Red County, California

Yesterday, Stuart Rothenberg listed California’s governor’s race as “leaning Democratic.”

Today, WSJ’s Political Diary sees red:

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Is the rancorous health-care fight turning California red? If so, the most prominent victim of ObamaCare may turn out to be Barbara Boxer.

Though the GOP nomination to challenge Ms. Boxer is still up for grabs, a new Field poll shows her essentially beatable by “all of the above.” Former Rep. Tom Campbell leads her by one point; Carly Fiorina trails by just a point. Most surprisingly, Ms. Boxer commands a mere four-point lead over little-known state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore.

Field Poll Director Mark DiCamillo attributes Ms. Boxer’s rapidly rising unfavorable rating, which has climbed to 51% from 39% in two months, to voter revulsion over the Democratic Congress’s health care tactics. The poll, he says, reflects Ms. Boxer’s weakness more than any strength by her GOP challengers: “Voters are starting to be looking for alternatives to the status quo.” In January, Ms. Boxer held a double-digit lead over all her GOP opponents.

Feeling the same heat is Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown. He now trails Republican Meg Whitman by three points after leading by 10 points two months ago. In the Democratic stronghold of Los Angeles, which will be key to determining the election, the former eBay CEO is beating Mr. Brown by 14 points.

Given the powerful anti-incumbent wave building in California, Mr. Brown’s latest tack is to circle the wagons with his hardcore Democratic allies. On Tuesday, he publicly called on Big Labor to “attack [Ms. Whitman] whenever we can, but I’d rather have you attack” because “I’d rather be the nice guy in this race.” For her part, Ms. Boxer is calling in President Obama to host a fundraiser next month. It’s unlikely to help. The president’s approval rating in California is just 52%, its lowest during the president’s 15 months in office and the lowest of any president at this stage save Jimmy Carter.

A Rasmussen poll last month found that 60% of California voters want to throw incumbents out, while only 17% think they should be reelected. Career politicians like Mr. Brown and Ms. Boxer appear to be swimming against a powerful and growing current as November approaches.

I’ll vote for “anybody but” Governor Moonbeam and Senator Boxer.

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• Boxer Vulnerable for Re-Election (politicalwire.com)
• California Senate Race Tightens (techdailydose.nationaljournal.com)

Independent political analyst Stuart Rothenberg updated his standings on this year’s gubernatorial races. Here is what he has to say about California:

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And it might be generous to give Attorney General Jerry Brown (D) the advantage in California since he’s either even or trailing former eBay Executive Meg Whitman (R) in the polls. But the Democratic nature of the state might save him in the end.

California is in the “leans takeover” category, meaning that the statehouse will likely flip from Republican to Democratic.

The Taxinator has been a stupendous disappointment.

The Return of Governor Moonbeam would be a spectacular disaster.

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• Whitman, Brown Tied In Matchup For California Governor (huffingtonpost.com)

She’s got a glass jaw!

From an article by Rob Hotakainen in the Sacramento Bee:

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While Boxer’s races have historically been sleepy affairs, the poll indicates that Californians could be in for a barnburner this year. Boxer is in a statistical tie in trial matchups with both Campbell and Fiorina. In January, she had substantial double-digit percentage-point leads over all three GOP challengers.

Maybe that Boxer-as-blimp ad by Fiorina’s mad PR guy should get some credit…

In the same Field Poll, Tom Campbell leads Carly Fiorina and Chuck Devore in the Republican match-up. As an independent, I can’t vote in the Republican primary, but I prefer Devore over Campbell or Fiorina.

I prefer any of the Republicans over the embarrassment that is Barbara Boxer.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Campbell Could Give Boxer a Race (politicalwire.com)
• Campbell, Whitman Still Lead in California (politicalwire.com)
• Time to Pop Zepplin Head Barbara Boxer (dakotavoice.com)
• CA Senator Poll has #Boxer under 50% (visionaryrealtynews.com)
• Carly Fiorina downs sinister Democrat hot air balloon (go.theregister.com)

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I now cover city council meetings for three different cities here in Southern California: Cypress, Buena Park and Norwalk.

According to Wikipedia, Cypress’ 2008 population estimated by the California Department of Finance was 49541; for Buena Park, 78282; and for Norwalk, 107698.

All three cities are struggling to maintain infrastructure in the face of state thievery — the California state legislature is actively looking for ways to pick pockets in order to bridge its multibillion dollar budget gap.

In the case of Buena Park and Norwalk, this means that they are actively pursuing federal stimulus funds in order to effect street repairs. A year after passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), cities in Southern California are paying for asphalt with stimulus money.

Incompetence in Sacramento has forced California cities to go begging to Washington to meet basic responsibilities like filling potholes.

“Pursuing federal stimulus funds” means jumping through hoops to qualify for that money. It puts a ring through the nose of city council members and managers, with a chain that stretches 3,000 miles.

That should make you hopping mad.

Be my guest: take it out on state elected officials by throwing the thieves out of office.

From the Orange County Registrar-Recorder:

March 12, 2010 – The Registrar of Voters announced today that the nomination period has been extended until March 17, 2010, 5:00 p.m. for the office attached, because the incumbent failed to file nomination papers by the March 12, 2010 deadline.

Any qualified person, other than the incumbent, can now file the declaration of candidacy papers until March 17, 2010, 5:00 p.m., in the office of the Registrar of Voters, 1300-C South Grand Avenue, Santa Ana, California. Business hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

For further information, call the Registrar of Voters office at 714-567-7600 and ask for the “Candidate & Voter Services Section.”

CONTEST THAT HAS HAD THE CANDIDATE FILING EXTENDED

Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector

At the time of this post, Chriss Street is the incumbent Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector.