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Valerie Kuklenski commented on Good political advice
James commented on Election day blogging
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Bulletinizer commented on Latino vote isn't monolithic
Much like the Democratic National Committee has gone after presumptive nominee John McCain, the Republican National Committee on Friday launched its own site against the nominee they presume, Sen. Barack Obama.
The RNC launched a website with its own list of questions for Obama. It is at CanWeAsk.com
It could be as Sen. Barack Obama swept to an easy victory in North Carolina and held Sen. Hillary Clinton to what seems to be a narrow win in Indiana.
Political pundits are giving the night to Obama and there was wide speculation about the potential of a deal in the coming weeks.
Clinton is still talking about taking the campaign to Puerto Rico, Kentucky, West Virginia and Oregon, but she acknowledged in her speech that she still needs one thing to compete _ money.
John McCain is boldly promising to mount the most serious Republican presidential campaign for California in years as part of a strategy that targets the entire Democratic-leaning West Coast. Arizona Republic.
California, the state with 55 prized electoral votes, once upon a time was the home base of President Reagan, one of McCain's GOP heroes. But Republicans haven't carried the state in a presidential race or won a Senate seat since 1988.
And, with an increasingly influential Latino population, California is central to any Democratic plan to capture 270 electoral votes and retake the White House.
An Aside:
Californians have heard this before, most notably from President Bush in his first campaign, but it turned out to be little more than a feint to try to get Democrats to spend their money to preserve California.
A growing number of immigrants and their children is pushing Latino voting strength in California to record levels and could alter local legislative and congressional races in coming elections, according to an analysis of potential new voters released today.Tony Castro in the Daily News.
By 2012, immigrants and their voting-age children could potentially represent 29 percent of California voters, according to findings by Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees based in Sebastopol, Calif.
But those estimates could be misleading, according to Jaime Regalado, executive director of the Edmund G. "Pat" Brown Institute at California State University, Los Angeles, and a leading political expert.
Political activist Linda Sutton, who has been closely following the race for the 40th Assembly District seat being vacated by Lloyd Levine because of term limits, has an article in Calitics looking at the fight over various endorsements.
Her take:
"Most Californians are sure that their election is over. All the media coverage is blaring babble from the most recent presidential debate in distant states as well as other inane minutia that denigrates the process.
"Yet, if you look closely, really closely, you may find evidence that there is yet another election coming up here in June. Yes, June 3rd to be exact.
"This season, in spite of the state being billions of dollars in debt, and the cries of horror about budget cuts, our state legislators gave us the special treat of spending double on TWO elections!!!. "
The top two contenders for a coveted Los County Board of Supervisors seat tore into one another Thursday, each saying he could better represent the sprawling 2nd District from mid-Los Angeles to Carson and each claiming to be the stronger supporter of Sen. Barack Obama. Brandon Lowrey in the Daily News
In one of the opening blows, Los Angeles City Councilman Bernard Parks said he was a true public servant while his opponent, state Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas, D-Los Angeles, was merely a politician.
"I've seen public service rather than political process," Parks told a crowd of about 250 people at the Westside Jewish Community Center in Los Angeles.
In Indiana, campaigning for its May 6 election, Obama offered his congratulations to Clinton.
"She ran a terrific race," Obama said."And, I want to thank the hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians who stood with me today. There were a lot of folks who thought we wouldn't make a race of it and would be blown out. We closed the gap.
"We registered a record number of voters. And it is those new voters who will lead our party to victory in November."
Obama then returned to his campaign theme of running a campaign to bring change to the country.
In Philadelphia, with Gov. Ed. Rendell and Mayor Michael Nutter cheering on supporters, Clinton thanked them for her victory.
"Oh, thank you," Clinton said as her husband Bill and daughter Chelsea joined in the celebration. "It's a ;long road to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.and it runs right through the heart of Pennsylvania. For six weeks, Sen. Obama and I have been criss-crossing the state making our case.... You listened and today you chose.
"You know the challenges are great. But you also know the possiblities...with a president ready to lead on day one."
Clinton's supporters adopted Obama's theme, chanting "Yes, we can" to he
Clinton supportet Terry McAuliffe said the Clinton campaign remains viable and that the party should now look at the popular vote to determine the party's nominee.
Meanwhile, Obama supporter Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri says her candidate did better in Pennsylvania than anyone expected, closing the double digit lead that had been held by Clinton.
Both candidates are preparing for the next elections. Obama was holding a rally in Indiana and Clinton released travel plans that include Indiana and North Carolina. Both states are to have May 6 elections.
The networks are calling Pennsylvania for Clinton, but no real percentages available yet.
And, to no one;s surprise, Sen. John McCain won the GOP election, against Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee.
And, you thought California was slow in counting votes.
With polls closed for a half-hour, not one vote return has been released and television commentators are almost -- almost -- running out of things to say.
On MSNBC, Chris Matthews asked if the close vote -- 0 to 0 -- is concerning the Clinton campaign.
No, he was told. They just want to see some votes.
****
And this is why MSNBC is "the place for politics," a Chris Matthews rant.
Matthews, the host of "Hardball," just spent the better part of three minutes with a series of rhetorical questions to Howard Fineman over the $4 million Clinton owes strategist Mark Penn.
":Where are the guys who believed in candidates?" he asked. "Why do you have to pay for brains?"
A state that hasn't received this much attention since the drafting of the Constitution -- or the the first "Rocky" movies -- took center stage today and it was unclear if Pennsylvania voters would give more life to the campaign of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Trailing in delegates, popular vote and money, Clinton was looking for a big win in Pennsylvania to make the case that she should continue her campaign against Sen. Barack Obama.
Tonight's debate between Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama, leading up to next Tuesday's election in Pennsylvania, is being broadcast on the West Coast three hours after it occurs.
Meaning, that all the analysis on CNN, Fox and MSNBC will be going on before California viewers get a chance to see it.
Online political junkies can go to the various newspaper web sites to see if they are live blogging the event for updates.
Thousands of Democratic activists, including dozens from the San Fernando Valley, will gather across California today vying to be chosen for the elite cadre of pledged presidential delegates who will head to the Democratic National Convention.Tony Castro in the Daily News.
A total of 21 slots as delegates and four as alternates are up for grabs in the four congressional districts that cover the San Fernando Valley. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's supporters will elect 12 delegates and four alternates in those four districts. Sen. Barack Obama's backers will elect nine delegates.
But Clinton's threat to fight for Obama's pledged presidential delegates all the way to the convention has roiled Obama supporters heading into today's caucuses.
Los Angeles Councilman Bernard Parks picked up the endorsement of the board of directors of the new BizFed organization in his race for the 2nd Supervisorial District against state Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas, D-Los Angeles in June.
BizFed Chairman David Fleming cited Parks record in supporting business and offering incentives to companies to remain in Los Angeles.
"We are confident that his background as the chief of police and as a council member make him the ideal candidate to resolve some of the most pressing issues facing the county," Fleming said.
Ridley-Thomas has picked up the support of most labor groups in the county.
The race is to fill the seat being vacated with the retirement of Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke.
Los Angeles Councilman Bernard Parks picked up the endorsement of the board of directors of the new BizFed organization in his race for the 2nd Supervisorial District against state Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas, D-Los Angeles in June.
BizFed Chairman David Fleming cited Parks record in supporting business and offering incentives to companies to remain in Los Angeles.
"We are confident that his background as the chief of police and as a council member make him the ideal candidate to resolve some of the most pressing issues facing the county," Fleming said.
Ridley-Thomas has picked up the support of most labor groups in the county.
The race is to fill the seat being vacated with the retirement of Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke.
With Sen. Hillary Clinton coming to California today for some fundraisers, the state Republican Party could resist the opportunity to continue its campaign against her and Democrats in general.
"As Senator Clinton brings her flagging campaign to California, the people of this state are listening carefully to the tax-laden, heavy-handed, big government ‘solutions' she is offering for America's economic challenges. They know that higher taxes and more government spending aren't going to help them fill up their cars, pay their mortgages, or save for retirement," Nehring said.
Fran Pavley and Lloyd Levine were colleagues at one time, fellow liberal Democrats from the San Fernando Valley who served together in the state Assembly and often voted the same way on big issues.Harrison Sheppard in the Daily News.
But, as often happens between former colleagues in the era of term limits, today the two are running against each other for the same state Senate seat - to represent West Los Angeles, the West Valley and Oxnard and to succeed Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Los Angeles, who will be termed out at the end of this year.
The knives have come out as Levine, still in the Assembly, and Pavley, who was termed out, both have well-funded campaigns, deep ties in the Valley and similar ideologies - and each is slashing at the other's effectiveness.
Campaining hard in Pennsylvania, Sen. Hillary Clinton returns to California this week for a fundraiser to try to remain competitive witih Sen. Barack Obama.
Clinton is scheduled to attend the "Hillary LIve" fundraiser a the Wilshire Theater in Beverly Hills for an event to tap into her California base of support.
News reports have had Obama outspending her four to one in the April 22 primary election and she is struggling to remain even.
Chill out."
That's the advice former President Bill Clinton gave Democrats concerned about the extended nomination fight between Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in a speech Sunday at the state Democratic convention in San Jose. Mary Ann Ostrom in the Mercury News.
In a spirited defense of his wife's vow to go on despite lagging in pledged-delegate counts, Clinton argued that continuing to campaign in the remaining states to cast ballots is "strengthening the Democratic Party."
He made his comments to about 3,000 conventiongoers at San Jose McEnery Convention Center, most of whom gave the former president a loud and enthusiastic reception.
State Attorney General Jerry Brown waxed nostalgic Saturday about his former days as governor and strongly suggested that he might run again – just as soon as he is done suing President Bush over global warming.
Sacramento Bee.
Brown joined four other rumored 2010 candidates – San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Lt. Gov. John Garamendi, former state Controller Steve Westly and state schools Superintendent Jack O'Connell in firing up party partisans at the state Democratic Convention in San Jose.
On an entertaining day of political preening for would-be gubernatorial contenders, Brown, 69, provided rhetorical flourishes.
Hoping the increased public interest in this year's election will carry over to the most politically wonkish of events, the California Democratic Party plans to webcast this weekend's convention, Party Chairman Art Torres announced.
Starting at 9 a.m. Saturday, the party will be streaming live events and have video available on workshops at its website, www.cadem.org/convention.
Among the planned events are speeched by former President Bill Clinton, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and a dinner presentation from Phil Donahue.
Hoping the increased public interest in this year's election will carry over to the most politically wonkish of events, the California Democratic Party plans to webcast this weekend's convention, Party Chairman Art Torres announced.
Starting at 9 a.m. Saturday, the party will be streaming live events and have video available on workshops at its website, www.cadem.org/convention.
Among the planned events are speeched by former President Bill Clinton, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and a dinner presentation from Phil Donahue.
California Democrats hold their annual state convention this weekend in San Jose and they are getting some star power to entertain the delegates.
Phil Donahue, who is the father of the modern talk show format, is scheduled to be the keynote speaker on Saturday night, talking about his new documentary, "Body of War."
On Sunday, former President Bill Clinton will be making the case for his wife at a morning speech to delegates. Clinton always has done will in California and Sen. Hillary Clinton won the February primary here by a 51-43 margin over Sen. Barack Obama.
Former Democratic vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro complained Wednesday that Sen. Barack Obama drew a comparison between her and his controversial pastor in his seminal speech about race relations in the U.S. Gene Maddaus in the Daily News.
In a 37-minute speech Tuesday, Obama sought to place racially charged remarks by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright in a broader context, including them on a continuum with Ferraro's comment that Obama's race was a major factor in his political success.
"To equate what I said with what this racist bigot has said from the pulpit is unbelievable," Ferraro said in a telephone interview from Florida.
"(Obama) gave a very good speech on race relations, but he did not address the fact that this man (Wright) is up there spewing hatred."
Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley on Wednesday officially announced his plans to run for a third term, saying he wants to expand programs to work with law enforcement agencies on the latest policing techniques. Daily News.
"We have established a District Attorney's Criminal Justice Institute to work with other prosecutors and police to talk about the latest developments, from DNA and high-tech as well as the law, such as asset forfeiture," Cooley said.
Cooley, 60, the second-highest-paid prosecutor in the nation at $236,829 - with a raise set to bring it to $292,300 in December - will face two announced opponents.
Steve Ipsen, a
Former vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro on Tuesday defended a remark she made to the Daily Breeze last week, in which she suggested that Sen. Barack Obama would not be where he is if he were white. Gene Maddaus in the Daily Breeze.
In an interview with the Breeze, Ferraro said, "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color), he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept."
The comment was picked up by political blogs and cable news shows across the country. The Obama campaign held a conference call Tuesday to denounce the remark, and Obama surrogates urged Sen. Hillary Clinton to repudiate it and remove Ferraro from her finance committee.
