive branch follows the law. That he wrote.
Received this press release today from the Greg Pettis for CA 80th Assembly District campaign. Pettis presently has the overwhelming support of labor and LGBT groups in his race to replace the termed-out, thank the deity, State Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia (R-CA). Pettis, much to the chagrin of his opponents, is also picking up key endorsements from the ethnic minority and multicultural communities.
Pettis has also significantly outraised and outspent his Democratic opponents each reporting period. According to The Desert Sun, in the last reporting period, Pettis raised and spent more monies than all of these Democratic opponents combined. Of interest, Pettis also outraised his presumptive Republican opponent, Gary Jeandron, by a significant margin!
Add to this the fact that the current voter registration favors the Democrats. Thanks to the local Democratic clubs, activists have shifted the 80th AD voter registration from a majority Republican in 2000, to a more than 15,000 voter advantage at present. And, this does not include the Decline to State voters which have been since 2004 trending Democratic. Bodes well for a Pettis candidacy in November 2008.
Here is the text of the press release:
For Immediate Release
April 8, 2008
For More Information, contact Richard Oberhaus 760-413-7938
Cathedral City Councilmember Greg Pettis picked up four critical endorsements in the last week from labor and a Latino group, both keys to winning the 80th Assembly District.
This is actually a pretty important weekend for Congressional and legislative Democratic candidates across California. State party delegates will get together tonight and Saturday in pre-endorsement conferences to vote whether or not to endorse particular candidates for the June primary elections. There's been a lot of organizing to woo delegates into endorsing one candidate or another, even in races where there is no opponent. Every delegate gets one vote in Congressional districts, Senate districts and Assembly districts, based on where they live. These endorsements become the official Democratic Party endorsement if a candidate receives 70% of the vote (If a candidate gets between 50 and 70 percent, it goes to caucuses at the state party convention in two weeks). UPDATE: That's the short version; the long version is below.
And then their names get sent out on all Democratic mailers, and that's not a little thing. Endorsed party candidates are in a very strong position. It doesn't mean the voters won't have their say, but it's a big help. In fact, there's a credible argument to be made that the party shouldn't endorse one Democrat over another in a primary. But that's the system we have now.
Throughout the weekend, it'd be good to hear from those party officials and delegates with reports on who, if anyone, received endorsements in the various districts. I'm particularly interested in AD-80, AD-78, SD-03, and some of the Congressional seats with multiple candidates like CA-24 and CA-42, among others.
Again, I question the value of newspaper endorsements, but the LAT has chosen for the first time in a very, very long time. And they "strongly endorsed" Barack Obama.
With two candidates so closely aligned on the issues, we look to their abilities and potential as leaders, and their record of action in service of their stated ideals. Clinton is an accomplished public servant whose election would provide familiarity and, most important, competence in the White House, when for seven years it has been lacking. But experience has value only if it is accompanied by courage and leads to judgment.
Nowhere was that judgment more needed than in 2003, when Congress was called upon to accept or reject the disastrous Iraq invasion. Clinton faced a test and failed, joining the stampede as Congress voted to authorize war. At last week's debate and in previous such sessions, Clinton blamed Bush for abusing the authority she helped to give him, and she has made much of the fact that Obama was not yet in the Senate and didn't face the same test. But Obama was in public life, saw the danger of the invasion and the consequences of occupation, and he said so. He was right.
Obama demonstrates as well that he is open-eyed about the terrorist threat posed to the nation, and would not shrink from military action where it is warranted. He does not oppose all wars, he has famously stated, but rather "dumb wars." He also has the edge in economic policy, less because of particular planks in his platform than because of his understanding that some liberal orthodoxies developed during the last 40 years have been overtaken by history. He offers leadership on education, technology policy and environmental protection unfettered by the positions of previous administrations.
Go read the whole thing. It should be noted that, due to budget cuts, the LA Times Sunday Opinion section is kind of hidden. It's in tabloid format and tacked on to half of the Book Review section. Because of the significance, it's possible they will put it in a more prominent place.
UPDATE: Obama has left the state (for good, apparently) while Hillary continues to hold events here until Sunday, I believe. On Sunday Oprah Winfrey will come back out on the campaign trail, rallying in LA with Michelle Obama.
La Opinion is the major Spanish-language weekly daily in Los Angeles. And they're talking about endorsing in the Democratic primary for the first time ever. Obama has done well in Spanish media (like El Cucuy), and there's enough to suggest that this could be the direction they're leaning in:
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama's differing tones on immigration policy are said to be key to the editorial board's decision, which I'd guess bodes well for Obama. Clinton has earned more support from the Latino political class, and Bill Clinton's administration was known for promoting Latino leadership. But in recent weeks Obama has reached out to grassroots immigrants-rights organizations, speaking about his record of using progressive economic politics to bring Chicago's African American and Latino communities together.
I honestly don't know what newspaper endorsements really do anymore (and the Los Angeles Times is still out, so a split between the two is possible), but if Obama were to get the La Opinion endorsement, it could move enough votes in Latino-heavy Congressional districts in Southern California to have a legitimate impact, due to the peculiar math of the delegate selection process.
