Free Republic

Real Clear Politics just moved the California senate race from 'leans Democrat' to 'toss up.' Please help GOTV for Carly Fiorina. We can win this!!

Democrats urge reelection of dead Long Beach senator October 29, 2010 | 3:18 pm A week after the death of state Sen. Jenny Oropeza (D-Long Beach), Democrats have sent mailers to residents urging them to vote to reelect her. That would trigger a special election and give the party a chance to put up a new candidate. The mailers featuring Secretary of State Debra Bowen and Democratic Party general counsel Martha Escutia do not say explicitly that Oropeza has died or that a vote for her will allow another Democrat to be considered. "Senator Jenny Oropeza’s illness has been a...

Former Gov. Pete Wilson is the only politician to have beaten Jerry Brown in an election. In 1982, Wilson, then-San Diego mayor, trounced Brown, then California's bigfoot governor, in the race for U.S. Senate 51 to 45 percent. Now Wilson serves as Meg Whitman's campaign chairman. On Thursday, he told me not to believe polls that show Whitman losing by as much as double digits. Whitman, he says, has a real shot at beating Brown. Polls that show Whitman losing, Wilson said, "are greatly underestimating the enthusiasm on the part of the Republicans and pretty much a lack of it...

Kindergarten teacher Marisa Martinez was tired of political promises, unfulfilled vows to restore California classrooms to their former glory. She despaired as she saw her beloved art and music disappear from the schools as money dried up, leaving teachers scrambling for pencils and paper. To Martinez, 41, paintbrushes and pianos weren't luxuries; they were necessities. A professional musician as well as an educator at San Francisco's El Dorado Elementary School, she decided to take things into her own hands. With her own money, she created a CD of songs she sings to her predominantly low-income students, tunes with a bluegrass,...

In an already nasty election year, outspoken San Francisco defense attorney Tony Serra has unfurled a huge banner in front of his building near busy and tourist-heavy Broadway and Kearny streets in North Beach, stating “F*** Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina.” (snip) “To utterly condemn someone, that’s what the “F” word means to me, and that’s the way it’s intended, but I think they’re a threat to democracy itself. Capitalism cannot buy public office,” Serra said in an interview.

If early voting is an indication of how Tuesday's midterm elections will go--and it's debatable whether, and how, it can--early vote-by mail turnout in California predicts close races for Senate and governor. Here's a breakdown of who has voted already through the state's vote-by-mail program, provided to The Atlantic by a source close to the California Republican Party. By party registration, here's a who has mailed a ballot so far: Total Returns:   2,456,455 Dem: 1,056,498 (43.0%) Rep: 959,617 (39.1%) Decline to State: 350,337 (14.3%) The California Secretary of State's office could not be reached for comment to confirm or deny...

Republican Congressional Candidate Nick Popaditch is responding to an ad Congressman Bob Filner is running about his voting record. The ad Filner is running claims Popaditch has not voted for more than 11 years, but KUSI has documents showing thats not the case.

VIDEO: Arnold Schwarzenegger shares energy policy ideas with Diane Sawyer. The following is a partial transcript of the exchange (see video) • World News asked California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger about the clean energy policies that he says are his legacy • Does he think the nation will join in his conviction? SCHWARZENEGGER: "What would help is if we now are successful in beating back the Texas oil companies, the same players that have been there for decades, ruining everything -- you know -- trying to burn and get rid of our light rail in 45 cities. "And so now the...

I know it’s a bold prediction, especially in light of the poll numbers from the LA Times and the Field Poll, but Meg Whitman is about to take Jerry Brown to the mat. Here’s why: 1. Rasmussen has moved the race from Leans Democrat to Toss-up as of their latest report. It’s back in the margin of error of 4 points, at 49 to 45 in favor of Brown.

The Michael Kinsley definition of politcal gaffe is the accidental telling of an embarrassing truth — and if that’s the case, Jerry Brown committed the ultimate gaffe. Only Brown didn’t commit the gaffe in this campaign; he committed it fifteen years ago in an interview with CNN. Brown told the network that politicians in his experience don’t really have plans for governing, or at least specifically in his own experience. He admitted that he lied in order to win election in 1974, and Meg Whitman pounces on it in this eleventh-hour ad:

California’s progressive-era experiment in direct democracy was supposed to elevate the voters above the special interests, allowing voters make law themselves through the statewide initiative process. That this process is now virtually owned by the special interests is yet another example of the immutable Law of Unintended Consequences in government. A brief perusal of the California Secretary of State’s initiative campaign finance disclosure website shows that some $120 million dollars has been raised by 53 groups supporting or opposing California’s nine November ballot initiatives. By comparison, California’s two major candidates for governor have raised or given to their campaigns $176...

Between radical democrat Jerry Brown and rino Meg Whitman, Californians have no suitable candidate for governor.Mitt Romney spent $ 10 mill of his own money in a failed effort to win the Iowa Caucus in 2008. He was bested by Huckabee who spent $ 1 mill on Iowa.After the big primary showdown of Super Tuesday Romney suspended his campaign for the presidency after spending $ 42 mill of his own money out of a total campaign expense of $ 97 mill.By contrast rino candidate Meg Whitman has spent $162 mill trying to be elected governor in California. Thought Romney was...

The races for lieutenant governor and attorney general are too close to suggest that any candidate has a firm edge going into Tuesday's election, according to the latest Field Poll released Friday. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, is hanging onto a slim five-point edge of 42 percent to 37 percent over Republican Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado. The survey also found that Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley – the GOP candidate for attorney general – has dipped to a one-point lead over Democratic rival Kamala Harris, San Francisco's district attorney. The latest survey, which was conducted Oct....

MENLO PARK, Calif.—Republican Carly Fiorina said Friday she would be a like-minded colleague of Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein if she unseats Sen. Barbara Boxer next week, drawing sharp responses from both Democratic senators as they appeared together at a campaign stop. "We agree on more issues," Fiorina said in describing views she shares with Feinstein on water issues, trade and national security. "On a whole host of issues, Dianne Feinstein and I, I am quite sure, will be very productive colleagues," Fiorina said during a campaign stop with female supporters at the Sugar Shack candy store in the Silicon Valley...

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, announced Friday the endorsement of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg -- a former Democrat and former Republican who's now an independent. "I've admired Mayor Bloomberg's approach to governing for many years -- .. " Newsom said in a prepared statement from his campaign committee.

17,285,883 voters. 44% D, 31% GOP, 20.25% independent. More info at link.

Prop 19: When Worlds Collide.  NO.   If this simply allowed people to cultivate and smoke marijuana themselves and left the rest of us alone, it would be worth considering.   But it goes much further and provides that “no person shall be … discriminated against or denied any right or privilege” for pot use, inviting a lawsuit every time an employer tries to require a drug test, for example.  If you want to smoke pot in your own world, I don’t care.  But don’t bring it into mine.     Prop 20: Congressional Redistricting. YES.  This finishes the work we began in...

California GOP gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman says her former housekeeper should be deported. Whitman — down 10 percentage points in the latest Field Poll after spending over $140 million of her own money on the campaign — said Nicky Diaz should be forced to leave the country for lying about her illegal status. “It breaks my heart, but she should be deported because she forged documents, and she lied about her immigration status,” Whitman told Fox News's Greta Van Susteren on Wednesday night.

With only a few days until Election Day, Democrat Jerry Brown holds a slightly smaller lead over Republican Meg Whitman in California’s gubernatorial race. The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of Likely Voters shows Brown picking up 49% support, while Whitman draws the vote from 45%. Two percent (2%) prefer some other candidate, and three percent (3%) are still undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.) These numbers move the race from Leans Democrat back to a Toss-Up in the Rasmussen Reports Gubernatorial Scorecard. Last week, Brown held a 48% to 42% edge over Whitman. Support for Brown,...

With only a few days until Election Day, Democrat Jerry Brown holds a slightly smaller lead over Republican Meg Whitman in California’s gubernatorial race. The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of Likely Voters shows Brown picking up 49% support, while Whitman draws the vote from 45%. Two percent (2%) prefer some other candidate, and three percent (3%) are still undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.) These numbers move the race from Leans Democrat back to a Toss-Up in the Rasmussen Reports Gubernatorial Scorecard. Last week, Brown held a 48% to 42% edge over Whitman. Support for Brown,...