Sen. Barack Obama, on MSNBC, after winning his 26th state in the presidential primary, said he will continue his campaign theme of offering change in how the nation is run.
As he and Clinton now turn their attention to Pennsylvania, Obama said he will try to cut into Clinton's lead by his message "that I will be fighting for them.
"I think what I tell them is President Clinton deserves credit, but the trend of growing inequatity, of jobs being shipped overseas...that many of those thrends started before Georg Bush took office.
But, we are so paralyzed with the bitter partisanship and the influence of special interests, that their voices are not being heard. We want to restore the idea that Washington is fighting for working families."
Obama also said he is ready to be commander in chief, based on the judgment he has show in the past and criticized the Clinton television commercial on readiness as an attempt to appeal to public fears.
As for a potential Florida revote, Obama said he will abide by the rules established by the Democratic Party.
As the only woman ever to be selected by a major political party for the position of vice president of the United States, Geraldine Ferraro is uniquely suited to comment on the political events of the day.
An outspoken advocate for women's issues and a staunch supporter of presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, Ferraro will offer her views on the state of the nation and the race for the White House at 7 p.m. Sunday at the Armstrong Theatre of the Torrance Cultural Arts Center Theatre in Torrance. The program is part of the American Perspectives series. Jim Farber in the Daily Breeze.
Speaking by phone from her New York law office, the 72-year-old former Democratic congresswoman outlined the themes that will dominate her talk. She also offered pointed observations
Former Democratic vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro will speak in Torrance Sunday.
regarding the Barack Obama juggernaut and what she sees as a sexist media bias against the candidate of her choice.
Democratic candidates for the hotly contested 40th District Assembly seat decried Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed budget cuts Monday and suggested other ways of combating dwindling revenues. Brendand Lowery in the Daily News.
The Assembly seat will open next year as Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, reaches his term limit. Levine is running for the state Senate in the 23rd District.
Four Democratic contenders for Levine's seat - Dan McCrory, Laurette Healey, Stuart Waldman and Bob Blumenfield - attended a debate Monday at Shomrei Torah Synagogue sponsored by several local Democratic clubs.
Sen. Barack Obama easily outpolled Sen. HIllary Clinton in the Wyoming caucuses on Saturday _ with all of 8,490 Democrats casting ballots in the election -- about the equivalent of one or two precincts in Los
Angeles.
For their efforts, Obama is expected to get seven delegates, Clinton will get four.
And, it's on to Mississippi for the next election on Tuesday.
It is rare to have the words crucial and Wyoming in the same sentence when it comes to presidential politics, but the state is getting a lot of attention today as its Democratic voters -- less than 10,000 of them -- turn out in caucuses today to decide between Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
With more than 75 percent of the returns in, Obama was continuing his domination of caucuses over Clinton and he had 59 percent of the vote.
Looking to put pressure on his main opponent, state Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas on Friday called for a series of seven debates with Councilman Bernard Parks in their June 3 race for the Board of Supervisors. Parks and his campaign could not be reached for comment.
The two have already had a pair of forums and Ridley-Thomas said he hoped more could be held to try to get the public interested in the election, the second of three to be held this year.
Laurette Healey, one of the top Democratic candidates in the 40th Assembly District race, picked up the support of the Los Angeles Police Protective League. She also has been endorsed by Sheriff Lee Baca, ALADS and the California Police Chiefs Association.
“Laurette Healey has always been a friend to law enforcement," the Protective League said in a statement. "We know she will be willing to listen to all points of view and will be a reasonable and conscientious Assembly member. Laurette Healey is committed to the safety of her community and will work hard in the State Legislature to provide increased resources to her district to address these concerns.”
A staunchly conservative state senator from Thousand Oaks jumped into a Northern California congressional race Tuesday, saying he wanted to help return the Republican Party to the smaller-government themes sounded by Ronald Reagan. AP in the Daily News.
Sen. Tom McClintock announced in Auburn, Calif., that he would seek the GOP nomination for the seat now held by Rep. John Doolittle, R-Rocklin. Doolittle is under investigation in a congressional lobbying scandal and announced in January that he would not run for a 10th term.
In his victory remarks, Sen .John McCain made clear he was prepared to begin his campaign against the Democratic nominee.
And, Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama made clear they were ready for McCain -- and each other.
Clinton continued the theme she began last week with her television commerical on who would be best prepared to answer the call of a crisis at 3 in the morning;. Clinton also tried a variation of a theme, having supporters chant, "Yes, we will," to counter the Obama chant of "Yes, we can."
And, Obama sought to tie Clinton to the same policies of McCain and President Bush when it came to the decision to send troops to Iran.
Sen.Barack Obama, serving as the anchor man of political speeches, offered his congratulations to Clinton for her victories as he said it remained too close to call in Texas.
"We know this, no matter what happens tonight, we have nearly the same delegate lead as we had this morning and we are on our way to winning this nomination," Obama said.
"You know, decades ago, I learned as a community organizser, that the real work of democracy...begins on street corners, and living rooms...to see the world as it is and we have the power to remake the world as it should be."
Obama said his campaign is designed "to write a new chapter. We were told this was not possible. That we could not change the world. .... Toniight, because of you and the movement we have built..we can stand up and with clarity and say we are turning the page to write the next chapter in American history."
Coming back from 11 straight losses, Sen. Hillary Clinton claimed victories in Ohio and Rhode Island on Tuesday and vowed to press on the campaign against Sen. Barack Obama.
In Ohio, which provided her with a key win to help her make her case to continue her campaign, a jubilant Clinton declared, "Thank you, Ohio.
"To anyone across America who has been counted out but refused to be knocked out, for everyone who has stumbled but got right back up...this one is for you," Clinton said. "You know what they say, as Ohio goes, so goes the natin. Well, Ohio is coming back and so is this campaign.
"We're going on. We're going strong and we're going all the way."
Both Sens. HIllary Clinton and Barack Obama called Sen. John McCain to congratulate him on clinching the GOP presidential nomination.
Clinton was declared the winner in Ohio, giving her two victories for the night that left television anchors frustrated -- being forced to wait for votes to be tallied instead of being able to call the election with the use of their exit polls.
Less than six months ago, the campaign of Sen. John McCain was in shambles -- out of money and in total disarray.
On Tuesday, McCain was able to claim victory on the next leg for the office he has sought for more than a dozen years.
"I am very grateful and pleased to note, my friends, that we have collected enough delegates...that I will be the nominee for president," McCain said in his victory speech.
The election :"was an accomplishment more than a few doubters thought unlikely.
"Now we begin the most important part of our campaign to make a respectful...case to the American people," McCain said. "I have never believed I was destined to be president. But I do believe we were born with responsibilities."
In her first victory in a month, Sen. Hillary Clinton was declared the victor in Rhode Island.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, reversing his plans to hold off on conceding, acknowledged the victory by Arizona Sen. John McCain in the race for the Republican nomination for president.
Speaking in Dallas, Huckabee thanked his supporters for keeping his campaign alive.
"I called Sen. McCain....I said to him not only my congratulations but my commitment to him to not only unify our party, but to unify our country," Huckabee said. "Sen. McCain is an honorable man, who has run an honorable campaign."
Polls closed at 6 p.m. PST in Texas and Rhode Island and it was too early to say who was winning on the Democratic side. All the polls also closed in Ohio, even though some returns were release earlier. Obama was holding a slight lead.
In yet another oddity of the Texas system, absentee ballot returns were released prior to the closing of the polls and it gave Obama a slight lead.
Arizona Sen. John McCain became the presumptive Republican nominee for president on Tuesday, cinching the nomination with delegates to spare. All that' s left is the formality of the GOP convention beginning Sept. 1 in Minnesota.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who has been hanging on for weeks, is expected to concede this week.
With the victory, McCain now can begin to tap into the Republican National Committee database of research and donors and the GOP can begin its own campaign against Democrats. It also will free up President Bush to begin campaigning on behalf of McCain. The two are scheduled to meet on Wednesday at the White House.
And, while there has been much attention paid to Republicans switching to support Obama -- the so-called Obamicans -- Fox analyst Karl Rove said watch out for Democrats switching to the GOP, a group he called McCainocrats.
Over at Fox, the Limbaugh factor in the Democratic presidential election is being discussed about the talk radio host urging Republican voters in Texas to cross over and vote for her.
What the analysts couldn't agree on was whether Limbaugh was trying to create chaos among Democrats or believes Clinton would be an easier foe in November.
Polls have closed in Ohio and all say it is too close to call.
Also, it turns out Ohio is like many other elections this year, where the winner of the popular vote could come in second in terms of delegates. All of it depends on the margin of victory within certain congressional districts in the state, analysts say.
McCain also declared the winner in Ohio as eh goes 2 for 2 for the night.
By all accounts, this year's election has been the most exciting and interesting in a generation.
There are more people voting than at any time in recent history and, based on all the pundits on television, it continues to draw wide interest.
What, then, is the rush to force out former Arkansas Gov Mike Huckabee and Sen. Hillary Clinton?
All the talk for the past several days has been speculation on whether either can continue a sustaintable campaign after today;s voting and both, to their credit, say it isn't over until it's over.
Vermont;s polls closed at 4 p.m. PST and the networks immediatley called it for Sen. Barack Obama on the Democratic side and Sen. John McCain for the GOP. McCain is hoping to close out his election tonight over former Gov. Mike Huckabee.
Be honest. When was the last time you considered Rhode Island a crucial state in the presidential election? Or Vermont?
Yet both will be the center of attention today, albeit briefly, when voters there and, oh yeah,Ohio and Texas, go to the polls today to decide between Sen. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
We will be doing live blogging again on the returns starting this afternoon. Comments are welcome and we will post them as quickly as we can.
The 40th Assembly District race continues to be one of the most active leading up to the June 3 primary election.
Democratic candidate Laurette Healey is having an official kickoff of her campaign at 1 p.m. Saturday at her Canoga Parks headquarters, 21511 Sherman Way.
On Monday, March 10, a forum will be held for the Democratic candidates, sponsored by a number of organizatins, at 7 p.m. at Shomrei Torah Synogogue, 7353 Valley Circile Blvd., West Hills. It will be moderated by Bill Boyarsky, the former L.A. Times editor and columnist and member of the city Ethics Commission.
Candidates expected to participate include Healey, Dan McCrory, Stuart Waldman, Bob Blumenfield and Steven Zeldin.
- While most developers were eyeing property in suburbia in the 1980s, Moe Mohanna was staking his claim to some rundown buildings a few blocks from the state Capitol. AP in the Daily News.
The Sacramento landlord began fixing up nine storefronts along K Street in an area frequented by vagrants. His property is at the heart of the city's plans to revitalize its business district.
After years of failed negotiations to exchange other property for his buildings or to rehabilitate or buy them - city officials say they violate health and safety codes - Sacramento's redevelopment agency recently moved to go to court and seize the sites.
"We've done all of these things, and they are chasing us out of town," Mohanna said, as he showed photographs of once-dilapidated buildings that have a fresh coat of paint and new verandas. "They want to give the blocks to their favorite developers, and I'm just not one of them."
On the same day last week that a prominent U.S. senator endorsed the presidential candidacy of Democratic front-runner Barack Obama, a 20-year-old sports figure stole the political spotlight. Tony Castro and Ramona Shelbourne in the Daily News.
Greg Oden, a former Ohio State University basketball great and last year's No.1 draft pick in the NBA, said he was endorsing Obama.
"This will be my first presidential election to participate in as a voter, and I hope that you younger voters will get involved," Oden said, capturing media attention.
Meanwhile that day, sports agent-attorney Leigh Steinberg was putting the finishing touches on an imminent announcement of the formation of Athletes for Obama - including former Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush and NBA legend Charles Barkley.
New York Sen. Hillary Clinton may have the San Fernando Valley's vote for the presidential nomination, but the newest campaign fundraising reports show Illinois Sen. Barack Obama now has its money. Lisa Friedman in the Daily News.
Last month, Obama outpaced Clinton in donations from Valley residents, raising $730,639 to her $461,513, according to Federal Election Commission reports for the month.
While Clinton still has Obama beat in the overall Southland money race, analysts said the infusion of Obama donations from a region that solidly supported her in the primary is significant.
Los Angeles County's top voting official said Tuesday he's confident he can count the majority of 50,000 "double-bubble" ballots that went uncounted on Super Tuesday before the deadline to certify the election next week. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
Based on advice from the County Counsel's Office and the Secretary of State's Office, acting Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan said he plans to count most of the ballots cast by 50,000 independent voters who did not fill out a party box at the top of the ballot along with a choice for president.
The "double-bubble" ballot required nonpartisan and decline-to-state voters to fill out a party box at the top of the ballot along with their choice for president in order for their vote to be counted.
It was Obama's turn to offer praise for Clinton, similar to what she did last week.
"We have gone thorugh 20 debates and there is still a lot out there. The one thing I am clear about is that Sen. Clinton has campaigned magnificently. I am very proud to have campaigned with her.
