( Picture from a different event but it seemed fitting)

Ventura County Star Reporter Timm Herdt posted a blog entry on a recent roast of State Assembly Speaker John Perez that Former State Assembly Member Audra Strickland participated in.

Here was a few lines from her routine worth sharing:

"Did you know that John Pérez actually tried out for The Biggest Loser TV show? Not surprisingly it didn't go well. He kept letting the team with the purple shirts win," Strickland on Pérez, referring to the purple-shirted SEIU protestors who frequent the Capitol.

and

"Seriously John, if you vote for that tax on sugary goods, it would be just like Charlie Sheen voting on a tax on porn and meth," Strickland on Pérez.

and

"I was going through the Capitol this morning and chatting with a visitor and he said, 'You know, I always feel like we're getting screwed by legislators who don't know what they're doing.' And I was like, 'Tell me about it, it happens to me every night,'" Strickland, who is married to GOP Sen. Tony Strickland.

I like when politicians can laugh at themselves. Audra Strickland earned some respect from me for participating in this event. Now go and pass a budget!

To read more of the jokes go the Sac Bee's website.

Ventura County Star Reporter Timm Herdt has already covered it in detail but Ferial Masry's campaign to replace Audra Strickland in the State Assembly is getting more serious. Her campaign has a new group of consultants that are more willing to directly attack her opponent Jeff Gorell. They have also sent me the HTML for a Facebook plugin as a part of their netroots campaign strategy. As of now I'd say Gorell is heavily favored to win, but I think the new team has some surprises planned.

Like many of you I thought the contest between Audra Strickland and Linda Parks would be close. I don't have much to add to what Timm Herdt and Eric Ingemunson have already written. If the race was close then it would be easy to dismiss arguments like the voters have rejected negative campaigning. But with a stunning defeat many factors are likely true.

Mike Osbourn tried to blame the money unions spent on the race but that can't be the prime cause when the VCRCC spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on Audra Strickland. They can't blame turnout when Republican turnout was much higher than DTS and Democratic voters. Besides, blaming turnout admits that Audra Strickland didn't have cross party appeal.

Blaming incumbency doesn't work either because both of the candidates currently represent most of the same people. Incumbency is usually very powerful because of name ID and the ability to raise money. Audra Strickland's supporters can't claim those worked against her because she is a well-known elected official and she was very-well funded.

I was amused that Audra Strickland's team played so many games including demanding that a fundrasier of hers or a past candidate against Linda Parks moderate a debate. She might have technically been correct that Linda Parks didn't demand a neutral moderator but did her team really think the news stories on the issue would look good to voters?

I don't know exactly what motivated voters to reject Audra Strickland's arguments or I would put it in a binder and sell it to other politicians. What do you think influenced voters the most?

It is approximately the % by which Linda Parks defeated Audra Strickland and it is also the approximate number of negative mailers Audra Strickland sent out during the campaign.

Over the next few weeks I will review some of the other campaigns. Next up: The Clerk / Recorder race.

How many of my readers remember this video clip?

Even though the Ventura County Republican Central Committee is outraged a candidate would obscure their party membership on a mailer their candidate Audra Strickland did just that by paying to be on a slate mailer sent to Democratic households that make it look like she is a Democrat. Meanwhile she is sending to Republican households mailers attacking her opponent for not being Republican enough.

Here is the guest blog entry from Democratic Party Activist KK Holland:

Hi Brian,

I got this REALLY interesting and wacky "pay to play" mailer today, with JFK on the front, and a banner saying "take this Democratic voter guide to the polls!" The four candidates with the biggest pictures were on the inside page, and Audra Strickland was one of them--over a big box reading "Democrats" and encouraging me to "vote DEMOCRATIC on Tuesday, June 8." Her name has an asterisk on the opposing page, which the mailer states means "Appearance is paid for and authorized by each candidate and ballot measure which is designated by an * " .

Like everyone, I've gotten a ton of these, but the Strickland campaign involves a Republican central committee going up against one of their own under the premise that Strickland is the real Republican. Strickland's entire campaign is premised on making the race not about nonpartisan, county-level representation, but identity, values and a fight over the legitimacy of who represents real Republican values here in Ventura County. That makes it super problematic for her to resort to this type of cheap trick. While these types of mailers are generally irrelevant to the process, this mailer seems different because of how deeply contradictory and damaging it is to the entire reason for her campaign. If this campaign isn't a litmus test of values and party identity, then there really isn't any reason for Republicans to support her over Parks--and it seems tough for Strickland to continue to make that case with a straight face given the powerful visual imagery she chooses to associate herself with here. Strickland is already contending with allegations of being a career politician looking for the next pay check, having run for three offices in the last six or so months. This really reinforces the meme of a vanity candidacy.

