Tag: California

So, let’s talk about how this over-enthusiastic Obama vandal messed up his message.

Because there are, oh, so many ways. Going down the list:

  • It is stupid to vandalize cars (keyed, seats slashed, messages scratched in hoods).
  • It is even stupider to vandalize cars in order to send a political message.
  • It is blindingly stupid to vandalize cars and sign your work with the name of your favored candidate.
  • It is transcendentally stupid to do all of this on somebody that you don’t even know.
  • That’s because you might target somebody who is actually voting for Obama.
  • That person may just be living with his Romney-supporting in-laws*.
  • And that person may have to live with his in-laws because THE ECONOMY SUCKS and he can’t find a job.
  • Getting back to the first idiot: I don’t know that the guy also stole a GPS unit from another car nearby, but judging from the previous events in this Carnival Of Stupidity it’s a reasonable bet to make.
  • And finally: the fool did not wear gloves.

On behalf of the Republican party and the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy, I would like to NOT say ‘thank you’ to whoever did this.  That would imply that we approve of people acting like half-savage man-children, which we most certainly do not.

Moe Lane

*Who are now probably pointing out to the Obama voter all of this.
Via

Sen Dianne Feinstein (D, CA) vaguely wanders off from awkward debate question.

Heh. You should have seen the title that I originally came up with.

Via Breitbart TV comes this highly entertaining/infuriating exhibit of Senator Dianne Feinstein (D, CA) taking full advantage of being a D from CA:

For those without video access: local California media – including that notoriously right-wing rag known as the LA Times – has noticed that Senator Feinstein refuses to debate Republican challenger Elizabeth Emken. When ABC reporter Mark Matthews called out the Senator on this, Feinstein tried to get up and walk out on the reporter* rather than answer the question. Which, of course, does not have an answer that would be favorable to Senator Feinstein: judging from the Senator’s performance in the interview, participating in a debate would quite possibly wreck her chances for re-election. Continue reading Sen Dianne Feinstein (D, CA) vaguely wanders off from awkward debate question.

#rsrh CA Dem Chair John ‘Republicans are Nazis’ Burton runs back to California.

He’s claiming a “pre-scheduled root canal.”

Riiiiiiiiiiiiight.  Then again, if I had just called the Republican party a bunch of Goebbels-loving liars and got caught doing it – particularly if I’m from California, which is having a somewhat more competitive series of state and federal races this year than usual – I’d be “pre-scheduling” a root canal, too.  Less painful all around.

Moe Lane

PS: The movie about a Nazi dentist that you’re trying to remember is Marathon Man.  Haven’t seen it myself, but it’s supposed to be good.

PPS: Yes, I’m doing a lot of paraphrasing, here.  And?

The coming Democratic hypocrisy about their coming NON-divestment from Bain Capital.

Let me summarize this NRO article by Deroy Murdock: Democratic (specifically, Barack Obama’s) rhetoric about Bain Capital has not particularly stopped Democratic-aligned organizations from investing with it.  This includes groups like government employee pension funds ($1.56 billion since 2008), universities ($at least 425 million between 1998-2008), ‘center-left foundations and cultural establishments’… and my personal favorite: the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CSTRS), which has invested $1.25 billion with Bain Capital. And I want to highlight what CSTRS told the Boston Globe about why:

A spokesman for the system, Ricardo Duran, says in an e-mail that its fiduciary duty to 856,000 members and their families is paramount. “With that as a backdrop,” he says, “the scrutiny generated by a heated election year matters less than the performance the portfolio generates to the fund.” And private equity, Duran says, has been the best-performing asset class in the system’s portfolio over the past 24 years.

Continue reading The coming Democratic hypocrisy about their coming NON-divestment from Bain Capital.

#rsrh IS Henry Waxman eligible to run in CA? …ehh, who cares?

It’s not like there’s a Republican running to oppose him, anyway.

(Via Instapundit)

Moe Lane

PS: No, actually I looked at the guy’s site.  I could tolerate a stealth Republican who went indy because political reality requires it; there are some places where George Washington couldn’t win if he was on the Republican ticket.  But Waxman’s opponent hates the national party almost as much as Henry Waxman does; so if he thinks that he can win on that platform, well, good luck with that.  The man doesn’t want my help, right?

Going to California: a look at the CA House races.

Below is the general consensus of the competitive races in California’s House delegation.   Said races are – to put it mildly – the result of one of the most comprehensive shakeups in state-level redistricting that we’ve seen in a while.  Combined with a new jungle primary rule (basically: the top two vote getters in the primary advance to the general, regardless of party affiliation), the end result is, frankly, a headache and a half for people to forecast.  Stu Rothenberg and Charlie Cook have done their usual thorough job, but trying to get one’s head around the new maps is not easy.

