Boxer vs DeYankovic

From Rick Orlov at The Sausage Factory

U,S. Sen. Baarbara Boxer reported on Monday that she has more than $4.6 million in her 2010 re-election campaign, with more than 30,000 indvidual donors.
The Boxer campaign will report $4,622,744 cash on hand, with contributions in the period of $887,483. The report covers contributions for the first quarter of 2009 that ended on March 31, the campaign announced.
More than 4,500 new donors gave to the 2010 campaign for the first time during this quarter. Ninety percent of donors to the Boxer campaign have given $100 or less.
"I am so excited about the early support I have received from so many grassroots supporters," said Boxer. "It is inspiring to know I have so many people standing by me."

Don't get to excited there Senator.

You've still got Chuck DeYankovic to contend with.

Nevermind... Enjoy a good laugh and take it easy, Barbara.

Then there is this from Dante over Calitics

If you've been watching your TV over the past few months, you've undoubtedly seen the animated-gloss ads from Charles Schwab that feature that tagline Talk to Chuck.. When you visit the website, you should notice the emblem at the lower right corner: a square "talk bubble" with "talk to Chuck" inside it. Notice the style and font.

Now go over and have a gander at the website of self-styled conservative Republican (why anyone would call themselves that these days is beyond me) Chuck Devore, who is challenging Barbara Boxer for her Senate seat in 2010.

Scroll down. Notice the "talk to Chuck" with the square talk bubbles and a very similar block font? Definitely not coincidental. And IANAL, but does this constitute some sort of infringement of intellectual property rights? After all, if I were a brokerage, I wouldn't want to be associated with a political candidate on either end of the spectrum. Then again, if I were a political candidate on either end of the spectrum, I wouldn't want to willingly associate myself with a brokerage house. But then again, I'm not Chuck Devore.

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Fiorina Seriously Considering

Disgraced HP CEO Carly Fiorina is still "seriously considering" a run for Barbara Boxer's senate seat. I think David Dayen said it best

Yeah, that would be challenging, wouldn't it? What a fearsome figure she casts, as a failed corporate CEO who got a $25 million dollar golden parachute while laying off half her company! Who was 20 points down to Boxer in the last poll! "Corporate CEO who got giant bonus for bad work" doesn't seem to me to be the profile of a political challenger anytime soon.

While David is still holding out some hope that this is all an April Fool's joke...I'm all for it myself.

If Chuck DeVore and Carly Fiorina want to duke it out and spend a bunch of Republican cash on a seat they are never going to have...more power to 'em.

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More Polls

According to the latest Field Poll, Barbara Boxer doesn't have a whole lot to worry about at this point...she's got a huge lead.

In a hypothetical matchup against Schwarzenegger, who will leave the Governor's Office in January 2011, Democrat Boxer leads by 54 percent to 30 percent, the poll found. The Republican governor has never said publicly that he plans to run for another political office...

Boxer leads potential GOP candidate and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, 55 percent to 25 percent. Fiorina spoke last month at the California Republican Party convention and last year at the Republican National Convention, though she has not announced her intentions regarding the Senate race.

In a hypothetical GOP primary, Schwarzenegger leads with 31 percent support, followed by Fiorina at 24 percent and Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, R-Irvine, at 9 percent. Without Schwarzenegger, Fiorina leads DeVore, 31 percent to 19 percent.

Chuck Devore seems to think he's going to be the next Senator from California. I'm sure Boxer is sweating.

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Will CA Senators Read the Budget?

Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg has announced that the big five will likely be bringing a budget to a vote next week. With nobody exactly sure what kind of budget has been put together behind closed doors, the fear is that it will be dropped off late at night and pushed through for a vote before anybody has had a chance to review it's contents.

I'll be spending the rest of the afternoon contacting CA State Senators, asking for their commitment to read the budget proposal before voting on it.

Be sure to check back for updates...I'll be live blogging the responses.

UPDATE:To be clear...I am contacting Senate offices...not the Senators themselves.

UPDATE:I've never done anything like this before...but so far the consensus seems to be that I'm just a pain-in-the-ass blogger with a ridiculous question and how dare I waste their time. It's not very fun...but I started...so I might as well keep going.

UPDATE: OK...I'm taking down the results because I don't want to single anybody out without having gone through all 40...but the general feeling I'm getting is that none of them are actually going to read the damn thing before voting on it.

