Capitol Alert

The latest voter registration numbers from Secretary of State Debra Bowen are good news for Democrats.

More than a million new voters registered as Democrats in California in 2008 -- boosting the party's registration advantage in the Golden State to more than 2.2 million voters over Republicans.

The state added roughly 230,000 new Republicans to its registration rolls this year, Bowen reported.

All told, Democrats now make up 44.4 percent of California's electorate, while Republicans comprised 31.37 percent. Voters who declined to name a political party make up 19.91 percent.

For legislative races, the key is where those new voters were distributed.

The open primary initiative filed by former Assemblyman Steve Peace has been withdrawn, according to the secretary of state's Web page.

The measure had drawn some buzz -- particularly after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he wanted to tackle the open primary after redistricting.

Hat tip: Blockbuster Democracy.

Even the fact that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is campaigning in Ohio today for Republican John McCain hasn't blunted Washington rumors about a potential energy-related position for Schwarzenegger in Democrat Barack Obama's cabinet.

Politico.com sketched out a list Friday of possible cabinet members and top staff in an Obama White House, stating that the names are being "widely discussed in Democratic circles" and are being "seriously considered by Obama advisers." The list names Schwarzenegger and New Mexico Sen. Jeff Bingaman as choices for energy secretary.

Talk of Schwarzenegger serving as some kind of "energy and environment czar" for Obama arose during an interview with ABC News earlier this year. Asked by host George Stephanopoulos about such a position, Schwarzenegger gave an answer vague enough to spark neverending speculation that the GOP governor would consider the job.

But just last week in an interview with CNN, Schwarzenegger insisted he will not leave the governor's office before his term ends in January 2011, even if he is asked to serve in a cabinet for McCain or Obama.

Still, one can't deny that focusing on energy policies in Washington looks far more attractive these days than dealing with a never-ending fiscal crisis in Sacramento, where the budget goes from "balanced" to $10 billion in the hole in the span of a few weeks.

The Bee's Andrew McIntosh has more details on the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund.

The short info: a $2.4 billion deficit by the end of 2009 and $4.9 billion at the end of 2010.

It's time for The Capitol Alert elections quiz, presidential election edition.

Some of the answers should be easy. Some should be hard.

The basic rules are these: Answer the questions you can and e-mail your guesses to contest@capitolalert.com. (The fancy legal rules are here.)

The person with the most correct answers will win $50 in gift cards to Starbucks. In the case of a tie, the winner will be determined by our tie-breaker questions.

The answers to many of the questions (though not all) are contained in previous posts on Capitol Alert. So feel free to search around. All entries must be e-mailed by 11:59 p.m. on Nov. 3.

The best way to submit your answers is by copying the questions into an e-mail and writing your answers below.

Good luck!

Former Rep. Doug Ose, a Republican, spent much of this year's primary season ripping into GOP Sen. Tom McClintock, dipping into his personal fortune to air millions in attack ads.

Ose lost the 4th Congressional District primary to McClintock.

And he is back, taping a new radio ad attacking McClintock's Democratic opponent, Charlie Brown.

"Liberal Democrat Charlie Brown would just be another "Yes Man" for Democrat Speaker Nancy Pelosi's big Tax and Spend programs," said Ose.

Sound familiar?

We've posted the audio of the ad.

Read the transcript after the jump.

• Arianna Huffington is using her megaphone to promote Proposition 5, the nonviolent offender rehabilitation act.

All five of California's living governors announced their joint opposition to the measure on Thursday.

Huffington's take:

Five governors of California, Democrats and Republicans, joining forces to oppose something that is indisputably in the public interest.

This is an image that could be repeated, with different faces, in region after region of our country, involving issue after issue. Public officials standing against the public good, with the disastrous results on display from Detroit to Wall Street. All suffering from the same destructive force: the power of entrenched special interests to cloud the vision of our leaders, causing them to thwart good sense, good legislation, and the will of the people.

• Could Air Resources Board chief Mary Nichols be the new Environmental Protection Agency head in an Obama administration?

The Guardian, based in the U.K., floats the idea.

Capitol Weekly picks up on the possibility.

•Just how much money is moving into California politics? According to ElectionTrack, there were 753 donations of more than $1,000 reported Thursday. Nine donations were bigger than $100,000 and 95 donations were larger than $10,000.

The total money switching hands was $4.5 million.

On Thursday, the two Democratic leaders of the Legislature reported donating a combined $150,000 to defeat Proposition 11, the redistricting measure that would strip state lawmakers of the power to draw their own political boundaries.

Bass' ballot measure committee, Strengthening California Through Leadership, gave $100,000.

Perata's Leadership California committee donated $50,000. Perata gave another $100,000 last week.

Those contributions, plus another $100,000 from the Democratic Party, would be just enough to get the campaign out of debt.

Photo: Speaker Karen Bass and Senate President pro tem Don Perata responding to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger after he unveils his May Revision in 2008 Credit: Paul Kitagaki Jr./Sacramento Bee

The man with one of the best voices in Hollywood has signed up to speak against Proposition 8 in one of the campaign's closing ads.

Watch below (Hat tip:Wilshire & Washington):

CORRECTED The Field Poll handed out good news for some ballot measure enthusiasts with today's assessment before Tuesday's election.

Support for Proposition 2, which would give egg-laying chickens a little more room to spread their wings, is favored by three-fifths of likely voters, including 55 percent of those who have already cast ballots. About a quarter are opposed, with 13 percent undecided.

Support is flagging for Arizona billionaire Peter Sperling's Proposition 7 to double the requirement for electricity generators to use renewable energy, with 43 percent opposed and 39 percent in support.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's effort to revamp the way legislative districts are drawn, Proposition 11, is ahead 45 percent to 30 percent. But a quarter of likely voters remain undecided.

The battle over the ballot's centerpiece issue -- Proposition 8 -- remains tight.

Yes: 44 percent
No: 49 percent

That has moved from supporters of a gay marriage ban in the state Constitution with 38 percent support in September, with opposition dropping from 55 percent. Seven percent remain undecided.

Check out all the details of the poll and Capitol Alert's exclusive statistical tabulations here.

It's the home stretch of election season as campaigns have one last weekend to get out the vote.

Schwarzenegger, who has kept up a busy California campaign scheduled, heads to Ohio today.

Four years ago, Schwarzenegger made a big appearance there days before the last presidential election with President Bush. He repeats himself today with a rally in Columbus with Sen. John McCain.

Lt. Gov. John Garamendi is out there stumping for his fellow Democrats -- and building up chits for his own run for governor.

He begins the day at an event with long-shot Assembly candidate Linda Jones in AD 36. Then, he's off to see former Democratic Assemblywoman Julie Bornstein, who is trying to unseat GOP Rep. Mary Bono Mack.

He'll head south to AD 80, where he'll give a speech backing Democrat Manuel Perez to a group, followed up with some precinct walking.

And that's just Friday alone.

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass is in Los Angeles today for a fundraiser with incoming Sen. Carole Liu.

In San Francisco, Mayor Gavin Newsom, Sen. Dianne Feinstein and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will be talking about high-speed rail.

On Saturday, tens of thousands are expected to attend Qualcomm Stadium for The Call, a religious event featuring "12 hours of prayer and worship." Much of that energy is expected to oppose support Proposition 8.

*The original version of this post said The Call's energy would oppose, not support Proposition 8. Apparently, we fell victim to the same mistake as Willie Brown.

Speaking of Qualcomm, the man who plays there on Sunday, San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers, has donated $10,000 to the Yes on Proposition 4 campaign.

Photo: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and President Bush greet a crowd of supporters during a campaign rally at Nationwide Arena Friday Oct. 29, 2004 in Columbus, Ohio. Credit: AP Photo/ Jay LaPrete

Marty D. Omoto, the director of the California Disability Community Action Network, reports on a conference call between Schwarzenegger administration officials and health care advocates today, in which the governor's office said deeper cuts are coming.

Find his report on the California Progress Report.

Since we're on the topic of sports figures on politics, we should note that San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers has donated $10,000 to the initiative requiring parental notification before a minor can obtain an abortion.

The donation to the Proposition 4 campaign was reported to the secretary of state earlier today,

Photo: San Diego Chargers Philip Rivers passes the ball during the NFL football match between San Diego Chargers and New Orleans Saints at Wembley Stadium in London, Sunday Oct. 26, 2008. (AP Photo/ Matt Dunham)

Jeff Kent may have mixed loyalties when it comes to baseball -- he starred for both the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers -- but he's a clear yes on Proposition 8.

The All-Star second baseman donated $15,000 to ban gay marriage this week, the Los Angeles Times' Dan Morain reports.

Kent also played baseball at the University of California, Berkeley.

Los Angeles Dodgers' Jeff Kent follows the flight of his two-run double against the Colorado Rockies in the third inning of a Major League Baseball game in Denver on Monday, July 21, 2008. (AP Photo/ David Zalubowski)

In 2002, San Francisco Giants' Jeff Kent connects on a solo home run off Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Josh Fogg in the second inning in San Francisco, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2002. (AP Photo/ Marcio Jose Sanchez)

There's been plenty of mud slung across California's airwaves in recent weeks as political candidates whack their opponents in television ads.

Capitol Alert has collected what it considers the top 10 attack ads of the season. We're not saying these are the best ads -- just the most notable.

From Paris Hilton comparisons to images of children smoking, these ads pull no punches.

With the 2008 election shaping up to be a Democratic year, Democrats appear to be running some of the nastier spots in districts across California. The majority of our 10 attack ads criticize Republicans.

The list, however, isn't complete without your input.

Do you have other favorite attack ads this season? Leave links or descriptions in the comments section. Better yet, vote for the ad you like best, hate the most or think was the most effective.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger teams up with former business partner (in Planet Hollywood) and actor Sylvester Stallone for a fundraiser tonight in La Jolla.

The money goes toward passing Proposition 11, the redistricting measure on the Nov. 4 ballot.

The Capitol Morning Report (subscription required) has the details on the donation levels.

Chairs of the events (those who give $25,000) get two seats at the head table, 10 dinner tickets and two photos each for two people with Schwarzenegger and Stallone.

Co-chairs pay $10,000 get the same, minus the two seats at the head table.

A vice-chair ($5,000) gets four dinner tickets, and one photo with two people and Schwarzenegger and Stallone.

A just plain old ticket costs $1,000.

Photo: Sylvester Stallone, with his wife Jennifer Flavin, left background, in 2006. Credit: AP Photo/ Antonio Calanni

The Sierra Club of California and the League of Conservation Voters have each released scorecards in the last day ranking state lawmakers on their friendliness to the environmental movement.

The Sierra Club ranked 15 state senators and 27 Assembly members (all Democrats) with a perfect 100 percent.

The lowest scoring Dems were Assemblywoman Cathleen Galgiani (three out of 10), while Sens. Lou Correa and Ron Calderon voted with the Sierra Club three out of seven times.

Twenty-two Republicans received "zeros" from the Sierra club -- including both GOP leaders.

The California League of Conservation Voters gave perfect scores to 19 Assembly members and nine senators (again, all Democrats).

After the jump, see a the list of those lawmakers who scored a perfect score from both environmental groups:

Believe it or not, there are two cases from our Dept. of Inappropriate Hitler references this week.

The first is from the Yes on Proposition 8 rally earlier on Tuesday.

At that rally, a man identified by Calitics as Brad Dacus, the president of the Pacific Justice Institute, compared the fight against gay marriage to the fight against Hitler.