I've attached three of the four pages. If you want the back piece, let me know and I can get it for you.

KK Holland

Thanks for your post KK. If any of my other readers would like to analyze campaign mailers for a guest blog entry send me an email.

Because I live in Simi Valley I do not get the mail that Audra Strickland and Linda Parks have been sending to voters. If you scan and send me any mailers of theirs I will post it so that we can analyze it. Feel free to include the demographic details of the voters in your household if you want.

Eileen MacEnery is trying to raise the money needed to get on the ballot with Linda Parks and Audra Strickland. Whatever we say about these candidates we should all be proud we have so many strong and dynamic women running for office.

If she gets on the ballot I am not sure what the impact will be except to make it more likely the race goes to the November runoff. I don't know if Eileen's biggest impact would be dividing the anti-strickland vote or the anti-parks vote.

She is not a member of either party which could give an opportunity to exploit the anger at incumbent politicians and try to reach out to disaffected Tea Party people and people that don't want to vote for a Republican candidate.

Here is her declaration of her candidacy:

I want to formally declare my intention to run for Ventura County Supervisor in the 2nd District. I have resided and worked in Ventura County for a majority of the last 34 years. Although I have lived in the City of Ventura and Simi Valley for a few years, most of my residency has been in Thousand Oaks and Newbury Park. Although I have actively supported both Republican and Democratic candidates in the past 30 years, I characterize myself as an "independent" and I am registered as a non-partisan.

I have a platform which is based on the Constitution and common sense, and I believe that, unlike both Linda Parks and Audra Strickland, I understand and represent the majority of the residents of Ventura County and the 2nd District.

For too many decades, the East County has elected professional politicians who promote policies and programs of gentrification and elitism. The strength of America, and Ventura County, has always been its middleclass. It is time that the 2nd District elected someone who knows and understands the struggles of housing, transportation, education and healthcare. As soon as my name is on the ballot, I will begin, in earnest, to explain my views and ideas for a return to the common sense and Constitutional values that our country was built on.

However, the first, and most important, task of my campaign is to get my name and candidate statement on the ballot. Unlike the other declared candidates (both from competing factions of the same political party), I do not have the backing of the wealthy and elite, or a political party machine. Thus, I am appealing to all who are would like to see a true independent elected to County Supervisor, to contact me at EileenMacEnery4Supervisor@gmail.com. Any, contribution, no matter how small will help. I look forward to offering a real choice to the residents of Ventura County.

Click on continue reading to see a past essay she wrote.

I normally give out the comment of the week award to someone that posts a comment on my blog that raises the level of political debate. Most times it is someone that keeps the debate classy and sometimes it is because of the comedic value. This time it is an exception because the comment was actually on Audra Strickland's Facebook Fanpage.

I have given pundit Scott Harris a hard time because he often represents himself as an independent and a moderate but he obviously leans more to the right on many issues on his Facebook discussion page. His post on Audra Strickland's fanpage though shows me he is willing to push politicians to elevate the dialogue:

I understand his concerns that the campaign between Audra Strickland and Linda Parks should focus on the issues instead of personalities. But with these two polarizing candidates I don't see that happening. Scott, pushing for a cleaner campaign has earned you comment of the week.

His Facebook Discussion page is called Golden Again.

I will post a Fanbox for Audra Strickland when her team sends it to me.

Local community activist Jay Kapitz has sent out an email detailing why he is supporting Linda Parks for supervisor. Jay often usually backs Democratic candidates but he is supporting Linda Parks who has been a Republican since 1996. It isn't a surprise he is supporting her as Linda Parks is a local hero to environmental activists.

Supports of Audra Strickland are making the strange sounding argument that Linda Parks is getting too much bipartisan support for this nonpartisan position. I am sure this will add to their evidence of her bipartisan support.

Send me an email if you would like to write a guest blog entry for my blog.

Support Linda Parks
By Jay Kapitz

Dear Friend:

Please join me in supporting Linda Parks for Ventura County 2nd District Supervisor. Supervisor Parks is being challenged by another Republican Audra Strickland. Strickland is the ultra-right wing conservative who recently relocated from her home in Simi Valley in order to run in this race. There are no Democrats running and it is with careful thought that I endorse and will be volunteering to support the re-election of Supervisor Parks. Supervisor Parks is endorsed by Democrats including State Senator Fran Pavley, Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, Ventura County Supervisor Kathy Long, activists Hank Lacayo, Sandy Emberland and many, many others. She is also endorsed by the Ventura County Deputy Sheriffs Association and the Ventura County Professional Firefighters Association.

Click on continue reading for the rest of his email.

