THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CALIFORNIA - This site is dedicated to exposing the continuing Marxist Revolution in California and the all around massive stupidity of Socialists, Luddites, Communists, Fellow Travelers and of Liberalism in all of its ugly forms.
"It was a splendid population - for all the slow, sleepy, sluggish-brained sloths stayed at home - you never find that sort of people among pioneers - you cannot build pioneers out of that sort of material. It was that population that gave to California a name for getting up astounding enterprises and rushing them through with a magnificent dash and daring and a recklessness of cost or consequences, which she bears unto this day - and when she projects a new surprise the grave world smiles as usual and says, "Well, that is California all over."
If the GOP can't win solid middle to upper class districts like this one then the party might as well dissolve itself and let a new party form to oppose Leftist Democrats.
Democrats currently hold every legislative seat in the California’s San Francisco Bay Area. But a voter revolt against public unions could give Republicans an outpost in the East Bay.
A recent poll in the 16th Assembly district commissioned by the California Chamber of Commerce’s JobsPAC shows Republican Catharine Baker, an attorney from Pleasanton, running even with the Democratic mayor of Dublin, Tim Sbranti. Democrats enjoy an eight-point voter registration advantage in the predominantly white, affluent suburban district.
Baker has benefitted from a knock-out primary fight between Sbranti and Gov. Jerry Brown’s former adviser Steve Glazer. While the two Democrats spent millions beating each other up, Baker cruised to first place in the top-two primary with 36.7% of the vote. Keep in mind that legislative campaigns rarely cost more than a few hundred thousand dollars reports the Wall Street Journal.
16th State Assembly District 39% Democrat, 32% Republican and 29% Independents and smaller political parties.
A self-styled pro-business Democrat, Glazer flogged his opponent’s union friends. (Sbranti used to head the California Teachers Association’s Political Involvement Committee.) Labor groups hit back by portraying Glazer as a corporate lobbyist. Their primary beef was that a couple years ago he worked as a hired gun for the state’s Chamber of Commerce, which had sought to topple two pro-labor Democratic incumbents.
Sbranti edged out Glazer for second place with 29% of the vote. Yet the Chamber poll shows that about a quarter of Democrats still aren’t sold on him, and independents favor Baker by two points. His coziness with the public unions may be to blame.
The liberal editorial page of the San Francisco Chronicle endorsed Baker for her “centrist sensibilities” and support for the Vergara court ruling in June striking down the state’s teacher tenure and seniority laws. By contrast, the Chronicle wrote, Sbranti is “a traditional Democrat—especially when it comes to toeing the party line in resistance to education reforms that intrude on the unions’ comfort zone.”
The Chronicle also criticized Sbranti’s refusal to endorse a ban on strikes by the Bay Area mass transit workers. A strike last year by the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) workers, who earn on average $76,500 per year, effectively shut down the Bay Area. By using the Vergara case and BART strike as wedge issues, Ms. Baker could run away with the race.
Republicans need to pick up one seat in the Senate or two in the Assembly to deny Democrats a supermajority. The GOP’s top targets are in Southern California and the Central Valley, which traditionally provide the most fertile ground for conservative candidates. But Republicans may be able to expand the playing field by capitalizing on voters’ animus toward out-of-control government unions.
Top Democrat Target
Lt. Commander Paul Chabot
31st District, San Bernardino
Naval Intelligence, U. S. Navy Reserve. Paul Chabot For Congress
Both major political parties and groups of their deep-pocketed supporters are playing big in the handful of fiercely fought congressional races in California this year.
With Republicans widely expected to keep — even add to — their House majority in November, the interest from national groups appears to be all about future elections. The parties are positioning themselves for 2016, when the nation will next elect a president and when the political climate could be very different, and even beyond to 2018, experts said.
"Republicans want a cushion against the risk of future losses," said John J. "Jack" Pitney Jr., a Claremont McKenna College political scientist and former GOP official. "Democrats want to limit GOP gains this year so that they will be in a better starting position for when their prospects are brighter," reports the Los Angeles Times.