"There is no question that she would be a better president than John McCain. I just think I would be better.. that I can bring this country together.."
Clinton was equally effusive.
"Both of us feel strongly about the country," Clinton said. "We bring enormous energy and commitment to this race and we would bring that to the general election and the White House. It has been an honor. It has been history making."
The two were asked a variety of questions regarding foreign policy challenges facing the nation.
Among them:
-- The successor to Vladimar Putin in Russia.
-- The problems in Serbia and Kosovo.
Tim Russert threw a series of questions at both candidates regarding a wide arrange of issues:
-- Obama's promise to limit spending in the general election.
-- Obama's endorsed by Louis Farrakhan,
-- Clinton's release of her income tax records.
-- Clinton's release of documents during her years as First Lady.
The two offered details of what they had heard on the campaign trail in meeting with average Americans.
"I met with four middle-aged women and none of them were in positions they thought they would be in," Obama said.
Clinton returned to the theme of health care and the need to bring in more controls of special interests to invet in the middle class for heath care and college, among others.
:"People are working harder than ever, bu they're not getting ahead,' Clinton said. "The special interests are not going to give up without a fight. I'm a fighter."
In a series of hypothetical questions about Iraq, Clinton and Obama both said they would pull out all troops if the Iraqi government requested it.
And, Obama said he would "reserve the right" to return if Al Qaeda was using the country as a base to plan more attacks against the United States.
Clinton, interrupted by commercials, was not given time to respond.
However, her joking appearance about Obama's speeches were presented. "I give her points for humor," Obama said.
Obama tried to shift the focus to negative tactics used against his campaign by Clinton.
Clinton would not bite and switched back to discussing the health care issue, with both citing their own experts on why their plan is better.
And, as they did in last week's session, the two candidates overrode the moderators to refuse new questions as they continued the discussion on universal health care.
In the most anticipated debate since, well, last week's confrontation, Sens. HIllary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama began their 20th debate of the presidential election in Cleveland, Ohio.
Most of the pre-debate attention was on Clinton and the strategy she will employ in the debate, being aired on MSNBC.
With her first question, Clinton was asked about the tone of the past week and -- with a smile on her face -- defended herself, but politely.
:As I have said, I have a great deal of respect for Sen. Obama, but ... with some of the tactics of his campaign...have been very disturbing to me," Clinton said. "I think it's important you stand up for yourself."
Clinton complained that Obama had mischaracterized her health care plan.
"We can have a good debate that uses accurate information," she said.
Clinton also denied any knowledge of her campaign releasing a photo of Obama in
Africa where he was dressed in a native costume.
As for her contentions of misstatements on her health care plan, Obama insisted the basic facts were correct.
Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama hold their 20th _ and possibly last _ debate tonight heading up to the March 4 primary elections.
Whas has dominated the discussions over the debate is which Hillary Clinton will show up and is Obama prepared to deal with it.
Clinton won high marks for the civil tone of last week's debate and his moving closing statements where she talked of how proud she was to be on the same stage as Obama.
That has changed over the past few days, with Clinton going on the attack and saying Obama should be ashamed of the campaign he was waging.
The Daily News will be watching it tonight -- and blogging on it. Comments are welcome and we will post them as quickly as we can.
In their race for the county Board of Supervisors, Councilman Bernard Parks and state Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas are both looking to tap into support from the business community. Los Angeles Business Journal.
In their race for the county Board of Supervisors, Councilman Bernard Parks and state Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas are both looking to tap into support from the business community. Los Angeles Business Journal.
Bob Blumenfield picked up some major endorsement in the race for the 40th Assembly District, with the Democratic primary in June.
Blumenfield's campaign announced he has the backing of Mayor Antonio Vllaraigoa, Councilwwomn Wendy Greuel and state Attorney General Jerry Brown.
The race has taken on a tone of a soap opera with Stuart Waldman, a former aide to Assemblymwn Llloyd Levine, competing with Blumenfield for support in the race. Blumenfield serves as Levine' schief of staff district director.
Also in the race is fomer deputy State Controller Laurette Healy and activist Dan McCrory.
Both were asked to describe a personal moment of crisis.
Obama said he did not have one, but that people had to look at his whole life.
Clinton noted, "I think everyone here knows I have lived through some moments in my life. People ask me how I do it...with all the challenges I have had, they are nothing compared to the average American."
It took nearly 80 minutes before the Iraq war became the issue and it was with a question over preparedness to be commander in chief.
Clinton was asked if she thought Obama was not prepared for the job. She did not answer that, but listed her own accomplishments.
Obama seized the question to point out he had opposed the initial vote on the Iraq war, while Clinton had supported it.
Clinton and Obama took over the debate when it came to health care.
Both refuse to answer or allow other questions to be asked as they detailed their plans on proividng univeral health care and differences between their plans.
Prompted by the panelists, Obama and Clinton had their first real disagreement of the evening over whether Obam had plagiarized the words of one of his supporters.
"This is when we get in the silly season in politics,' Obama said. "I;ve been giving a lot of speeches and some of them are pretty good. We shouldn't be spending time tearing each other down. We should be spending time buildng the country up.'
To which Clinton responded: "If your candidacy is going to be about words, they should be your own words. Lifting whole passages isn;t change you can believe in. It's change you can Xerox."
CNN reporter John King tried to get the two to tussle, noting the sometimes strident tones both campaigns use in stump speeches.
Neither bit.
"We do have differences...but we have run positive campaigns,": Clinton said. "I know there are comparisons and contrasts between us. Words are important, but actions speak louder than words."
Clinton did get in a dig over an interview with an Obama supporter who became stumped when asked to cite something Obama had accomplished.
Obama provided the answer, ticking off a number of items he had accomplished and the tenor of his campaigin.
Halfway through the debate and the two continued their polite tone, finding themselves in agreement on a host of proposals involving immigration and a common belief that they didn't like the Bush Administration.
The networks are struggling to come up with a pithy name for the March 4 primaries in Texas and Houston,
Super Tuesday, Super Duper Tuesday, Tsuami Tuesday, Junior Super Tuesday have all been taken, not leaving much for the next critical elections.
Not so for tonight';s debate. MSNC is calling it the "Longshore Showdown," while hoste network CNN has dubbed it "the Texas two step.:
In a remarkable month of political victories, Sen. Barack Obama won his 10th straight pressidential selectin contest on Tuesday with victories in Wisconsin and Hawaii, his native state.
For his part, Sen. Barack Obama _ speaking at the same time as Clinton _ told his supporters in Houston that the Wisconsin results showed that people were supporting his call for change.
"But it is still far away and we will need the good people of Texas," Obama said. "Understand, that what we are trying to do here will not be easy. It is going to require something more because the problems we face in America …is because Washington has become a place where good ideas go to die.
"We are here tonight because we believe change is possible."
In Youngstown, Ohio, Sen HIllary Clinton chose to look ahead to the Ohio and Texas election, without any reference to the Wisconsin results and again returned to her theme that she is ready to take the job on from day one.
"It is about picking a president who doesn't rely just on words, but on hard work,"Clinton said. "When i think about what we're really comparing in this election, we can;t have just speeches. We have to have solutions. And we need those solutions for America. We have to get American back in the solution business. While words matter, the best words don't; matter unless you match them with action."
The networks are projecting that Sen. Barack Obama is the winner in Wisconsin. Still too early to proivde any details on the margin and whether Sen. Hillary Clinton can take anything from the elections looking ahead to the Texas and Ohio primaries.
Obama outspent Clinton by about four times on television, officials said and campaigned extensively through the state.
Sen. John McCain is declared the victor in the Wisconsin primary, apparently splitting the conservative vote. What is unknown is how well Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee ran against him in his fight to remain in the race. Huckabee has said he plans to continue his campaign until McCain locks up the nomination.
McCain had an early victory celebration in Ohio, telling supporters:
"Thank you Wisconsin that, I, a superstitious Naval aviator, can say I will be our nominee for president," McCain said. "
And, unlike many who have been critical of Huckabee, McCain said he has come to respect and appreciate his opponent;
"Now, comes the hard part," McCain said.
Going in to Tuesday's elections, here is how the candidates stand with the delegate count:
Democrats
Needed to win: 2,025
Obama 1,263
Clinton 1,212
Republicans
Needed to win: 1,191
McCain 881
Huckabee 217
The hour or two before the polls close in any state is the best time to tune into the news shows.
With no real results available, everyone is right -- or wrong -- at this stage.
For instance, much of the attention on Tuesday was speculating on Sen. Barack Obama pulling out his ninth and 10th victories since Feb. 5.
The only thing that would make it more entertaining is to add Charles Barkley to the debate with Chris Matthews and Pat Buchanan over on MSNBC.
The exit polls from Fox, CNN and MSNBC are offering some early insights into how Wisconsin voters cast their ballots.
But, exactly what, is to be determined.
Among the findings:
-- Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama are splitting the lower economic vote.
-- 57 percent of Clinton voters would be happy if Obama is the nominee. 43 percent of Obama supporters feel the same.
-- 27 percent of voters in the Democratic primary identify themselves as independent.
Popular ice cream makers Ben and Jerry have endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for president and plan to tour with a Barack-mobile on his behalf. Can Barack ice cream be far behind?
As if their spouses did not have enough on their minds, enter the wives.
Michelle Obama and Cindy McCain are in the latest dustup over remarks. Mrs. Obama made saying for "the first time" in her adult life that she was proud of American.
“Hope is making a comeback and, let me tell you, for the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country. Not just because Barack is doing well, but I think people are hungry for change,” Mrs. Obama said during a Milwaukee rally.
“I have seen people who are hungry to be unified around some basic common issues and it has made me proud,” she told supporters.
Enter, Mrs. McCain.
At her own event, she said, "I have always been proud of America."
Needless to say the issue is dominating talk radio.
The Los Angeles Police Protective League, long at odds with Councilman (and former Police Chief) Bernard Parks, joined several other law enforcement unions on Tuesday to back state Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas in their race for county supervisor.
The Protective League was frequently at odds with Parks during his five years as chief, particularly over his disciplinary policy toward officers.
Ridley-Thomas has the backing of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO. Other law enforcement unions supporting him include the Association of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs, the union representing deputies, as well as the Los Angeles County Probation Officers and the Southern California Alliance of Law Enforcement.
Focusing on Barack Obama’s “inexperience” and “undisciplined messaging” are two ways to ensure that the senator from Illinois doesn’t get to be president, according to honchos at the Republican National Committee. Big RNC contributors got an earful this weekend about methods the GOP will use to battle the Democrats for control of the White House this fall, as well as other initiatives central to the conservative cause. Politico, courtesy of LA Observed.
The RNC’s “winter retreat” for major donors at Los Angeles’ Beverly Wilshire Hotel featured such party stalwarts as Karl Rove, RNC chairman Robert Duncan, former Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams, as well as some Hollywood types, including Dave Berg, a segment producer and “political director” for "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno.
But chief among the RNC’s concerns were how to keep a tight grip on the White House this fall. Plenty of lowbrow Hillary Rodham Clinton jokes were tossed around at the three-day event, but of highest concern was the notion of Obama seizing the Oval Office in a contest against presumptive GOP nominee John McCain.
The California presidential primary may have come and gone. Sacramento Bee.
But Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton are still mining for California’s most precious political ore: 66 superdelegates who can vote as they choose at this summer’s Democratic National Convention.
So far, Clinton leads Obama in endorsements among state superdelegates, 26 to 11. She may soon pick up another, as campaign supporter and former state lawmaker Jackie Speier is favored in a special election to replace the late Rep. Tom Lantos.
The state’s superdelegate lists includes U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer and 33 members of Congress - soon to be 34 once Lanto’s replacement is elected.
There are also 33 state members of the Democratic National Committee, which includes four of the members of Congress. The remaining California superdelegate is former DNC chairman Chuck Manatt.
Here is a breakdown of California superdelegate preferences. Stay tuned for updates.
Superdelegates for Clinton:
U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein
Rep. and DNC member Maxine Waters
Rep. and DNC member Joe Baca
Rep. Doris Matsui
Rep. Mike Thompson
Rep. Lynn Woolsey
Rep. Dennis Cardoza
Rep. Jane Harman
Rep. Grace Napolitano
Rep. Laura Richardson
Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard
Rep. Brad Sherman
Rep. Hilda Solis
Rep. Ellen Tauscher
Rep. Diane Watson
Rep. Loretta Sanchez
DNC member Alice Huffman
DNC member Alicia Wang
DNC member Rosalind Wyman
DNC member Kamil Hasan
DNC member Mona Pasquil
DNC member Mirian Saez
DNC member Maria Echaveste
DNC member Rachel Binah
DNC member Christopher Stampolis
Former DNC chair Chuck Manatt
Superdelegates for Obama:
Rep. Anna Eshoo
Rep. Xavier Becerra
Rep. Barbara Lee
Rep. Adam Schiff
Rep. George Miller
Rep. Zoe Lofgren
Rep. Linda Sanchez
DNC member Eric Garcetti
DNC member Norma Torres
DNC member Jeremy Bernard
DNC member Mary Ellen Early
Undecided Superdelegates:
Sen. Barbara Boxer
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Rep. Jerry McNerney
Rep. Pete Stark
Rep. Mike Honda
Rep. Sam Farr
Rep. Jim Costa
Rep. Lois Capps
Rep. Howard Berman
Rep. Henry Waxman
Rep. Bob Filner
Rep. Susan Davis (CA)
DNC state chair Art Torres
DNC vice chair Alexandra Gallardo-Rooker
DNC member Steven Alari
DNC member Edward Espinoza
DNC member Inola Henry
DNC member Aleita Huguenin
DNC member Carole Midgen
DNC member Bob Mulholland
DNC member Christine Pelosi
DNC member John Perez
DNC member Robert Rankin
DNC member Garry Shay
DNC member Crystal Strait
DNC member Keith Umemoto
DNC member Vernon Watkins
DNC member Steve Ybarra
Sen. John McCain, taking on proposals from both Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, talked of the need to reduce the size of government.
"They don't send us to Washington to stroke our egos, but to protect this ....country," McCain said after victories in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia.
In Wisconsin, Sen. Barack Obama exulted in his victories on Tuesday.
:"We won the state of Maryland. We won the commonwealth of Virginia. And, though we won the District of Columbia, we won;t stop until we win in Washington, D.C., " Obama said. "It takes more than one night to overcome the money, the petty bickering...that shut you out. We have now won east and west, north and south and across the heartland.
"We have given young people a reason to believe. We have brought the young at heart back."
Also, Republican Sen. John McCain pulled off his own three-for...winning in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.
All the networks are projecting a victory in Maryland for Sen. Barack Obama, giving him his third victory of the night and his eighth in a row dating back to last weekend.
Sen. John McCain, on the Republican side, also was declared the victor in Maryland, giving him two wins on the night over former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, with no decision in the District of Columbia.
In El Paso, Texas, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton appeared to shrug off the losses as she campaigned for that state's March 4 primary.
"I can't think of any better place to begin our campaign for Texas than El Paso," Clinton said. "We're going to sweep across Texas with our message of what will be needed on day one. I'm tested, I'm ready. Let's make it happen."
Clinton has been working to overcome some problems over the past several days that includes a shakeup among her top campaign staff and disclosures she had to loan her campaign $5 million to match Sen. Barack Obama in spending.
In a closer election than he wanted, it appears Sen. John McCain has held off former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in Virginia.
With a combination of bad weather and traffic jams, Maryland state officials announced they are keeping their polls open an extra 90 minutes. They will close at 6:30 PST.
MSNBC commentator Chris Matthews has his own way of defining people and how they vote.
To Matthews, the elites are those who go to Starbucks. Real people go to Dunkin Donuts. Which is confusing for thoese neighborhoods that have both franchises.
A YouTube video of last Sunday's forum among the four Democratic challengers for the seat is available here, courtesy of Linda Sutton at an event sponsored by the Progressive Democrats of America and other local groups.
The four candidates are Laurette Healy, Bob Blumenfeld, Stuart Waldman and Dan McCrory.
The full event is captured in seven different videos at the site. The four are seeking to succeed Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, who is termed out and running for the state Senate.
Some 50,000 votes cast by nonpartisan voters in Los Angeles County for president on Super Tuesday cannot be accurately tallied because of a confusing ballot design known as the "double bubble," officials said Monday.
Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
In a 21-page report issued Monday evening, acting Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan said a 1percent manual recount of 189,438 ballots estimated that 26percent may have been cast incorrectly and could not be tallied for Democratic and American Independent candidates for president.
"We are unable to clearly determine what the voter intent was on those ballots without the party selection or without knowing which voter booth they were in," Logan said. "It does not appear we are going to be able to go back and add those votes into the tally."
Now that we've been through Super Tuesday and Potomoc Fever, here is the remaining election schedule for both parties and the number of delegates at stake:
Republicans
Feb. 16; Guam, 9.
Feb. 19: Wisconsin, 40
Feb. 23: American Samoa 9.
March 4: Ohio, 88; Rhode Island, 20; Texas, 140, Vermont, 17
March 11: Mississippi, 39
April 5: Virgin Islands,, 9 delegates
April 22; Pennsylvania, 74.
May 6: Indiana, 57, North Carolina, 69
May 17: Hawaii, 20 delegates
May 20: Kentucky, 45; Oregon, 30.
May 27 Idaho, 32.
June 3: New Mexico, 32, South Dakota, 27
July 12, Nebraska, 33.
Democrats
Feb. 19: Hawaii, 29, Wisconsin, 92.
March 4: Ohio, 161; Rhode Island, 32; Texas, 228,Vermont, 23
March 8: Wyoming, 18.
March 11: Mississippi, 40.
April 22: Pennsylvania, 188.
May 3: Guam, 9.
May 6. Indiana Primary 84; North Carolina, 134 delegates
May 13, West Virginia, 39
May 20: Kentucky, 60; Oregon, 65.
June 3: Montana, 24, South Dakota, 23
June 7 Puerto Rico, 63.
Secretary of State Debra Bowen's office reported Tuesday that two new measures designed to deal with victims rights _ by tightening probation requirements as well as the right to be released pending trial _ are in circulation for the November election.
Both measures will require more than 695,000 signatures to qualify and become the fourth and fifth measures dealing with victim rights that are in circulation in moves seen as trying to motivate the Republican base to turn out this fall.
Another measure, eliminating domestic partnership laws, failed to qualify for the ballot.
So far, there are 55 measures in circulation for November.
Maybe what former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee needs is some goofy kid to make a YouTube video for him to respond to all the questions about why he is remaining in the race for the GOP nomination against Sen. John McCain.
The last thing McCain needs is an early withdrawal by Huckabee, who appears to be one of the few political candidates who seems to enjoy the campaigning, as the two head into another round of primary elections on Tuesday.
While trailing McCain in the number of delegates for the nomination, Huckabee serves to continue to draw media attention to Republicans _ something McCain loses once he has the nomination wrapped up and the Democrats continue to engage in a fascinating battle.
And, Huckabee also serves to make McCain appear more moderate to a general election voter with his proposals for constitutional amendments on marriage and abortion.
Look! Over there, at the Democratic Party National Convention. They can do anything! They can go anywhere! They're ... superdelegates! Lisa Friedman in the Daily News.
Democrats have 796 of them, and if the race for the White House remains as close as it is now between Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, these "superdelegates" - elected officials and party members who can back any candidate - could decide the next nominee.
So while they may not be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, analysts note that superdelegates count for 20 percent of the vote at the Democratic National Convention - making their powers substantial.
***Obama wraps up successful weekend
Sen. Barack Obama had a highly successful weekend, winng three contests on Saturday and also was projected to win the Maine caucuses on Sunday.
Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton now face off in three contests on Tuesday in what is variously being called either the Chesapeake primaries or the Potomoc primaries in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C.
Sen. Barack Obama appeared to be doing well on Saturday, projected to win in Washington and Nebraska and holding a lead in Louisiana as he narrows the delegate count with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Both are campaigning in Virginia, which has a primary election on Tuesday.
With more caucuses and primaries going on today and Sunday, political observers are calling it Super Saturday as voters in Kansas, Louisiana and Washington decide on their choices.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee easily won the Kansas caucuses over Sen. John McCain, despite McCain picking up more support from GOP regulars.
Sen.Barack Obama is looking to pick up wins tonight over Sen. HIllary Rodham Clinton in his bid to win more states than Clinton and even the delegate count.
****
Huckabee attributes his victory to stubbornness among GOP voters.
"They don't want to be told what to do," Huckabee told CNN.
And, over on MSNBC, GOP pundit Pat Buchanan said Huckabee has nothing to lose by staying in the race.
:"No one knows if something might happen to John McCain and Huckabee will be there," Buchanan said.
The first of what is expected to be several forums for the 40th Assembly District seat being vacated by Lloyd Levine will be held this Sunday, from 6:30-8 p.m., at the Van Nuys-Sherman Oaks Recreation Center, 5040 Van Nuys Blvd., Sherman Oaks.
Five candidates are seeking the Democratic nomination at the June 3 primary for the district, that runs from Van Nuys to West Hills. The forum is being sponsored by a number of Democratic organizations.
Candidates who have said they will participate are Dan McCrory, Laurette Healey, Stuart Waldman, Bob Blumenfield and Steven Zeldin.
The first debate in the 2nd Supervisorial District race between Councilman Bernard Parks and state Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas is scheduled for this 7:30 a.m. Saturday at Holman United Methodist Church, 3320 W. Adams Blvd., Los Angeles. The election is June 3.
The closely watched election is for the seat from which Supervisor Yvonne Burke is retiring.
The debate is sponsored by the Los Angeles Sentinel and radio station KJLH in partnership with a number of community groups.
Los Angeles County voters backed Sens. Hillary Clinton and John McCain in higher numbers than the state average in Tuesday's California primary, helping propel them to strong statewide wins in their presidential bids. Harrison Sheppard in the Daily News.
And early voters and Latinos across California and the San Fernando Valley were particularly key to Clinton's big win in the Golden State, analysts and exit polls said Wednesday.
While Clinton won statewide with about 52 percent of the Democratic vote, she fared even better in heavily Latino Los Angeles County - where she took about 55 percent.
About half of all 189,000 Los Angeles County nonpartisan ballots cast in the Tuesday primary were not counted because of confusion over ballot design, the county's top elections official said Wednesday. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
And acting Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan said potentially tens of thousands more may also be affected because several hundred thousand absentee and provisional ballots are still left to count.
The problems surfaced Tuesday as the registrar's office began receiving reports throughout the day from crossover voters at the polls confused about how to mark their ballots.
While Los Angeles voters endorsed a telephone users tax and the $270 million a year it brings into city coffers, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa warned Wednesday that the city is still in a financial crisis that could leave it $500 million short next year. Daily News.
Two-thirds of voters on Tuesday supported the measure, which rewrites the city's telephone users tax to withstand legal challenges. The measure needed a simple majority to pass.
Its passage ensures the city will continue to generate an estimated $270 million a year from the tax on landlines, cell phones and, now, newer technologies such as Internet phone services.
Proposition S, the measure that keeps the telephone users tax in effect in Los Angeles _ along with $270 million a year in reven _ won easy approval from voters on Tuesday.
Final, semi-official results from the Registrar-Recorders office showed the yes vote at 376,513, for 65.63 percent with the nos at 197,182 for 34.37 percent.
The campaign behind it featured Police Chief Bill Bratton and Fire Chief Doug Bratton, warning of the danger to public safety if it didn't pass.
Proposition S, the measure that keeps the telephone users tax in effect in Los Angeles _ along with $270 million a year in reven _ won easy approval from voters on Tuesday.
Final, semi-official results from the Registrar-Recorders office showed the yes vote at 376,513, for 65.63 percent with the nos at 197,182 for 34.37 percent.
The campaign behind it featured Police Chief Bill Bratton and Fire Chief Doug Bratton, warning of the danger to public safety if it didn't pass.
Latest delegate count: (Without California)
Clinton, 414. Obama, 331.
McCain, 371, Romney, 160, Huckabee, 146, Paul, 9.
Arizona Sen. John McCain said he believed he showed on Tuesday that he was the favorite.
“We are the Republican Party frontrunner,” McCain declared. “And, I don't really mind it one bit.
“There is still a long road ahead. But we are much closer to the victory we have worked so hard to attain.”
Sen. Barack Obama, in Illinois, told his supporters that “our time has come.
“Our time has come. Our movement is real. And change is coming to America.
“We are more than a collection of red states and blue states. We are the United States of America.”
Sen. Hillary Clinton, in New York, told a crowd of cheering supporters that she was encouraged by the results.
“Tonight we are hearing the voices of
America,” Clinton said. “After seven years of a president who listened to only the special interests, you are ready for a president who hears your voices, your dreams to the White House.”
Clinton said record number of voters from America Samoa to New York turned out in the election.
“Tonight is your night.Tonight is America's night and it's not over yet.”
... in which a stream of consciousness reveals all.
All eyes now turn to Missouri, which has been a bell weather state for selecting presidents.
Other states closing are New York and Arizona.
McCain declared the winner in New Jersey, Delaware and Connecticut.
Latest delegate count:
Democrats: 2025 needed. Clinton, 261, Obama, 190.
Republicans: 1,191 Needed: Romney, 93; McCain, 181; Huckabee, 79, Paul, 4.
Tennessee: Clinton
Alabama: Huckabee
Connecticut: McCain
Georgia: Obama
Massachusetts: Romney
Oklahoma: Clinton
Delegate count: Democrats: 2025 needed. Clinton, 261, Obama 190.
