Election 2008: October 2007 Archives

Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson, aiming to showcase his conservative credentials in California, touted the support of one of the state's most relentless Republican critics of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger - while acknowledging he has never sought the endorsement of the California governor. San Francisco Chronicle.

Thompson appeared Tuesday at a brief press conference - his first public event as a presidential candidate in California - at the start of a two-day fundraising trip that is scheduled to take him to Carmichael (Sacramento County), Los Gatos and San Francisco Wednesday.

The former Tennessee senator stood proudly at the Sacramento Convention Center before a lineup of GOP legislators including his newly named California campaign chairman, state Sen. Tom McClintock of Thousand Oaks (Ventura County) - a conservative icon among the activist GOP grassroots in California who has lambasted the Republican Schwarzenegger on issues ranging from taxes and spending to "post partisan" cooperation with Democrats.

Support for a state ballot initiative to modify the length of time legislators can remain in office is dropping, according to a survey released today. Mercury News

Proposition 93 is now favored by 49 percent of registered voters, the Field Poll found, down from 59 percent just two months ago. While opposition to the initiative remains about the same as in August, the number of voters who are undecided has nearly doubled to 20 percent.

The measure on the Feb. 5 ballot asks voters to shorten from 14 years to 12 years the total amount of time that a state senator or Assembly member can serve in the Legislature.

The players may have changed in a revived effort to award California's precious electoral votes by congressional districts. But the dots, Democrats claim, still connect to one person: Republican presidential contender Rudy Giuliani. Mercury News.

Exhibit One in the Democrats' case for conspiracy is Anne Dunsmore, who is leading the ballot measure's fundraising effort, which organizers hope to get on the June 2008 ballot.

Dunsmore is a veteran GOP fundraiser who brought in more than $200,000 for President Bush in 2000 and 2004. She also happens to have been Giuliani's top fundraiser before quitting Sept. 26.

Iowa Republicans and Democrats will have two days to shake off their New Years hangovers before braving the bitter January cold to cast the first votes in the 2008 race for the White House CNN Political Ticiker.

"This date maintains the important common-sense principle of beginning the delegate selection process in the same calendar year as the election for which we are selecting delegates," Scott Brennan, chairman of Iowa Democratic Party, said in a statement.

"But the overarching principle is to retain the importance of the caucuses. Holding the caucuses on the same day as the Republican Party of Iowa shows solidarity and unity in working to protect Iowa's First-in-the-Nation status, an important argument in the years to come."

Sen. Hillary Clinton celebrates her 60th birthday on Friday but will hold an intimate affair tonight with a few hundred of her closest friends.

CNN reports on its Political Ticker that the leading Democratic candidate for president will b at a New York City party hosted by her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and entertainer Billy Crystal.

Among those entertaining are Elvis Costello and The Wallflowers. New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, New
York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-New York and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York, are also scheduled to join
in the festivities.

It is the presidential campaign that all the major candidates want to deny, but is becoming as popular as, well, say, Dr. Pepper

It is the candidacy of Stephen Colbert, who is running as both a Democrat and Republican in the South Carolina primary.

It was only a matter of time until corporate America caught on.

And, they have.

In an open letter to Colbert, the folks at Dr. Pepper proposed an alliance:

Read on...

In his first foray out of the city on behalf of the presidential campaign of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will begin an effort this weekend in Nevada to draw Latino voters on her behalf. Daily News.

"A Democrat in the White House, coupled with a Democratic majority in the Congress, will mean a new era of investment and a partnership that cities like Los Angeles so desperately need," Villaraigosa said of his role in Clinton's campaign.

Stephen Colbert has announced his candidacy for president on "The Colbert Report," tossing his satirical hat into the ring of an already crowded race. Associated Press in the Daily News.

"I shall seek the office of the president of the United States," Colbert said Tuesday on his Comedy Central show as red, white and blue balloons fell around him.

Colbert, 43, had recently satirized the coyness of would-be presidential candidates by refusing to disclose whether he would seek the country's highest office - a refusal that often came without any prompting.

A plan to require large home improvement stores to set aside space for day laborers moved ahead Friday as the Los Angeles City Council asked for a final ordinance. Daily News.

"This is a citywide problem and rather than try to go back and retroactively fix the issue, we should deal with the stores before they open," Councilman Bernard Parks said.

Under the measure, all home improvement stores with more than 100,000 square feet of space will be required to set aside space for day laborers that includes plumbing facilities.

Councilman Dennis Zine has been selected to be the representative of the City of Los Angeles at ceremonies in Japan this week commemorating the 100th anniversary of the operation of ports in the two cities.
Zine, whose district is in the landlocked central San Fernando Valley, was part of the entourage with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to Asia, where he was introduced as "Vice" mayor of the city.
Zine said he was asked to go on the week-long trip after other officials, including the mayor and Councilwoman Janice Hahn, whose district includes the Port of Los Angeles.

Boxer vs. the Governator?

The possible marquee matchup in 2010 between Sen. Barbara Boxer and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for a California Senate seat is irresistible - as a fundraising tool for Boxer. San Jose Mercury News.

In a pitch for contributions just before the third quarter reporting period ended Sunday, Boxer raised the specter of a Schwarzenegger campaign to unseat her in an e-mail to potential supporters.

"The media," Boxer wrote, "is already hyping a certain governor's possible bid for my Senate seat in 2010."

Its observance is not likely to be marked on many calendars, but tomorrow (Oct. 2) is the fifth anniversary of a speech that put Illinois Sen. Barack Obama on the national political map. As the Bush Administration was banging the war drum, Obama was speaking out against attacking Iraq as a "dumb war," a "rash war," being promoted by "weekend warriors" like Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz. He asked his colleagues on Capitol Hill not to be distracted by it from pressing issues such as health care, corporate corruption and the economy.
His words stood out at the time, so contrary were they to the vocal majority who echoed the chant "W-M-D." Now the remarks -- "a war based not on reason but on passion, not on principle but on politics" -- seem to speak for the majority in Washington and across the country.
The Obama campaign will commemorate the anniversary with rallies in 17 cities, including a noon gathering at the Los Angeles Federal Building, at Wilshire and Sepulveda boulevards in Westwood.