As a result, tough battles have developed in half a dozen districts. In four of those, Democrats, buoyed by strong turnout for President Obama, wrested the seats from Republicans in 2012.
Another is in the Central Valley, where Democrats hope Amanda Renteria, a local native who has worked in Washington, can dislodge Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford) from the seat he won that year.
In the Inland Empire the parties are fighting it out over who will succeed retiring Rep. Gary Miller (R-Rancho Cucamonga) in a Democrat-tilting district.
The closest contests are widely believed to be those involving three first-term Democrats.
In Northern California, Rep. Ami Bera of Elk Grove faces former Republican Rep. Doug Ose of Sacramento.
In Southern California, Republicans recruited Assemblyman Jeff Gorell of Camarillo to take on Rep. Julia Brownley of Westlake Village, and former San DiegoCity Councilman Carl DeMaio, seen by some as a rising GOP star, is challenging Rep. Scott Peters of San Diego.
Paul Chabot's 31st Congressional District
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report labels each of the three contests a toss-up. Cook gives a slight edge to the fourth Democratic freshman, Rep. Raul Ruiz of Palm Desert, opposed by GOP Assemblyman Brian Nestande, also of Palm Desert, but concludes the Central Valley district probably will stay in the Republican column.
The fierce competition is fanned by spending by groups that are not part of the candidates' own campaigns. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has so far spent roughly $3 million against DeMaio, Gorell and Ose, according to campaign reports filed with the government.
Another Democratic group, House Majority PAC, has pumped almost half a million dollars into efforts to defeat Gorell and Ose.
The National Republican Congressional Committee reported spending about $1.5 million to oppose Bera and Peters.
Other groups involved in some of these races include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has spent about $600,000 to support Ose and Valadao and more than $300,000 to oppose Bera.
Top Democrat Target Both parties are pouring millions of dollars into Sacramento's 7th Congressional District. Facing off is one term Democrat Congressman Ami Bera (naturally on the left) against former GOP Congressman Doug Ose. Doug Ose for Congress
Likewise, Defending Main Street SuperPAC Inc., which supports incumbent Republicans, spent $100,000 for Ose and $29,000 for Valadao.
In San Diego, the National Republican Congressional Committee launched a TV ad last week implying that Peters had used his position in Congress to engage in insider trading, a federal felony. The Peters campaign called the ad "a false, egregious and purely political attack" that its lawyers were working to have taken down.
The Brownley camp has invested heavily in trying to knock down Gorell's record as a work-across-the-aisle moderate in a district where Democrats hold a slim registration edge.
No sooner had Gorell disavowed the tea party as "too extreme" than Brownley supporters dug up a 2009 YouTube video showing him addressing the ultra-conservative group at a rally with a tea bag around his neck.
Gorell cited an analysis by the nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation that reviewed voting records and showed him to be one of the most moderate members of the state Legislature.He predicted his record, his military service in a district flush with veterans and his strong local ties would win the day.
GOP Assemblyman Jeff Gorell Ventura County's 26th Congressional District Jeff is a Lt. Commander in the Navy Reserve. Jeff Gorell for Congress
"I'm going to prove that you can win a congressional seat in this part of the state by running a positive campaign," Gorell said.
On Thursday, the Brownley campaign issued a news release portraying Gorell as anti-immigrant, noting, among other things, that he had once defended Proposition 187, the controversial 1994 ballot measure intended to deny most public services to those in the country illegally.
Gorell strategist Reed Galen said his client's record shows he is "staunchly in favor of comprehensive immigration reform." Brownley and her allies "have spent millions distorting Gorell's record to avoid having to talk about her own," Galen said.
Brownley and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee have said she is more in line with district voters on most issues, including healthcare access and women's rights.
Longtime Democratic strategist Darry A. Sragow said it was no accident that many of the Democratic campaigns in competitive districts this year are trying to brand their Republican opponents as tea party candidates.
Not all candidates are running in the middle. Republican Iraq War veteran and business owner Paul Chabot is competing with Redlands Mayor Pete Aguilar for an Inland Empire seat that most analysts say offers Democrats their best chance for a pickup this year. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has spent about $523,000 against Chabot.
Aguilar is emphasizing his support for schools and business growth and touting endorsements from several prominent local Republicans as evidence that he can work effectively across party lines.
But the campaign strategist for Chabot, who opposes abortion and is endorsed by the National Rifle Assn., says his conservative views are shared by a majority of the district's voters, including many Democrats.
"This district does have a lot of Democrats," said the strategist, John S. Thomas, acknowledging the rival party's modest registration edge.
But he added, referring to one of Los Angeles' most liberal bastions, "These are not Westside L.A. Democrats."
California's 7th Congressional District In the 2012 Obama landslide election the Democrat House candidate won a narrow 51.7% victory over a Republican incumbent. Voter registration is 39% Democrat to 37% GOP.
Phony Democrats claim it is all about "Gays" and equal rights. But when it comes to Republican Gays they pour in the money to elect a straight over a Gay.
(Union Tribune San Diego) - Political action committees have spent more than $2.5 million thus far trying to influence the outcome of the Republican Carl DeMaio and Democrat Scott Peters contest for the 52nd Congressional District.
That’s the latest figure reported by the Federal Election Commission, which tracks outside expenditures in near-real time. The National Republican Congressional Committee on behalf of DeMaio and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on behalf of Peters dominate the cash layout.
Most of it has gone to pay for television ads and mailers, but the R and D campaigns groups also have spent ten of thousands on surveys and research.
DeMaio and Peters each had raised well more than $2 million through the end of June. Neither has disclosed what they raised in the third quarter between July 1 and Sept. 30. Those income and expenditure reports are due by Oct. 15, although word may come out sooner.
The only race in California where PACS have spent more than in the 52nd is in District 7 race near Sacramento where first-term Democrat Ami Bera faces GOP challenger Doug Ose. PACs have shelled out more than $2.9 million in that contest.
Outside group spending in San Diego County’s four other congressional elections? Zero.
San Diego's 52nd Congressional District The district is a toss-up with 32% Democrat registration, 34% GOP and 34% independents and smaller parties.
But more interesting is how "religious" Catholics, Jews and Muslims eagerly vote for Democrats who urge the killing of babies.
California’s Catholic leadership has filed a federal civil rights complaint over a state requirement that health insurance cover abortions.
The California Catholic Conference, which represents the state’s bishops and archbishops, sent a letter Tuesday to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It contends that California’s Department of Managed Health Care discriminated against those morally opposed to abortion and requests an investigation.
The complaint is under review, said Rachel Seeger, spokeswoman for the federal agency’s Office for Civil Rights reports CBS News Sacramento.
The state agency didn’t immediately comment.
The Catholic conference is challenging a directive the state managed care agency sent Aug. 22 to seven insurance companies. It said that California’s Constitution and a 1975 state law prohibited them from selling group plans that exclude coverage for legal abortions.
“Abortion is a basic health care service,” department director Michelle Rouillard wrote in the letter.
The civil rights complaint contends that the directive targeted Catholic-run institutions, including Santa Clara University and Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.
The schools notified employees last fall that they planned to stop paying for elective abortions, but said faculty and staff members could pay for supplemental coverage that would be provided through a third party.
The complaint argues that the state action violates the federal Weldon Amendment, which allows the government to withhold federal funding from agencies, programs and state or local governments that discriminate against doctors, hospitals or insurers that don’t offer abortion coverage.
“For the first time in California – indeed, for the first time anywhere in the United States – health plans are now required, as a matter of regulatory fiat, to cover all legal abortions, even late-term abortions, for any reason,” the complaint stated.
“It is a flagrant violation of their civil rights and deepest moral convictions, and is government coercion of the worst kind.”,” said a statement from Bishop Robert McElroy, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of San Francisco and chair of the Institutional Concerns Committee of the California Catholic Conference.
The conference represents the archbishops of Los Angeles and San Francisco, and the bishops of Fresno, Monterey, Oakland, Orange, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Jose, Santa Rosa and Stockton.
The group “is the official voice of the 10 million Catholics and their many parishes, schools, universities, social service agencies in California,” according to a conference press statement.
The San Joaquin Valley is one of the few friendly areas for the GOP.