Republicans: 1,191 Needed: Romney, 83; McCain, 102; Huckabee, 73, Paul, 4.
NBC News is calling Georgia for Sen. Barack Obama, where there was a heavy African-American voter pool. The network said it is too close to call for the Republican race between Sen. John McCain, former Gov. Mitt Romney or former Gov. Mike Huckabee. Huckabee is expected to do well in the state.
Here is the election schedule for Republicans and Democrats after today's election with the number of delegates to be awarded in each contest:
Republicans
Feb. 9, Kansas, 39; Louisiana, 47; Washington. 40.
Feb. 12: District of Columbia, 19; Maryland, 37, Virginia, 63.
Feb. 16; Guam, 9.
Feb. 19: Wisconsin, 40
Feb. 23: American Samoa 9.
March 4: Ohio, 88; Rhode Island, 20; Texas, 140, Vermont, 17
March 11: Mississippi, 39
April 5: Virgin Islands,, 9 delegates
April 22; Pennsylvania, 74.
May 6: Indiana, 57, North Carolina, 69
May 17: Hawaii, 20 delegates
May 20: Kentucky, 45; Oregon, 30.
May 27 Idaho, 32.
June 3: New Mexico, 32, South Dakota, 27
July 12, Nebraska, 33.
Democrats
Feb. 9: Louisiana, 67; Nebraska, 31l Washington, 97, Virgin Islands, 9.
Feb. 10: Maine, 34.
Feb. 12: District of Columbia, 37; Maryland, 99, Virginia 101.
Feb. 19: Hawaii, 29, Wisconsin, 92.
March 4: Ohio, 161; Rhode Island, 32; Texas, 228,Vermont, 23
March 8: Wyoming, 18.
March 11: Mississippi, 40.
April 22: Pennsylvania, 188.
May 3: Guam, 9.
May 6. Indiana Primary 84; North Carolina, 134 delegates
May 13, West Virginia, 39
May 20: Kentucky, 60; Oregon, 65.
June 3: Montana, 24, South Dakota, 23
June 7 Puerto Rico, 63.
Former Gov. Mike Huckabee, turning aside what he called "whining" by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, said he will remain in the GOP race for president until someone captures the nomination.
"I'm not a person who has had to reinvent myself to run for president," Huckabee said on CNN.
Meanwhile, over on MSSNBC, Republican pundit Patrick Buchanan said he believed Huckabee should pull out of the race.
"He's not helping himself," Buchanan said. "Not if he wants a future in this party."
State Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas, who founded the African American Voter Registration, Education and Participation (AAVREP) project, claimed to have registered 100,,000 new voters for today's election.
“We registered more than 25,000 voters in the past four months," Ridley-Thomas said. "Many of those voters will cast ballots for the very first time today. We played a substantial role in increasing the overall number of new voters in L.A. County during this election and future elections,” Mr. Ridley-Thomas said.
From August 2007 to January 22, 2008, AAVREP voter registration team members registered 17,000 new Democrats, 1,500 new Republicans and 6,500 new Decline To State votersm he said.
And, for Ridley-Thomas, it is more important to get those voters to the polls in June, when he is running against Councilman Bernard Parks for the Board of Supervisors.
Glenn Beck on CNN: "If you listen to me (on how to vote), you;re a moron."
Although the The Drudge Report claimed this morning that Los Angeles County election officials had failed to deliver voting equipment "all over Los Angeles," Registrar-Recorder Director of Media Operations Paul Drugan said the report is "simply not true."
"I would have known at 7:30 a.m.if we had that kind of systemic problem," Drugan said. "There have been very few polling place issues yet. Somebody called from (Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky's) office, saying the Clinton campaign had called them after reading this report and inquired as to what was going on. But it's simply not true." Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was the first winner of the day, with NBC News projecting him as the winner of the 18 delegates in West Virginia's Republican caucus.
The campaigns of Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama have some get togethers planned for tonight where supporters can watch returns.
Clinton wants supporters to go to IATSE Local 80, 2520 W. Olive Ave., Burbank, to celebrate the electin, beginning at 9 p.m.
The Obama campaign starts its event at 8:30 p.m., at The Avalon, 1735 N. Vine St., Hollywood.
There are mixed views on how to determine who is the big winner in today's election. is it states won or delegates capatured?
Under the different rules by the parties, it is possible to see another situation like Nevada and Democratic candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, where Clinton won the popular vote, but Obama won one more delegate than her.
Nowhere is this more true than California where the number of delegates varies widely.
The California Democratic Party said there are two congressional districts with three delegates at stake,
26 districts with four delegates, 19 districts with five delegates and six districts with six delegates. And, adding to the confusion, each district will use a proportional method of allocating delegates.
It must officially be Super Tuesday _ all the cable news networks say so.
Fox, CNN and MSNBC all began their pundit marathons today, even before the sun came up, to tell us how important today is for the presidential candidates.
Best line of the day,so far, came from actor Jack Nicholson in his endorsement of Sen. HIllary Rodham Clinton. "She's the best man for the job."
Daily News reporters will be blogging throughout the day on the election and comments are welcome.
With the Democratic presidential race narrowing to razor-thin margins, California voters are set to play a key role in national politics for the first time in years as they head to the polls today. Harrison Sheppard in the Daily News.
With tension mounting in the race for the White House - along with several controversial statewide ballot measures - analysts predict that voter turnout could top 60percent for the first time in a Golden State presidential primary since 1980.
"The excitement about this election is really high," said Kim Alexander, president of the California Voter Foundation. "I think that's part of the problem. I mean, it's great, but for
county election officials, it's going to be a challenge to handle all the questions."
Proudly sporting a Nancy Pelosi poster on her office door, 45-year-old children's-rights lawyer Cynthia Billey said her mind was made up a long time ago about who to vote for in the presidential primary. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.
The Sherman Oaks resident said she will cast her ballot today for Sen. Hillary Clinton because she represents more than just a candidate.
"She's a symbol of what women can do now," Billey said.
Polls in California are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
For information on the location of your polling place, go to
Once polls close, local and statewide voting results will be available here.
Absentee ballots will be counted first and are usually avaiable between 8:30 and 9 p.m.
There are 15.4 million registered voters in the state. Of those, 6.5 million are Democrat, 5.1 million are
Repubican, with 2.9 million decline to state. The remaining voters are divided among other parties
In the election decline to state voters can vote in the Democratic primary by asking for a ballot. Republicans have a closed primary, where only its members may vote.
The election will choose 171 Republican delegates, to be decided by winner-take-all in each of teh 53 Congressional Districts.
Demoocrats have 241 delegates to be decided, but on a proportional basis in each Congressional District. The delegates will be selected in mid-April.
Call it Super Tuesday, Tsunami Tuesday or the Super Bowl of elections, the Daily News will be blogging throughout the day here tomorrow to provide updates, anecdotes and observations on the outcomes of the single biggest election day for this season.
Check back throughout the day and evening as results come in from across the country and feel free to comment with your views on how your candidate or issue is faring.
With his high-profile wife making her first political endorsement, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger did not say when Maria Shriver told him of her decision to back Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination for president.
But, he said, it has added something to their marriage.
"It has made it more spicy, more interesting," Schwarzenegger said.
The governor came out last week in support of Sen. John McCain for the GOP presidential nomination, while Shriver endorsed Obama during a UCLA rally that featured television star Oprah Winfrey.
"It was a big step for her," Schwarzenegger said of Shriver's decision. "When she was a journalist, she couldn't do that, no matter how she felt about someone. This was the first time she has ever endorsed a candidate and I'm proud of her."
The campaign for a proposal changing how term limits work in California brought out Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, former Gov. Gray Davis and a collection of current and former legislators, reformers and business groups in a last minute plea to win support for Proposition 93.
Even with independent polls showing the measure in trouble, Schwarzenegger and the others insisted the proposal does not diminish the impact of term limits, but “tweaks” it to improve the concept of term limits.
Under the proposal, the total amount of time a legislator could serve would be reduced from 14 to 12 years, but allow them to serve all their time in either the state Senate or Assembly. Current restrictions limit them to three two-year terms in the Assembly plus two four-year terms in the Senate.
“When I first got elected, I thought term limits were terrific,” Schwarzenegger said at a news conference in front of City Hall.
“Now, that I've been up in Sacramento, I realize that we need to modify it, to improve it. The way it is, the special interests, the lobbyists have too much influence.”
Villaraigosa said the changes proposed by Proposition 93 would give more institutional knowledge and experience in both houses to deal with complicated issues such as the budget, environment, education and public health policies.
Added Davis: “In my five years as Governor, I had four speakers to deal with,” Davis said. “It is hard to establish relationships and trust to work on issues when that happens.”
A number of organizations oppose the measure, including Jamie Court of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights.
Court complained the fundraising on behalf of the measure comes from the same special interests criticized by the governor and others.
“All this does is benefit sitting incumbents who want more time in office,” Court said. “The fundraising for this has compromised consumer protectiion in California.
“Lobbyists like Prop. 93 because they've spent a lot of money buying politicians already in office.”
But, Davis said the measure will lead to greater independence among legislators.
“The hardest word to say in Sacramento is no, especially to lobbyists when you know you may need them some day when you run for another office,” Davis said. “This will let them say no when they know they can stay in office for a decent period of time.”
With $270 million a year at stake in Tuesday's vote on a Los Angeles telephone users tax, some are saying a loss at the polls could be just what the city needs Daily News.
That's because Los Angeles has been living beyond its means since at least 2001, balancing its budget each year with money transfers or unexpected revenue from what had been a white-hot real estate market.
Attempts to limit spending, find inefficiencies and cut waste have failed to close a multimillion-dollar structural deficit - the gap between how much the city earns and spends.
A routine deal to recoup city processing expenses has turned into a bitter, politically connected battle over the proposed 5,500-home Las Lomas development just outside L.A. city limits. Kerry Cavanaugh and Beth Barrett in the Daily News.
Under a supplemental fee agreement, Las Lomas developers would pay for all the staff needed to process the project's applications to annex into the city and allow it to access city services.
The deal speeds up review, but it is usually used for major projects already within city limits. Opponents now want to block the pact, saying it could obligate annexation of the 555-acre development on the last open space between L.A. and Santa Clarita.
Ruth Prince Hladky of Studio City has been a Republican for years, but she has re-registered as a Democrat for Tuesday's California presidential primary just to be able to vote against Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. Tony Castro in the Daily News.
"I'm worried about what changes he might bring," said Hladky, 70, an executive assistant to the head of a major restaurant chain. "Does anybody really know him? Does anybody know who his advisers are - his kitchen cabinet?"
TIPOFFS:It's not only the candidates and ballot measures who are impacted by Tuesday's election,
While Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made a very public endorsement of Sen. John McCain for the Republican nomination for president, his wife, Maria Shriver, came out Sunday for Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination.
In doing so, she joined with her uncle, Sen. Ted Kennedy, and cousin, Caroline Kennedy, to endorse Obama.
“This election is about a moment. This is a moment not just for the United States of America, not just for the Democratic Party, but this is a moment for California." Shrive said. "The more I thought about it, I thought, if Barack Obama was a state, he’d be California. Think about it: diverse, open, smart, independent, bucks tradition, innovative, inspiring, dreamer, leader."
Dr. Ana Saravia sees firsthand the benefits and challenges of offering free medical coverage for children.
A pediatrician for six years who works at one of 10 community clinics operated under Northeast Valley Health Corp., Saravia has seen her practice double as a growing number of families have slipped from being able to afford health insurance to below the poverty line. Susan Abram in the Daily News.
"I work in a place where most of them are in government-insured programs, and I think most of the time, it works very well," she said. "But I also see that the system shuffles my patients around."
California voters Tuesday are going to do something they haven't done in more than a generation: have a say in a closely contested presidential primary.Mary Ann Ostrom in the Daily News.
In the wake of the wildest week yet in the '08 race, voters here are expected to come out in record numbers, and what they decide will help shape the final stretch of one of the most intriguing primary seasons in decades.
As Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez put it, California's finally "got skin in the game." How long has it been since Californians have had a chance to truly influence a primary race? On the Democratic side, it was California that gave George McGovern the push he needed to secure the nomination.
That was 1972.
For Republicans, Californians kept Ronald Reagan's first presidential bid alive in 1976, almost to the convention, where incumbent Gerald Ford prevailed.
California has always been
At a table filled with margaritas and tortilla chips, a group of disappointed volunteers from New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson's defunct presidential campaign recently debated whether to shift allegiance to Hillary Rodham Clinton or Barack Obama. Tony Castro in the Daily News.
Then a cell phone rang.
"I just got a call from Hilda Solis," said longtime activist Ruben Treviso, who heads the politically connected Latino veterans group American G.I. Forum. "She read me the riot act. I've got to go with Clinton."
Just days before the California primary, newly released campaign reports show Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton raised $17 million from California voters last year - nearly 30 percent of all presidential contributions. Lisa Friedman in the Daily News.
