Summer is just about over--kids are back in school, and Labor Day is approaching, the unofficial start of fall. That also means that it's campaign season, with the November general election only two months away.

Tonight, much of the local politicos will be glued to their TV's watching Carly Fiorina debate Barbara Boxer in the campaign for the U.S. Senate  as the incumbent struggles for her political life against her toughest challenger yet.

In Alaska, a sitting senator was just defeated by a no-name Tea Party candidate.

Closer to home, the Ventura County GOP made endorsements in the treasurer-tax collector and Simi Valley mayoral races, choosing Steven Hintz and Bob Huber, respectively.

In the 37^th Assembly District, where Republican Jeff Gorell is running against Democrat Ferial Masry, a new poll shows that Gorell's opened up a 13-point lead over his opponent, including leaners. More bad news for Masry:  Democrats don't seem to be all that energized by their nominee; the poll indicates that Republicans are about 25 percent more likely to support Gorell than Democrats are willing to support Masry.

The poll was commissioned by the Gorell campaign and conducted August 23-25.

One thought about the poll: 80 percent of likely voters said California is moving in the wrong direction. Why isn't that number closer to 99.999 percent? Who in their right mind doesn't think California is headed in the wrong direction?

Gorell's been a legislative aide, prosecutor, war veteran, and university professor in his career. The 60-second ad focuses on his prosecutorial experience and his stint in Afghanistan, and pronounces him "tested" to take on Sacramento.

Gorell's mentioned in the past that when he used to go along on drug busts as a prosecutor, for some reason the drug dealers would inevitably have a Scarface poster on the wall and copious amounts of pornography strewn about. [continue reading]

They didn't appear before the students to debate, deliver stump speeches, or solicit votes. There wasn't press or campaign staff present. Instead, two candidates for the Assembly seat in the 37^th District met together for the educational benefit of the students in a public policy and politics class at California Lutheran University.

Jeff Gorell, an adjunct professor who teaches the class--a part of CLU's graduate program in public policy and administration--is also a veteran and former prosecutor that's all but guaranteed to win the Republican primary. Ferial Masry is one of the nation's foremost Saudi-American politicians and is seeking the Democratic nomination.

The candidates met for the first time in the hallway outside of Gorell's classroom in the Humanities building on CLU's Thousand Oaks campus last Thursday, and then Gorell introduced Masry to the class. For the next hour-and-a-half, Masry discussed her life story, her past races (both she and Gorell have run for the 37^th Assembly District before), and her thoughts on the wars in the Middle East, where her son fought in the U.S. Army.

Masry was born in Mecca, one of seven children. Her mother sent her girls to Egypt to be educated, and after Masry graduated from college in Cairo and married a civil engineer, she and her husband moved to Nigeria, England, and then ultimately to the United States in 1979.

Masry told Gorell's class that in Saudi Arabia, society revolves around the past. It's important who your parents are, who their parents were, and who their parents were, and so on for generations. Europe, she said, is all about the present--culture revolves around who you are right now. America attracted her because a person's status isn't determined by their ancestry; Americans are always looking toward the future.

But Masry looks to the past for inspiration. In 2004, when she attempted to become the first Saudi American to hold public office, she told ABC News that she's motivated, more than anything else, by the U.S. Constitution.

"It's a very small document -- 7,000 words, five pages -- but what it had in it is something visionary and beautiful," she said. "It really emphasized not to put the power into one man or one group."

That same year, Masry was a write-in candidate for the 37^th Assembly district seat, but lost to Audra Strickland (who defeated Gorell a few months earlier in the Republican primary).  Masry told Gorell's class that each time she's run since then--in 2006 and 2008--she's done incrementally better. This year, she faces two opponents in the Democratic primary. Any money she spends against them is money she can't spend against Gorell in the general election, should she emerge victorious from the primary.

But campaign considerations such as those were for another night. Gorell's students were instead interested about her position on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (where Gorell was deployed after the 9/11 attacks), and her book, Running for the Right Reasons.

"She is a pleasant person with a very interesting and inspiring story," Gorell said, "especially for young people or for people who take freedom, education or democracy for granted." He added that it's his intention with every class to try to convey in politics and public policy that participants should be passionate but not take things personally.

Masry shared with me a letter she wrote to Gorell after she addressed the students.

"It is with great pride, in our system of American democracy, that I serve as an educator, citizen and candidate in this process," she wrote. "My enthusiasm is nurtured by the dream that together we can overcome the barriers between worlds both locally and globally.  We can reach for economic prosperity and social progress through compassion and civil discourse."

Both candidates should be commended for their civil treatment of each other despite their political differences. The nation seems to be polarizing, so examples such as these are truly refreshing.

Another Democrat, Moorpark City Councilman David Pollack, will address Gorell's class next.

Jeff Gorell, who is running for the 37^th Assembly District seat that covers much of Ventura County, outlined an action plan on Wednesday that focuses on preserving and expanding both state and local economic development.

The plan--dubbed the Agenda for Jobs 2010--calls for a Business and Technology Action Committee that will consolidate efforts and resources into protecting jobs in Ventura County.  Small "jobs retention teams" will meet regularly with local business leaders to assist them in keeping and expanding jobs. Gorell, who was recently endorsed by the state Chamber of Commerce, also will support education in technical careers and easing burdens on the film industry.

His plan also focuses on retaining the important military component of Ventura County's economic base. Another round of base closures is due in 2014.

As for California, Gorell identified several areas  where regulations could be trimmed to encourage business growth. He would suspend AB-32 and set up a panel to "regulate" regulations that are indigenous to California. He would also help lower the capital gains tax and taxes on the middle class.

It's nice to see that a candidate, especially one who is a virtual shoe-in, lay out a concrete plan to give the voters an idea of what he'll seek to do if elected.