I'm not making anymore calls today. Tired of feeling like an ass for asking a reasonable question.

UPDATE: To be fair...they weren't all jerks...the woman that works for Loni Hancock was very nice actually. Unfortunately she was in no position to answer the question.

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Núñez Files

Not completely unexpected...Ex-Speaker of the Assembly, Fabian Núñez, has filed to run for Senate in the 22nd district.

Although it's possible Núñez is just parking the cash, this would seem like a sensible move for him to make. He'd have at least another 8 years in the Legislature, potentially longer if term limits reform ever gets implemented (and I hope it does). And I have to believe that Núñez would indeed be the favorite for the seat, given his profile as Speaker and his campaign warchest.

Still, Núñez would do well to build his campaign around a solution to our state's ongoing budget mess. He was in the Big Five room for the last four years of negotiations, and should have as good an idea as anybody what could be improved in the system.

After being one of the people in charge for the last four years...it's going to take quite a bit of convincing that he intends to do more this time around than he did the last. Though, it is pretty amazing what you can do with a $5 million dollar start.

On Núñez' progressive cred...From sacguy over at Calitics

You mean authoring and pushing thru AB 32, the nation's first greenhouse gas emissions law the Republicans are trying to repeal? Or raising the minimum wage and other workplace protections he forced the Governor to sign into law? Or pushing thru a health care bill that would have covered all California kids? Or perhaps the prescription drug bill? Or maybe making sure that Republican demands for cuts to in home support services never happened? Or maybe the largest education, transportation, and housing bonds in California history? Yeah, those were all such terrible things for progressives.

...and so the campaign begins.

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Tweets DeVore

Has a nice ring to it...in a porn star kind of way.

DeVore is actively using Twitter and Facebook to build support for his nascent campaign for U.S. Senate in 2010, when he hopes to challenge Democratic incumbent Sen. Barbara Boxer.

From the Journal:

He regularly updates his Facebook status on his BlackBerry, which automatically appears on his Twitter account, as well as on the site devoted to getting Republicans on Twitter, called topconservativesontwitter.org. (His 924 followers rank him 389th on that site.)

Mr. DeVore says his campaign, with little funding and facing a well-known incumbent, depends on steadily building word of mouth. He says he has modeled his campaign on that of President Barack Obama, who is often referred to as the first "Internet president."

DeVore clearly likes the attention. His Facebook photo has been updated to the pencil portrait featured in the Journal.

One Facebook status update reads: "Chuck sees his pencil point face on the front page of the Wall Street Journal."

Another: "Chuck...thinks a front page Wall Street Journal article is beyond cool."

The republicans are trying to play catch-up in the technology game. It's a smart move on their part...going where the people are.

As I've written before...

Dems take notice.

Throw a simple video of a speech on YouTube... post pictures from your events on flickr... share your thoughts & opinions with a blog... let constituents follow your day on Twitter... or get to know you better through Facebook...

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Sen. Fiorina?

From SFGate

Scary thought, but...

Former HP CEO Carly Fiorina is making some moves that strongly suggest she's got her eye on a political future in California -- and the buzz is that it may even have something to do with that 2010 race against Democratic U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer.

Word of caution to potential office seekers...start using landlines.

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DeVore Collects Endorsements

Conservative OC Assemblyman Chuck Devore is raking in the endorsements for his 2010 run against Sen. Barbara Boxer.

Assembly (not including DeVore himself)
Mike Villines
Anthony Adams
Joel Anderson
Bill Berryhill
Tom Berryhill
Sam Blakeslee
Connie Conway
Paul Cook
Mike Duvall
Bill Emmerson
Jean Fuller
Ted Gaines
Martin Garrick
Danny Gilmore
Curt Hagman
Diane Harkey
Kevin Jeffries
Stephen Knight
Jeff Miller
Dan Logue
Brian Nestande
Jim Nielsen
Cameron Smyth
Audra Strickland
Van Tran

Senate (6)
Jeff Denham
Bob Dutton
Bob Huff
George Runner
Mimi Walters
Mark Wyland

via the SacBee

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Arnold vs. Boxer

In a theoretical Senate race between Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Senator Barbara Boxer, she comes out ahead by 9 points.

Research 2000 for Daily Kos. 1/5-7. Likely voters. MoE 4%

Boxer (D) 49
Schwarzenegger (R) 40

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California Officials

California State Officials
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor
John Garamendi, Lieutenant Governor
Jerry Brown, Attorney General
Debra Bowen, Secretary of State
John Chiang, Controller
Bill Lockyer, Treasurer
Steve Poizner, Insurance Commissioner
Jack O'Connell, Superintendent of Public Instruction

California Supreme Court
Ronald M. George, Chief Justice
Marvin R. Baxter Ming Chin
Carol Corrigan
Joyce L. Kennard
Carlos R. Moreno
Kathryn Werdegar

California State Legislature, 2009-2010 Session

California State Senate

Officers
President Pro Tem: Darrell Steinberg (D-6)
Majority Leader: Dean Florez (D-16)
Minority Leader: Dave Cogdill (R-14)
Secretary: Greg Schmidt
Sergeant at Arms: Tony Beard, Jr.

Full List of Members, 2009-2010

District	Name	Party	Seat Up
1st	Dave Cox	Rep	2012
2nd	Pat Wiggins	Dem	2010
3rd	Mark Leno	Dem	2012
4th	Sam Aanestad Term limited	Rep	2010
5th	Lois Wolk	Dem	2012
6th	Darrell Steinberg	Dem	2010
7th	Mark DeSaulnier	Dem	2012
8th	Leland Yee	Dem	2010
9th	Loni Hancock	Dem	2012
10th	Ellen M. Corbett	Dem	2010
11th	Joe Simitian	Dem	2012
12th	Jeff Denham Term limited	Rep	2010
13th	Elaine Alquist	Dem	2012
14th	Dave Cogdill	Rep	2010
15th	Abel Maldonado	Rep	2012
16th	Dean Florez Term limited	Dem	2010
17th	George Runner	Rep	2012
18th	Roy Ashburn Term limited	Rep	2010
19th	Tony Strickland	Rep	2012
20th	Alex Padilla	Dem	2010
21st	Carol Liu	Dem	2012
22nd	Gilbert Cedillo Term limited	Dem	2010
23rd	Fran Pavley	Dem	2012
24th	Gloria Romero Term limited	Dem	2010
25th	Rod Wright	Dem	2012
26th	Vacancy
27th	Alan Lowenthal	Dem	2012
28th	Jenny Oropeza	Dem	2010
29th	Bob Huff	Rep	2012
30th	Ronald S. Calderon	Dem	2010
31st	Robert Dutton	Rep	2012
32nd	Gloria Negrete McLeod	Dem	2010
33rd	Mimi Walters	Rep	2012
34th	Lou Correa	Dem	2010
35th	Tom Harman Term limited	Rep	2012
36th	Dennis Hollingsworth Term limited	Rep	2010
37th	John J. Benoit	Rep	2012
38th	Mark Wyland	Rep	2010
39th	Christine Kehoe	Dem	2012
40th	Denise Moreno Ducheny Term limited	Dem	2010

California State Assembly

Officers
Speaker: Karen Bass (D-47)
Speaker pro Tempore: Lori Saldaña (D-76)
Majority Floor Leader: Alberto Torrico (D-20)
Minority Floor Leader: Michael Villines (R-29)
Chief Clerk: E. Dotson Wilson
Sergeant at Arms: Ronald Pane

Full List of Members, 2009-2010

District	Name	Party
1st	Wesley Chesbro	Dem
2nd	Jim Nielsen	Rep
3rd	Dan Logue	Rep
4th	Ted Gaines	Rep
5th	Roger Niello Term limited	Rep
6th	Jared Huffman	Dem
7th	Noreen Evans Term limited	Dem
8th	Mariko Yamada	Dem
9th	Dave Jones Term limited	Dem
10th	Alyson Huber	Dem
11th	Tom Torlakson Term limited	Dem
12th	Fiona Ma	Dem
13th	Tom Ammiano	Dem
14th	Nancy Skinner	Dem
15th	Joan Buchanan	Dem
16th	Sandré Swanson	Dem
17th	Cathleen Galgiani	Dem
18th	Mary Hayashi	Dem
19th	Jerry Hill	Dem
20th	Alberto Torrico Term limited	Dem
21st	Ira Ruskin Term limited	Dem
22nd	Paul Fong	Dem
23rd	Joe Coto Term limited	Dem
24th	Jim Beall Jr.	Dem
25th	Tom Berryhill	Rep
26th	Bill Berryhill	Rep
27th	Bill Monning	Dem
28th	Anna M. Caballero	Dem
29th	Michael Villines	Rep
30th	Danny Gilmore	Dem
31st	Juan Arambula Term limited	Dem
32nd	Jean Fuller	Rep
33rd	Sam Blakeslee Term limited	Rep
34th	Connie Conway	Rep
35th	Pedro Nava Term limited	Dem
36th	Steve Knight	Rep
37th	Audra Strickland Term limited	Rep
38th	Cameron Smyth	Rep
39th	Felipe Fuentes	Dem
40th	Bob Blumenfield	Dem
41st	Julia Brownley	Dem
42nd	Mike Feuer	Dem
43rd	Paul Krekorian	Dem
44th	Anthony J. Portantino	Dem
45th	Kevin de León	Dem
46th	John Pérez	Dem
47th	Karen Bass Term limited	Dem
48th	Mike Davis	Dem
49th	Mike Eng	Dem
50th	Hector De La Torre Term limited	Dem
51st	Curren D. Price Jr.	Dem
52nd	Isadore Hall	Dem
53rd	Ted Lieu	Dem
54th	Bonnie Lowenthal	Dem
55th	Warren T. Furutani	Dem
56th	Tony Mendoza	Dem
57th	Edward P. Hernandez	Dem
58th	Charles M. Calderon	Dem
59th	Anthony Adams	Rep
60th	Curt Hagman	Rep
61st	Norma Torres	Dem
62nd	Wilmer Amina Carter	Dem
63rd	Bill Emmerson Term limited	Rep
64th	Brian Nestande	Rep
65th	Paul Cook	Rep
66th	Kevin Jeffries	Rep
67th	Jim Silva	Rep
68th	Van Tran Term limited	Rep
69th	Jose Solorio	Dem
70th	Chuck DeVore Term limited	Rep
71st	Jeff Miller	Rep
72nd	Michael D. Duvall	Rep
73rd	Diane Harkey	Rep
74th	Martin Garrick	Rep
75th	Nathan Fletcher	Rep
76th	Lori Saldaña Term limited	Dem
77th	Joel Anderson	Rep
78th	Marty Block	Rep
79th	Mary Salas	Dem
80th	Manuel Perez	Rep

US Senate

Dianne Feinstein
Barbara Boxer

US House of Representatives

(34-19 Democratic)

1. Mike Thompson (D)
2. Wally Herger (R)
3. Dan Lungren (R)
4. Tom McClintock (R)
5. Doris Matsui (D)
6. Lynn Woolsey (D)
7. George Miller (D)
8. Nancy Pelosi (D)
9. Barbara Lee (D)
10. Ellen Tauscher (D)
11. Jerry McNerney (D)
12. Jackie Speier (D)
13. Pete Stark (D)
14. Anna Eshoo (D)
15. Mike Honda (D)
16. Zoe Lofgren (D)
17. Sam Farr (D)
18. Dennis Cardoza (D)
19. George Radanovich (R)
20. Jim Costa (D)
21. Devin Nunes (R)
22. Kevin McCarthy (R)
23. Lois Capps (D)
24. Elton Gallegly (R)
25. Howard McKeon (R)
26. David Dreier (R)
27. Brad Sherman (D)
28. Howard Berman (D)
29. Adam Schiff (D)
30. Henry Waxman (D)
31. Xavier Becerra (D)
32. Hilda Solis (D), (expected to resign)
33. Diane Watson (D)
34. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D)
35. Maxine Waters (D)
36. Jane Harman (D)
37. Laura Richardson (D)
38. Grace Napolitano (D)
39. Linda Sánchez (D)
40. Edward R. Royce (R)
41. Jerry Lewis (R)
42. Gary Miller (R)
43. Joe Baca (D)
44. Ken Calvert (R)
45. Mary Bono Mack (R)
46. Dana Rohrabacher (R)
47. Loretta Sanchez (D)
48. John Campbell (R)
49. Darrell Issa (R)
50. Brian Bilbray (R)
51. Bob Filner (D)
52. Duncan D. Hunter (R)
53. Susan Davis (D)

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