Tag: California
California Not Feeling GOP Wave in House Races – Just Three of 53 Districts in Play and One Is GOP
If Republicans take the House next month, the “wave” of seats flipping from blue to red in the Rust and Bible belts will stop at Nevada’s western border, according to analysis by Mackenzie Weinger writing for CalBuzz.
“We’re a Dem-leaning state and President Obama’s approval ratings are a bit higher here than they are elsewhere, and in some ways that insulates us from that backlash,” said UC San Diego political science professor Thad Kousser, according to Weinger. “And secondly, the post-2000 redistricting means there are a lot less competitive seats.”
Within the state’s 53-seat House delegation, Weinger found just three seats up for grabs and one of them is held by Dan Lungren, a Republican. Democratic Rep. Loretta Sanchez, one of the most prominent members of the California delegation, is in a competitive race for the first time since she was elected in 1996, and Rep. Jerry McNerney, the other Democrat, is opposed by the tea bagger who made news last week calling for closing all public schools in America.
CA Sen: US Chamber’s $3.2 Mil Ad Buy for Fiorina Paid for with Anonymous, Possibly Foreign Funds
You have to read down to the 13th paragraph in Maeve Reston’s story on funding in the California U.S. Senate race — “Boxer, Fiorina nearly even in fundraising” — before you get to this:
Most of the outside spending in the California Senate race has been on Fiorina’s behalf. A group affiliated with Karl Rove spent $1 million on a weeklong ad buy in August. And the U.S. Chamber of Commerce had spent more than $3.2 million on ads through the end of September criticizing Boxer’s record.
It’s unclear whether the $3.2 million in anonymously donated funds the Chamber spent on Fiorina’s campaign includes the $1,173,625 reported by Campaign Money Watch.
CA Sen: 75% of Independents Support Abortion Rights – Are They Really Ready to Elect a Senator Who Advocates Overturning Roe?
Economies rise and fall. The Bush Recession will end one day soon, and the California economy will rebound.
Anxiety about the economy is driving the election today, but with polls tightening to within 3 percentage points in Sen. Barbara Boxer’s reelection race, it is becoming increasingly likely that Californians could wake up when the recession is over and realize that they have elected a senator, Carly Fiorina, who advocates overturning Roe vs. Wade.
If Fiorina is elected, it would represent a radical departure for California voters, over two-thirds of whom are strongly pro-choice. In fact, Californians have not elected a senator who advocated overturning Roe, as Fiorina does, since it became law in 1973.
That’s why Fiorina has been so desperate to keep the topic of abortion out of the race. When she was asked about it in her first debate with Boxer, she confirmed she would overturn Roe “if there was an opportunity,” but quickly added that abortion “is not an issue I’m running on.”
CA Gov: Whitman’s Hypocrisy on ‘Whore’ Issue Evokes Laughter from Debate Audience
The “Whoregate” controversy was front and center in the final California gubernatorial debate between Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman last night. The controversy arose last week after the release of a secretly recorded conversation among Brown and his aides in which an adviser suggested attacking Whitman as a “whore” because she had sold out her own strong opposition to unions in order to receive a union endorsement.
The Whitman campaign has repeatedly portrayed the comment as a misogynist slur. But Brown came to the debate prepared and, in a single deft stroke, he managed to put the gaffe in context, undercut Whitman’s manufactured outrage and expose her as a hypocrite:
WHITMAN: So Jerry, it’s not just me, it’s the people of California who deserve better than slurs and personal attacks. That’s not what California is about. It is not our better selves. And I, um, think people know exact…I think every Californian, and especially women, know exactly what’s going on here. And that is a deeply offensive term to women.
BROWN: Well, can I just interject? Have you chastised your chairman, Pete Wilson, who called Congress “whores” to the public sector unions?
WHITMAN: You know better than that Jerry. That’s a completely different thing. The fact you are defending your campaign…
[Derisive LAUGHTER from audience.]
Palin to Do RNC Fundraiser in California, But Given Her 69% Disapproval Among Inds, GOP’s Whitman, Fiorina Will Be No-Shows
Sarah Palin will headline a fundraiser in California for the cash-strapped, deficit-spending Republican National Committee on Oct. 16. But with Palin viewed unfavorably by well over two-thirds of California’s independent voters, the state’s two top GOP candidates are sending regrets. It’s likely gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman, who just can’t seem to find good household help these days, will be cleaning toilets in her mansion. And the U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina will likely be washing her hair.