"The Republican Party in California is
no longer a statewide party."
Allan Hoffenblum
Republican strategist
(Fresno Bee) - When it comes to competitive political races, nowhere in California beats the San Joaquin Valley -- at least at the state and federal levels.
Heading into November, this part of the state has two congressional races and a state Senate race that are considered competitive. Three other seats in Congress, the state Senate and the state Assembly could be at play -- if not this year, then likely in the future.
Political experts say the region between Modesto and Bakersfield -- centered on Fresno -- is one of the few parts of California where Republicans can still challenge Democratic Party supremacy.
"The Republican Party in California is no longer a statewide party," said Allan Hoffenblum, a longtime Republican strategist and author of the California Target Book, which tracks the state's elections. "It's a regional party. And you're in one of the regions."
Only the Inland Empire of Riverside and San Bernardino counties can come close to the San Joaquin Valley when it comes to competitive races, political experts said.
This year, the region's competitive races are the 21st Congressional District clash between incumbent Hanford Republican David Valadao and his Democratic Party challenger, Amanda Renteria, the 10th Congressional District race pitting incumbent Turlock Republican Jeff Denham against Democrat Michael Eggman and the 14th State Senate race with incumbent Hanford Republican Andy Vidak and Democrat opponent Luis Chavez.
Each of the seats is held by a Republican, but in the case of Valadao's 21st Congressional and Vidak's 14th state Senate seat, Democrats dominate in voter registration. In Denham's district, Republicans hold a slight edge, though registration for both parties is below 40%.
Add in Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin, who is the Republican candidate for state controller, and the greater San Joaquin Valley is certain to see plenty of politicking, whether it's by campaign mailers, television or radio commercials or town hall appearances.
Buying media -- be it television or radio ads -- is also cheaper in the San Joaquin Valley than in places such as Los Angeles and Orange counties. That gives both parties a fighting chance to be competitive, said Tim Clark, a Sacramento-based political consultant who is running Swearengin's campaign.
"The media markets in Fresno and Bakersfield make it easy to have a conversation about politics," he said.
That conversation is likely to start in earnest after Labor Day on Monday, the traditional kickoff of the fall campaign season.
The Young Guns Network, a national Republican group, has booked $235,000 in ads in the Fresno and Bakersfield markets before Election Day -- almost certainly aimed at the Valadao-Renteria contest.
In the meantime, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's ad buy is from mid-October through Election Day and totals around $550,000 for the Fresno and Bakersfield media markets.
At the same time, Valadao has raised $1.8 million and has $1.2 million cash on hand, and Renteria has raised $1 million and has $400,000 in the bank, according to their latest campaign finance reports.
Valadao's campaign has also purchased more than $200,000 in television ads in both the Fresno and Bakersfield markets, and that is just for the period from Sept. 9-29.
Renteria is expected to go on television soon.
"The action is in the Central Valley because that is the area that is truly a two-party area," said Tony Quinn, a longtime political analyst in California and former Republican legislative aide.
Other races could be competitive at some point, but might not be this year.
12th State Senate
of GOP Senator Anthony Cannella
They are the 16th Congressional District seat held by Fresno Democrat Jim Costa, the 12th state Senate seat represented by Ceres Republican Anthony Cannella, and the 32nd Assembly District held by Bakersfield Democrat Rudy Salas.
The political territory held by Cannella and Salas has been competitive for well over a decade, and during that time has been held by both Democrats and Republicans. For instance, Valadao preceded Salas in the Assembly seat, though it was then known as the 30th District. Before Valadao, it was another Republican, Danny Gilmore, and prior to him, Democrat Nicole Parra.
Costa's district -- parts of Fresno and Madera counties and all of Merced County -- covers areas long held by moderate Democrats, but one nonpartisan political prognosticator says the district is marginally competitive this year.
It all comes down to candidates and money, political experts said. And this year, the challengers in each of the three districts are lacking in money or are not considered to be top-tier candidates.
In the 32nd Assembly District race, for instance, Delano Republican Pedro Rios gave Salas a good fight two years ago. Salas won 53%-47%.
