Campaign updates with 12 days left to E-Day...

BILL CLINTON'S WARMUP ACT: 26th Congressional District Democratic candidate Julia Brownley was given the honor and challenge at a huge political rally at UC Irvine yesterday to introduce the main attraction -- former President Bill Clinton.

Clinton was in Southern California to endorse five Democrats running in key races for the House of Representatives. Brownley said the former president was gracious with his time, spending about a half an hour meeting privately with the candidates and their supporters, including several from Ventura County who had traveled with her to attend the rally.

"If you intend to support the president for re-election and you want to go in this direction, you need to send Julia Brownley to Congress because she will protect the future of American education," Clinton said in his statement endorsing Brownley.

The former president also offered a critique of Brownley's Republican opponent,

"Tony Strickland signed Grover Norquist's No New Taxes Pledge, just like Governor Romney in his severe conservative stage," Clinton said. "So if he goes to Congress, he either will have to disavow his pledge or be irresponsible with America's future.

"No serious person believes across the entire political spectrum that we can possibly get hold of the debt without three things: without adequate spending controls, adequate revenue, and adequate economic growth. Strickland wants to take one of the legs out from under the chair before you sit down."

THE ANIMAL PROTECTION LOBBY WEIGHS IN FOR STRICKLAND: The Humane Society of the United States has reported a $96,000 independent expenditure to support Strickland in the congressional campaign.

Strickland has been a member of the Animal Protection Caucus in the California Legislature and this year cast one of a handful of Republican votes in support of a bill that bans the use of trained dogs to track down bears and chase them into a tree so that they can be shot by hunters.

In another big 26th Congressional District independent expenditure reported this week, the Cooperative of American Physicians reported a $98,000 expenditure supporting Strickland. Those two expenditures bring the total amount of outside interest group spending in the race to just under $3 million.

HERE COME THE SENATE DEMOCRATS: State Senate leaders and many of their staff members on leave from their legislative jobs will be in Thousand Oaks on Saturday to walk door-to-door to support Sen. Fran Pavley's re-election campaign.

Among those who will be walking with Pavley is Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg of Sacramento.