Of the remaining 370 delegates that will be allocated by voters, 241 will be divided among the state's 53 congressional districts and allocated to candidates based on the vote they receive.
But not all congressional districts are equal. Some will have as few as three delegates, some as many as six. The number depends on how heavily Democrats have turned out in the past.
In one peculiarity of the process, a candidate who wins by a big margin in one district could end up with fewer delegates than a candidate who wins by a narrow margin in another.
For example, in a district with four delegates, a candidate who wins 62% of the vote would get two delegates -- so would a candidate who wins 38% of the vote.
Obama could keep close and basically split those high-turnout districts (and I'm guessing that the heavily Latino districts are among them) and try for a majority and a win in the 3-delegate districts. They're already thinking along those lines:
Mitchell Schwartz, California campaign director for Obama, said he has a map on his wall of the state's 53 districts and has selected about 20 where he thinks the Illinois senator could pick up an extra delegate.
Schwartz said the campaign has "shifted resources in the field" to try to capitalize on the quirks in the rules. "It's different from winner take all," he said. "You can lose a state and still pick up a bunch of delegates."
I'd love to see a list of delegates by district if anyone could dig that up.
Re full disclosure, BlueBeaumontBoyz is a supporter and friend of Greg Pettis for Assembly.
According to Richard Oberhaus, Campaign Director for the Greg Pettis for 80th Assembly District Campaign, as of yesterday, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 440 has now endorsed Pettis in his race to replace Bonnie Garcia. IBEW Local 440 has long been active in Coachella Valley politics and Progressive Democratic circles.
Chuck McDaniel, a IBEW Local 440 leader and activist, is also a co-leader of the newly formed Desert Hot Springs Democratic Club, is a member of the Riverside County Democratic Central Committee, and attended the recent Pettis Campaign for 80th AD website preview.
Garcia, aka Barfcia due to her various verbal indiscretions and embarrassments to the District, is currently termed out and, pending defeat of the proposed ballot initiative to extend term limits, cannot again run for re-election.
The good news for Proud Progressive Democrats is that the Coachella Valley is trending blue with recent wins by Steve Pougnet for Mayor of Palm Springs, by Rick Hutcheson in the Palm Springs City Council, by Karl Baker in the Desert Hot Springs City Council, by Greg Pettis in the Cathedral City City Council, by Craig Ewing in the Desert Water Agency, and No on C. Garcia barely won re-election in the last race against a little-known candidate, Steve Clute, who did not have the backing of all of the Democratic clubs because of his opposition to Marriage Equality.
In addition, Democrats now out-register Repugnants by 9% of the voters, i.e., 13,000 votes! The voter registration figures are also trending Democratic across the district from Desert Hot Springs, Palm Springs, and Cathedral City in the West Valley to Indio, Coachella, and even Rancho Mirage, La Quinta, and Palm Desert in Down Valley.
Pettis has a well-funded, well-oiled candidacy and has already outraised all of his competitors combined in FundRace 2008! In addition, Pettis already has endorsements from four of the local Democratic clubs, including the Pass Democratic Club, Desert Stonewall Democrats, Inland Stonewall Democrats, and San Diego Democratic Club.
Other labor organizations already endorsing Pettis include Building Trades of California, Cathedral City Professional Firefighters, and San Bernardino/Riverside Central Labor Council.
The following is a partial list of Steve Pougnet's endorsments for Mayor of Palm Springs.
In its ringing endorsement of Pougnet, The Desert Sun stated:
"Steven Pougnet captured Palm Springs' attention in 2003 when he was elected to City Council and through hard work and strategic thinking, he has held it ever since...
"...The lack of several strong, experienced competitors, or even another clearly prominent challenger, indicates voters tend to be comfortable with the leadership Pougnet has demonstrated on the council.
"We believe his best is yet to come, and we urge Palm Springs voters to elect Pougnet mayor and allow him to continue to revitalize Palm Springs and protect its quality of life.
"Pougnet's challenges as mayor will be to continue to resolve downtown development issues and be innovative in planning for future development citywide.
"The Fashion Plaza will likely be one of the greatest issues facing the next mayor because it's tied to so much of the city's planned future growth. Palm Springs needs a mayor who has the type of experience Pougnet has in working with developer John Wessman. If development stalls, Pougnet also will need to be able to recognize when it's time to consider other options. He has said he is willing set a deadline and is not afraid to mention eminent domain, though we are not sure that makes sense.
"No doubt he has the experience and leadership to face those challenges and more. Bottom line: He would make a great mayor.
Re full disclosure, BlueBeaumontBoyz is a supporter of Steve Pougnet for Mayor of Palm Springs City Council
Just received this press release from the Greg Pettis for Assembly campaign. Pettis is Mayor Pro-Tem of Cathedral City and is running for the CA 80th Assembly District. He announced endorsements from California's top elected financial leaders this week, including Former State Controller Steve Westly, State Controller John Chiang, Board of Equalization member Judy Chu, and Chair of the Assembly Appropriations Committee Mark Leno.