This time around, Rios' campaign is close to broke. It was in the red as of June 30, and late contributions have only managed to bring Rios to around the break-even point. Salas, in the meantime, had more than $630,000 in his campaign account as of June 30, and has been steadily raising money since then.
It's a similar story on the 12th Senate District, which includes the western quarter of Fresno County, all of Merced County and other parts of the northern San Joaquin Valley as well as all of San Benito County and half of Monterey County.
Cannella is being challenged by Democrat Shawn Bagley, who only has around $30,000 in his account -- including $25,000 from the state Democratic Party -- while Cannella has more than $930,000.
Starved for Money In the landslide Democrat year of 2012 GOP Mayor Pedro Rios pulled 47% of the vote. In this year of a strong GOP tide the party is starving him of funds. He is broke. Treating Hispanic Republicans like this drives them right into the arms of the Democrats.
Hoffenblum, the Republican strategist, said the district could be competitive if Bagley was better financed, but for now is only being watched because Democrats hold a voter-registration edge of 13 percentage points.
Finally, there is Costa's 16th Congressional District. Again, money is a major issue. Republican challenger Johnny Tacherra's campaign is nearly broke at this point, while Costa has around $760,000.
Without adequate cash, experts say, it is hard for challengers like Tacherra to get their name and message to voters, especially in a district like Costa's, where Democrats hold a nearly 16-percentage-point registration edge.
Under the right circumstances, any of those three districts could be competitive, political experts said. Add those to the three that are competitive this election cycle, and that's why the region is the epicenter of competitive California politics.
"The Central Valley from Modesto down to Bakersfield, it has ebbed and flowed for two decades," Clark said, citing swings in both voter registration and which political party has held a particular seat.
Every Republican knows you have to win big here, he said, and every Democrat knows that if you can beat the Republican Party here, you can win statewide.
Said Clark: "The San Joaquin Valley remains the electoral hot spot in the state."
Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/08/29/4095091_the-san-joaquin-valley-is-californias.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy
The GOP Drops the Ball Again GOP Mayor Pedro Rios got 47% of the vote two years ago in this Southern San Joaquin Valley district. As a reward for his hard work the GOP is starving Rios for funds this year. . One has to wonder why the GOP even exists. Why even bother to run candidates if they refuse to back them? If Republicans won't step up to the plate then maybe the party should dissolve itself or just stop running candidates and let the Libertarians or a new party have a shot.
The moronic do nothing People's legislature self masturbates over plastic market bags, bullet trains and the "racism" outrage of the moment but refuses to vote to build desalination plants to create new water.
(San Gabriel Valley Tribune) - You probably know your Social Security number, your driver’s license number and perhaps the latest wrinkle in mattress marketing, your sleep number.
But do you know your drought number?
The latter represents the amount of water you are allowed to use per day. If you don’t know it, you probably should. Not knowing could cost you money. As California’s severe drought moves into a fourth year, state and local water agencies are working on something called “allocation-based rate structures,” a kind of precursor to water rationing that’s all the rage in Sacramento and in some areas such as Santa Cruz, Irvine and Santa Monica.
Here’s how it works: Your local water company, special district or city assigns you and your household a number in gallons — a daily water allocation. Usually, one number applies to maximum indoor water use, i.e. showers, kitchen and bathroom faucets, dishwashers, clothes washers, etc., and an extra allocation is assigned for outdoor use such as lawn irrigation.
Using census records, aerial photography and satellite imagery, an agency can determine a property’s efficient water usage.
At the Irvine Ranch Water District, number of residents, amount of landscaping and even medical needs are factored into a household’s water allocation or water budget.
“We want you to stay within that budget. That way we know you are using water in an efficient way,” according to an instructional video on the Orange County water agency’s website.
While some call it a more equal way to meter out mandatory water conservation, others call it social engineering. Some say the idea simply will not work.
In July, the State Water Resources Control Board passed stage one emergency regulations, giving powers to all local water agencies to fine $500 per violation.
“We were concerned with the lack of alarm we were hearing,” said Felicia Marcus, chair of the State Water Resources Control Board. “Our reservoirs are low. Half of the state’s storage is gone. It’s a frightening situation.”