"There was another time in history when people, when the bell tolled. And the question was whether or not they were going to hear it. The time was during Nazi Germany with Adolf Hitler," Dacus proclaimed.

Then, after a long interlude, he concluded, "Let us not make that mistake, folks. Let us hear the bell! Vote on Proposition 8!"

The crowd exploded in cheers.

The No on 8 campaign has posted the minute-long video. Watch it below:

The second Hitler reference was in an e-mail blast sent out by the Monterey County Republican Party comparing Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler.

UPDATED Republican Assemblyman Todd Spitzer thinks calling California's termed-out lawmakers back to the Capitol after the Nov. 4 election is "absurd."

"With the philosophical differences still firmly in place it is unlikely anything will be finalized" before lawmakers are forced from office on Dec. 1, Spitzer writes on his blog.

"As a termed out legislator, I feel it is absurd that my termed out colleagues and I could potentially be called back to try and fix the ever increasing budget deficit. Both sides have no incentive to reach across the aisle and accomplish anything, especially since Election Day will be in our past."

Worse, says the outspoken Spitzer, "It is not fair to the newly elected legislators ... to have the current group of legislators in Sacramento debating on how to clean up this mess when we did little to resolve it in the first place."

Democratic Sen. Barack Obama holds a huge lead in California -- 22 points -- with five days until Election Day, according to the latest Field Poll.

Obama pulled in support from 55 percent of those surveyed compared to 33 percent for Sen. John McCain.

If that margin holds, it would be the largest landslide in the Golden State since World War II.

Capitol Alert has exclusive statistical tabulations for the poll.

That's where you can dig into data that show Obama leading among households earning less than $20,000, 71 percent to 14 percent. Or that Protestants represent one of the few subgroups backing McCain (51 percent to 38 percent).

All of California's living governors (the former ones and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger) will hold an event today urging voters to oppose Proposition 5 in Los Angeles today.

The delicious idea of Schwarzenegger siding with the state's correctional officers union, whose money has gone into beating Proposition 5 instead of recalling the governor, is duly noted.

The California Correctional Peace Officers Association has spent more than $1.8 million to defeat Proposition 5, and that spending is the subject of the latest Yes on 5 TV ad.

Lastly, Kevin Yamamura looks ahead to that November calendar to tackle the deficit in a special session. The quick take: The days are filling up fast:

Schwarzenegger said he will not call the session until Nov. 5, the day after Election Day. The week after, the state recognizes Veterans Day on Tuesday, Nov. 11. The following week, Schwarzenegger will hold his dueling two-day conferences.

And in the final week of the month, Thanksgiving is on Nov. 27, essentially assuring that any action with the lame-duck Legislature must happen by Nov. 26 -- or earlier, depending on how far legislators plan to travel for the holiday.

All told, even with the most generous of assumptions, that leaves 12 business days in November for actual budget work to take place in Sacramento.

Count GOP Assemblyman Todd Spitzer among the special session skeptics. He called the idea of bringing back the lame duck lawmakers -- himself included -- "absurd."

Photo: Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., steps off the plane at the airport in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2008. Credit: AP Photo/ Alex Brandon

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will call a special session on the budget in November, but that hasn't stopped him from scheduling other events next month as well.

He announced Wednesday that he will convene a first-ever Governor's Conference on Small Business and Entrepreneurship in Los Angeles on Nov. 18 and 19. Incidentally, those are the same days the governor will hold his Global Climate Summit in Beverly Hills with U.S. governors and representatives from foreign nations.

Apparently, the governor can multitask.

"The governor will be participating at both events and at the same time will be working with the Legislature to solve our deficit," said Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear.

Schwarzenegger's small business conference will seek recommendations from small business owners on how to stimulate the economy. "Joe the Plumber" is not among the speakers, but a Facebook vice president is.

The Republican governor this week expressed optimism that he and lawmakers could bridge what some believe is now a $10 billion revenue shortfall in the current fiscal year by the end of November.

But the month is filling up fast. Schwarzenegger said he will not call the session until Nov. 5, the day after Election Day. The week after, the state recognizes Veterans Day on Tuesday, Nov. 11. The following week, Schwarzenegger will hold his dueling two-day conferences.

And in the final week of the month, Thanksgiving is on Nov. 27, essentially assuring that any action with the lame-duck Legislature must happen by Nov. 26 -- or earlier, depending on how far legislators plan to travel for the holiday.

All told, even with the most generous of assumptions, that leaves 12 business days in November for actual budget work to take place in Sacramento.

From the AP: The Modesto office of U.S. Rep. George Radanovich was evacuated Wednesday after the office received a package containing an envelope labeled "anthrax."

Some staffers are being taken to a hospital for cautionary examinations, said Spencer Pederson, the congressman's spokesman.

"They treat situations like this very seriously and take every precaution," Pederson said. "So until they confirm it's not anthrax they'll treat it like it is."

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger characterized the state's projected multibillion-dollar budget deficit Wednesday as a "state of emergency," reflecting money woes worldwide, and he warned that major public services will be affected.

"Since everyone has to take a haircut here, it's natural that education gets hit, law enforcement gets hit, prisons are going to get hit, and also health care is going to get hit," Schwarzenegger said. "So, it's just the math, it's not me, it's mathematics that tell you that you have to make cuts in those kind of different areas."

Schwarzenegger was responding to reporters' questions at a news conference featuring a handful of former legislators touting passage of Proposition 11, which would alter the state's process of drawing political districts.

Earlier this week, the governor had announced that he will declare a special legislative session to wrestle with state budget and economic issues stemming largely from a faltering U.S. and world economy.

California's revenues have dropped at least $5 billion more than anticipated -- thus about $8 billion total -- and "that number can even be greater," Schwarzenegger told reporters Wednesday.

Asked about potential multibillion-dollar cuts to schools, Schwarzenegger said he informed education leaders this week that "we're going to do everything that we can to protect education."

"Let us be creative and find a way that even though we have to make cuts, how do we keep the most amount of dollars in the classroom so it doesn't affect our children, because we've got to take care of our children," he said.

Asked to comment on reports that he will renew his bid for a sales tax increase, Schwarzenegger did not confirm or deny.

"I have great faith in the legislators that they will see that we are in a state of emergency" in California, nationwide and worldwide, Schwarzenegger said, adding "I think that after the election it will be easier for the legislators to make certain decisions that maybe it was hard for them to make before."

State Treasurer Bill Lockyer became the first statewide elected Democrat to endorse Proposition 11 on Wednesday, saying through an aide that the power for state lawmakers to draw their own districts "presents an untenable conflict of interest."

Lockyer provided his positions on the Nov. 4 ballot measures at the request of Capitol Alert.

Tom Dresslar, a Lockyer spokesman, said the state treasurer, former attorney general and former state lawmaker believes that "the current redistricting system is not the cause of all evil in Sacramento and Prop. 11 is far from the cure all for everything that ails state government."

"That said," Dresslar continued, "allowing the Legislature to set its own district boundaries presents an untenable conflict of interest, and on that principle he supports Prop. 11."

Opponents of Proposition 11, led by Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, have argued that the measure is a Republican power grab. (Except when they tell Republicans it is a Democratic power grab).

GOP Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is supporting the remapping plan, is the measure's largest donor and has tapped his vast fundraising network to pass the proposition.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has released his positions on the dozen measures on the Nov. 4 ballot.

They are:

Prop 1A High Speed Rail Bonds: Yes
Prop 2 Farm Animal Confinement Standards: No
Prop 3 Children's Hospital Bond: Yes
Prop 4 Parental Notification of Abortion: Yes
Prop 5 Nonviolent Drug Offenses, Sentencing & Parole: No
Prop 6 Law Enforcement Funding, Gang Penalties: Neutral
Prop 7 Renewable Energy Standards: No
Prop 8 Same-Sex Marriage Ban: No
Prop 9 Victims' Rights & Parole: Neutral
Prop 10 Alternative Fuel Bonds: No
Prop 11 Redistricting: Yes
Prop 12 Veterans Bond Act: Yes

A new ad for Proposition 5, the nonviolent offender rehabilitation measure, attacks California's prison guards' union for opposing the measure, saying the correctional officers are "overjoyed" with filled prisons "because overcrowding means they're overpaid."

"Our prisons are overcrowded and prison guards are overjoyed," the ad says. "Why? Because overcrowding means they're overpaid -- taking overtime pay right out of your pocket."

Watch the hard-hitting ad Yes on 5 ad here.

So far the California Correctional Peace Officers Association has donated $1 million to the campaign to defeat Proposition 5 and independently spent another $825,000 to oppose the measure, according to campaign filings.

Proposition 5 would loosen penalties and expand rehabilitation programs for nonviolent drug offenders in California. That would have increased upfront costs, with the potential for long-time cost savings.

The No on 5 campaign went on the air earlier this week with an ad featuring Sen. Dianne Feinstein calling the measure "the drug dealers' bill of rights."

"Say no to drug dealers. Vote no on Propostiion 5," Feinstein says in the ad.

Photo: Inside the walls of San Quentin Prison, Wednesday May 14, 2008. Credit: Sacramento Bee/ Brian Baer.

State Treasurer Bill Lockyer said he would join Sen Dianne Feinstein in opposing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's lottery proposal, which still must be approved by voters.

So says Joel Fox, president of the Small Business Action Committee, at Fox and Hounds Daily.

Borrowing against future lottery earnings is expected to plug a $5 billion hole in next year's budget, but passage of the plan is far from a sure thing.

"The public already has no faith in us. It's not going to change anybody's mind."

-- Sen. Alan Lowenthal, a Long Beach Democrat, on whether state lawmakers should travel abroad after the election, when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to call a special session. Lowenthal does not have travel plans. Read the full story.

Photo: Sen Alan Lowenthal in 2005. Credit: Randall Benton/Sacramento Bee

In the final stretch of his bid for Congress, Sen. Tom McClintock will attend two town hall-style meetings today in Roseville and Lincoln.

The National Republican Congressional Committee, which is short on cash and has been deserting some GOP incumbents across the country, came to McClintock's aid this week with a new TV ad attacking his opponent, Democrat Charlie Brown.

The ad tries to tie Brown to Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- an unpopular name in the GOP-heavy 4th Congressional District.

The NRCC ad comes after its counterweight, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, released an attack ad of its own against McClintock, which covers a dizzying number of topics in 30 seconds.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom holds a fundraiser for the No on 8 campaign at his S.F. home tonight, said his political adviser Garry South.

South said the event had already brought in pledges of $100,000 -- with more to come.

Newsom first set in motion the events that led to the legalization of same-sex marriage earlier this year, when he allowed his city to perform such ceremonies in 2004.

He's been an active opponent of Proposition 8 -- and, initially, the face of the Yes campaign, which took footage of Newsom saying gay marriage was going to happen "whether you like it or not."

"They were trying to demonize him, and all it did was tick him off and make him work 10 times harder than he was going to do anyway," said South, who is working with Newsom as he explores a run for governor in 2010.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will campaign outside the Capitol for Proposition 11, the redistricting measure, joined by former state officials supporting the initiative. Schwarzenegger has a second Yes on 11 event in the Bay Area and will headline an evening fundraiser for Republican Assembly candidate Abram Wilson, who is running in the 15th Assembly District.

Lastly, Sen. Leland Yee's 2005 law to prevent ultra-violent video games from being rented or sold to minors faces a court test today. A federal judge struck down the statute last year, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear the case today in Sacramento.