CD Republican Democrat CoH 2Q PVI Cook
CA-03 Kim Vann John Garamendi GOP GOP D+1 Li D
CA-07 Dan Lungren Ami Bera Dem Dem R+3 Toss-Up
CA-09 Ricky Gill Jerry McNerney Dem GOP D+2 Lean D
CA-10 Jeff Denham Jose Hernandez GOP GOP R+5 Lean R
CA-16 Brian Whelan Jim Costa Dem GOP D+2 Li D
CA-21 David Valadao John Hernandez GOP GOP R+3 Li R
CA-24 Abel Maldonado Lois Capps Dem Dem D+3 Lean D
CA-26 Tony Strickland Julia Brownley GOP GOP D+3 Toss-Up
CA-36 Mary Bono Mack Raul Ruiz GOP GOP R+3 Li R
CA-41 John Tavaglione Mark Takano GOP GOP D+3 Lean D
CA-47 Gary DeLong Alan Lowenthal GOP GOP D+5 Li D
CA-52 Brian Bilbray Scott Peters GOP GOP D+1 Toss-Up

Incumbents are in bold: bear in mind that this is incumbent to Congress, and usually not incumbent to the district).  Also bear in mind that this list does not note the Democrats who will be facing other Democrats in the general election, the Republican who will be facing other another Republican in the general election, and  – in the memorable case of CA-31 – the Republican who will be facing another Republican in a district that was supposed to be a Democratic one.  Because I wasn’t joking when I said that this is a headache and a half. Continue reading Going to California: a look at the CA House races.

American Action Network’s targeted advertising and the redistricting wars.

It’s interesting.  If you look at these two ads from American Action Network – one for California, and one for New York – solely from the perspective of a national observer, it’s a headscratcher as to why a conservative-leaning group is targeting six Democratic Members of Congress (Tim Bishop, Lois Capps, John Garamendi, Jerry McNerney, Bill Owens, & Louise Slaughter) in two Blue States; particularly since none of the individuals involved are freshmen.  And yet AAN did not merely do the ads; they’re going to be backing them with targeted online advertising.  And why are they doing this?

Because California and New York both had… unexpected… results in the redistricting wars.  Ones that actually ended up not hurting Republicans as much as expected. Continue reading American Action Network’s targeted advertising and the redistricting wars.

#rsrh If you’re wondering who Commerce Secretary John Bryson is…

.. John Bryson is a former environmental lawyer and the co-founder of the virulently Green (anti-nuke, anti-coal, anti-LIGHT BULB edition) Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).  To give you an idea of how reputable that group is: in 2009 the NRDC raised $866K in Massachusetts… approximately 1% of which went to the actual charity (the average was 43%).  I’m uncertain whether to be disgusted at the (perfectly-legal) diversion of funds, or simply relieved that more of the money didn’t end up enabling hardcore Greenie activists.

Anyway, the guy reportedly had a seizure of some kind that caused him to get into three accidents with two cars and get cited for felony hit-and-run.  Thankfully, nobody was seriously injured; and, obviously, I hope that Commerce Secretary Bryson gets the help that he needs for a full recovery from his condition.

The call for Mickey Mouse as a write-in in the CA-DEM Primary!

Slightly contra Instapundit, this call for Mickey Mouse as a write-in on the California ballot is a blogger’s joke rather than an actual movement [UPDATE: I am informed in comments here that this is meant absolutely seriously; please be assured that I had no intention of mocking either the sentiment or the activity], but if it’s kidding then it’s kidding on the square.  And it’s illustrating something that is perhaps being under-reported: the way that Obama’s not been doing all that well in the primaries for an incumbent.

I mean, yes: we’ve had it noted that Obama only racked up 59.4% of the West Virginia primary vote; 80.9% of New Hampshire’s; and 79.2% of North Carolina’s.  But here are some other primary race vote totals, thus far (all via The Green Papers): Rhode Island, 83.4%.  Louisiana, 76.5%. Alabama, 80.8%. Massachusetts, 81.2%, Oklahoma, 57.1%.  To give you a baseline… if you remove places like American Samoa or Guam, if I read this right in 2004 George Bush never dipped below 89.5% (Idaho) of the primary vote in states he won and 79.6% (New Hampshire) in states that he didn’t.  Other states of note in 2004, to give you an idea: Alabama, 92.8%. Kentucky, 92.5%. Massachusetts, 90.6%. Rhode Island, 84.9%. Continue reading The call for Mickey Mouse as a write-in in the CA-DEM Primary!

#rsrh Today’s FLEE CALIFORNIA WHILE YOU STILL CAN, FOOLS post: budget shortfall!

What? No, more of one than usual, actually: the state is in the hole for 16 billion, not the mere 9.2 billion that they were expecting to be in the hole for.  So, they can either ‘cut schools, cops, and firefighters’ – put in scare quotes because the trick of cutting the popular stuff first is an old, old trick – or the taxpayers can vote in more taxes via referendum.  You see, the GOP has just enough of a presence in the state legislature to prevent legislation hiking taxes; and it turns out that one side-effect of Democratic dominance of the California political process is that the Republican legislators that survive said process tend to be, ah, somewhat hardcore.

This says it all, really:

The Democratic governor said the shortfall grew from $9.2 billion in January in part because tax collections have not come in as high as expected and the economy isn’t growing as fast as hoped for. The deficit has also risen because lawsuits and federal requirements have blocked billions of dollars in state cuts.

Except, of course, for me repeating the title: FLEE.