I don’t know about the rest of the state, but if you watch TV in Sacramento for any length of time you’re bound to see Senator Jackie Speier’s political ad for Lt. Governor.

Speier is running against Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi in the Democratic primary and may be gaining ground on him. Her ad buy is around $2.4 million while Garamendi has spent a mere $700K on TV (plus whatever he spent on those ridiculous billboards he’s known for).

If Speier wins the primary, the race for Lt. Governor gets very interesting. She would be the first woman LG in California history and her political baggage is nothing compared to Garamendi’s.

Of note is the fact that her sex offender bill, SB 1178, received unanimous support on the Senate floor this week. I can’t imagine that it won’t land on the governor’s desk before the November election. Given that Republicansvoted for it in the senate, the governor will likely sign it, providing Speier with a great photo-op later this summer. Here’s what the bill would do, according to the senate rules analysis:

“This bill, commencing July 1, 2008,… Read More

Over the years I’ve worked for candidates from the top of the ticket all the way down to Mosquito Abatement District. They all have one thing in common: they are obsessive about yard signs. How many they have up (never enough, although the bill for the signs is always outrageous), how many their opponents have up (always tens of thousands), and, of course, who is ripping down whose signs (not us, them).

The ripping down of signs. Years ago, this was fairly common practice for signs placed in public places. There were even clever little devises invented for the task, like “The Hook” which was basically a tree branch trimmer with which you could easily cut down hard to reach signs. Or sharp straight edge blades on a stick that could cut through those new plastic fiberboard signs like a hot knife through butter. Some years ago I nearly got beat to a pulp by a particularly muscular union thug in a wife-beater t-shirt who had big long chains behind his truck with steel hooks that, when attached to a 4×8 firmly planted firmly, allowed the truck to rip the sign to shreds. Or liquids that could be brushed or squirted on signs that would make the ink… Read More

TERMINATOR TAKES DOWN EITHER DEMOCRAT There are a lot of articles today on the release of the Field Poll, and the startling amount of undecided Democratic voters (26%!), I found the best news of the poll to be that whether you are Phil Angelides or Steve Westly, you are LOSING to Arnold Schwarzenegger this November. Now who knows what the fall will bring, but the survey shows that undecided voters are increasingly supporting Schwarzenegger. As FR State Capitol Correspondent Karen Hanretty points out — perhaps this will now create an incentive for the Governor’s campaign to focus on issues to drive up (and equally as importantly TURN OUT) conservative voters.

JERRY LEWIS IS NO CONSERVATIVE, BUT THAT DOESN’T MAKE HIM A CROOK Congressman Jerry Lewis is famously moderate. He is very comfortable, apparently, presiding over the unprecedented growth we have seen in government spending. I only draw this conclusion based on the profligate spending by the Republican… Read More

TERMINATOR TAKES DOWN EITHER DEMOCRAT There are a lot of articles today on the release of the Field Poll, and the startling amount of undecided Democratic voters (26%!), I found the best news of the poll to be that whether you are Phil Angelides or Steve Westly, you are LOSING to Arnold Schwarzenegger this November. Now who knows what the fall will bring, but the survey shows that undecided voters are increasingly supporting Schwarzenegger. As FR State Capitol Correspondent Karen Hanretty points out — perhaps this will now create an incentive for the Governor’s campaign to focus on issues to drive up (and equally as importantly TURN OUT) conservative voters. JERRY LEWIS IS NO CONSERVATIVE, BUT THAT DOESN’T MAKE HIM A CROOK Congressman Jerry Lewis is famously moderate. He is very comfortable, apparently, presiding over the unprecedented growth we have seen in government spending. I only draw this conclusion… Read More

Today’s Field Poll shows significant improvement for Governor Schwarzenegger among independent voters, which matters a great deal. Now, to get that support the governor has had to make some calculated decisions that he knows will affect his support among conservatives. But what if 2006 plays out similar to 2003? Tom McClintock was on the ballot in 2003, driving many of the hard-core conservatives to go to the polls and vote YES on the recall question, which was crucial to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s victory. Could it be that elevating McClintock’s Lt. Governor race this go around will drive the necessary percentage of hard-core conservatives to the polls once again? There’s a lot of talk about not turning out in November, but who among conservatives wouldn’t turn out to vote for Senator McClintock? No one will punish the senator for the “sins” (I say that tongue-in-cheek) of the governor.

Go Tom!… Read More

Just came over the wire that Governor Schwarzenegger is putting National Guard on the border, and that he is claims authority over them. I think I’ll offer up a toast to the Governor tonight.… Read More

Down in OC 5th Supervisor District, gazillionaire Cassie DeYoung has spent nearly $2.5 million in her quest to become an Orange County Supervisor.

DeYoung is waging the nastiest political campaign OC has seen in a generation, and her target has been opponent Pat Bates, the former Assemblywoman (full disclosure: I’ve done some consulting work for Pat’s race).

DeYoung’s mail paints Pat of being a liberal illegal immigrant lover who gets teens hooked on smoking while destroying the ocean and our coastlines at the behest of the oil and gambling interests. I’m sure there are other smears I’ve missed, but you get to the point.

But suing Marian Bergeson? Isn’t that taking things just a tad too far? Tjis is from OC Register columnist Frank Mickadeit yesterday:

Marian Bergeson came up to me backstage at the Performing Arts Center during our last Follies… Read More

New Field Poll numbers will be reported tomorrow in the media. I’ve seen a few numbers already, but they’re embargoed until Friday.

I wouldn’t be giving anything away to say that the campaign between Phil Angelides and Steve Westly is uninspiring to Democratic voters, many who still haven’t made up their minds over the two candidatesafter an $80 million campaign. Money up in smoke. Neither candidate has a message and both resorted to negative ads. The latest against Westly is particularly brutal, in my opinion. It reminds me of a five year old little boy hugging Mickey Mouse for the first time at Disneyland. You’ll have to see it to understand. Bill Bradley’s blog at NewWestNotes.com has a link. (scroll down to yesterday’s posts)

For a little context on what you’re going to see tomorrow, here are some numbers from Feb. 27, 2002 in the primary race between Bill Simon, Dick Riordan and Bill Jones. The Field Poll indicated 23% of voters undecided a week before the primary. The numbers at that time were as follows:

Simon 37% Riordan 31% Jones 9% Undecided… Read More