California – Page 18

Rasmussen CA-SEN: Fiorina within MoE of Boxer.

Although even Rasmussen has to say “It’s California.”

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds that Boxer attracts 45% of the statewide vote while Fiorina, her best-known possible Republican challenger, earns 41%. Seven percent (7%) say they’d vote for some other candidate, and seven percent (7%) are undecided.

In March, Boxer led Fiorina by nine, 47% to 38%.

Any incumbent who polls below 50% early in a campaign is considered potentially vulnerable. However, a Democrat running in a heavily Democratic state like California is often able to overcome weak poll numbers.

Which is very true: but it’s also Barbara Boxer. This is not a very good period of time to be reflexively supporting more taxes, less energy, and the imposition of health care rationing – and, given some of the topline results to this survey (MoE is 4.5%, by the way), you have to wonder how ‘heavily Democratic’ it is these days. On first reading, the results read as being more anti-incumbent than anything else: Fiorina isn’t even formally in the race yet, although these numbers are certainly encouraging enough. Chuck Devore (who is in the race) is probably finding them encouraging, too; people in California just aren’t happy with the status quo right now – and contra Rasmussen, you shouldn’t ignore sub-50 ratings if you’re a politician who wants to keep her job.

I’d assume that Senator Boxer is taking that into consideration, except, well.

Crossposted to RedState.

CA Senate President Darrell Steinberg (D) declares Californian independence.

I’m shocked that Josh Trevino buried the lede.

It was, what? All of twenty seconds in?

MODERATOR: Let’s go to our next e-mail question. Adrian from Sacramento: To save money, legislators need to go part time. If other states can do this, why can’t we?

STEINBERG: Want me to take that?

LENO: You start off, I’ll –

STEINBERG: Okay. You know, um, I disagree with the premise of, uh, the question. California is a nation-state.

OK, yeah. Stop right there. The question at hand is whether California needs a full-time legislature; and the fact that the one that the state currently has is apparently capable of electing to lead it somebody who’d fail Civics 090 pretty much resolves that particular question, once and for all. I’d suggest that Mr. Steinberg go back to his previous career: but no, he’s pretty much been a politico from the start. Ditch digging, maybe?

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

Note that the eyepatch is not CGI…

(Via @CalebHowe) Chuck DeVore is having fun again:

Of course, when it comes to Senator Boxer*, it’s not precisely a target-poor environment. Background here, for the three people in the political blogosphere who haven’t heard about this one yet. Anyway, that guy with the eyepatch had it in the original video; I remember seeing it when I saw the original YouTube. Not that Chuck DeVore wouldn’t have matched it up more to Austin Powers, if he had had to.

Moe Lane

*See? I understand that Senator Boxer’s thin-skinned and everything, what with the general consensus in Washingtonian circles that Senator Boxer’s as sharp as a sack of wet mice, so I was nice and used Senator Boxer’s title.

Crossposted to RedState.

OK, I’m for SSM, but this is just dumb.

And I normally don’t bother linking directly to the Online Left anyway – still, regarding today’s completely unsurprising California Supreme Court decision on Proposition 8, Taylor Marsh writes:

The first thing you have to ask is how Californians allowed the referendum to pass in the first place. How does a civil rights campaign in California fall to the bigots? Because many people don’t vote in off election cycles, and the most committed wins. The anti civil rights crowd is wrong on this issue, but they are determined.

Leaving aside for the moment the advisability – or indeed, the basic morality – of attacking same-sex marriage opponents* in such a fashion, I am forced to ask: in what alternate universe was the 2008 Presidential election an ‘off election cycle’?

Moe Lane

*Particularly given the demographic breakdowns – and yes, I am aware what the Left’s pet astrologer told them.

Crossposted to RedState.

By the way, we’re having a trade war with Mexico.

Yes, yes, I know: NAFTA’s supposed to prevent that sort of thing, but we’re having one anyway:

Ricardo Alday, spokesman for the Mexican Embassy in Washington said pressuring politicians by hitting imports from states with key Democratic leaders with tariffs of up to 90 percent “is one the main considerations,” for the action, the Dallas Morning News reported Wednesday.

The official list of products has not been released, but a draft obtained by economist Dermot Hayes at the University of Iowa suggest the tariffs will pinpoint almonds from California, sunglasses from Illinois, bowling equipment from Nevada and books from New York — the home states of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, President Barack Obama, Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

And before you ask: yes, it’s because of the bill that Dina Titus (D-NV) said that she read. Continue reading By the way, we’re having a trade war with Mexico.

Rep. McClintock interview with RedState.

As promised, here’s the Tom McClintock interview.

Link here, if that doesn’t work. As you can see, Rep. McClintock isn’t precisely shy about speaking his opinion, particularly when it comes to the religious aspect of global warming. I had originally written “essentially religious aspect” there, but when thinking about it McClintock was pretty unambiguous on that point, so neither should I be when describing him. If you don’t have time for the whole thing, the Congressman’s main theme was that it’s of primary importance that ordinary citizens get involved and stay involved in this issue.

Continue reading Rep. McClintock interview with RedState.

Is Grace Napolitano (D, CA-38) playing a grift?

Via RedState Reader dld717 we are alerted to this somewhat sordid tale of Rep. Napolitano and her perpetual loan to herself:

Feb. 13 (Bloomberg) — During a decade in Congress, California Representative Grace Napolitano has pocketed more than $200,000 of political contributions by charging as much as 18 percent interest on money she loaned to her own campaign.

The suburban Los Angeles Democrat made the $150,000 loan in 1998, when she was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Through Dec. 31, her campaign committee has used donations to pay Napolitano $221,780 of interest while reducing the principal by just $64,727, a review of her Federal Election Commission filings shows.

Continue reading Is Grace Napolitano (D, CA-38) playing a grift?

Video from Chesley Sullenberger’s first public comments.

As Hot Air notes, a man of few words. Their video doesn’t seem happy to work here, so below is a YouTube of his comments.

Check out the Hot Air link for his wife’s comments, which are very good.
Continue reading Video from Chesley Sullenberger’s first public comments.