CA Gov: Whitman-Harsh Outspending Brown 14 to 1, Has Spent $140 Mil, So Far
14 to 1
Rate at which Meg Whitman-Harsh, the GOP billionaire running for governor of California, is outspending her Democratic rival, Attorney General Jerry Brown. The Whitman campaign had spent more than $140 million as Sept. 30, while the Brown campaign had spent just $10 million. Nonetheless, Brown has a five point lead in most polls.
Meg Before Scandal: ‘You Know What Drives Me Crazy about Career Politicians? They Refuse to Accept Accountability’
“But you know what drives me crazy about career politicians? They refuse to accept accountability … If I am governor of California, you can hold me accountable for the things that I say, the things I do, and i think that’s going to be one of the most important changes we have to make in politics. Politicians have got to be accountable…”
“…So I wouldn’t support a path to legalization. We have got to get our arms around what is a very pressing problem … We do have to hold employers accountable for hiring only documented workers, and we do have to enforce that law…”
“…Guess what? The cost of illegal immigration is significant in our budget, and if we can hold employers accountable for hiring documented workers, I think ultimately that will be a budget positive. We’re going to have to work with our federal law enforcement, as well as local law enforcement to enforce this. Illegal immigration is just that. It is illegal. And we have to stop the magnet. Most illegal immigrants come here for the jobs, so we have to go to the source and make it — and you know enforce the laws on the books. We are a rule of law and I think it’s very important to enforce it.”
– Statements made by billionaire Republican candidate for governor of California Meg Whitman during her debate with Democrat Jerry Brown on Tuesday, Sept. 28. The next day it was revealed that Whitman had employed an undocumented worker as a maid for nine years. As the scandal has unfolded, Whitman has behaved like the worst stereotype of a politician. She has blamed everyone — the employment agency from whom she hired the maid, the maid herself and even the Brown campaign — but herself. And she has been caught red-handed misstating facts. Her claim that she and her husband did not know the maid was undocumented was disproved with documentation by the maid’s lawyer.
Dems’ California Firewall Expands – Brown, Boxer Both Up by 9 Points in CNN Poll
The new CNN poll finds leads for Democrats in the California races for governor and senator.
In the governor’s race, Democrat Jerry Brown, the state’s attorney general and former governor, leads billionaire former eBay executive Meg Whitman, 52 percent to 43 percent among likely voters. Brown has a 13 point advantage among registered voters, 52 percent to 39 percent.
Sen. Barbara Boxer, seeking a fourth term, leads former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, by the same ratio, 52 percent to 43 percent. Among registered voters, Boxer’s lead widens to 19 points, 56 percent to 37 percent.
This is the first poll in which either candidate for governor has been above 50 percent in recent weeks. It is Boxer’s second 50-plus percent result.
The CNN poll is also the fourth consecutive poll that shows the Democrats ahead in California.
CA Gov: Meg Whitman’s Housekeeper Said to Have ‘Explosive’ Allegations, Has Hired Attorney Gloria Allred
Here’s some news breaking in the California governor’s race that is doubly intriguing because it is not coming from the political press — it’s from the Sunset Strip-based gossip-on-steroids outfit, TMZ:
The former housekeeper for Meg Whitman — the Republican candidate for Governor of California — is about to make “controversial and explosive allegations about her former employer,” TMZ has learned.
We’re told the housekeeper has lawyered up with none other than Gloria Allred. The housekeeper and Allred will hold a news conference today in Gloria’s office at 11 AM PT, “to tell how she suffered as a long-time, Latina household employee in Meg Whitman’s home.
We’re told the housekeeper will be filing a legal claim against Ms. Whitman.
From what we’re hearing, the disclosures could have a significant impact on the campaign and possibly the election.
If the allegations involved anger issues at Casa Whitman, they would not be the first.
Update 2:24 p.m.: The issue turned out to the fact that the maid was an undocumented alien when she worked for the Whitman-Harsh household for nine years. This comes one day after Whitman’s debate with Democrat Jerry Brown, during which she called for tough sanctions against employers of undocumented workers:
