Subtle signs from O'Connell
It was early, but not too early, for those interested in seeking the party's 2010 nomination for governor to do a little preening at the weekend convention of the state Democratic Party.
Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown all but announced his candidacy in his speech to delegates. Lt. Gov. John Garamendi organized a rally of young people to make a show by waving "Garamendi" signs when he took the stage. Former Controller Steve Westly showed up to talk with the Internet and Technology Caucus. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom was happy to be the honored luncheon guest of the California Young Democrats.
And Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell presented more subtle, but still discernable clues of his interest. He arranged to be introduced by Sen. Dean Florez of Bakersfield, highlighting the support of a Latino from the Central Valley. In his brief speech to delegates, O'Connell also mentioned a few issues other than education -- Iraq, healthcare and global warming. And he threw in some old-fashioned political red meat: "We need a president with vision. We need a president with a pulse."
But mostly, O'Connell positioned himself as the state's champion of education who will fight tooth-and-nail Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed cuts in school funding.
"Was it our students, the children of this state, who got us into this financial mess?" O'Connell asked. "How do we attempt to undermine their future by suggesting we underfund education? .. It's time that we make it known to this governor that we will not idly stand by and we will not compromise. We are going to fight for our students."
O'Connell also left no question that, should he run for governor, it will be foremost as the candidate with an enduring commitment to California schools. "Education must be our No. 1 priority," he said. "I will not have it any other way. Not now, not tomorrow, not ever."
Posted by Timm Herdt at 10:14 AM | Comments (0)
You couldn't make this up
This is "retreat" week at the Capitol, with the Assembly's Democratic and Republican caucuses each getting together off-site to discuss their agendas for the coming months. The Democrats are meeting at a conference facility at the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento.
The Republicans are meeting at Le Rivage Hotel, a new high-end hotel on the banks of the Sacramento River that accommodates ... yacht owners.
The retreat at a hotel with yacht parking comes on the heels of the Assembly GOP's rejection of a Democratic bill that sought to close a loophole that allows yacht purchasers to escape sales taxes by keeping their new boats out of California for three months.
Democrats were quick to have some political fun with the Republicans' choice of destinations.
Saying the GOP caucus had "broken its own record for political tone-deafness," state Democratic Party spokesman Brian Brokaw asked in an e-mail to reporters: "What better way for Assembly Republicans to celebrate their crowning legislative accomplishment of the new session thus far -- their killing of the bill to close the 'sloophole.'?"
Posted by Timm Herdt at 4:21 PM | Comments (0)
To you, it's "T. Oaks"; to Ose, it's "L.A."
In the rough and tumble of a political campaign, consultants don't make geographic distinctions between Thousand Oaks and Los Angeles -- especially if the campaign is taking place in Northern California.
That's why Sen. Tom McClintock of Thousand Oaks, running for Congress in Northern California's 4th District, finds himself portrayed as "an L.A. politician" in a mailer sent out this week by his Republican primary opponent, former Congressman Doug Ose.
The front of the mailer shows a car with a "Honk if you love L.A." bumper sticker (next to a Lakers bumper sticker, surely placed there to provoke fans of the Sacramento Kings). The back side shows McClintock in the front seat of a car, honking away. The text states: "Tom McClintock has been an L.A. politician for 22 years. So why is he running for Congress in Northern California? There's only one reason Tom McClintock is running for Congress 400 miles from home. With his time up in the Legislature, he needs a place to roost."
The mailers underscore a difficult fact of life for McClintock, beyond the predictable carpetbagger issue. They show that Ose has more or less unlimited resources for the campaign. McClintock has had the misfortune to run up against deep-pocketed opponents before (losing for controller to Kathleen Connell in 1994 and Steve Westly in 2002), and Ose appears to be in the same league. Personal finance statements filed when Ose was a member of Congress show that, very conservatively, he has holdings of more than $30 million.
Posted by Timm Herdt at 4:37 PM | Comments (1)
As predictable as the tides
When Republican legislators in the California Assembly twice voted down a proposal to close a sales-tax loophole that allows yacht owners to escape paying sales taxes on their luxury purchases at the same time they were voting to approve massive reductions in healthcare services to the poor, it was obvious that somebody was going to have some fun pointing out the disparities.
Enter the Courage Campaign, the liberal activist group fresh off a notable victory in taking the lead to force L.A. County election officials to count disputed "double bubble" ballots cast in the Feb. 5 Democratic primary. It has produced a TV commercial and is asking online supporters for modest donations to underwrite the $10,000 cost of airing it on Sacramento cable television next week.
The ad shows Republican members on the floor of the Assembly with dream bubbles of fancy yachts floating above their heads. At the end, it places sailor hats on the heads of a group of GOP lawmakers, including Sen. George Runner, whose district includes Santa Paula and Fillmore.
The decision by Democratic Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez to bring the measure to a vote a second time -- knowing that it wouldn't pass -- clearly infuriated GOP lawmakers, who understood that the symbolism could be easily exploited.
In an e-mail to supporters, the Courage Campaign says: "While you are wondering if your child's school is going to be shut down because of the brutal cuts proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, his California Republican "Yacht Party" colleagues in the state legislature are protecting the lavish lifestyles of the super-wealthy."
Ouch. Perhaps the saving grace for Republicans is that the group plans to air the ads on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report" -- shows with audiences that tend to vote Democratic without being poked in the ribs by the Courage Campaign.
Posted by Timm Herdt at 9:05 AM | Comments (2)
Yet to be heard from: Independents
Secretary of State Debra Bowen has released the certified results of February's primary, and while they show that voter turnout overall was the highest in any primary since 1980 they also demonstrate that independent voters largely chose to stay out of the nominating process.
Overall turnout was 57.7 percent, smashing the record for the most total voters participating in a primary. The old record was 7.8 million, set in 2000. On this Feb. 5, about 9 million Californians voted.
Breaking the figures down by party, they show that Democrats were clearly motivated by the Hillary Clinton-Barack Obama showdown. Nearly three-quarters of the state's registered Democrats cast ballots. Among Republicans, the turnout was 58.9 percent.
The big drop was among decline-to-state voters, who because of party rules were allowed to vote in the Democratic primary but not the Republican primary. Only 23.3 percent of such independent voters decided to cast ballots.
In Ventura County, the overall turnout was 62.1 percent -- a high number that was again an indicator of highly motived Democrats. More than 81 percent of the county's 148,441 Democrats voted. Among county Republicans, the turnout was 65.7 percent.
It's hard to say what any of this portends for November, but one thing is for certain: The great majority of independent voters has yet to weigh in on the 2008 presidential election.
Posted by Timm Herdt at 2:58 PM | Comments (1)
That was then, this is now
One person who read with great interest the news that Sen. Tom McClintock had decided to run for Congress in Northern California was his old Republican foil in the Legislature, former Sen. Cathie Wright of Simi Valley. The two served together in the Assembly from 1983 to 1990 and often clashed.
Wright, who left the state Senate in 2000 and was succeeded by McClintock, called me today to reminisce about McClintock and his past position on career politicians.
"I can still see him standing on the steps of Simi Valley City Hall touting term limits," she said. "You're not supposed to be an elected official for life -- except for him, of course."
Wright said she had been contacted to see if she had any interest in helping the campaign for McClintock's opponent in the 4th District GOP primary, former Congressman Doug Ose. But, as she approaches her 79th birthday, she said she doesn't have the time or interest in getting back involved in politics.
Posted by Timm Herdt at 8:31 PM | Comments (2)
This is the life?
Along with all California elected officials, members of Ventura County's legislative delegation submitted their annual conflict of interest reports last week. To be frank, they make for pretty boring reading -- unless you find it provocative that Assemblywoman Audra Strickland last spring received a bouquet of flowers from the Professional Firefighters Association valued at $75.43.
Only one of the county's seven lawmakers seems to be an active investor, as Sen. Sheila Kuehl's report shows she's a fairly aggressive stock trader with a preference for the high technology sector. Kuehl, 67, also receives pension income from her long-ago career as a child actress. She gets a monthly check from the Screen Actors Guild.
She and Assemblywoman Julia Brownley each went on a trip to Berlin last fall sponsored by the Checkpoint Charlie Foundation. They received hotel accommodations, meals and cultural tours valued at $3,500. Brownley simply explains the governmental value of the trip: "to improve U.S.-German relations."
Posted by Timm Herdt at 9:31 AM | Comments (0)
Winless on the road
With Sen. Tom McClintock's announcement that he will run for Congress in Northern California's 4th District, it seems an apt time to review a peculiar fact about his electoral record: He's never lost an election in nine tries in Ventura County, but outside of his home territory he is 0-for-5.
His record on the road:
-- a 1992 loss in a race for Congress in a San Fernando Valley-based district.
-- a 1994 loss in a statewide race for controller.
-- a 2002 loss in a statewide race for controller.
-- a 2003 loss in the gubernatorial recall campaign.
-- a 2006 loss in a statewide race for lieutenant governor.
Maybe 2008 will be the year he racks up his first away win.
Posted by Timm Herdt at 9:03 PM | Comments (0)
Blue County: What it means
The Democrats' upward line and the Republicans' downward line crossed in Ventura County on Monday, and Democrats took back the plurality of registered voters that they had lost a generation ago.
County Republican Chairman Mike Osborn concedes that it means that Democrats, at least temporarily, have "bragging rights" in the county. But does it mean much else?
In races for partisan offices, the countywide totals mean very little. The reason is that the gerrymandered legislative and congressional districts generally protect the incumbent party. so the Republican-held 37th and 38th Assembly districts and the 24th Congressional District will likely remain safely in GOP hands until at least the next redistricting. When the Democratic-controlled Legislature approved those lines in 2001, Republican analyst Tony Quinn told me today, they pretty much "screwed themselves." They did not anticipate the future voter registration gains they have realized statewide, so the lopsided districts will not allow them to maximize their gains.
Still, I think the arrival of a blue county will make a substantive difference in two areas:
1) Democrats in the county will begin to get more consideration from statewide party leadership. That means, for instance, the state party will devote more resources into voter registration -- helping those who help themselves, as it were. And it makes it more likely that Democrats will target the 19th Senate District as their No. 1 priority in state Senate races this fall.
2) The few politicians whose districts are countywide are going to have to rethink their approach to election and re-election. All the nonpartisan countywide offices -- sheriff, district attorney, treasurer-tax collector, assessor, county clerk -- are now held by Republicans. Each was elected by focusing attention and resources almost exclusively on Republicans. They and, to an even greater degree, their successors, are now going to have pay attention to Democrats. Even if they are registered Republicans, they are going to have to start making some appearances at Democratic clubs and Democratic events. To the extent that there was any disrespect of Democratic voters before, there will be no longer. In addition, it makes it possible for a Democrat to compete, for instance, for assessor.
Those two effects combine amount to more than just bragging rights. The change from red to blue could have real-life consequences, especially if the trend continues and Democrats ultimately widen their now very narrow lead.
Posted by Timm Herdt at 6:07 PM | Comments (0)
Over the last 22 presidential elections, Ventura County voters have backed the winner 21 times, or 95 percent of the time. It is one of only a handful of counties in the nation that has been such a predictable bellwether.
The Ventura County Star's Sacramento Bureau Chief Timm Herdt on state issues and politics from Sacramento to Ventura County. He can be contacted at 