Illinois Sen. Barack Obama followed with $12 million as California became a cash cow for almost every candidate with a combined total of $62 million pouring into presidential campaign coffers last year.
For Democrats and Republicans alike, the bulk of their Southern California fundraising came from Los Angeles and Silicon Valley. Throughout the San Fernando Valley there were pockets of deep support and strong fundraising for individual candidates.
The presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama is bringing in the big guns this weekend in a final get out the vote effort before Tuesday's election.
The major event is set for Sunday with talk show host Oprah Winfrey making her second major campaign trip on Obama;'s behalt at a rally that will also feature Michelle Obama and Caroline Kennedy.
On Saturday, Obama is picking up two key suppoters who had been backing former Sen. John Edwards before he pulled out of the race.
Councilmen Herb Wesson and Richard Alarcon will announce their support for Obama at a rally at Obama;s Van Nuys headquarters, 14529 Archwood St.
Supervisor Gloria Molina, one of the most powerful Latino leaders in the nation, came out today for Sen. Hillary Clinton.
The Clinton campaign immediately named her as a national co-chair.
i
“I admire Hillary Clinton’s lifetime of work on behalf of children and families, and I trust that she will deliver results when she is President,” Molina said.
“Her experience in helping to create economic opportunities for working people, ensure access to affordable healthcare, and provide universal pre-kindergarten make her the best Presidential candidate for the unbelievably challenging times that we are living. ”
Molina long has been in the forefront of Democratic politics. She was the first Latina elected to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, the Los Angeles City Council, and the California State Assembly.
Are you a little on edge about the privilege/pressure of casting a presidential primary ballot that will actually have meaning on the national stage for the first time in ages? Maybe you should mellow out with a ballot brewski.
Barney's Beanery (with locations in West Hollywood, Santa Monica and Pasadena) will be conducting its traditional "Roadhouse Official Beer Vote" poll on Monday and Tuesday. Drop into your area Barney's any time Monday or (please) after you've cast your ballot Tuesday (up to 8 p.m.) and order up a Bud, Bud Lite, Coors or Heineken. Each $3 draft represents a vote for Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John McCain or Mitt Romney. (Ron Paul, I guess, is expected to be crying in his own beer.)
If you "vote" often enough, you probably won't care that the results are meaningless. Barney's reps remind us that the November 2004 beer vote at the Santa Monica pub went to John Kerry by a 2-to-1 margin.
In the heart of Hollywood before a star-studded audience, Democratic presidential contenders Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama sparred Thursday in their last debate before Super Tuesday in a high-stakes battle that took on a civility that had been missing over the past two weeks.Tony Castro in the Daily News.
The debate - now down to just the two after John Edwards announced he was withdrawing earlier this week - largely took on a tone of a celebration that the nomination of either a woman or an African-American would be history-making.
While the candidates delineated their differences to some 2,500 at the Kodak Theatre and a national television audience, their exchanges sidestepped the bitter contentiousness that has previously marked their campaigns.
No delay expected in L.A. vote count
As election officials across California warn this week that election-night results may be delayed because of decertification of some electronic-voting systems, Los Angeles County Acting Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan said he doesn't expect any significant local delays. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.
Clogged with dozens of television trucks, cameras and spotlights, Hollywood Boulevard became center stage for an outpouring of political fervor Thursday as Angelenos flocked to the last Democratic debate before voters hit the polls next week. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.
Supporters of both Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama swarmed throughout the five stories of the Hollywood & Highland mall near the Kodak Theatre, seeking to be part of political history.
In sharp contrast to Wednesday's Republican debate at the hilltop Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, the Democratic debate had the feel of an outdoor festival as a portion of Hollywood Boulevard was closed to traffic and people of all ages held up signs, banged on drums, sang on platforms and chanted for hours outside the theater.
A full 90 minutes before tonight's debate between Sens. HIllary Clinton and Barack Obama, the California Republican Party let us know they didn't like what they would have to say.
CRP Chairman Ron Nehring said he doesn't like their campaigns or what he thinks they would do to the couhtry.
"The Democratic candidates for President showed this week how out of touch they are. It's clear that both Senators Clinton and Obama have much explaining to do...."
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, chairman of Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, has received $10,500 from indicted Chicago entrepreneur Antoin Rezko and his relatives or affiliates in previous council and mayoral campaigns, the Daily News has learned. Beth Barrett in the Daily News.
The news comes even as Clinton has criticized her chief rival, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama for taking contributions from Rezko in an increasingly contentious campaign as it heads into tonight's debate in Los Angeles.
Villaraigosa's Deputy Mayor Sean Clegg said today that the contributions are unrelated to the issues Clinton has raised concerning Rezko and Obama.
"It is no coincidence that this attack on the mayo
California is the biggest prize on the delegate map during next Tuesday's primaries and caucuses, when voters in more than 20 states will head to the polls. Sacramento Bee.
But the process by which Democrats and Republicans collect delegates here is anything but simple.
For starters, the Democrats and Republicans have different systems of picking delegates.
For Republicans, there are 170 delegates at stake next Tuesday.
Sen. John McCain solidified his front-runner status for the Republican nomination Wednesday, sparring with an aggressive Mitt Romney in a feisty debate at the Reagan Library and securing key bicoastal endorsements from Rudy Giuliani and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Tony Castro in the Daily News.
In a debate dominated by attacks and counterattacks between McCain and chief rival Romney, McCain appeared to take the upper hand.
The Arizona senator launched an offensive against Romney's economic record as governor of Massachusetts, while Romney said McCain was out of the conservative mainstream.
The debate was classic.
Two men arguing a different side of the same issue. Both throwing verbal blows and insults at the other's character. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.
But the heated spat was not between Sen. John McCain and Gov. Mitt Romney - the two candidates who dominated Wednesday's GOP debate at the Reagan Library. It was an exchange between a reporter and a political strategist in the media spin room.
Using the ties of the Kennedy family to Latinos, Sen. Barack Obama's campaign announced Wednesday that Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., will be coming to Los Angeles this week to help build support.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has locked up some of the major Latino officials in the state and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa serves as one of her national co-chairs.
But, with Kennedy announcing his support of Obama this week, the campaign said it has arranged a trip for him this week -- at a site to be determined -- to try to win over Latino voters before next Tuesday's primary election.
The Kennedy family has been popular in the Latino community dating back to the early 1960s when then-Sen. Robert Kennedy backed the United Farm Workers in their organizing efforts.
With the Democrats gearing up for the Thursday debate, Mayors for Hillary hit the tarmac today in a modern day version of a whistle-stop tour.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom are spending Wednesday in the air to promote the economic stimulus package proposed by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
A statement from the campaign says: "The California Mayors will build on the momentum of this week’s LA Times poll and continue to campaign throughout the Golden State to ensure Senator Clinton wins the February 5th California primary."
Clinton's efforts comes as Sen. Barack Obama is stepping up his television buy in the state, including commercials directed at the large Latino market.
The mayors will begin in Oakland, hop over to Sacramento, and wind up in Los Angeles.
Clinton
The countdown to Feb. 5 has begun and the presidential campaigns of Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton began their efforts on Tuesday to draw attention to their candidacies.
While the political world was still buzzing over the Obama endorsements by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Clinton countered with her own powerhouse of Los Angeles politics _ Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles.
Waters, a major voice in the South Los Angeles area, said she was endorsing Clinton because of her experience on issues ranging from health care and education to opposition to the Iraq war.
And, she thinks Clinton will hold on to win California.
“I think that California is Hillary Clinton territory,” Waters said. “She has a history of providing strong leadership for California and people here are familiar with her.”
Clinton, for her part, said she identified with Californians and had worked to help provide health care for 1 million children and the families of 20,000 National Guardsmen with legislation she authored.
“I think that California is always about the future,” Clinton said. “Californians are in the solution business. They don't want mor eof the same political back and forth.”
As for the endorsements, Clinton said that, in the end, voters will decide among the candidates.
“We all have people who feel very committed to our candidacies,” Clinton said. “It's all to the good because we want to inspire people. At the end of the day, this comes down to a choic between individuals, which of us with our experiences, are qualified to be president.”
Obama
The Obama campaign, in the meantime, laid out an aggressive strategy for California _ and the 21 other areas where primaries and caucuses are being held on Feb. 5 _ to try to cut into the Clinton lead in polls.
Campaign manager David Plouffe said the Obama television buy is being increased in Los Angeles to pair up with a radio campaign.
Since the Obama victory in South Carolina last week, Plouffe said the campaign has raised $5 million through the internet and has 75,000 volunteers working in the different Feb. 5 states.
“This race now is about delegates and we feel we are in a good position,” he said, adding Obama has 63 delegates, Clinton has 48 and former Sen. John Edwards has 26 of the 2,025 delegates to be seated at the convention.
One area Obama hopes to make up some ground in among Latino voters, citing endorsments by Reps. Linda Sanchez and Xavier Becerra along with Maria Elena Durazo of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO.
Tipoffs:Did the move of California's primary election to Feb. 5 diminish its role rather than enhance it in presidential politics? Should Democrats go to a winner-take-all?
Well, that didn't take long.
Less than two weeks after taking a leave from her job as head of the county Federation of Labor to work for Sen. Barack Obama, Maria Elena Durazo has been named national co-chair of the campaign.
Durazo, whose roots are in organizing workers, will serve as one of the main surrogates for the Obama campaign leading up to the Feb. 5 primary election. One of her first jobs is hosting a series of round table discussions around the state focusing on the economy.
With California's new importance in the presidential primaries and two dynamic sets of major party candidates, voter registration is booming statewide. Patridcia Farrell Aidem in the Daily News.
Aided by feverish registration drives - including several in the San Fernando Valley - there are well over 500,000 new voters in California as Tuesday's registration deadline approaches for the Feb. 5 "Super Duper Tuesday" primary.
"It's a historic election," said Kate Fullmar, spokeswoman for California Secretary of State Debra Bowman.
"For the first time since 1952, there's neither a sitting president nor vice president in the running. And with the earlier primary this year and the field still wide open, California has a chance to be a player."
Thousands of supporters braved chilly conditions Thursday in the San Fernando Valley to hear Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton reiterate her plans to stimulate the country's troubled economy on a day when fears of a looming recession sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunging more than 300 points. Tony Castro and Connie Llanos in the Daily News.
But hundreds of backers were left out in the cold at the Clinton rally at California State University, Northridge, where her campaign had booked the campus's Grand Salon, which could seat only 250.
Reaching out to those left in the elements, the New York senator personally greeted and shook hands with many outside the hall who had waited for hours.
It was the picture-perfect setting for Barack Obama's first visit to the San Fernando Valley.
A fan palm waved behind him. The branches of orange, tangerine and lemon trees hung overhead. A light breeze kicked up, the first sign of the Santa Ana winds that would arrive later.Tony Castro in the Daily News.
"I wake up to this every morning," his host, Mimi Vitello, told the Democratic presidential candidate as they walked from her small home into her backyard. There the media horde, down to Inside Edition - prerequisite of all superstars - awaited them Wednesday afternoon.
"I love it," said Obama, smiling confidently and looking at ease in shirt sleeves. "You have a nice home."
Working from the ground up
ith a share of the Democratic presidential front-runner spot and a growing list of key endorsements, the Barack Obama campaign is hitting California hard for its Feb. 5 primary - throwing hundreds of staffers, thousands of volunteers. Tony Castro in the Daily News.
Sen. Barack Obama has picked up some endorsements from a number of local Latino officials to try to bolster his support heading into the Feb. 5 primary election.
State Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, and former state Sen. Martha Escutia announced their support of the Illinois Senator following the withdrawl of New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson from the race.
The two are at odds with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who has endorsed Sen. Hillary Clinton in the election. Cedillo has been on opposite sides of the mayor in the past, having endorsed former Mayor James Hahn in the 2005 election.
Cedillo is among the most prominent Latino leaders in the state, primarily for his continued efforts pushing legislation that would provide drivers licenses to illegal immigrants.
Supervisor Gloria Molina, who also had backed Richardson, has yet to announce who she will now support for president.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton will be in Commerce today to unveil her plan to jumpstart the economy, an aide said.
The junior senator from New York state has said she supports a middle- class tax cut, eliminating tax cuts for the wealthy, and increasing the minimum wage, as have her main rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards.
Clinton's appearance at the Electrical Training Institute, a facility affiliated with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, will be Clinton's first in Southern California since a Dec. 10 fundraiser. Obama is scheduled to be in the Southland Wednesday for a fundraiser in Pacific Palisades.
Religion and politics, the two subjects Americans shy away from at dinner parties, were front and center this week as the 2008 presidential campaign season officially opened. Patricia Farrell Aidem in the Daily News.
Candidates have unabashedly espoused their faiths, some blatantly and others tacitly, but all in hopes of luring the faithful to their team. The battle to win over Christian evangelicals in particular has further eroded the line between church and state.
