Governor Schwarzenegger stopped by the 2nd Assembly/4th Senate District with Senator Aanestad and myself on hand, as well as the City Council members of Colusa, 3 Colusa Supervisors, the Sheriff, andother local officials today to survey the progress on levee repairs. Back in April, he declared the emergency that set aside the usual red tape and years of surveys and studiesthat typically delay levee repairs and maintenance. Colusa County, along the Sacramento river about 50 miles northwest of Sacramento, contains 6 of the growing number [now at 103]of critical levee erosion sights that need immediate repair. This sight at Moon Bend [not known to be a hangout spotof your Democrat Attorney General nominee, JerryBrown] is nearing completion of its repairs, over 1/4 of a linear mile. [Here is local network television coverage… Read More

What is that sound? It is the sound of implosion.

There is no surer sign of a campaign that is in dire straights than when you start having to cancel your television media buys. With the extremely impacted general election, reserved television space is a much sought after commodity. The fact that the Cruz Bustamante for Insurance Commissioner campaign is now starting to ‘release’ rather than purchase huge chucks of time they had reserved on major stations around the state is terrible news for Bustamante and will only further depress any future ability to raise campaign funds. With just a little bit of ‘elbow grease’ research, the FlashReport can tell you that some of his media spot cancellations look like this: SACRAMENTO MARKET He’s cancelled ALL of his spots on KMAX, KOVR, KTXL, KXTV, and the week of 10/23 on KCRA.

SAN… Read More

From today’s Wall Street Journal Political Diary E-mail (thanks John for the F/R ‘shout-out’):

California Goes Its Own Way

Washington D.C.’s conservative community is acting as if an invasion of barbarian liberals is at the city’s gates. But out in the nation, the picture is a bit more mixed. California conservatives aren’t depressed at all, despite their state’s reputation as a pure blue stronghold. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger isn’t a traditional conservative but his lengthy coattails may bring along some top-flight conservative candidates who are running for lesser statewide offices. Should State Senator Tom McClintock be elected lieutenant governor, for instance,… Read More

Much has been made about the strength of the GOP team of statewide candidates this year.

Arnold has the star power. Tom and Tony and Pooch bring out the base. Poizner and McPherson give us strength and balance.

But as these last days approach, I’ve come to believe that the rest of the team brings significant benefit to the ticket as well, but in an unusual way…

About a year ago now if you recall, businessman and Redistricting Reform advocate Bill Mundell was talking about putting his millions up against Senator Feinstein. Bill Simon too was talking about making a run for the Treasurer’s post.

Neither ultimately decided to run, and in some ways, it’s a blessing.

Instead of the popular Senator and the deep-pocketed AG adding to the clutter on the airwaves and giving Democrats actual reasons to go vote, both are opting to sit comfortably atop their warchests, secure in the knowledge that their races don’t require vast expenditures.

An unintended consequence of those decisions though is the removal of a competative race for either post that could possibly pull the Democrats out of the downward spiral of… Read More

Tan Nguyen, the newly minted Republican who is running for Congress in central Orange County fresh on the heels of running for Congress as a Democrat in the neighboring House seat is having a bad day — actually — a bad few days. As a general rule you probably never want to be linked to the DrudgeReport – that is usually bad news. Looks like the Feds are all over him…Nguyen is, and the links are below…

GOP Calls for Withdrawal of Candidate After Letter...

Agents Search Office...… Read More

We can’t keep up with the cancellations fast enough. Here are more television stations where Cruz Bustamante has pulled his television ads. These are in additions to the ones listed below.

For those of you who have not been following it, there has been a controversy brewing in Central Orange County where a letter had apparently been sent out to around 14,000 hispanic voters geared towards suppressing hispanic turnout.

The letter, written in Spanish, apprently say in it, "You are advised that if your residence in this country is illegal or you are an immigrant, voting in a federal election is a crime that could result in jail time…"

The letter has set off a formal investigation by the Attorney General’s office, and it is looking very much like the responsible party looks to be Tan Nguyen (to right). Nguyen is the long-shot Republican challenger to Democratic Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez in the 46th Congressional District.

I will draw the attention of FR readers to three blog posts on the Red County/OC Blog website (the definitive source for political news in "The OC") — the… Read More

by FR State Capitol Correspondent Dan Schnur

[WELCOME BRITONS!]

Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice. So if you’re a California Democrat contemplating electoral apocalypse and you’ve already reconciled yourself to the idea that Arnold Schwarzenegger is going to be re-elected next month, you’re probably just beginning to confront a downticket dilemma that’s almost as frustrating:

McClintock or Strickland.

If you’re a California Democrat and you’re still mad about the special election, but you’ve come to term with the idea that another four years of Arnold won’t be that bad as long as he continues to compromise with the legislature on everything but taxes and illegal immigration, and you were never that wild about Phil Angelides anyway so it’s time to start thinking about Villaraigosa or Newsom or O’Connell (or Obama or Gore or Hillary), you’ve still got an unpleasant decision to face in the meantime:

Strickland or McClintock.

Of course you’ll vote against both Tom McClintock for… Read More