Ballots go out this week and Tony Strickland hasn't yet updated his issues page.

When I checked tonight it said "coming soon". Is he waiting to see who his general election opponent is going to be before he posts his issues?

Republican Tony Strickland has a page on his website for issues. With vote by mail ballots coming out within weeks he hasn't filled it in yet. As of today it says coming soon.

Because the other candidates haven't been mentioning him much he has the luxury to leave his issues page blank.

http://www.tonystrickland.com/tony-strickland-on-the-issues.php

The top Democrat Julia Brownley hasn't filled in her page either. It also says "coming soon". These campaign has seemed much less energetic than I expected.

I understand Tony Strickland has the luxury of spending most of his time raising money. But I am surprised Julia Brownley has not updated that section of her page.

State Assembly candidate Scott Wilk is promoting reusable bags. I support that idea.

But has he not heard of State Senator Tony Strickland's new fearmongering bill?

Ventura County Democrats are trying to attack polarizing Republicans like Rick Santorum and Rush Limbaugh to Tony Strickland. Click on this link to read more.

Here is the message from the Ventura County Democratic Party.

As you've probably heard, Rush Limbaugh has gotten into a lot of trouble over his misogynistic and sexist remarks about women who use contraception. But it's not just Limbaugh. Republican leaders like Rick Santorum and Ron Paul have painted described basic contraception as immoral, too.

Well, it's time to get local Republicans like Tony Strickland on the record about birth control. [link]Ask them TODAY if they agree with Republican leaders Rick Santorum and Rush Limbaugh that birth control is immoral.[/link]

The citizens of Ventura County have a right to know if the Republicans who want to represent them in Washington and Sacramento share their Republican leaders' antiquated views. Please take a few minutes to ask Tony Strickland whether he would vote with Limbaugh and Santorum on birth control.

Please fill out the form below to send an email to Republicans asking them if they agree with Rush Limbaugh and Rick Santorum that birth control is immoral. Let them know that you support the ability of women being to control their own bodies, and the ability of families to plan their futures responsibly. And thank you again for helping to hold your local Republicans accountable to real moral values!

The Democratic candidates are spending time concentrating on each other as Linda Parks is campaigning on bipartisanship. That leaves Tony Strickland without much opposition that is organized against him.

I would ask Tony Strickland if he thinks Rush Limbaugh is a good conservative leader.

The new primary system in California is complicated. Instead of the June Primary election choosing the nominees for each party it will only be selecting the top two candidates who will then run in the November General Election.

The Ventura County based 25th Congressional District currently has 7 candidates running. 5 of them are Democrats and 2 of them are Republicans. Candidates can choose to state a preference or to list no preference. Republican Linda Parks has not announced what she is going to do.

it is possible that the November election for some positions will only have two candidates from the same party.

Democrat Steve Bennett released huge fundraising numbers to The Star. Tony Strickland also released impressive fundraising numbers. The strong financial support has made both of them frontrunners.

The same article reported that Steve Bennett, Hannah-Beth Jackson, and Fran Pavley all received the endorsement of the Democratic Party for the June election. In the new primary system I don't know exactly how that helps the candidates. Is there a promise of tangible support from the state or local party?

If you were a part of the process or understand the importance of the pre-primary endorsement please leave a comment explaining it. You don't need to register to comment.

Congratulations to Steve Bennett and the other candidates for earning the support of their party.

Ventura County Star Reporter Timm Herdt has an interesting blog post up on Tony Strickland's fundraising.

http://blogs.venturacountystar.com/therdt/archives/2012/01/the-strickland.html

There are now officially six candidates for the Ventura County based 26th Congressional district with the latest being Linda Parks. She is a Republican with strong connections to the local environmental community.

Linda Parks will make a formidable opponent for the other candidates. Her platform so far includes criticisms of the insider trading scandal in Congress, calls for less partisanship, and appeals to limit the influence of corporate PACS and unions in politics. She will be running as a populist outsider.

Her campaign will need to answer questions from many activists in both parties if she wants to attract their support. To start with what party would should caucus with? I will request an interview with her soon.

I shared the story on my Facebook page for this blog before it was in the newspapers. If you want to follow the latest in Ventura County politics include that page in your reading.

https://www.facebook.com/BrianDennertHere

Who are the other potential candidates?

Tony Strickland is expected to announce that he is running. He is currently in New Hampshire campaigning with Mitt Romney. I expect when he returns he will be organizing his official announcement.

Peter Foy has also been mentioned as a potential candidate but he has said he will be supporting Tony Strickland.

Other potential candidates include Michael Tenenbaum and maybe Rep. Brad Sherman moving to the district to avoid a primary battle with fellow Democrat Rep. Howard Berman.

Another blog had a rumor in the comments section that Michael Reagan was considering a run also. That would be very interesting if some Republicans want an alternative to Tony Strickland. Tony Strickland has spent a long time organizing the local Republican Party. The Central Committee has many close allies of his on it. Michael Reagan wouldn't start as the favorite of local Republicans.

A surprise potential candidate is Simi Valley City Council Member Glen Beccerra who said:

"This seat looks like it was designed for a Hispanic Republican," he said.