Ventura County Linda Parks is using Facebook to organize her supporters and keep them up to date with her campaign. State Assembly Member Audra Strickland also has a Facebook fansite. I am excited with the political applications of internet 2.0 technologies. If you are a candidate running for local office and need help with Facebook and other social network sites send me a message. I might not vote for you but I am willing to help connect voters to elected officials.

If you are working for Audra Strickland send me the html and I will post a fanbox for her too.

Last time I checked Audra Strickland had 408 fans and Linda Parks had 165 fans. Audra Strickland posted her site first so I will post updated numbers in a few weeks.

I will be covering these campaigns very closely. Keep forwarding me emails, fundraising events, and other campaign news. I won't use your name if you request I don't include it.

Many state legislators were recently caught not reporting gifts from special interest groups. The fines were rather small but I am always amazed legislators don't reject more gifts to avoid the appearance of impropriety or to deprive their opponents of easy attacks.

Click here for the article. Here are some of the local connections:

• Assemblyman Pedro Nava, D-Santa Barbara, $154 for a reception and travel costs from the Bank of America Corp., and $94 for a dinner from the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission Indians.

• Sen. George Runner, R-Lancaster, tickets of $60 for concerts of Keith Urban and George Strait, respectively, by the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission Indians.

Assemblywoman Audra Strickland, R-Moorpark, $83 in Billy Joel concert tickets from the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission Indians.

I didn't know Billy Joel has kept touring. His We didn't start the fire song is really popular with history teachers but I am disappointed with the end of it. He finishes a great song with "cola wars I can't take it anymore" and overturns a table. After a song that covers some heavy issues the event that pushes him over the edge is the cola wars?

Who do you think came out ahead in this story? It surely wasn't the public who is weary of this type of influence peddling. Sure they might vote for you but frequently it isn't because they trust you much it is just that they trust the other party even less.

Note to elected officials: The average voter doesn't think it is okay for you to take concert tickets and other gifts that are obviously being given to influence you from special interest groups. The small gifts aren't worth the trust you are losing. We pay you fairly high salaries. Please pay for your own meals and tickets.

Campaign donations are supposedly to help elect people that a group agrees with on policy. But gifts aren't given to help elect a candidate usually. This report is just the gifts that candidates didn't report for a variety of reasons including clerical mistakes and misunderstanding the law.

Imagine all the perfectly legal and reported gifts being given to people that are supposed to be looking out for our best interests.

UPDATE: I know our local legislators are going to keep taking tickets from groups trying to influence them but I have thought of a compromise. There should be a local raffle where the voters have a chance at winning concert tickets given to our legislators. Who's with me?

The Ventura County Star is reporting that Audra Strickland is running for Secretary of State, congress, County Treasurer, Ventura County Board of Supervisors.

She is scheduled to give a speech tomorrow.

Wouldn't it be great if I had the text of that speech?

Check out this link.

http://tinyurl.com/Strickland-Speech

Here were some of my predictions for Ventura County politics in 2010:

1. Rep. Elton Gallegly doesn't hold a town hall meeting in Ventura County that is scheduled and open to the public.

2. Audra Strickland runs for another office.

Audra Strickland draws out the passion from activists on both the left and the right. I know that Republican activists will support her but I don't know if Democratic activists will get strongly behind Republican Linda Parks. In making this move Audra Strickland has given up any claim to not being a "career politician". She should start embracing the title and use it to explain the calling to public service she feels to young people.

Audra Strickland is great at campaigning. She has so far done very well in teasing out her entrance into the race over the last few weeks to maximize media coverage. Both her and Tony Strickland are energetic campaigners that are willing to work very hard to earn the support of voters. This will be the toughest campaign ever for Linda Parks.

I have often been critical of Audra Strickland but she has been very willing to meet with the public. This has served her well so far and I expect she will continue with this tradition. I look forward to many debates between the candidates.

Assembly Member Audra Strickland,

Thanks for helping to sell newspapers and drive traffic to blogs. I look forward to an exciting campaign. I consider this move your blog stimulus plan.

Reporters,

Can you please use the term State Assembly Member and not Assembly Man or Assembly Woman? I believe Your AP Style Guide will back me up.

Looks like The Ventura County Republican Central Committee is basically admitting they were responsible for the push poll attacking Republican Linda Parks. The committee is controlled by many people that are loyal to Tony and Audra Strickland. Some of them are current employees/consultants for them.

Here is Timm Herdt's article.

When the push poll was first reported this was the response from Strickland's office:

Rondi Guthrie, a spokeswoman for Strickland, said the assemblywoman was not aware of the survey and does not know who might have commissioned it. She said Strickland is focused exclusively on her job in the Assembly.

If it is true, as it appears, that the VCRCC was involved with the poll it is wild to think her close political allies, employees, and supporters didn't tell her they were conducting a push poll to support her. But I guess it could have been a surprise present or something.