( Rep. Gallegly arguing on behalf of the troop surge.)

There is a new Ventura County based blog devoted to ending the war in Iraq. The war is not very popular in public opinion polls but yet the level of activism against the war has been pretty subdued.

Has your position on the war shifted since the start or run up to the war in 2003?

Click here to see their blog.

Click on continue reading to see details about their next event.

If you plan on going please send in a brief write up and a few photos afterwards.

On a related note watch this John McCain campaign ad:

Did you catch what shirt the woman at the end was wearing? Watch it again before you click here.

Did you see it the first time? Do you think it is really what it looks like?

The Ventura County Star's Timm Herdt wrote an article about the contest for nomination to take on Assembly Woman Audra Strickland that prompted me to ask what my readers think about this campaign.

Ferial Masry:

Pluses: On the one hand we have a Saudi born woman that draws worldwide attention to the virtues of American democracy. Ferial Masry, as a high school teacher and immigrant, has a important story to tell about our nation and our values. In addition, her son Omar ( full disclosure: I have known Omar for a few years) served in Iraq and helped to show this wasn't a crusader war for conquest but instead a war designed in part to help the people of Iraq. Ferial Masry, just by running, strengthens America's democracy and broadens the base of the Democratic Party. Click on continue reading to read an update from her campaign.

Negatives: Ferial Masry stands very little chance of winning. She has already lost twice to Audra Strickland and I don't see any real reason to see a fundamental shift. In the last two campaigns she hasn't shown the ability to raise the hundreds of thousands of dollars it would take to make this a competitive contest.

There was a debate over the fairness of a mailer her campaign was using. Click here to see the mailer and read the discussion.

A campaign supporter that sends me updates responded to my requests for clarification with this statement:

Ferial made those flyers for this cycle BEFORE Hare was in the race. He got in very late... sorry for your confusion... Renee

David Hare:

Pluses: With a strong connection to the local agricultural community David could reach out to groups not currently connected very well to the Democratic Party. David owns his own small business and could campaign on his experience battling against bureaucracies when trying to get a business off of the ground. David is also a strong environmentalist which seems a natural fit for parts of the district. He also has done a better job raising money.

Negatives: David is being attacked for the legal hoops that he has had to jump through in the process of running his business. I don't know the level of infractions he has against him but most business people will tell you that almost any business has a history of some sort of warnings, violations, lawsuits, complaints, or financial disputes. It is up to voters to see if the charges are serious or frivolous. From what I have seen the complaints seem rather minor. I am interested to see how good of a campaign Hare puts together in anticipation of the open seat in about two years when from the looks of it Jeff Gorell will be running on the Republican side.

So, what do you think? How are you or did you make up your mind in this campaign? Is asking how much money each candidate raised a decent question?

Has CAPC rated the candidates in the primary?

( Denis O'Leary's latest campaign ad)

What is going on in the campaigns for seats on the Board of Supervisors?

Which of the following candidates have you seen campaigning in any format?

What have you seen or heard from John Flynn, Denis O'Leary, or John Zaragoza in the 5th district campaign?

What about the campaign between Kathy Long and Socorro Lopez Hanson in district 3?

So far I think the incumbents are safe as far as I have heard. Do you have any reason to think otherwise?

( If Democrats really want to win they are going to need some very creative minds. Check out this ad from Oregon that is a huge hit. In the comments section try to write a script for an anti Gallegly ad)

The Simi Valley / Moorpark Democratic club will be hosting several local Democratic candidates this Wednesday night at their club meeting.

If the election was held today would you vote for Mary Pallant or Jill Martinez?

Republicans, who do you think would be the strongest challenger to Rep. Gallegly?

Mary Pallant has shown to be more effective at organizing the party base ( which she would need to do to build a team to take on Gallegly) but Jill Martinez's background might be able to reach out to DTS voters more.

Either way, this campaign is Gallegly's to lose.

Oh yes, Michael Tenenbaum is also running. He has the most friends on myspace.

Gallegly has made his myspace website so that only his friends can see his stands on the issues and his record of conservative leadership. You can click here to see what it looked like before he blocked the general public from viewing it. Last check he had 3 real friends besides the 1 you start with.

Ferial Masry appears to be using a flyer left over from a previous campaign. There is nothing wrong with that but in this case it is potentially misleading as some voters would assume the Ventura County Star editorial quote is about her primary election opponent, David Hare when it is actually about Assembly Member Audra Strickland.

I call on Ferial Masry's campaign to clear this up and apologize.

If this mailer isn't really being used currently I apologize to the Masry campaign who besides this incidence runs a very ethical campaign in my experience.

Mike Gravel ( D- Alaska) has jsut released the strangest political ad I have ever seen.

If you understand what it means or feel like taking a guess, leave a comment.