After close to 50 years of watching, and participating in political campaigns you can read the tea leaves of who is winning and who is losing.

One sign is when a candidate yells and screams about a minor technicality in the opponents delivery of a message.

If the best that a candidate can do is scream about a missing disclaimer, though the address of the sender is used, you know they are on the ropes. After spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on attack ads, forcing thousands of union members to donate to her campaign, without first asking each member permission, Hannah Beth Jackson is down to yelling about disclaimers. Seems like her attacks have not worked, now she is the complaint mode. Instead of saying the mailer is wrong, she is saying it is missing a disclaimer--seems to me like she is admitting that she does believe in higher taxes--as her record shows--and that she is no longer denying it. Even her hired gun, Parke Skelton, is no longer denying that Jacksons answer to any problem, real or imagined, is higher taxes.

Free Advice to Parke Skelton and Hannah Jackson: -get back on message--promote your program of bigger government, more taxes, supporting fewer criminals in prison and more on the streets. Be proud of your values. Stop trying to sound like a conservative, everybody knows who you really are.

This article from politkerca.com explains the issue--you will see that Jackson knows she is losing.

Jackson campaign alleges foul play with Strickland mailer

By James B. Gerber

The campaign of Santa Barbara Democrat Hannah-Beth Jackson, candidate for the 19th state Senate District, accused opponent Republican Tony Strickland of Thousand Oaks of mailing an illegal flier and attempting to "confuse" voters.

The mailer, titled "Hannah-Beth Jackson's Economic Plan," alleges that "Taxin' Jackson" will raise taxes "left and right" in what has become the standard line of attack from the Strickland camp. However, nowhere on the flier is the sender disclosed as is required by state law, though Strickland's campaign address appears on the mailer's return address.

Parke Skelton, Jackson's campaign consultant, alleged that "this was not an inadvertent failure to put the proper disclaimer on the mailer," but "an obvious attempt to confuse voters."

Strickland consulant Joe Justin, who produced the mailing, disputed the accusation and said he never intended to deceive voters. "There was no foul play, it was a complete mistake," said Justin, pointing to the fact that he correctly included the campaign's return address. "I accept 100 percent responsibility."

Justin said he will be sending out a revised version of the same flier, this time with full disclosure.