Re full disclosure, BlueBeaumontBoyz is a financial supporter to the Greg Pettis for Assembly campaign.
President Bush plans to play the part of the hero by visiting California, now ravaged by fire. But on this issue he's the villain -- it's two years after Hurricane Katrina and the only progress he's made is actually acknowledging that global warming exists. If we're going to avoid tragedies like this in the future, we must take the long-term view. On this point, the science is clear: global warming has already led to increased wildfire activity in the U.S., and if we don't dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the near future, the problem is going to get much worse.
More than ever, we need a president committed to making real and deep change in how we treat the planet.
"After 7 years of George Bush - the worst, most destructive environmental president in modern history - it is definitely time for change, and that change starts by electing John Edwards as President."
Come around after the fold with me for Part II of my interview with Brent Blackwelder, president of Friends of the Earth and Friends of the Earth Action.
"I am extremely pleased to receive the endorsement of the Sierra Club. The endorsement was announced on Sunday, October 21st. The letter going to Sierra Club members states On Tuesday, November 6 Sierra Club strongly urges you to vote:
"John Williams for City Council!
"Being a successful hotelier himself, John understands what brings people to Palm Springs," states Joan Taylor, Conservation Chair of Sierra Club. "Clearly, sprawling development on our scenic hillside backdrop is not good for tourism or our quality of life. John supports conservation of water and energy and clean air. With John on the City Council, the environment will have a friend at City Hall."
"As a long time supporter of the environment and clean water and air, I respect the Sierra Club and the great work they have done to help California and the rest of the country maintain our planet. We all have to work together to curb global warming, and the Sierra Club is taking the lead.
"A Note To My Supporters: This week is your last chance to write a letter to The Desert Sun; Friday is the deadline. These letters are literally read by thousands of people. PLEASE write a letter to the Desert Sun on my behalf, if you have the time. Your support is greatly appreciated! Simple go to www.mydesert.com and click on "Get Published", then click on "Letters to the Editor" and follow the instructions. It is really easy. Please remember there is a 250 word limit on your letter submissions.
Remember to Vote on November 6, 2007
Friends of John Williams for Palm Springs City Council,
P.O.Box 1611,
Palm Springs, CA 92263,
United States,
(760) 416-8848
Email: williamsforcouncil@dc.rr.com
Previously, Williams was endorsed by the Desert Stonewall Democratic Club and the Palm Springs Democratic Club. In addition, he has received numerous other endorsements from community leaders, civic and business organizations, and political leaders in Palm Springs and in the Coachella Valley.
Democratic candidate for California 80th Assembly District, Greg Pettis, received the sole endorsement of the National group Democracy for America on October 15, 2007.
The organization, which was started by former Vermont Governor Howard Dean in 2004, is a grassroots network dedicated to supporting fiscally responsible, socially progressive candidates at all levels of government.
"Inspired by the presidential campaign of Howard Dean, Democracy for America (DFA) is a political action committee dedicated to supporting fiscally responsible, socially progressive candidates at all levels of government-from school board to the presidency. DFA fights against the influence of the far right-wing and their radical, divisive policies and the selfish special interests that for too long have dominated our politics."
DFA Executive Director Thomas Hughes said:
"Greg Pettis has been building Cathedral City one block at a time. His sound financial management has led to thousands of new jobs and increased revenue for the city. His conscience has led to progressive solutions like a first-time homebuyer program, cleaning up Salton Sea and protecting open space for generations to come.
"We are confident he will continue this record of success in Sacramento to find solutions to improve California's health care system and combat global warming."
Pettis said he was thrilled to have DFA's support.
"DFA is a group that not only supports fiscally responsible and socially progressive candidates, but they do so from the ground up. Like me, DFA believes you win elections one vote at a time, sharing your ideas and committing your neighbors to help. That's been my record on the City Council and that's how I'm going to win this election."
DFA joins a long list of endorsements for Pettis including the California Building Trades Council, Riverside/San Bernardino Labor Council, Victory Fund, Riverside Mayor Ronald Loveridge, Palm Springs City Councilmember Ginny Foat, Cathedral City Councilmember Paul Marchand, El Centro City Councilmember Sedalia Sanders and former Coachella Mayor Juan DeLara.
Pettis is considered the Democratic frontrunner in the race to replace Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia, who will be stepping down due to term limits. His status has been determined in that he has raised more money and has more donors than all the other Democratic candidates combined based on the last filings with California's Secretary of State.
Re full disclosure, BlueBeaumontBoyz is an financial supporter of Pettis.
In a press release dated October 4, 2007, Greg Pettis announced that the Victory Fund has endorsed his campaign for the CA 80th Assembly District which is held by the termed-limited Bonnie Garcia, R-CA.
The Victory Fund provides strategic, technical and financial support to openly Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender candidates and their political campaigns. The Victory Fund staff helps to recruit, screen and train qualified candidates and to assist them in raising the necessary funds required to run for political office.
Re full disclosure, BBBz is an enthusiastic supporter of the Pettis campaign for the CA 80th Assembly District.