One of California's most popular politicians, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, speaks directly into the camera in a new TV ad urging voters to oppose the ban on gay marriage.

"In my lifetime, I've seen discrimination and I see it again in Proposition 8," Feinstein says at the start of the ad.

Feinstein goes on to say the measure is "about discrimination and "treats people differently under the law."

This is the second statewide TV ad featuring Feinstein this week.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger could be asked to testify in the public corruption case of Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona, the Orange County Register reported on Monday.

In a hearing this afternoon, Carona's defense attorney, Brian Sun, said he might want the governor (to) take the stand to answer questions about how he had once offered Carona the position of chief of his staff.

But it is possible Schwarzenegger might not have to come down - if prosecutors agree to stipulate that the governor offered Carona the job.

U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Guilford left open the possibility of the governor's appearance.

"We have subpoena power that extends to Sacramento,'' Guilford said.

Aaron McLear, Schwarzenegger's press secretary, wouldn't say if the governor ever offered his top staff job -- currently occupied by Democrat Susan Kennedy -- to Carona.

"We don't discuss personnel matters," he said.

As for potentially testifying, McLear said he "wouldn't want to speculate on anything on a legal matter that hasn't happened."

The Yes on Proposition 11 campaign has released its latest TV ad. And the campaign still isn't telling voters much of anything about what the measure does -- instead pitching it as a cure-all for Sacramento's woes.

(Read Jim Sanders' AdWatch on the campaign's first ad.)

This one features a firefighter blaming the Legislature for failing to give firefighters the equipment they need.

"They bickered, gridlocked and did nothing," he says into the camera. "If they don't do their job, Prop. 11 makes it easier to vote them out of office,"

The opinion makers at California's largest newspapers have all opined on the dozen propositions on the Nov. 4 ballot. But in this Internet-era of fragmented media, do the stances of editorial boards still matter?

Yes, say most political and communications professionals.

But less than they used to.

"They matter less and less each election cycle it seems," said Don Sipple, a veteran Republican media consultant who has worked for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Barbara O'Connor, director of the Institute for the study of Politics and Media at Sacramento State, said editorial board endorsements matter most on issues that are the least well know.

For this fall's ballot, that wouldn't include hot-button items like Proposition 8, the gay marriage ban, or Proposition 4, the abortion notification initiative.

Instead, editorials have more sway on more complex - and lesser known - issues (like the law and order Propositions 5, 6, and 9 or alternative energy measures such as Propositions 7 and 10).

The following is a complete list -- with links -- of the editorial endorsements of California's ten largest newspapers: the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, The San Diego Union-Tribune, The Sacramento Bee, Orange County Register, The (San Jose) Mercury News, The (Riverside) Press-Enterprise, Contra Costa Times, The Fresno Bee and Los Angeles Daily News.

For half of the dozen measures on the Nov. 4 ballot, the papers' editorial boards all agreed.

All of the largest papers opposed Propositions 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10.

Only for Proposition 11, the redistricting measure, did the papers all agree to support an initiative. The redistricting overhaul would strip state lawmakers of the power to draw their own districts -- long a favorite reform of the state's editorial boards.

The ten largest papers split evenly on only a single measure -- Proposition 3, the children's hospital bond. Those opposed cited costs.

All told, a majority of the ten papers recommended opposing nine of the 12 measures on the ballot. (Only the redistricting measure and Proposition 12, a veterans bond, were recommended for passage.)

Read our twin post on whether these endorsements matter.

A week before the election, the National Republican Congressional Committee has released a new ad bashing Democratic candidate Charlie Brown as a "liberal yes man" for Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

"Do we really want to send another liberal Democrat like Charlie Brown to Congress?" the ad asks at the opening.

The TV spot touts that Republican Sen. Tom McClintock has taken a no-new-taxes pledge.

The NRCC is also paying for an anti-Charlie Brown radio spot.

Watch the ad after the jump.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday transferred another $500,000 from his campaign committee to the effort to pass Proposition 11, the redistricting measure.

All told, Schwarzenegger's ballot measure committee has now donated $2.95 million to pass the redistricting overhaul, which would take the power to draw state legislative districts out of the hands of state lawmakers.

But that $2.95 million figure severely low balls Schwarzenegger's financial involvement.

Much of the money has flown directly into the Yes on 11 campaign through events Schwarzenegger has attended (like in Florida) and through donors he has connected with the campaign. His finance director, Renee Croce, has served as a fundraiser for the ballot effort.

As of last week, opponents of the measure, led by Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, were still deep in debt -- despite a recent infusion of $400,000 from AFSCME, a major public employees labor union, and $100,000 from the state Democratic Party.

The No on 11 campaign reported only several thousand dollars on hand and more than $260,000 in debts as of Oct. 18.

Since then, Perata has transferred $100,000 from his ballot committee, Leadership California, to the No on 11 campaign, but that is still not enough to get the effort out of the red.

As of Oct. 18, the Yes on 11 campaign had roughly $600,000 in cash, after subtracting debts. Schwarzenegger's latest $500,000 contribution came through his ballot measure committee, the California Dream Team.

Believe it or not, there's only one week left until the election.

Today, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom (and 2010 wanna-be governor) heads to Santa Cruz for an event to oppose Proposition 8, the gay marriage ban.

He'll be back in San Francisco for a screening of the new film "Milk" starring Sean Penn as Harvey Milk at the Castro Theatre.

Lt. Gov. John Garamendi does some stumping of his own -- for the fly-under-the-radar Proposition 12.

Garamendi will be in San Diego pushing the bond measure to provide low-interest loans to the state's veterans.

And while politics will dominate the debate this week, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Monday he will call lawmakers in for a special session to deal with the budget on Nov. 5 -- that's the day after the election.

The Schwarzenegger administration says the deficit is now "much worse" than the $3 billion hole estimated just weeks ago. Outgoing Senate Democratic leader Don Perata said the gap may have grown as large as $10 billion.

Many of the state's leaders will be in Los Angeles today for the Milken Institute's annual State of the State Conference.

Among the attendees will be Senate leader Dave Cogdill, state controller John Chiang, ex-Gov. Gray Davis, Schwarzenegger adviser David Crane, California Business Roundtable President William Hauck, state Treasurer Bill Lockyer, former White House chief of staff Leon Panetta, and the new Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor.

GOP Assemblyman Tom Berryhill holds a fundraiser in Modesto today. But it is Berryhill's brother -- Bill Berryhill -- who is fighting a tough election battle.

The state's Democratic Party, hoping to expand the map of competitive seats, has poured nearly $300,000 into the campaign of Democrat John Eisenhut in the last two weeks.

Berryhill and Eisenhut are running to replace termed-out GOP Assemblyman Greg Aghazarian of Stockton.

Voters across California's first congressional district picked up the phone this weekend to hear a breathy woman intone that "Mike Thompson's been a bad boy."

With a seductive voice more suited to an escort service than political outreach, the woman suggestively urges listeners to "vote 'yesssss' for Zane," the Republican challenger to Thompson, a Democratic congressman.

Listen to the sexually tinged robo-call for yourself.

In an interview, Zane Starkewolf, the 27-year old Republican nominee and a graduate of UC Davis, apologized for the message and said he "took full responsibility" for the calls, which he said went out to 100,000 phone numbers across the Northern California district.

Starkewolf said he provided the text and the idea (He wanted "something to be impactful," he said), but an unpaid staffer recorded the message and "she took a little liberty with how she interpreted the text."

Still, in the interview and in a statement on his Web site, Starkewolf defended the call.

"I believe it is good to get enthusiasm back into politics," he wrote on his site. "...And if a message needs to go out that is "appalling" in a sense in order to get the discussion going, then I believe it is a worthy cause."

Developer Rick Caruso has said according to multiple reports that he will decide whether to challenge Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's reelection bid this week.

The filing deadline for the race is Nov. 8.

Caruso, a Republican, could self-finance his candidacy -- a major advantage with the primary election scheduled in March, less than five months away.

Caruso's decision -- whatever he decides -- could have a trickle-down effect on the 2010 gubernatorial race.

Villaraigosa is considered a potential Democratic candidate for governor, but the timing -- running for reelection only the year before the governor's race primary -- could be tricky.

In Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas' bid for Los Angeles County Supervisor, labor unions are playing a huge role.

How huge? "For every $1 raised by Ridley-Thomas, those unions have raised nearly $9 for a separate campaign on his behalf, according to fundraising reports," reports the Los Angeles Times.

If it isn't clear yet, former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown's weekly column in the San Francisco Chronicle is a must-read for political junkies.

In Sunday's edition, he reported on a private lunch with Sen. Dianne Feinstein and said he "came away more convinced than ever that she's serious about running for governor in 2010."

Brown reports Feinstein came to lunch with notes -- "a detailed briefing paper on the state of California, including its finances."

"It was not the kind of information you'd be seeking unless you figured that dealing with that mess might soon be your job," Brown wrote.

Meanwhile, the FlashReport's Jon Fleischman reports on a delicious irony should former eBay chief Meg Whitman, a Republican, jump into the race. Whitman recently donated $250,000 to the No on Proposition 5 campaign.

Well, the campaign turned around and made a TV spot...featuring Democrat Feinstein.

Watch the ad after the jump.

The New York Times magazine profiled Wayne Pacelle, the president of the Humane Society of the United States, and Proposition 2, the measure which would be a de facto elimination of cages for egg-laying hens, on Sunday.

The long story certainly played up the significance of the ballot measure.

Peter Singer, a professor of bioethics at Princeton University and a leading figure in the animal rights movement, compares Proposition 2 to Barack Obama's presidential campaign, calling Proposition 2 the "other historic ballot this November." If it passes, it would affect more animals -- almost 20 million -- than any ballot measure has in U.S. history.

Because California is the largest agriculture state in the country, and often a trend-setter on social issues, the ballot is a bellwether for farm-animal-welfare reform nationwide. Many experts predict that if Proposition 2 becomes law it will create a ripple effect, putting pressure on other states to pass similar reforms and pushing major food corporations to go crate-free and cage-free.
Pacelle

It also offered some insight to Pacelle, the man behind the organization that sponsored the signature-gathering drive.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger meets with legislative leaders today to talk about a special session on the budget he wants to call next month, as well as proposals to stimulate the economy.

The Republican governor has said that he will seek a special legislative session after the Nov. 4 election to close an estimated $3 billion revenue gap in the state budget.

Assembly Democrats wrote a letter to Schwarzenegger on Friday saying they want to put mortgage reform "at the top of your agenda" for the special session.

Meanwhile, U.S. District Court Judge Thelton Henderson holds another hearing in San Francisco today on prison medical care receiver Clark Kelso's effort to force the state to transfer $250 million to him for construction of seven inmate long-term care facilities.

Kelso had sought $8 billion from the court as well as contempt citations against Schwarzenegger and state Controller John Chiang.

Which, of course, could whack an even bigger hole in the state budget.

Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo and challenger Kevin Johnson face off at 7 p.m. tonight in their last debate. The televised studio match-up is hosted by KCRA, Channel 3.

In a letter to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Assembly Democrats said Friday they want to put mortgage reform "at the top of your agenda" for the special session on the budget.

Schwarzenegger is set to meet with the legislative leaders on Monday to talk about the state of the budget -- which doesn't look good as revenues are now $3 billion off projections.

No date has been set for a potential special session.

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, Banking and Finance Committee Chairman Pedro Nava and Rules Committee Chairman Ted Lieu signed Friday's letter, which you can read in full.

If you thought the 2008 state budget was a tough nut to crack, next year four of the veteran and most respected public and behind-the-scenes leaders of the process will be gone.

Democratic Assemblyman John Laird, a budget committee chairman, is departing. Diane Cummins, who has been Senate Democrats' chief budgeter for half a dozen years, is retiring. So is Elizabeth Hill, the head of the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office, along with top deputy Hadley Johnson.

"Big shoes to fill," said Assembly GOP budget vice-chair Roger Niello.

Combined, the four boast more than 100 years of California budgeting experience.

Also missing in 2009 will be the trusted advice from outside the Capitol of two veterans of the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office: Elizabeth Hill and one of her top former chief deputies, Hadley Johnson.

Much has been made of Hill's departure -- after 22 years on the job. She officially retires today.

In naming her replacement, a bipartisan team of lawmakers tapped another top deputy, Mac Taylor, attributing that to the strength of the office she helped build.

Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, a Republican, said that "almost all of the top candidates" were either current or former LAO staff.


Indeed, at a departure ceremony on the Senate floor, lawmakers poured out praise for Hill.

"When Liz Hill speaks," Sen. Gloria Romero said. "We all listen."

For the Senate, the loss of Diane Cummins will be felt particularly deeply, said Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland.

"You just won't replace her," Perata said, calling Cummins, the Senate Democrats' chief budget adviser, an "extraordinary public servant at a time when her skills, her personality and her temperament were needed."

In the six months running up to the budget deal in early September, Perata said Cummins worked 144 out of 147 days.

Cummins has served as Perata's top budget adviser. Before that, she bent the ear of former Senate leader John Burton, D-San Francisco. She has served in various budget posts, including in the administration of GOP Gov. Pete Wilson, since the late 1970s.

Assembly Budget chairman John Laird is leaving after serving the maximum three terms in the Assembly. Of the four people departing, he is only elected official and by far the most junior.

Though he spent only six years in Sacramento, Laird has been steeped in budget crunching since the 1970s, when he served as a budget analyst in Santa Cruz County.

"Anything that I did after that, I was the lead budget person -- city council, community college board," said Laird, who observers say has been one of the more active chairs of the budget committee in the term-limits era.

Craig Cornett, the Assembly Democrats' budget consultant who worked closely with Laird, said the assemblyman simply had "a natural inclination for (the) budget."

"Which is unusual for a lot of members, frankly," Cornett conceded.

Roger Niello, the committee vice chairman and Republican foil to the liberal Laird, said the two have "profound philosophic differences" and yet became fast friends.

Laird, he said, was "an outstanding budget chair."

Assemblywoman Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, replaces Laird in December. Laird has opened an account to run for the state Senate -- but a seat won't be open until 2012.

Photo: Assemblyman John Laird watches the budget vote on the floor of the Assembly at the Capitol in 2005. Credit: Sacramento Bee/ Brian Baer.

Famed Hollywood film director Steven Spielberg reported donating $100,000 to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's ballot measure committee on Thursday.

Spielberg first donated to Schwarzenegger in 2004, when he gave the ballot committee $100,000. Then in 2006, Spielberg endorsed the GOP governor's reelection campaign and gave him another $22,300.

In the past two years, he has given Schwarzenegger $50,000 for ballot campaigning.

Currently, Schwarzenegger is raising money to pass Proposition 11, the redistricting measure on the Nov. 4 ballot.

Spielberg has also given $100,000 to defeat Proposition 8, the gay marriage ban.

Photo: Steven Spielberg on May 18, 2008 Credit: AP Photo/ Francois Mori

Today is Elizabeth Hill's last day as legislative analyst.

The Senate bade her farewell months ago, as senator after senator rose to heap praises on Hill, who has provided nonpartisan fiscal advice to lawmakers since 1976.

If you missed it, Hill answers Steve Wiegand's questions about how she views retirement -- and how golf is a lot like life.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger delivers remarks tonight in Burlingame at the annual convention of California's NAACP.

Mark Baldassare of the Public Policy Institute of California gives a lunchtime talk today about the group's latest statewide survey of likely California voters.

Democrat Marty Block, who faces Republican John McCann in the 78th Assembly District race, holds a fundraiser today in Los Angeles.

Democrats hope to pick up the Democratic-plurality seat in November as Republican Assemblywoman Shirley Horton terms out.

Sen. Joe Simitian holds a fundraiser Sunday in Palo Alto for his re-election to his 11th Senate District seat.

Simitian and Republican Assemblyman Chuck DeVore took the debate over driving and text messaging to the "Dr. Phil" show this week.

Call it slate mailer jiu jitsu.

The Democratic-backed campaign against Proposition 11 has paid $30,000 for a spot on a Republican slate mailer accusing the redistricting measure of having a "hidden agenda to give liberal Democrats lifetime control of Congress."

That is a switch.

For months, the No on 11 campaign -- spearheaded by Democratic Senate leader Don Perata and financed, in part, with $175,000 from the Democratic Party -- has fervently argued that Proposition 11 is a Republican power grab.

Paul Hefner, a Perata and No on 11 spokesman, said he still believes the measure "tilts the field in favor of Republicans."

But in the slate mailer sent to 800,000 likely GOP voter households, the campaign sang a different tune.

"Don't be fooled. Read it yourself. Say NO to the ACLU's phony 'reform,'" the mailer reads, citing the left-leaning civil rights group many Republicans love to hate. "Stop their hidden agenda to give liberal Democrats lifetime control of Congress."

Yet in another mailer - one aimed at Democrats - the No on 11 campaign wrote Proposition 11 "tips the balance against Democrats and Independents and gives Republicans too much control."

Supporters of the redistricting measure accused their opponents of political double-speak.

Democratic Sen. Joe Simitian and Republican Assemblyman Chuck DeVore appear on Dr. Phil today to debate whether to outlaw text messaging while driving.

The show's format -- the episode is called Killer Texting -- wouldn't appear to favor DeVore, who opposes the ban.

Simitian is the author of the now well-known ban on driving and chatting on a cell phone in California without a hands-free device.

Believe it or not, this is Simitian's second appearance on Dr. Phil. He last appeared in 2005.

Oh, and the early results of an online Dr. Phil poll overwhelmingly favor the ban -- 93 percent to 7 percent.

Check your local listings, but I believe the show starts at 3 p.m. in Sacramento.

Hat tip: Daily Pilot

Photo: Dr. Phil in 2006: Credit Matt Sayles/AP Photo

California's economy, jobs, revenues and budget are taking a nosedive, but one thing is on the rise -- legislative per diem, if only slightly.

Beginning immediately, the state will increase from $170 to $173 the amount it pays lawmakers to offset their expenses during the legislative session in Sacramento. Per diem supplements salaries of $116,208.

For the state's 120 Assembly and Senate members, today's vote will add about $600 per year to their checkbook -- maybe more, maybe less, depending upon the duration of a legislative year. For taxpayers, the hike amounts to about $72,000 annually.

The per diem increase was approved today by the state Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board, which is required by state law to set per diem no lower than the rate paid to federal employees traveling to Sacramento, currently $173.

The hike in per diem is retroactive to Oct. 1, so lawmakers will receive the extra $3 per day if they are called into special session, as expected, by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger next month.

Rosario Marin, who chairs the compensation board and is secretary of California's State and Consumer Services Agency, said it is unfortunate that per diem must rise, even modestly, during a time of economic distress. The board has little discretion, she noted.

Marin and Les Kleinberg, representing state Controller John Chiang, voted to approve the $3-a-day increase. The third board member, Michael Ramos, did not attend the meeting.

What's in a song?

A campaign punch, perhaps.

Bill Durston unveiled a lyrical, sarcastic, thinly veiled attack on his opponent, U.S. Rep. Dan Lungren, at a breakfast meeting with supporters this morning that also served as a news conference.

The Democratic challenger rebutted Lungren's claims that Durston wants an "immediate pullout" from Iraq, saying he supports U.S. troops and simply wants a "prompt, orderly and complete withdrawal" -- not an immediate one.

Durston, a physician, then released his political ditty, not mentioning Lungren by name, but smiling while saying, tongue in cheek, "I'm trying to figure out who to dedicate this song to. If you have any suggestions, let me know."

Durston wrote the ditty, "Honorable Mr. Congressman," which was sung this morning by Taylor Carey of Sacramento.

Watch a video of the performance -- and read the full lyrics -- on the flip.

Talk about a turn of events. Back in 2006, Kevin Spillane was the Jerry Brown blaster-in-chief for the attorney general campaign of GOP Sen. Chuck Poochigian.

Spillane called Brown "consistently inconsistent," "a shameless opportunist" and attacked Brown for "his lifetime failure on criminal-justice issues."

Of course, this being politics and that being two years ago, Spillane, a Republican strategist, is organizing a political event today featuring Brown, now the attorney general.

In San Francisco, no less.

Spillane is now working to defeat Proposition 5, a measure which Brown, too, opposes.

"It is a sign of how bipartisan this campaign is," said Spillane.

At the Women's Conference on Wednesday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger took some time to sit down with CNN's Campbell Brown.

The governor didn't really touch on California politics, but the most talked-about clip so far was the governor's thoughts of the readiness of GOP vice presidential pick, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

Brown: Do you think she is she qualified to be president?

Schwarzenegger: I think that she will get to be qualified.

Brown: She will get there? What do you mean? She's not ready yet?

Schwarzenegger: By the time she is sworn in, I think she will be ready. You get to get up to speed. I know, when I became governor, there were a lot of things I did not know. The answer is: Do you have the will? Do you have the will to educate yourself? Do you have the will to get up to speed? Do you have the will? Are you a sponge that absorbs information very quickly? And that's the kind of person that she is. And, I think that is exactly what she would do, also, if she becomes vice president.

A group of political activists and entertainers has launched an effort to register voters in under-served black neighborhoods.

And the effort is nothing if not entertaining.

"Welfare mothers, gangbangers, hustlers, prostitutes, dope dealers, the homeless -- are all potential voters, and if every vote counts, well then, so does theirs," said co-organizer Jasmyne Cannick, a former press aide to Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally and Rep. Laura Richardson, in a statement.

The group, which includes rapper Eric "Lil Eazy E" Wright Jr., political consultant Herb Wesson III, and Minister Tony Muhammad of the Nation of Islam, is determined to register black voters in under-served areas "even if it means setting up camp in front of liquors and swapmeets."

The Vote My Hood Web site is more than worth a gander (and a listen with a play list of some classic rap -- including some explicit lyrics).

The Obama-Biden ticket has widened its lead in the state over the McCain-Palin lineup, according to a new statewide poll.

The spread is now 56 percent to 33 percent, according to the latest numbers from the Public Policy Institute of California.

The Democratic candidates get the support of the state's independent voters, women, Latinos and younger voters, all by a wide margin.

And Republicans are far less happy with the candidates than they were last month, when 67 percent said they were satisfied.

Now, only 44 percent of Republicans say they're happy with the ticket, according to the survey.

More than half of likely voters say the economy is their top campaign issue.

And more than half of likely voters also say they're dissatisfied with the amount of time the candidates spend talking about voters' top concerns.

Meanwhile, the same-sex marriage ban, Proposition 8, is losing 52 percent to 44 percent among likely voters in the state.

Two other ballot measures -- Proposition 4 on parental notification of abortion and Proposition 11 on redistricting -- are also trailing.

Neither of those two propositions are cracking the 50 percent threshold needed for them to pass.

Find these numbers and more on Capitol Alert's PPIC page.

Speaking of Proposition 11, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger heads to Palo Alto today to boost the ballot measure.

He'll be joined by former state Controller Steve Westly, Jeannine English of AARP California and others.

In their discussion with Hardball host Chris Matthews at the Women's Conference, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and investing guru Warren Buffett had a few choice lines this morning. A recap ...

• Schwarzenegger gave away secrets to his entrepreneurial success as a child in Austria. He said he started at age 10 selling ice cream, making 150 to 180 schillings on weekends. In the winter, he said things got more challenging in the frigid weather, but he prospered by being creative.

"What I did was, when winter came, I had to get creative and I had to sell hot dogs when they were ice curling in Austria. And so I knew that they were all freezing, so I had to sell hot tea, I had to sell schnapps and I had to sell sausages and all those kind of things in order to make them happy ... And you know, the more schnapps you served them, the more tips they gave you, so it was all very good."

• Buffett took what could be perceived as a veiled crack at President Bush. He said the bottom line is the United States has a "great, great system" when it comes to its capitalist financial markets.

"I always say that in investing you want to buy stock in a company that has a business that's so good that an idiot can run it, because sooner or later one will," Buffett said. "We have a country like that."

Notably, his first line generated laughs, while his second one generated applause.

• Schwarzenegger further clarified his plans for a legislative special session to deal with California's growing deficit situation, saying it will occur after the Nov. 4 election. "We are going to have a special session very soon, after the elections," he said.

• Schwarzenegger seemed to embrace language that Republican John McCain has been using in his latest attacks against Democrat Barack Obama related to "redistribution of wealth."

"I left Europe because of the socialistic kind of environment and the way countries were run and the way government was on your back and therefore stifled the opportunities in Europe and that's why I came to America," he said. "So I hope -- and that's why I've been always involved in campaigning for political leaders that I believe in, because I wanted to do everything that I can to make sure that America doesn't go back to those days of 40 years ago when I left Europe, that we go back to that system of redistribution of wealth that some people are talking about. There is no redistribution of wealth."

Photo credit: AP/Matt Sayles

California Democratic Party Chairman Art Torres is hoping the wave of Democratic voter registration and a Barack Obama victory could give his Dems a veto-proof majority in the Assembly and Senate.

"We may have the potential to gain two-thirds of the Legislature this year," Torres told the Sacramento Press Club today in a joint appearance with state GOP chairman Ron Nehring.

But Torres was hard-pressed to say just how the 48 Democrat-held Assembly seats will grow to 54 or how the 25 Democratic Senate seats will become 27 after Nov. 4.

He mentioned Democratic hopes of picking up Republican-held seats in the 80th District in the Palm Springs area, the 78th in San Diego and the 15th in the East Bay-Elk Grove area.

(Party adviser Bob Mulholland later added two more: the 10th in Sacramento-San Joaquin and the 26th in Modesto).

Variety managing editor Ted Johnson has the details of the big No on Proposition 8 fundraiser hosted by supermarket magnate Ron Burkle, which we wrote about here.

Johnson reports $3.9 million was raised at the event where Melissa Etheridge and Mary J. Blige provided the entertainment.

Some politicos were in the house as well:

Among those at a pre-event dinner were Gavin Newsom, John Garamendi, Antonio Villaraigosa and Jerry Brown --- all of whom are declared or possible gubernatorial hopefuls in 2010 --- as well as Barbra Streisand and James Brolin, Rob and Michele Reiner, Bruce Cohen and Gabriel Catone, Chad Griffin, David Hyde Pierce, Alan Hergott and David Bohnett.

First comes redistricting, next comes regendering.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said his goal is to pursue a 50-50 gender split in the California Legislature because he thinks it would lead to better governance.

The Republican governor spoke with investor extraordinaire Warren Buffett this morning at the Women's Conference in Long Beach.

California is known for its high-profile women legislators, particularly on the national level, with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer. At home, there's Speaker Karen Bass.

But Schwarzenegger believes the breakdown as a whole isn't equal enough, particularly in Sacramento. There are 34 women in the 120-member Legislature, or 28 percent, according to the Legislative Women's Caucus.

"My goal is to do everything we can to also create more women in the Legislature," Schwarzenegger said. "Because we still have 25 percent of legislators who are women in California. I think if we get that up to a level of 50/50, I think you will see decisions are being made differently because women have different priorities. We need that mix in Sacramento and in Washington in order to make great decisions."

California's credit rating gets a small boost. Yes on 7 hopes for a boost from a trio of Nobel prize winners. Cal-Tax ranks the lawmakers. And Tom McClintock rates the propositions.

Photo: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger with financial magnate Warren Buffett in 2004. Credit: AP Photo/Kathy Willens.

So it looks like those lame duck lawmakers might not be out the door just yet.

So what would a budget special session in November look like?

Well, a lot like the record-long standoff during this summer's budget debate.

"I am willing to discuss our fiscal situation anytime, anywhere," said GOP Senate leader Dave Cogdill in a statement.

There is a caveat, however.

"It is imperative that we tackle our financial woes immediately in order to come up with budgetary solutions that do not include tax increases," Cogdill said.

As for the Democrats, well, they want everything they didn't get over the summer.

"The California economic recovery and stimulus package I envision includes fast-tracking infrastructure projects already approved by voters," said Assembly Speaker Karen Bass in a press statement. "It includes warding off further cuts to our health care safety net when families are losing jobs and their employer based health coverage. It includes help to stop the bleeding from foreclosures that are leaving families, neighborhoods and communities reeling. It includes tough mortgage reforms unnecessarily vetoed last month. We must also find ways to address changing the unworkable 2/3 budget vote requirement."

Don't hold your breath.

It is not often that both sides of a campaign gleefully announce an endorsement.

But such was the case today with Proposition 5, the nonviolent offender initiative, which John Walters, the U.S. drug czar, announced his opposition to.

Opponents of the measure trumpeted Walters' stance in a morning event with Sacramento County Sheriff John McGinness at the office of the California State Sheriffs' Association.

But proponents, too, seized on the endorsement of "President George W. Bush's drug czar."

"The drug czar's rhetorical support for treatment is obviously just a fig leaf for the same old law enforcement approach. This hard-line drug czar from a lame-duck administration is now opposing California's entire treatment community," said Margaret Dooley-Sammuli of the Yes on 5 campaign in a statement.

Go figure.

Barring an economic turnaround, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will call a special session to deal with a multibillion-dollar revenue shortfall before Nov. 30, according to Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear.

That would require the sitting legislators whose terms end in December to deal with the latest budget problem.

"We don't think we can wait until Dec. 1st," McLear said Tuesday during his weekly briefing.

The Republican governor needs roughly two weeks to determine the exact scope of the problem, McLear said. Asked whether it was a coincidence that two weeks is the same amount of time between now and the Nov. 4 election, McLear denied that was the case, saying it is "more of a mechanical process on our end as far as the timing."

The governor's Department of Finance earlier this month issued a rough projection estimating that the state will take in $3 billion less in revenues through June 30 than the enacted budget anticipated. But Schwarzenegger wants the department to bounce its numbers off outside economists and forecasters during a Oct. 28 conference before calling a special session, according to McLear and Department of Finance spokesman H.D. Palmer.

With Bill Durston assailing Dan Lungren as an arrogant sellout to corporate interests and Lungren ripping his challenger - a Vietnam veteran - as an anti-military peace activist, voters in the 3rd Congressional District seem assured of some lively rhetoric as two men square off in a debate and a candidate's forum this week.

Lungren, the Republican incumbent, and Durston, the Democratic challenger, will meet in a one-on-one debate at 6 p.m. Wednesday night in the theater of Bret Harte High School in Angels Camp. The debate is being sponsored by the Calaveras Enterprise newspaper.

On Thursday, the pair will join Libertarian candidate Arthur Tuma and Peace and Freedom candidate Dina Padilla in a 7 p.m. forum at the La Sierra Community Center, 5325 Engle Road, in Carmichael.

The Carmichael event is being held by the Jewish Community Relations Council, the League of Women Voters of Sacramento County and Sacramento Metropolitan Television's "Hometown TV."

My colleague Steve Wiegand has the details.

Attorney General Jerry Brown is on the cover of this month's California Lawyer magazine, in a 3,500-word story.

The piece looks at both Brown's record at attorney general thus far -- and his potential political future (governor, anyone?).

The story leads off with a classic Brown quote.

"There have been so many stories written about me, there's nothing new left to say. You can try to find something original, but it's not possible. You can't do it."

Well, California Lawyer tried.

Esquire magazine has released its quadrennial elections issue, in which the national magazine makes endorsements in every congressional race in the country.

Here in the Golden State, the magazine has found of couple of representatives worth picking on: Democratic Reps. Pete Stark and Joe Baca.

Both men made Esquire's list of "the 10 worst."

(One California member, Rep. Henry Waxman, made the 10 best list.)

With two weeks until the Nov. 4 election, Hollywood's wealthy class is mobilizing to defeat Proposition 8, the gay marriage ban.

Tonight, supermarket magnate Ron Burkle (He of "Burkle bill" fame) hosts a fundraiser at his Beverly Hills home for the campaign.

Providing the entertainment will be Melissa Etheridge and Mary J. Blige.

Tickets start at $1,000, but donors are asked to consider becoming a No on 8 "champion" -- for $250,000.

Last week, Hollywood producer Steve Bing pledged $500,000 in matching funds for other donations. (He of Proposition 87 fame, the oil tax measure he spent tens of millions of dollars supporting.)

That Hollywood money comes after the $100,000 in air time Ellen DeGeneres has purchased and the $100,000 checks Brad Pitt and Stephen Spielberg have cut.

Not too much else event-wise on the political horizon today, as the Yes on 8 campaign bus tour continues and candidates across the state work hard for votes in the final two-week sprint.

But if policy is your interest, today California will get a new legislative analyst to replace Elizabeth Hill, who is retiring after a 22-year run in the non-partisan office.

Finally, if you missed it on Monday, check out the list of which lawmakers passed the most bills -- and had the most vetoed.

Photo: Melissa Etheridge performs as part of Nissan Live Sets on Yahoo! Music in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2007. Credit: AP Photo/ Matt Sayles

In an appearance in San Diego today promoting Proposition 11, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called passage of Proposition 11 "the most important thing."

But Schwarzenegger also hinted at what good-government reform he might tackle next: open primaries.

Under current law, Republican voters (plus independents except in presidential races*) pick the Republican nominee and Democratic voters (plus independents) pick the Democratic nominee.

That's called a closed primary.

In an open primary, voters from any party can vote for any candidate, with the top two voter getters, regardless of party, moving on to the general election.

Democratic Sen. Pat Wiggins passed more bills out of the Legislature - and had more signed by the governor - than any other state lawmaker in 2008. Assembly Democrats, meanwhile, bore the brunt of the governor's vetoes - 43 percent of their bills were terminated on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk. Only 9.5 percent of Senate Republican bills were nixed.

Those are among the many nuggets Capitol Alert unearthed in a numerical analysis of the 2008 legislative year.

The numbers offer an instructive - if incomplete - picture of the Capitol.

Liberal Democrats, for instance, were among those who had the most bills vetoed.

Conservative Republicans passed among the fewest bills out of the Democratic-majority Legislature.

Who passed the most bills? Who had the most vetoes? Which GOP lawmaker finished with the most new laws? Who didn't pass anything.

We've got the skinny.

Ben Weider, one of the key supporters of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's bodybuilding career, died on Friday. He was 85.

Weider and his brother Joe brought Schwarzenegger to America in 1969.

"Without them having done that, I mean I wouldn't have known how to come over here. I sure didn't have the money. So that was a very important kind of stepping stone for me," Schwarzenegger told The Associated Press.

Read the AP's obituary.

Photo: 1998 file photo of Ben Weider. Credit: AP Photo/ Dave Thomson

The owner of a firm hired by the California Republican Party to register thousands of voters this year was arrested on Saturday night for allegedly registering himself to vote at a home in California where he does not live.

Secretary of State Debra Bowen, a Democrat, announced the arrest on Sunday -- while the California Republican Party decried the move as an effort "to play politics with the public's perception of political parties."

Mark Jacoby owns the voter registration firm Young Political Majors, or YPM, which was the subject of a story in the Los Angeles Times on Saturday, which reported the group was duping voters into re-registering as Republicans.

Voters contacted by The Times said they were tricked into switching parties while signing what they believed were petitions for tougher penalties against child molesters. Some said they were told that they had to become Republicans to sign the petition, contrary to California initiative law. Others had no idea their registration was being changed.

Jacoby and the party denied any wrongdoing.The state Republican Party pays the firm $7 to $12 for each new party registrant it signs up.

But on Saturday evening, it was Jacoby himself, not his firm, at the center of an inquiry.

Score one for former San Francisco Mayor and Assembly Speaker Willie Brown.

Back in August, Brown, in his column in the San Francisco Chronicle, predicted that former Republican Secretary of State Colin Powell would endorse Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.

"I'm not pulling this out of thin air," Brown claimed, saying he was called and asked what impact a Powell endorsement of Obama, potentially at the Democratic National Convention, would have.

My reply: "It would seal the deal. It would be the presidency."

I don't think Powell will go to Denver for the Democratic National Convention, but based on the recent conversations, I have to believe that something big is in the works.

We'll see about the presidency, but Powell backed Obama in an appearance on Meet The Press on Sunday.

Today is the last day to register to vote for the Nov. 4 presidential election.

Secretary of State Debra Bowen will be flagging down folks at 13th and J streets today hoping to get their John Hancock on registration forms.

So go register already.

The Yes on 8 campaign, ahead narrowly in the most recent public poll, launches a statewide bus tour today in Sacramento.

From the capital city, the bus will travel to Chico. And then Oakland. And then Los Angeles. And then beyond.

Meanwhile, education advocates brace themselves to fend off any cuts as the state's budget slips deeper into deficit-land.

"It's crystal clear that California's schools simply cannot afford further mid-year budget cuts," says a press release advising today's press conference with State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell and other education leaders.

On Friday, the Democratic leaders of the Legislature (Speaker Karen Bass, Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata and incoming Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg) sent a letter to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger urging him to urge Congress to, well, give the state some money.

"We respectfully request that you urge Congress to make state aid --aimed at boosting the economy of states -- the focus of the most recent economic stimulus measure initiated by Congress and now being discussed in Washington," the Dem trio wrote.

Hmmm, we're not sure how much "truck" -- to use a Perata term -- Schwarzenegger has with Washington.

What's the latest in California politics?

Find out which Democratic Assembly candidate is being sued by an Elvis impersonator. See the latest polling in the tight McNerney-Andal congressional contest. Check out the latest public survey in the tight Proposition 8 campaign. And read of Sen. Tom McClintock's "lawless" ways.

Billionaire T. Boone Pickens, who earned his money as a Texas oilman, has now topped $10 million in contributions to Proposition 10, the alternative energy bond on the Nov. 4 ballot.

All the money has come through Pickens' company Clean Energy Fuels Corp., which has donated $10.75 million to the ballot effort after a $3 million donation on Thursday.

Pickens' company provides natural gas for vehicles -- the types of vehicles that would be eligible for rebates should Proposition 10 pass.

Clean Energy gave another $4 million to the campaign earlier this month.

Opponents of the measure, which includes groups as disparate as the California Chamber of Commerce, the Sierra Club, and the Consumer Federation of California, haven't raised much to beat back the measure.

They've reported only $60,000 in contributions from the California Federation of Teachers and the California School Employees Association.

Photo: T. Boone Pickens, chairman of BP Capital Management, speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative on Sept. 25, 2008. Credit: Jason DeCrow, Associated Press.

Actress and gay-rights activist Ellen DeGeneres has filmed a 30-second ad urging people to vote against Proposition 8, the gay marriage ban, and will be paying for the ad to air, the No on 8 campaign announced on Friday.

DeGeneres, known as the first openly gay actor on TV, has been a vocal opponent of the measure. But some in the gay community had questioned why she herself hadn't donated to the No on 8 cause. Gay-rights advocate Jacob Reitan wrote an open-letter to DeGeneres saying, "I was shocked to learn that you and so many other gay and lesbian celebrities have not personally given to the No on 8 campaign."

The letter was published on The Advocate's Web site, but later removed.

DeGeneres had made plenty of other appeals to vote No on 8 -- quizzing Sen. John McCain on the issue on her show and appearing on Jay Leno's late night show.

The YouTube postings of her video have already been viewed roughly 80,000 times.

Eddie Fernandez of the No on 8 campaign said DeGeneres is starting by purchasing $100,000 in air time for the ad.

Read the transcript and watch the video on the flip

After a steady rise for much of the last year, California's unemployment rate remained unchanged from August to September at 7.7 percent.

Last month, the rate jumped three-tenths of a point -- putting the state in a tie for third-worst unemployment rate in the nation.

The latest figures come from the California Employment Development Department.

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass is raising money today for the California Democratic Party (and, in turn Democratic Assembly candidates) at the Barona Valley Ranch Resort.

Better bring a full wallet -- prices are as high as $25,000.

Assemblyman Joe Coto tackles donors this weekend at a Raiders-Jets game in Oakland. Prices to join the Latino Caucus chair start at $2,000.

And where do you go if you've been to fundraisers everywhere?

Disneyland!

That's where Orange County Democrats Sen. Lou Correa and Assemblyman Jose Solorio will be Saturday wooing donors.

Or, if you own your own private jet, you can raise funds in other states.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is in the Sunshine State today -- raising money for Proposition 11, the redistricting initiative.

The trip comes one day after he canceled a Texas fundraising swing, citing the wildfires in Southern California.

Speaking of the governor, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association has decided to drop its recall attempt of Schwarzenegger.

And speaking of money, panelists at yet another California Forward event will take a stab today at solving the state's fiscal crisis.

The panelists include retiring Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill (Steve Wiegand did an exit interview with her in today's Bee); Bill Hauck, president of the California Business Roundtable; and John Bohn, California Public Utilities Commission commissioner.

Photo: California Fire Battalion Chief Jeff Millar shows California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger a burned-out home as he tours the Twin Lakes area of Los Angeles County on Thursday. Credit: AP Photo/ Reed Saxon

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, in a short post on the liberal California Progress Report, suggested today that Assembly Democrats are working on some type of "economic stimulus and reform" package for California.

Bass hopes any such package would dovetail with a "federal stimulus of cash aid to states."

"We don't have all the same tools available as the federal government, but I want our stimulus program in California to focus on actions like accelerating the infrastructure projects voters approved in 2006 (projects our state definitely needs), protecting the public health safety net including Healthy Families, making badly needed reforms like modernizing and stabilizing our revenue system and prohibiting unsavory and unsound lending practices from occurring again," wrote Bass, D-Los Angeles.

OK, so most of that stuff (like modernizing the revenue stream) doesn't quite qualify as a fast-acting stimulus package. But some kind of effort to breathe life into the state's economy appears to be on the table.

Timm Herdt of the Ventura County Star looks at where all those millions of dollars pouring into the Senate race between former Assemblyman Tony Strickland and former Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson are coming from.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will attend two Florida fundraisers on Friday for Proposition 11, the redistricting initiative, according to spokeswoman Julie Soderlund.

The first is a luncheon hosted at the home of Scott Rothstein, a high-powered Fort Lauderdale attorney. Like Schwarzenegger, Rothstein has quite a car collection, though probably no tank.

The second fundraiser will be a dinner in Parkland hosted by Randal Perkins, CEO of Ashbritt Environmental, a Pompano Beach, Fla.-based firm that won a federal contract to clean up after Hurricane Katrina. Perkins previously hosted a $288,000 fundraiser backing Schwarzenegger's re-election campaign in 2006.

The governor canceled a fundraiser scheduled for today in Austin, Texas, because he wanted to remain in the state to monitor fire conditions, Soderlund said.

Schwarzenegger held a press conference this morning in Chatsworth at the Sesnon Fire. Santa Ana winds have died down, and that blaze is now 70 percent contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

California Republican Party Chairman Ron Nehring has denounced the two racially insensitive materials produced by Republican groups in Sacramento and San Bernardino County this week, calling the anti-Barack Obama imagery "nothing but divisiveness and hostility."

On Wednesday, The Bee reported the Sacramento Republican Party's Web site linked Sen. Barack Obama to Osama bin Laden and encouraged people to "Waterboard Barack Obama."

The Riverside Press-Enterprise reported today a newsletter from a local GOP women's group depicted Obama "surrounded by a watermelon, ribs and a bucket of fried chicken."

"The California Republican Party vigorously opposes any material of his kind," Nehring said.

Capitol Alert has reported more on the materials here.

Check out Nehring's full statement on the flip.

Mark Baldassare, the president of the Public Policy Institute of California, was appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to the CaliforniaVolunteers Commission. The position is unpaid and doesn't require confirmation.

The governor also promoted Thomas Sheehy to chief deputy director of policy for the Department of Finance. He had been deputy director of legislation for the Department of Finance.

Schwarzenegger also reappointed Richard Shapiro to the California Horse Racing Board, where he has served as chairman. That job requires Senate confirmation. Shapiro has had run-ins with Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, who has called for Shapiro's resignation.

Seems like daytime diva Oprah Winfrey just can't get enough of California politics this week.

Today, first lady Maria Shriver will be on Oprah to unveil the unveil the 2008 "Minerva Award" winners. Check out Oprah's site for the details.

On Wednesday, The Bee reported the Sacramento County Republican Party Web site had material linking Sen. Barack Obama to Osama bin Laden and encouraging people to "Waterboard Barack Obama."

The controversial graphics quickly went national with Fox News picking up the story and plastering it on the front of their popular Web site.

"I'm aware of the content," said county party chairman Craig MacGlashan. "Some people find it offensive, others do not. I cannot comment on how people interpret things."

He later backtracked on Wednesday, issuing a press release saying, "Let's face it, I screwed up."

But before the fire of the racially insensitive material fire could die down, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports today on another racially insensitive GOP flier from the Chaffey Community Republican Women.

The latest newsletter by an Inland Republican women's group depicts Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama surrounded by a watermelon, ribs and a bucket of fried chicken, prompting outrage in political circles.

Freshman Democratic Rep. Jerry McNerney is airing two attack ads against against his Republican challenger, former Assemblyman and Board of Equalization member Dean Andal.

Andal has an attack ad himself.

Josh Richman has posted the McNerney ads and the Andal ad on Political Blotter.

The ads come as the Republicans nationally are pulling out resources from targeted Democrats to protect vulnerable GOP incumbents.

Photo: U.S. Rep. Jerry McNerney in his office 2007. Credit: George Bridges/ MCT

CORRECTION: In this morning's AM Alert, we reported that "San Ramon Mayor Abram Wilson, a Republican, makes hay of his opponent's support of a peripheral canal."

We apologize for the confusion.

With less than three weeks until Election Day, GOP Senate candidate Tony Strickland is taking some time off the Ventura County campaign trail to shake the Sacramento money tree.

The former assemblyman hosts an evening event at Gallagher's tonight.

As of Wednesday, an independent expenditure campaign funded by trial lawyers, nurses and environmentalists had burned through nearly $300,000 attacking Strickland.

An independent business-backed group had spent more than $64,000 supporting him.

He is running to replace Sen. Tom McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks, in the most competitive Senate race in the state against former Democratic Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson.

Jackson reported receiving another $50,000 from the Democratic Party to aid her campaign on Wednesday alone.

In another targeted seat (AD 15), San Ramon Mayor Abram Wilson, a Republican, makes hay of his opponent's support of a peripheral canal.

The Democratic nominee for the seat is Joan Buchanan, a San Ramon Valley School Board member.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was set to make a trip to Texas today for a fundraiser for Proposition 11, the redistricting measure. But the governor pulled the plug on the trip to stay in the state due to the Southern California fires.

Money continues to flow fast and furious into ballot and candidate accounts.

On Wednesday, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association donated $1 million to oppose Proposition 5, the nonviolent offender and drug rehab measure.

Billionaire Eli Broad gave $50,000 to Yes on Proposition 11.

And former San Francisco Supervisor Jim Gonzalez gave $125,000 to Yes on Proposition 7.

With our fancy-pants new technology, The Bee is looking for readers to send in pictures of themselves in political Halloween garb.

Can you do better than a Schwarzenegger mask? Or dressing as Tina Fey as Sarah Palin?

Send in your pictures. We'll be accepting them through Halloween.

Photo: An Arnold mask at an anti-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger protest in 2005. Credit: Brian Baer, Sacramento Bee

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was scheduled to attend a fundraising luncheon at The Four Seasons Hotel in Austin, Texas, on Thursday, but he has canceled his appearance due to ongoing wildfires in California, according to spokeswoman Julie Soderlund.

The Austin event would have raised money to back Proposition 11 to create an outside commission to draw California's state legislative boundaries. The lead host was Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, a Republican who backed his state's 2003 controversial redistricting change that resulted in more GOP congressional seats. The event has not been rescheduled, Soderlund said.

"The trip has been canceled mainly because the governor wants to be here to ensure the fire situation is under control," Soderlund said.

The Department of Finance has released its October finance bulletin. The results still aren't good.

In August, the state lost 7,700 nonfarm payroll jobs -- that is losses in seven of the first eight months of 2008 and 10 of 12 overall.

Revenues were $923 million below the 2008-09 budget forecast of $10.667 billion for September.

That is off roughly by 8.65 percent, a huge margin.

Nicole Parra isn't running for state Assembly this year. But the Democratic assemblywoman from the Central Valley remains a focal point of the campaign to succeed her -- featured in both the Republican and Democratic candidates' TV ads.

Parra, whom Democratic Speaker Karen Bass booted from her Capitol office over the summer over her refusal to vote for the budget, has filmed a TV spot for Republican nominee Danny Gilmore.

"I'm crossing party lines this year and voting for Republican Danny Gilmore," she says, looking into the camera in a posh office (and clearly not her small space across the street from the Capitol where she's now confined).

But former Shafter Mayor Fran Florez, the Democratic nominee, is firing back with an ad of her own attacking Gilmore and Parra for hypocrisy.

The San Francisco Chronicle's Carla Marinucci caught up with first lady Maria Shriver to chat about her Women's Conference next week in Long Beach. Along the way she got Shriver, the daughter of a former presidential and vice presidential candidate, to talk about GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin:

"I've never seen someone who's become a national candidate, or even in the primaries (like this) ...," she said.

"So I don't understand ... when you're not made available, when you're not doing press conferences, when you're not doing open-ended interviews ... it makes people wonder - well, why not?" she said. "A lot of people take a step back and go, 'What's that really about? Why is that?' "

Shriver, of course, has endorsed Sen. Barack Obama.

Marinucci has a keen interest in the Palin-media story. On the Chron's politics blog, she's been leading the "Free Sarah Palin" campaign.

Photo: California first lady Maria Shriver speaking at the California Governor and First Lady's Conference on Women in Long Beach in 20007 Credit: AP Photo/ Matt Sayles

The California Teachers Association reported donating $1 million to oppose Proposition 8, the gay marriage ban, on Tuesday.

If you are Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner and you want to be governor these are exactly the kinds of pictures you have got to love:

Poizner, a Republican, was down in Southern California on Tuesday with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to survey the fire scene. Poizner spoke to residents alongside Schwarzenegger.

And his office oh-so-kindly provided photos.

Credit: Darrel Ng, Office on Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner.

Michael Coleman of the League of California Cities has produced his regular preview of all the local ballot measures on the Nov. 4 ballot.

All together, there are 380 local measures at stake in the Golden State.

Read Coleman's rundown here. Find his Web site, California City Finance.

Two-hundred thirty-nine (239) concern taxes, fees or bonds for cities, counties, special districts and schools.1 The community of Rossmoor in Orange County will decide whether to become California's 481st city.

There are 95 school bond measures seeking approval of a total of nearly $22.5 billion in elementary, high school and community college bonds. There are also 21 school parcel tax measures requiring two-thirds voter approval. These range from a $35 per parcel measure in Pacific Grove (Monterey County) to a $193 per parcel proposal in Mill Valley (Marin County).

The Bee has compiled a list of biographies and positions on key issues (like gay marriage, the state budget, economy and schools) for all the Sacramento-area candidates for the Legislature.

There are also similar bios for those running for Congress and local races.

Find them all here.

The state's leaders are continuing to talk about the deteriorating state of California's budget.

The Big Six (with pro tem in waiting Sen. Darrell Steinberg) will have a conference call today to check in.

Kevin Yamamura reports that they will discuss whether to call a special session now or wait until December or January to deal with the budget problem.

Also on the call will be Treasurer Bill Lockyer, who ripped into Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in a letter last week for his "negligent failure to apply good public policy judgment" over two vetoes.

The pair met later in the week over lunch.

Schwarzenegger holds another event for Proposition 11, the redistricting measure on the Nov. 4 ballot, in Los Angeles today.

He'll be with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, AARP state president Jeannine English, Common Cause California executive director Kathay Feng, and League of Women Voters of California president Janis Hirohama, among others.

While Schwarzenegger hits the bully pulpit for the measure, his name is conspicuously absent from the disclosure in the Yes on 11 campaign's first TV ad.

The ad blasts "the politicians" for opposing the measure.

You can read more about that (and watch the ad) here.

Environment California today will release a new report on rising temperatures in California, particularly in the Central Valley.

And tonight is the final presidential debate between Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama.

The campaign for Proposition 11 rolled out its first campaign ad on Monday, a spot that blasts the "politicians" for opposing the redistricting measure.

The 30-second ad, however, says nothing of what Proposition 11 does. That, despite the fact that the complex formula to take the power to draw political districts out of the hands of the Legislature is, perhaps, the least well-known measure on the Nov. 4 ballot.

A poll last week showed 59 percent of voters undecided.

My colleague JIm Sanders has written an AdWatch on the spot:

The TV spot reduces a technical process, called redistricting, to a simple pitch: If you're not happy with lawmakers, hold them accountable by joining a Proposition 11 populist revolt.

...

The TV spot does not mention that the Proposition 11 campaign is championed by Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and is co-chaired by Democrat Steve Westly, former state controller and gubernatorial candidate.

What would Proposition 11 change? What does it propose? The ad doesn't say. The initiative would create a 14-member citizens commission to draw political districts, except those of Congress, which were excluded as a concession to incumbents.

Despite the fact that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's ballot campaign committee is the single biggest donor to Yes on 11 campaign, his name never appears in the ad's financial disclosure.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders will resume talks on the state's budget problems Wednesday, but there won't be a media stakeout outside the Governor's Office this time.

That's because they'll be talking by phone, according to Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear.

The group will again include the governor, the four legislative leaders, Senate President Pro Tem-in-waiting Darrell Steinberg, Treasurer Bill Lockyer and Department of Finance officials.

State leaders are working off of the Department of Finance's $3 billion revenue shortfall estimate for the current 2008-09 fiscal year, a 12-month projection based on an $814 million dip in September tax revenues.

Leaders last week were hesitant to discuss that gap or how they would make up the difference, as they preferred to talk about the state's other problem -- securing a $7 billion bridge loan. They should get a sense within the next two days as to whether the state can meet its needs on the private credit market alone.

But leaders also need to determine whether they're going to call a special session now or wait until December or January to deal with the revenue problem. Budget experts agree that it is better to make cuts early rather than later.

Perhaps Schwarzenegger can get a budget solution out of investment guru Warren Buffett when they meet at The Women's Conference in Long Beach next week.

Exactly three weeks before California voters will decide the fate of initiative for the de facto elimination of cages for egg-laying hens, an animal rights groups has released an undercover video showing hens bloodied, beaten and dying at a California ranch.

The video, which was shot by Mercy for Animals, a group which advocates veganism, was released today. The campaign for Proposition 2, the egg-laying hen initiative, is distributing the footage.

It shows hens, according to the video's producers, at Norco ranch in Riverside County. The Yes on Proposition 2 campaign reports that Norco is owned by MoArk, the top contributor the No on 2 campaign, having given more than $785,000.

The graphic footage shows hens killed by spinning them to break their necks and left to die in piles. The narrator speaks of seeing dead hens laying among those laying eggs on a "daily basis." Some eggs are covering in blood.

Proposition 2 would require all farm animals, such as hens, to have enough room to spread their wings and walk around. Currently, as many as four to six hens, can be confined to a small cage the size of a filing cabinet, backers of the measure say.

Opponents have said the measure would both drive up the cost of eggs and drive production out of state.

In a private letter, Treasurer Bill Lockyer has blasted Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for two of his end-of-session vetoes, saying he was "more than usually displeased and downright angry."

The Democratic treasurer accuses the Republican governor of "negligent failure to apply good public policy judgment." Lockyer even goes so far as to suggest Schwarzenegger may have been unaware of his own vetoes.

"It is simply shocking and I do not believe it represents your own thinking on the matter," he wrote of one veto in the Oct. 7 letter obtained by Capitol Alert. Lockyer goes on to demand a meeting during the recess "to ask that you reconsider your position."

Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear responded that, "It is not uncommon for public officials to voice their opinions when the governor signs or vetoes bills."

McLear added that Schwarzenegger "reviewed every single bill before taking action."

The spat between the two statewide officials comes as California wades into the tumultuous credit market to borrow up to $7 billion in short term loans.

Remember Sen. Abel Maldonado's speech last month at the Republican National Convention? Well, you ought to - because it cost $28.62 for every glowing word.

The Monterey County Republican Party paid $15,000 to wordsmith Landon Parvin to craft Maldonado's partisan prose, according campaign reports filed last week.

Parvin is a veteran speechwriter who has composed addresses for everyone from former President Ronald Reagan to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

"The Monterey County party chair was excited he was going to go and speak at the convention and recommended Mr. Parvin," said Maldonado spokesman Brandon Gesicki.

From the the looks of the party's campaign filing, the chair more than recommended - he paid for the speech on Maldonado's behalf.