Becerra, like Gallegly, lives in Simi Valley, outside of the district lines, but said that makes little difference.
"I was born and raised in Ventura County, and this is a Ventura County district," he said.

The Constitution does not require Members of Congress to live in the district they represent.

Ventura County politics is going to start being much more exciting.

( 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.

In a post on my Facebook page for this blog I called the Republican plan to cut taxes and not cut education spending an imaginary budget.

State Senator Tony Strickland's staff sent me a couple of links to show they believe they have a serious plan to fix the budget with the current level of taxes reverting to earlier levels and without cutting education spending.

Here are their budget outlines:

http://arc.asm.ca.gov//Caucus/pdf/AssemblyRepublicanBudgetRoadma.pdf

http://arc.asm.ca.gov/inc/article.aspx?id=248431

For a budget proposal to be realistic it needs to be able to attract majority support. I doubt this proposal could get enough Democratic votes to create a coalition with Republicans to pass it. What do you think?

On a related note arguing over what to call proposed tax extensions is interesting. Both sides feel that if their chosen words are used then they will win the budget battle. Democrats prefer to call them tax extensions and Republicans like to call them tax increases.

I figure if you are reading this blog you understand the basics of the debate enough that using either phrases isn't likely to change your mind. The tax increases are set to expire which means we will have a tax cut. Not that anyone is calling it a tax cut.

The question is if we should cut taxes from their current level, increase them, or keep them at their current level. One side wants to cut them and one side wants to keep them at the current level.

What side are you on?

Sidenote: I often disagree with the policies State Senator Tony Strickland supports but I do appreciate that he has a proactive staff and he does so many public events.

I was sent me this email with questions for my other readers:

Hey Brian,

I am a teacher in Ventura and I am just sick about what is happening in our schools and the state budget crisis. My question is, how can I start a campaign to recall Tony Strickland? I would like to start something on Facebook, but does something already exist? Am I the only one who feels this way?

Thank you in advance for your time. I need to do something and if this is possible it may change things.

Sincerely,

Steve

I don't support a recall of State Senator Tony Strickland. He campaigned on a platform and has stayed true to it since he was elected for the most part. Sure, he clearly overstated his interest and support of environmental causes but his pledges to not compromise on tax increases or tax extensions have been kept.

That doesn't mean I support his policies or his opposition to compromise. In fact, I believe his opposition to compromise is bad for California and bad for his party. To get the tax extensions on the ballot there was many reforms with broad appeal including reforming teacher tenure. Instead we might get a cuts only budget without important reforms.

Tony Strickland is a product of our system including term limits, the way we fund campaigns, and our old primary system.

Tony Strickland is a career politician. That's not an insult nor should it be. I don't know why we want to ridicule people for public service. He was termed out of the State Assembly and if he runs again he could be termed out of the State Senate. I expect he will keep running for office and he needs a voting record that will help him with Republican activists.

If he compromises with Jerry Brown it will be hard for him to raise money or get other support from activist Republicans. Our politics are so polarized that Mike Huckabee was attacked for supporting Michelle Obama's campaign to increase physical fitness. When I was young the Presidential Fitness Award was an honor. Now Glenn Beck wants to label things like that some form of totalitarianism. If Mike Huckabee was attacked for supporting the First Lady imagine what Republican Party leaders would do if Tony Strickland worked with Jerry Brown to reform public schools!

He knows if he votes for compromises he would have a tough time in a primary for a future office. I'm not sure how are new primary system will increase incentives for compromise but maybe it will help.

If Tony Strickland was revealed to have a character flaw that voters did not have a chance to evaluate or if he campaigned as a bipartisan deal maker that could bring people together I would support a recall.

I don't support a recall but I do support compromise.

The Los Angeles Times has released an internal document of the items being negotiated between Republicans and Democrats in Sacramento.

Here is the section on education:

Which Republicans locally are in negotiations?

State Assembly Member Jeff Gorell has been deployed to war and State Senator Tony Strickland has clearly stated he isn't interested in any negotiations that put the tax extensions on the ballot. I received a robocall asking me to contact State Assembly Member Cameron Smyth recently.

This is an impressive list of reforms. I don't accept the argument that some Republicans, like George Runner, are promoting that their party shouldn't be open to negotiations. The reform to teacher tenure alone would be huge.

I'm not the most partisan blogger. I want Republicans to negotiate for some of the items on the list including limiting pension spiking and reforming education. What good ideas did you find in the document?

Ventura County Democrats have been emailing this video to me that demands for Republicans to put the tax extensions on the ballot.

State Senator Tony Strickland has been very consistent that he isn't interested in any negotiations that include tax extensions or tax increases. It doesn't matter what Governor Jerry Brown offers to include in a deal in exchange for the tax extensions being put on the ballot.

I am not sure if his inflexibility helps his conservative views make progress. If he was willing to make a deal he could include some of his priorities.

Critics argue my posting that he isn't open to negotiation on this topic is an insult towards him. But his defenders should instead be arguing that he is a man of his promises and he is only doing what he told people he would do when he was campaigning for this position.

Do you want the tax extensions put on the ballot?