The Democrat L.A. City Council voted to force large hotels only to pay a $15.37 minimum wage. Smaller hotels are exempt and thus have a marketing advantage over their larger competitors.
Democrats are working overtime to drive as many jobs out of the People's Republic as possible.
Workers at big hotels in Democrat run Los Angeles have won one of the highest minimum wages in the United States after a campaign by unions and civil rights groups.
The city council voted on Wednesday night to establish a minimum hourly wage of $15.37 for employees of hotels with more than 125 rooms, a decision expected to boost campaigns for better wages in other industries and cities.
Hotel workers in yellow T-shirts packed city hall and cheered as the council voted 12 to 3 for the ordnance, delivering a potentially landmark victory for the living wage movement and a defeat to business groups who warned of job losses reports The Guardian.
“We’re thrilled that the city has passed such a historic ordnance,” said Ruth Dawson, a staff attorney and reproductive justice fellow at the American Civil Liberties Union of South California, which was part of the coalition lobbying for the measure.
Most of the affected workers – estimated to range in number from 5,300 to 13,500 – were women and many were mothers, so a living wage meant reproductive justice as well as economic, said Dawson. “We hope this decision will extend far beyond LA as an example.”
The city council’s decision followed nation-wide momentum this year to alleviate so-called poverty wages. Eleven state legislatures approved minimum-wage increases. President Barack Obama lobbied to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10. Seattle voted for a gradual rollout of a $15 overall minimum wage. Eric Garcetti, LA’s mayor, wants to raise the city’s overall minimum wage to $13.25 by 2017.
A coalition of neighbourhood councils, advocacy groups and unions such as Unite convinced LA’s city council that workers at dozens of big hotels merited special attention. It cited research suggesting the wage increase would boost the local economy and allow parents, some of whom do two jobs to make ends meet, spend more time with their children.
Opponents said city hall ignored two other reports which warned of job losses. “Today a whole bunch of people in the hotel industry lost their jobs; they just don’t know it yet,” Ruben Gonzalez, of LA’s chamber of commerce, told the LA Times.
Christopher Thornberg, a partner of Beacon Economics, which produced one of the two critical studies, said hotels around LA’s international airport shed 10% of their jobs in the six years after city hall mandated a pay rise for the area’s workers in 2007. Hotels in the rest of LA county, in contrast, gained 10% more jobs in the same period, he said.
The "drought relief" cash being shoveled out by the Democrat Legislature has tons of pork that has nothing to do with creating new water.
(Associated Press) - California water officials on Tuesday released plans for spending almost a third of the $687 million emergency drought relief package approved by lawmakers earlier this year.
More than $200 million in expedited bond funding would benefit 110 projects throughout the state, ranging from the city of Mt. Shasta to San Diego, under the draft recommendations by the state Department of Water Resources. The agency plans to make final decisions by Oct. 31.
The Democrat run Legislature approved fast-tracked legislation, SB103 and SB104, to address the immediate effects of the three-year drought on communities while accelerating bond funding for public works projects that will better prepare agencies for future droughts.
"There's many ways we can better use the water we have," Brown said when announcing the legislation. "You can't manufacture water."
(Translation - Brown is a fucking idiot. Water is manufactured every day. It is called desalination.)
For example, more than 100,000 households received boxes from food banks while 2,000 farm workers received help to pay the rent, according to the Department of Social Services and the Department of Housing and Community Development.
The package also has funded work for young people through the California Conservation Corps. The agency says it has used money to pay for programs to clear brush and other wildfire hazards across the state, including at Silverwood Lake in the San Bernardino Mountains of Southern California and Mount Tamalpais in Marin County.
Jerry Brown: "You can't manufacture water." . A senile Jerry Brown appears not to know that nations from Australia to Saudi Arabia actually manufacture water for their needs. It is called desalination.
Banned in California Lisa Murkowski won a write-in vote in Alaska.
"Corruptus in Extremis"
The corrupt Democrats and Republicans forced through a law banning all write-in votes in November.
As a "bonus" all small opposition political parties are prevented from appearing on general election ballots so the voters are FORCED to vote for the special interest funded major parties.
(Ballot Access News) - U.S. District Court Judge David Carter refused to require California to show write-in space on ballots for the November 2014 election. Milonopoulos v Bowen, central district, 2:14cv-5973.
The denial of injunctive relief is mostly based on the 1992 U.S. Supreme Court decision Burdick v Takushi, which upheld Hawaii’s ban on write-in space on ballots. The order denying injunctive relief does not take into account that Hawaii ballot access to the general election was far, far easier than California’s current access to the general election, for Congressional elections.
In Hawaii, a minor party candidate for Congress could appear on the general election ballot if his party was a qualified party and the candidate won his party’s primary, which could be accomplished with a single vote if no one was running against that candidate in that party’s primary.
By contrast, in California, no one can get on the November ballot unless he or she places first or second in the June primary. Even a candidate supported by 30% of the voters may (depending on how the other candidates poll in the primary) fail to qualify for the November ballot.
Eight parties in the new Swedish Parliament. Freedom. What a concept.
. A Warning to American Readersk American readers, please do not be frightened by the chart above showing many different political parties. This is something that the rest of the world calls a free election. Free elections have not existed in the U.S. for multiple generations. . The United States stands almost alone in the world where the same two corrupt Washington D.C. funded parties magically win 100% of all elections to our House of Representatives. Other nations where the same parties win 100% of the elections are North Korea and China. . Unless the American people rise up and demand real election reform we are doomed to be ruled over by a corrupt, centralized and criminal oligarchy.
The rats are jumping from the sinking California GOP ship.
It was a double indignity for Neel Kashkari this weekend when not just one but two fellow Republicans on November's statewide ballot declined to endorse his campaign to oust Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown.
When Kashkari reached for an analogy Saturday to describe the party fracture, he invoked the Costa Concordia cruise ship that ran aground off Italy in 2012, killing 32 people.
"When a ship hits the rocks, it's a human tendency to run for a lifeboat," he said. "I understand that. I'm trying to keep everyone in the ship, and right the ship, and get the ship moving again," reports the Los Angeles Times.
Such was Kashkari's fate as California Republicans met in Los Angeles for a convention that was supposed to celebrate the party's unity.
The gathering opened on a sour note Friday, when the evening's keynote speaker, state controller candidate Ashley Swearengin, told reporters she was still mulling whether to vote for Kashkari or Brown. "I'm looking at the two candidates like other Californians are," she said.
Part-time James Bond villain and former Obama supporter Neel Kashkari.
And Pete Peterson, the Republican running for secretary of state, said in an interview that he was not endorsing Kashkari — or anyone else on the statewide ballot — and did not plan to vote a straight party ticket.
The extraordinary display of disunity led Ron Nehring, a former state Republican chairman and underdog candidate for lieutenant governor, to vent his fury in a profanity-tinged email to party brass just before midnight Friday, after news organizations began reporting the dust-up.
"This does NOT help the party, and it distracts from the efforts made to convey a positive theme," Nehring wrote. "The coverage is not of a party expanding its reach. It's about a party that isn't unified because its candidates can't get it together and get on the same page."
Party leaders played down the disagreement. "A lot is being made out of a few tea leaves there," said state party vice chair Harmeet Dhillon.
But for both Swearengin and Peterson, distance from the party could prove to be an asset in a state that has largely favored Democrats for two decades.
Swearengin, the mayor of Fresno, said California "needs some independence when it comes to watching the treasury."
Swearengin has rebuffed Kashkari's efforts to campaign together and broken with him on his signature issue, the bullet train that Brown wants to build between Los Angeles and San Francisco. She supports the project as an economic boost for the Central Valley; Kashkari calls it "the crazy train."
The friction is also partly personal: Kashkari irked Swearengin by not giving her advance warning that he was going to spend a week posing as a homeless man in Fresno in an effort to spotlight poverty and joblessness on Brown's watch.
For his part, Peterson said he was declining to publicly back Kashkari because a secretary of state needs to run state elections in a nonpartisan fashion. He also suggested that Republicans should reclaim the progressive reform traditions of the Theodore Roosevelt era.