Religion has always influenced U.S. politics, said Robert Kaufman, a professor at Pepperdine University's School of Public Policy in Malibu.
Presidential candidate Barack Obama, no matter the results in Thursday's caucuses in Iowa, is already planning his California push for the state's Feb. 5 primary election.
Part of it includes a noon rally scheduled for this Friday at Los Angeles City Hall _ where Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has been a prominent supporter of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Obama's event is being coordinated through his City Hall supporter, Council President Eric Garcetti.
No word from the Clinton camp on whether they are planning a similar event in the coming month _ although she is expected to have a highly visible presence in the state that has long supported her husband.
**Latest word is Obama himself will not be attending, but that backers of him will be appearing at the event.
As she stepped onto the stage at the Wadsworth Theater in West Los Angeles last year, Hillary Rodham Clinton's chunky-heeled slipper seemed to catch on the flooring, and for just a moment there was a skip in her step. Tony Castro in the Daily News
The momentary hesitation also may have had something to do with the surprising boos that could be heard amid the cheers and applause as she was introduced to the predominantly Democratic audience gathered for a forum on global warming and America's energy future.
Clinton's chagrin peaked minutes later when she challenged the hecklers near the rear of the theater:
Interest in the wide-open presidential election _ and California's early role with the Feb. 5 primary _ is serving to drive up voter registration, particularly among Democrats.
Secretary of State Debra Bowen is reporting that 500,000 more Californians are registered to vote this year compared with the last presidential primary election.
“Californians have a chance to shape the presidential race with the earlier primary election, and the critical first step is registering to vote,” Bowen said. “There are still 31 days left to register to vote before the registration period closes January 22.”
Five-hundred thousand more Californians are registered to vote than there were at this time before the last Presidential Primary Election four years ago, according to the Secretary of State’s newest Report of Registration released today.
The report, with data gathered 60 days before a statewide primary election, reflects updates to voter registration rolls, including the removal of those who have passed away, moved out of state, or have been determined to be ineligible to vote, as well as the addition of new registrants.
When compared to the same period before the last presidential primary, registration lags behind California’s population growth. While the overall registration number has grown, the percentage of people who are eligible to vote and actually registered to vote has dipped from about 68.4% to just below 67.3%. The drop is partly due to better tracking and removal of so-called “deadwood” from the voter registration rolls.
“Californians have a chance to shape the presidential race with the earlier primary election, and the critical first step is registering to vote,” said Secretary Bowen, the state’s chief elections officer. “There are still 31 days left to register to vote before the registration period closes January 22.”
To view the release go to : http://www.sos.ca.gov/executive/press_releases/news_releases.htm.
In a sign that Californians are tapping into a presidential primary season largely playing out elsewhere, the race here between Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama has narrowed substantially since October, according to a Field Poll released Tuesday.Sacramento Bee.
Clinton still holds a 14-point lead over fellow U.S. Sen. Obama among likely voters in the Democratic primary, 36 percent to 22 percent. But the margin between the two has dropped from the 25-point gap Field recorded just two months ago.
Poll Director Mark DiCamillo said his findings show California voters – who will go to the polls Feb. 5 – have started to tune in to the primary debate raging two and three time zones away.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is making his second trip to Nevada this weekend on behalf of the presidential campaign of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Villaraigosa, one of the national co-chairs of Clinton's effort, has made one other trip on her behalf to Nevada to make the case to Latino voters to convince them to vote for her. He also recently went to Iowa to campaign for her.
As Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama prepare for some local fundraisers tonight in Los Angeles, both are also planning a visible presence to bring out their supporters.
For Obama, fresh off the Oprah-mania tour in Iowa and South Carolina, it will be a Universal City event with the Goo Goo Dolls and Ne-Yo.
Clinton, will be a private fundraiser as more than 300 house parties are planned around the state to reach out to volunteers.
Both campaigns are showing a lot of interest in California with its Feb. 5 presidential primary and, even more important, the mailing soon of absentee ballots.
California voters will face one of the simplest ballots in years in February, but experts say they can still expect a barrage of advertising over the next two months. Harrison Sheppard in the Daily News.
That's because the issues on the Feb. 5 ballot could influence hundreds of millions of dollars in annual state spending, term limits for state lawmakers and potentially the next presidential election.
Voters will weigh in on seven measures, one candidate race and the presidential primary. But the election generally boils down to four decisions because four of the ballot measures are nearly identical and one has been abandoned by its authors.
Presidential contenders are digging deeper into Californians' pockets than ever before, already raising more than $50million in the Golden State even before campaigns get aggressively under way. Lisa Friedman in the Daiiy News.
The tally so far amounts to nearly 70percent of the $76million raised in California during the entire 2004 campaign cycle and virtually assures that contributions this election year will surpass previous fundraising, according to campaign records.
The massive donations come as the state's early Feb. 5 primary has added new clout to California and spurred a renewed candidate focus on the region.
Democratic officials announced Wednesday cancellation of the planned presidential debate in Los Angeles set for Dec. 10 because of the ongong writer strike.
The debate, scheduled to be held at the CBS studios, was called off because writers plan to picket the location and the three leading candidates, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards said they would not cross picket lines.
There was no indication if an effort will be made to reschedule the forum before the state's Feb. 5 election.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa steps back on to the national stage this weekend, when he joins a group of big city mayors to serve as commentators on two presidential debates in Iowa.
Villaraigosa, who has endorsed Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, will be part of a group of mayors from the U.S. Conference of Mayors who will talk about the presidential election and the candidates following the Heartland Presidential Candidate Forum and the Black and Brown Presidential Forum.
“With over 85 percent of people in the United States living in our nation's cities and metro areas, mayors clearly understand how urban issues impact every day Americans and are calling on candidates to focus on these issues,” the U.S. Conference of Mayors said in a statement.
“For the first time in our history, The United States Conference of Mayors is bringing a bipartisan group of mayors to the Iowa Caucuses. We believe that the issues of Iowa and the city of Des Moines are the same issues that face mayors around the country each and every day. We support Mayor Cownie and the other Iowa mayors as we present to the next President of the United States the challenges and opportunities before us,” said U.S. Conference of Mayors Executive Director Tom Cochran.
Other mayors include Douglas Palmer of Trenton, N.J.; Franklin Cownie of Des Moines, Ia.; Manny Diaz of Miami, Fla., and Mike Cornett of Oklahoma Citiy.
Former Massachussetts Gov. Mitt Romney on Sunday picked up the endorsement of the California Republican Assembly, the most conservative wing of the party, for the Feb. 5 GOP presidential primary election..
At its annual convention in Sacramento, Romney _ nominated by conservative favorite former Assemblyman Tony Strickland _ received a two-thirds vote to win the group's backing.
“Mitt Romney has been steadily gaining support from conservatives throughout California,” said CRA President Mike Spence following the endorsement vote.
Strickland urged CRA members to vote for Romney as “the best candidate to fight for critical conservative issues and to defeat Hillary Clinton in November,.” the organization said in a release.
The CRA said Romney won 139 of 230 votes cast. Fred Thompson was second with 30 votes. Rudy Guiliani received 6 votes, with the other candidates rounding out the votes.
Romney won the outright endorsement on a second ballot, with a 148-73 vote over Thompson.
Presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Edwards have pledged to appear at a Nov. 17 forum in Los Angeles dealing with the issues of global warming and America's energy future.
The event, at the Wadsworth Theater, is sponsored by GRIST, is designed to discuss the two issues as part of a program developed with the League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, California League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, Center of American Progress Action Fund, National Resource Defense Council Action Fund and the Presidential Forum on Renewable Energy.
Sponsors said invitations were sent to all the candidates from both the Republican and Democratic parties.
Stephen Colbert, the faux conservative host of Comedy Central's late-night "Colbert Report," has had the political rug yanked out from under him in South Carolina. His fledgling presidential bid to win the nomination -- as either a Republican or a Democrat -- in his home state is being undermined by some Democrats who apparently lack a sense of humor. His campaign posted the $2,500 filing fee to get him on the Democratic ballot shortly before the noon Thursday deadline, but within hours the party's executive council voted 13-3 to erase him. He has until tonight to cough up $35,000 to get on the Republican ballot if he chooses (and that decision could be heavily influenced by the high likelihood that his show will be shut down very soon because of the expected Writers Guild strike).
So what's the big deal here? He's a comedian, right? He's in no way qualified for the presidency, nor would he know what to do with it if he actually got the nomination, beyond playing it for laughs.
But he's a force to be reckoned with anyway. The guy got a bridge named after him in Europe just by having his viewers vote online. He's raised oodles for the Yellow Ribbon charity supporting families of slain and wounded soldiers through such outrageous measures as auctioning his wrist cast autographed by news anchors. And his first book, "I Am America, and So Can You," led the New York Times' nonfiction best-sellers list in its first week on shelves.
The Democrats were afraid he'd actually have an impact on the outcome of the South Carolina primary. And they could be right. A recent Public Opinion Strategies poll there had Colbert ahead of Bill Richardson and breathing down Joe Biden's neck.
It will be interesting to see what the Republicans do if Colbert turns in his paperwork and fee in time for that race. I mean, he sure sounds like one of them...
Personally, I'd like to see his campaign continue. He has a fairly young audience, and I'm all for anything that would bring the 18- to 24-year-olds to the primary election and compel them to read all those other names on the ballot while looking for Colbert's.
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.
Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan endorsed Rudy Giuliani for president Friday, then suggested that the one-time New York mayor is too liberal for conservative voters in the California primary. Associated Press.
Riordan, a moderate Republican who was elected to two terms as Los Angeles mayor, spoke as Giuliani campaigned in the city and visited Riordan's famed restaurant, The Original Pantry Cafe.
"Rudy Giuliani is too liberal for the solid, right-wing Republicans in California, that part of the party," Riordan said. "But I do believe, when it comes to the presidency and the national election, these people may put that apart and look at him as the type of leader our country needs."
A major New York fundraiser for GOP presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani has been revealed as the money man behind a proposed ballot measure that would have changed California's winner-take-all Electoral College vote system - and likely benefited Republicans. San Francisco Chornicle.
Paul Singer, a billionaire hedge fund executive and Giuliani policy adviser, acknowledged his role to the New York Daily News on Friday just a day after GOP organizers in California said they were folding their effort to collect signatures for the group called Californians for Equal Representation.
The Chronicle reported earlier this week that Missouri attorney Charles Hurtt III was the legal agent for a tax-exempt corporation called "Take Initiative America," which provided the sole donation - $175,000 - to the effort to qualify the measure for the California ballot.
Former Gov. Pete Wilson, who had many of the problems on social issues that now confront Rudy Giuliani in his quest for the presidency, came out Thursday to endorse Giuliani for the GOP nomination as actor-director Rob Reiner announced he is backing New York Sen. Hillary Clinton for the Democratic position.
The Giuliani campaign issued a statement, noting:
" Wilson, whose public service in California ranged from serving as Mayor of San Diego to U.S. Senator to two-term Governor, is the latest in a strong delegation of support for Giuliani in California.
"Wilson is currently a distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. Similar to Rudy Giuliani’s accomplishments as New York City Mayor, Wilson gained prominence by revitalizing San Diego in his eleven years as Mayor. In San Diego, Wilson declared an increased emphasis on public safety and held the city government accountable.
“The Republican Party is fortunate to have Rudy Giuliani as a candidate. Rudy’s executive experience and record of results in New York are unmatched,” said Governor Wilson. “Rudy has proven he is the leader and the problem solver this country needs as President, and he is the Republican’s best opportunity to win the general election because of that.”
“Pete Wilson’s accomplishments in virtually all levels of government in California prove that common sense governing is key to success in public service,” said Mayor Giuliani. “Pete will be an excellent advocate for our campaign and I am grateful to have his support.”
In the meantime, the Clinton campaign quoted Reiner as saying:
Until now, my wife Michele and I have supported all of the Democratic candidates. After watching the candidates debate, stake out their positions on the issues and lay out their visions for our nation, it is clear that Hillary Clinton should be our next president.
Today, I am excited and proud to endorse Hillary Clinton and pledge to do everything I can to elect her.
Hillary has what it takes to get us out of Iraq, and ensure that we truly keep our nation's promise to "leave no child behind."
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will announce this morning the single largest donation ever made by individuals to Los Angeles schools this morning in his latest effort to raise funds for a plan to control a cluster of them. Daily News.
Real estate developers Richard and Melanie Lundquist will donate $50 million over 10 years to the Partnership for Los Angles Schools, the nonprofit organization that will allow mayoral oversight of two low-performing high schools and the middle and elementary campuses that feed into them.
The money donated by the owners of Continental Development may also be used at other schools, according to Villaraigosa aides.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani opened his California headquarters on Wednesday to have a presence in the state for its Feb. 5 primary election.
And, he has chosen Glendale as his base of operations.
Giuliani was not on hand, but folks from his national campaign did show up for the opening at 300 W. Glenoaks Blvd.
While the presidential campaign of Sen. Hillary Clinton touts such high-profile Latino endorsements as Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Sen. Barack Obama is attempting to make his own inroads with the Latino community.
Obama's campaign announced on Friday that has picked up the endorsement of Federico Pena, former mayor of Denver and who served as energy secretary under former President Clinton.
“I look forward to working with Federico to bring about the transformation this country desperately needs. His vision for change as Mayor of Denver and his strong record on energy and transportation issues brings invaluable experience to our team,” Obama said.
Pena said he decided to back Obama because of the change he would bring.
"The challenges we are facing in Colorado, in the Hispanic community and across the country are formidable and it is time for bold and thoughtful leadership in the White House, ” Pena said.
Prior to his appointment as Energy Secretary, Pena served as Transportation Secretary for Clinton.
Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) are running neck and neck in the race to raise campaign dollars in Silicon Valley, a key source of funds for both candidates that could have an impact on either’s policies as president. The Hill.
Clinton has raised more cash for the Democratic primary in America’s technology capital, but her lead is slim. Her campaign has collected $1.16 million in funds that can be used in primary season compared to $1.12 for Obama, according to a study of Federal Election Commission (FEC) records conducted by The Hill.
In total political contributions from the valley, Clinton has a $170,000 edge. Clinton has raised $1.43 million for the primary and general elections from donors in the five zip codes making up the Silicon Valley area, while Obama has raised $1.26 million through June 30, according to FEC records.
A GOP-backed initiative to toss out California's winner-take-all system of assigning electoral votes was approved for circulation Wednesday, and Democrats immediately slammed it as a backdoor attempt to hand Republicans the 2008 presidential election. San Francisco Chronicle.
The initiative is a ticking time bomb for Democratic presidential hopes next year, which are pinned on winning all of the state's 55 electoral votes. The measure would award a single electoral vote to the presidential winner in each of the state's 53 congressional districts and two to the statewide victor.
The approval Wednesday by the secretary of state's and attorney general's offices means supporters can begin gathering signatures to qualify the initiative for the June ballot.
Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson's political playbook - a high-profile visit to "The Tonight Show," a splashy bus tour, the efforts to take a familiar actor and reintroduce him in a new political role - contains pages that look eerily familiar to California voters. San Francisco Chronicle.
Maybe that's because the former Tennessee senator has at his side some of the same key aides who, in nine short weeks, helped transform Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger from "The Terminator" into the chief executive of the Democratic-leaning state that is the most populous in the nation.
Thompson plans to formally kick off his presidential bid - shaped around the themes of "security, unity and prosperity" - beginning today with a blitz that reflects his media savvy and his advantage as an actor better known to many Americans as District Attorney Arthur Branch on TV's "Law & Order."
***
The New York Times political blog also obtained this first internet commercial for Thompson:
It has none of the history -- or cost -- of the Iowa straw poll, but former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani came out the winner in a straw poll of those who attended the State Fair in Sacramento.
Only 1,622 ballots were cast by those who happened to wander by the GOP booth at the fair and it did not allow those who were undecided to cast ballots.
But the results showed Giuliani the leader with 31 percent, followed by former Sen. Fred Thompson, who is expected to announce this week, with 24 percent. Others included former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, 19 percent; Sen. John McCain, 8 percent; former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, 7 percent; former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, 5 percent; Rep. Ron Paul, 3 percent; Rep. Duncan Hunter, 2 percent and Rep.Tom Tancredo, 1 percent.
Think the ratings of President Bush are the worst ever? Take a look at what the public thinks of Congress.
A new Gallup Poll finds Congress' approval rating the lowest it has been since Gallup first tracked public opinion of Congress with this measure in 1974. Just 18% of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing, while 76% disapprove, according to the August 13-16, 2007, Gallup Poll.
That 18% job approval rating matches the low recorded in March 1992, when a check-bouncing scandal was one of several scandals besetting Congress, leading many states to pass term limits measures for U.S. representatives (which the Supreme Court later declared unconstitutional). Congress had a similarly low 19% approval rating during the energy crisis in the summer of 1979.
With Republicans launching an effort to change how the electoral college works, Democrats are fighting back with their own proposals, as detailed in the California Majority Report:
Take that! Just a few days after Republicans filed an initiative to steal California's electoral votes by splitting them by Congressional districts, key Democrats fired back by filing two new initiatives with the Attorney General aimed at presenting Californians with real electoral college reforms. The initiatives, which would enact a national popular vote system, would represent real and fair reform of the process used to elect the president of the United States, according to their sponsors.
***New York Times weighs in with an editorial.
With Republicans trying to change how the electoral college apportions votes, California's top Democratic leaders, labor, and fundraisers are launchign their own effort to defeat the proposed initiative.
The California Majority Report has the details about Californians for Fair Election Reform, a Democratic-sponsored committee being formed to campaign against the GOP plan.
Among those on the committee are U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, Senate President pro Tem Don Perata, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, and Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani continues to lead the field of Republicans running to capture Calfiornia's delegates in the Feb. 5 primary election next year, but former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is gaining on his, according to the most recent California Poll
Arizona Senator John McCain, who was in a strong second position earlier this year, has dropped to fourth place as Romney and former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson have both made significant gains in GOP voter support.
When state Democratic leaders from around the country meet this weekend in Vermont, the California chairman, Art Torres, expects to be peppered with the sort of questions that have been clogging his in-box for weeks. New York Times.
What is this about Republicans trying to change the way Electoral College votes are allocated in California? Is there a countereffort by Democrats in the works? What does it mean for presidential candidates?
Frustrated by a system that has marginalized many states in the presidential election process, or seeking partisan advantage, state lawmakers, political party leaders and voting rights advocates across the country are stepping up efforts to change the rules of the game, even as the presidential campaign advances.
In California, this has led to a nascent Republican bid to apportion the state’s electoral votes by Congressional district, not by statewide vote, in a move that most everyone agrees would benefit Republican candidates. Democrats in North Carolina are mulling a similar move, because it would help Democrats there.
In pickups, cars and caravans of buses, thousands of Republicans converged on the Iowa State University campus here Saturday for the Iowa Straw Poll, a part-carnival, part-political event. And Mitt Romney walked away with the first prize of the campaign. New York Times.
Romney, the former Republican governor of Massachusetts, won with 32 percent of the vote cast, Republican officials said. Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, came in second with 18 percent.
Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas, who had waged a concerted effort to undercut Romney among conservative voters by challenging his recent shift to oppose abortion, among other issues, drew 15 percent.
Senator John McCain of Arizona, who did not compete in this contest, came in 10th out of 11 candidates on the ballot. He drew 101 of 14,302 votes cast.
The crowd gathered in Hollywood on Thursday for a first-of-its-kind Democratic presidential forum on gay issues could barely contain its excitement at the milestone. They cheered. They gave standing ovations --- even to the longshots. Variety.
But the elephant in the room --- in this case, a hip, comfortable living room set of earth tone carpet and olive green sofa and chairs --- was still gay marriage, and the fact that none of the leading contenders support it.
The occasion was a two-hour forum sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign and Viacom’s Logo, which covered the event live and streamed it on its website. Although it was the third debate in a week for the Democratic field, the event was viewed as ground-breaking for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.
South Carolina Republicans on Thursday moved their 2008 presidential primary to Jan. 19, triggering a chain reaction among Iowa, New Hampshire and other early voting states that could push the first balloting into December 2007. Associated Press in the New York Times.
South Carolina GOP Chairman Katon Dawson made the announcement with officials from New Hampshire, whom he called allies in protecting the traditional early states' voting order.
''We are here to stand shoulder to shoulder with our friends in New Hampshire to reaffirm the important role that both of our states play in presidential politics,'' Dawson said.
South Carolina had scheduled its Republican primary for Feb. 2, but at a news conference with New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner, Dawson said the change to Jan. 19 was needed to protect South Carolina's first-primary-in-the-South tradition.
Six of the eight Democratic presidential candidates are scheduled to participate in a forum tonight on issues affecting the lives of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans. Daily News.
The candidates will appear separately in alphabetical order, each answering questions for 15 minutes at a Hollywood television studio.
Topics are expected to include same-sex marriage, the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy barring openly gay and lesbian individuals from serving in the armed forces, hostility and discrimination in the workplace, and partners' health care and inheritance rights.
City Controller Laura Chick is joining the presidential politics game, announcing Tuesday that she is backing Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.
With her endorsement, Chick is setting herself apart from Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and several City Council members who have come out for N.Y. Sen. Hillary Clinton as California voters prepare to go to the polls on Feb. 5 for the primary election.
In a release announcing the endorsement, Chick said she was backing Obama because of his "strong commitment to changing the way business is done in Washington (and) believes that Obama is the only candidate who can lead this country in a new direction.
“Barack Obama is the candidate who has the vision, intellect, experience and courage needed to lead our country. That is why I am enthusiastically endorsing Senator Obama for the Presidency,” Chick said. “He will fight to protect taxpayer dollars, open our government to greater scrutiny, and push for more transparency. No more politics as usual,” she added.
Obama said the Chick endorsement was important because of her being “committe to changing our politics and transforming our country,” Obama stated. “Never fearful to challenge the status quo, Controller Chick has taken the lead on increasing transparency and accountability, bringing fairness and opportunity to the residents of Los Angeles.”
The secretary of state's 11th-hour decision to clamp down on dozens of voting systems ignited protests Monday from around California, although Los Angeles County officials predicted that their system will be recertified in time for the presidential primary in February. Harrison Sheppard in the Daily News.
Following a top-to-bottom review of most voting systems used in California, Debra Bowen announced just before midnight Friday that she'd decertified electronic systems in 39 counties out of concerns that they are vulnerable to hacking. She then recertified 38 of them, but with new security conditions attached.
Los Angeles County's system was the only one that was not recertified, because the vendor had not submitted materials to Bowen's office in time to be included in her review. Instead, she will begin studying that system now and potentially issue a recertification with new conditions sometime in the future.
The Huffington Post has begun a serious look at who Hollywood supports in the presidential election and is offering a direct link here to allow people to track who is giving how much to whom.
In a posting, it notes:
"Despite some high profile fundraisers for the big three Democratic candidates in recent months, many of Hollywood's biggest names and most political families have yet to give big in the presidential race.The Sheen/Estevez clan, Martin, Charlie and Emilio, all turn up empty, ditto all four Baldwin brothers and the Gyllenhaals. Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell and Kate Hudson are also yet to commit."
Candidates for the 2008 presidential election are assembling formidable campaign operations in California, with New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani wielding what many call the most aggressive in the state. Lisa Friedman in the Daily News.
While Californians' political donations - and the copious amounts of them - remain the chief draw for candidates, the state's early Feb. 5 primary has added a new clout.
"They're spending a lot more time in California than ever before," said Dan Schnur, a longtime California political observer and Republican media strategist.
Three Los Angeles City Council members _ Wendy Greuel, Jan Perry and Jack Weiss _ came out Friday in support of New York Sen. Hillary Clinton for president.
The three join with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in backing Clinton.
“I am honored to receive the endorsement of City Councilmembers Greuel, Perry and Weiss,” said Clinton. “As President, I will work closely with city leaders and ensure a strong partnership between the Federal and municipal governments for the betterment of our cities and residents.”
Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards brings his campaign to the San Fernando Valley today _ at least the part where he hopes to boost his fundraising effort in the state.
Coby King, long-time Valley Democratic Party activist, is one of the co-hosts of the event at his West Hills home, with buy-ins starting at $500 and then going up to $1,000 to take part in the VIP reception. Donors are limited to a maximum of $4,600 for the primary and general elections.
In a note to potential supporters, King wrote: "I cannot stress to you how important it is that we do everything we can to make sure John is our nominee."
Edwards has been trailing in his California effort behind Sens.Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama _ who have most of their time courting Hollywood money.
The siren song of presidential politics is calling out once again to Attorney General Jerry Brown.
Brown, whose own presidential ambitions used as much technology as possible (he was the first to use a 1-800 phone in for contributions) has submitted his own video question for Monday's YouTube debate, asking them on what they would do to reduce greenhouse gases.
Brown’s YouTube video challenge comes after he sent a letter to each major candidate asking for support of a measure giving states greater power to cntorl emissions from vehicles.
The full letter follows.
Continue reading "Presidential campaign calls out to Brown" »
With the cost of a presidential campaign spiraling ever higher, candidates are working tirelessly to rake in every dime as early as possible. But because federal law limits any one individual donation to a candidate to $2,300 for the primary cycle, the presidential hopefuls increasingly have to wonder: Is the pool of donors big enough to feed the pace of this election? U.S. News and World Report.
As of June 30, with more than six months to go before a vote is cast in New Hampshire, the 19 announced candidates had raised $295.8 million among them, with over 80 percent of that going to the six candidates—three in each party—who lead in the polls.