The second-guessing and backseat driving has now hit epidemic proportions, as every pundit, political science professor, and columnist in the state has begun to explain exactly why the Schwarzenegger reform effort has failed. Nowhere has that criticism been more intense than among the ranks of Republican campaign consultants who are not affiliated with the governor’s committees. And while I have certainly not avoided the opportunities offered by an always-willing news media to offer my thoughts as well, at least today it may make sense to worry less about what has happened and begin to think about what comes next.

I have previously written that Schwarzenegger can plausibly claim victory if he passes either Proposition 77 or 75, on the grounds that he will be able to argue that at least he has opened the door for further reform by achieving either the redistricting reform or paycheck protection that those two initiatives offer. If one or the other passes, there’s a good chance he pulls Prop 74 across the finish line… Read More

Last night, I attended a private event in San Francisco, a reception with Helen Thomas, the veteran UPI reporter who covered the White House for nearly 40 years. After we mixed and mingled, Thomas gave a speech and took Q&A from the audience.

I expected Thomas’ speech to be an interesting journey through the administrations of the eight presidents she covered—Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush and Clinton. And while I expected Thomas’ politics to be left of center, what I was not prepared for was the vitriolic speech she gave against President Bush.

Before Thomas started her speech, she was introduced by a founding partner of the hosting firm who reminded her that the audience was of mixed political views. She clearly didn’t care.… Read More

While the unions have spent more than $120 million on attack ads slamming Governor Schwarzenegger, San Bernardino County volunteers continued their grassroots special-election efforts over the GOTV weekend, with more than 200 volunteers hitting the streets in support of Props 73-77. The County GOP targeted 200 specialized precincts from Chino to Yucaipa to Victorville. With help from paid walkers from Prop 78, more than 60,000 households received 120,000 flyers. Gerry Lynam, executive director of Yes on Prop 73, also worked in conjunction with the SBGOP to target 30 of the County’s largest churches in support of the "Parental Notification Act". Volunteers who weren’t walking stayed at the Headquarters or at offsite phone banks and called an additional 20,000 households. Volunteers also sent out more than 10,000 pieces of targeted mail on Thursday. "Our volunteers have proven themselves to be some of the most dedicated I’ve ever seen," said GOP Chairman Bill Postmus. "Their… Read More

Last night, I enjoyed watching a forum, put on by ABC television, on the ballot propostions that will appear on tomorrow’s ballot. The participants in the forum were Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi (D), Controller Steve Westly (D), Attorney General Bill Lockyer (D), LA City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo (D), State Senator Tom McClintock (R), State Assemblyman Keith Richman ("R), and State Finance Director (on leave) Tom Campbell (R). Four Democrats and three Republicans (if you include Richman, who is iffy).

Hats off to ABC for putting on the program. Their moderators, Pete Wilson (no relation) and Marc Brown did a fine job. As someone who is actually pretty familiar with the measures (nothing like going out and speaking on these measures as an incentive to really understand them), I was more looking for interesting dynamics from the panelists. Boy did I get what I was NOT looking for, towards the end of the show.

STARK CONTRAST: CAMPBELL vs. MCCLINTOCK Moderator Pete Wilson, when talking about Proposition 73, the Parental Notification… Read More

… Read More

Anthony York over at Capitol Weekly is reporting this afternoon that State Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Carole Migden is ‘temporarily’ stepping aside from her influencial post. Her stated reason, according to this piece by York, is to get more involved with the Westly for Governor Campaign.

The real question is whether Westly wants her that involved. You see, Migden is notorious for her inability to hold on to key staff members — she just isn’t a kind boss. Well, we’ll see how this all shakes out.

Of course, everyone remembers this now-infamous controversy when Migden reached over and cast an "AYE" vote (my button) of a GOP Assemblymember.… Read More

Bob Novak’s Weekly Political Report has a section today where he makes his predictions on Ballot Measure Mania across America…

Here is what he has to say:

California: The special recall election that brought Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) to power in 2003 was the clearest demonstration to date that all public polling in California is basically worthless. Polls on Schwarzenegger’s slate of ballot propositions yield such wildly different results — one proposition approaches two-thirds support in one poll and fails miserably in others — that we will ignore them completely. We anticipate, first of all, that non-partisan redistricting (Prop 77) and state spending caps (… Read More

Bening, Alda, Beatty, Dreyfuss, Douglas, Sheen, Sorkin and Meathead…in Fantasyland Yesterday afternoon, I had the fortune to see Annette Bening. I was leaving the Governor’s Anaheim Hills rally (read about that here and here) and holding court outside was the CTA bus, captained by Union-Thug-In-Chief Barbara Kerr. Aboard the "S.S. Dues Extraction" (my name for their bus) was also the Hollywood dynamic duo, Annette Bening and her ersatz-politican husband, Warren Beatty.

It was only later that I connected some very odd dots (this post demonstrates the strange way that my mind works). I recalled when… Read More