A recent Census Bureau report rated California as having the nation's 8th lowest level of medical insurance among the states, with nearly 7 million of its residents under 65 years old lacking health insurance.

A new study by the Washington-based Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank, paints with an even darker health insurance picture in California - the nation's 5th lowest level of employer-supplied health insurance at 56.3 percent of its population.

That's about 6 percentage points below the national average, which has been falling steadily, as has California's level. The institute says California's rate of employer-based health insurance has dropped by 3.4 percentage points since 2000, with nearly 221,000 fewer Californians with employer insurance in 2007.

California's 56.3 percent rate is higher only than Arkansas (55.5 percent), Mississippi (53.7 percent), Texas (53.5 percent) and New Mexico (50.7 percent.

The full report is available here.

- Dan Walters

Proposition 2 may not be the best-known of the dozen measures on the fall ballot (that honor falls to Proposition 8, the gay marriage measure).

But the initiative, which would expand the cages of egg-laying hens, is about to become a whole lot better known thanks to one woman: Oprah Winfrey.

Oprah has already waded heavily into politics in 2008, endorsing Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, even hosting a fundraiser for him at her Southern California home.

Today, the diva of daytime television is dedicating her entire episode to the California ballot measure and the arguments on both sides.

"Where does our food come from?" Oprah asks in the teaser to the show.

Speaking of ballot measures and initiatives, are there just too many out there? And is California's system of direct democracy fundamentally broken?

That's the topic of conversation of a day-long event sponsored by the New America Foundation today in Sacramento.

Republican Assembly candidate Jack Sieglock hits the capital fundraising circuit today.

He is the GOP candidate in AD 10 (to replace termed-out GOP Assemblyman Alan Nakanishi), one of the seats Democrats are eying on Nov. 4.

Photo: Oprah Winfrey in 2007. Credit: Charles Rex Arbogast, Associated Press.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency in Los Angeles and Ventura counties as wildfires there have already claimed at least two lives and charred thousands of acres.

"As fires burn across California, I want to commend all of the firefighters who are bravely battling these aggressive flames and the first responders who are helping their communities and fellow neighbors, Schwarzenegger said in a statement.

The governor's Office of Emergency Services has activated the State Operations Center here in Sacramento.

Winds are causing fire conditions to change by the hour, which is why it is so important that residents in the areas surrounding these wildfires heed warnings from public safety officials to evacuate," Schwarzenegger said.

Photo: The Oat Mountain fire burns above Porter Ranch in Los Angeles on Monday, Oct. 13, 2008. Credit: Mel Melcon, Los Angeles Times.

From Willie Brown's column in the Sunday San Francisco Chronicle:

I told you all about how my brain fluid was draining into my middle ear - well, Thursday morning I went in for an operation to fix it.
...
I went back to sleep, and when I came to, there was Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who had been in town for some event with Charlotte Shultz.

"Willie," he said, "if I had known you were having a head problem, I would have had one of Uncle Teddy's doctors look at you."

Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden is making a three-stop California swing next weekend to pick up some campaign cash. The itinerary includes a lunch reception at the home of 2006 Democratic gubernatorial candidate Steve Westly.

While Democratic-leaning California has remained largely out of the presidential campaign, Republican and Democratic candidates alike have continually tapped the state's large supply of political donors.

On Saturday, Biden starts the day with an 11:30 reception at Westly's home in Atherton. Westly has been a California co-chair of Sen. Barack Obama's campaign since the primary.

After four years at the communications helm for Assembly Republicans, Morgan Crinklaw is leaving the Capitol next week to take a new job with Chevron.

Crinklaw first started back in the Capitol in 2003, working for then-Assemblyman Dave Cogdill, who is now Senate GOP leader.

He was hired as press secretary for the Assembly Republican Caucus in 2004 and moved on to become communications director. He has worked reporters for three consecutive GOP leaders: Kevin McCarthy, George Plescia and Mike Villines.

Of the three, Crinklaw said, McCarthy was the most likely to send Blackberry queries - both late at night and early in the AM. McCarthy, a Bakersfield Republican, has since been elected to Congress.

"I've been very lucky to work for very good bosses," Crinklaw said.

Lt. Gov. John Garamendi stakes out his ballot positions. Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith accidentally calls vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin the governor of California. The No on 8 campaign released an anti-Yes on 8 ad.

We reported last week that the brother of Reps. Linda and Loretta Sanchez was missing, believed to be among the victims of a boating accident off the California coast.

Well, the sad news comes that the body of their brother, Henry Sanchez, has been found.

The Orange County Register reports:

Congresswomen Linda and Loretta Sanchez issued a statement confirming two bodies found with a sunken ship earlier in the week were those of their brother, Henry Sanchez and his companion, Penny Avila.

It is believed Sanchez and Avila, both of Santa Ana, were killed shortly after setting out. Authorities believe the Bayliner collided with the Islander, a barge being towed about 1,100 feet behind the Rebel II, a tugboat out of San Pedro.

Photo: This undated image provided by Marsha Catron shows Henry Sanchez, 51, and Penny Avila, 48, whose bodies were recovered Thursday Oct. 9, 2008 from the wreckage of Sanchez's 26-foot motor boat in Los Angeles harbor. Credit: AP Photo/ Courtesy of Marsha Catron

If money were votes, this would be a landslide.

Opponents of the Proposition 11 redistricting measure are struggling with red ink as the Nov. 4 election approaches.

One month before balloting, opponents of Proposition 11 are more than $300,000 in debt and the massive sums raised by labor unions and Democratic politicians to kill a 2005 redistricting measure simply have not materialized.

Nonetheless, Paul Hefner, spokesman for No on 11, said he remains confident that enough money will be raised to educate voters.

Thus far, the fundraising race is no contest.

Supporters of the initiative to create an independent citizens commission to draw legislative and Board of Equalization boundaries have raised more than $10.7 million and began this month with $1.5 million in their coffers.

You never know who's going to pass by the Governor's Office during a Big 5 (or 6) stakeout. In September, it was a group of senior citizen activists dressed in Hawaiian garb singing songs about how Schwarzenegger needed to sign a universal health care bill.

Yesterday, it was Meg Whitman, the former eBay CEO whom Republican presidential candidate John McCain said during Tuesday's debate would be his possible treasury secretary.

Until last week, Arizona billionaire Peter Sperling was the only million-dollar donor from his family to a California ballot campaign this November. No longer. His father, John Sperling, the founder of the University of Phoenix, has opened his wallet for a $500,000 donation to Proposition 5, the nonviolent offender measure, after having given another half-million earlier this year.

The younger Sperling has been the financial force behind Proposition 7, which would up alternative energy requirements for the state's utilities. So far he's given $7.5 million.

The donation from John Sperling is hardly a surprise. Proposition 5 is backed by fellow billionaire George Soros ($1.4 million given so far), who the elder Sperling teamed up with in 2000 to pass Proposition 36, another nonviolent drug user measure.

The Yes on 5 campaign also reported a recent $1.4 million donation from Bob Wilson, who is identified as a Brooklyn, New York retiree. There was also a $1,000 donation from Aaron Sorkin, the writer behind the hit series the West Wing.

Treasurer Bill Lockyer says that the 2008-9 state budget could be as much as $4.6 billion out of balance due to a sharp drop in revenues, demands by a federal court receiver for funds to improve prison health care and other "cash pressures."

Lockyer makes the disclosure in a lengthy document issued by his office of the state's desire to borrow $4 billion in short-term notes to ease a severe cash crunch. He and other state officials have worried aloud that with credit markets in turmoil and the state likely to run out of cash by the end of the month, the state's "revenue anticipation notes" may be difficult to market. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has said the federal government may become lender of last resort, a possibility also cited by Lockyer in the state's "preliminary official statement" for the RAN sale.

The California Business Roundtable has announced its positions on the 12 measures on the November ballot.

Sen. Darrell Steinberg, the Senate president pro tem in waiting, will join the Big Five meeting this afternoon with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders.

Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata remains leader through Nov. 30, and he's expected to preside over the upper house should it return for a special session before then. But it remains possible that lawmakers won't deal with the new revenue gap until after the next session begins Dec. 1, so Steinberg will be on hand at today's 2 p.m. meeting.

Steinberg is attending at Perata's invitation, according to both legislators' offices.

Perata estimated Tuesday that the state faces a $3 billion to $5 billion revenue gap in the current fiscal year, and that the problem could balloon to $15 billion to $18 billion through June 2010.

Among other things, the Big Six will discuss whether to hold a special session, and if so, whether to do so before the Nov. 4 election, after the election but before Nov. 30 or after Dec. 1 when the next batch of legislators arrives.

With few competitive legislative races, it doesn't seem like bringing back lawmakers before the election would pose a huge political liability for current members. But they'd certainly be distracted -- and we saw how productive they were when they were actually focused on the problem this summer.

A post-election special session with current members would allow experienced legislators to pick up where they left off in September, but the revenue problem could grow that much larger by then. Perata, who will leave office Nov. 30, said Wednesday there were advantages to having the current Legislature deal with the problem.

"The reason you'd do that would be to try to deal with people who are more experienced...about what happened, and why it might have happened and what are we going to do about it," Perata said.

As for a special session in December or later? The benefits would be that new members wouldn't have as much baggage as those this summer, but they'd also be very green.

"Remember, in December, there will be 25 new members in the Assembly," Perata said. "You do the math."

Two new TV spots of note this morning.

After unveiling their first ad featuring San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, the Yes on Proposition 8 campaign's second spot with a second grader talking to her mom about learning about "how a prince married a prince."

Watch the ad below:

The campaign against Proposition 7, the renewable energy measure, has released a new ad titled "Unprecedented," which touts the broad coalition against the measure, including both the Democratic and Republican parties.

That ad is not on YouTube, but you can view it here.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger thinks Sen. Dianne Feinstein will run for governor if John McCain wins the presidency. But if Feinstein stays in Washington, Schwarzenegger said Attorney General Jerry Brown "has the best shot of becoming governor of the great state."

The Republican governor played prognosticator for the 2010 gubernatorial elections during a question-and-answer session at the American Magazine Conference in San Francisco. He was asked whom he thought would win the Democratic nomination for governor in 2010, and he didn't once mention San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom even though he was in Newsom's city.

Though Schwarzenegger was asked whom he thought would win the Democratic nomination for governor, it seemed for a moment that he answered whom he thought would win the entire race. And the fact that he said Brown, a Democrat, was a shock considering that he's a Republican governor, albeit not as great a shock as it would have been if he weren't a self-declared "post-partisan" governor.

The governor's office disputes whether he actually said he thought Brown was best positioned to become governor and insists he was only answering the question about the Democratic nominee.

But Schwarzenegger did flat out say "Jerry Brown I think has the best shot of becoming governor of the great state." He then mentioned Republican Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner in the next breath, which suggests that he was handicapping the overall race, not just the Democratic contest.

Here's the full transcript of what Schwarzenegger said:

Q: Who will be the Democratic nominee for governor when your term is up?

A: You know I think the best potential ... it depends on if Dianne Feinstein comes into the race or not. I think that depends also on who will win the presidency. Because if McCain wins the presidency, I think she most likely will leave Washington and come and run for governor. I think that if Obama wins the presidency, she will want to be part of that move and want to stay because of that change, want to stay in Washington. And then Jerry Brown I think has the best shot of becoming governor of the great state. And Steve Poizner has also a good shot, who is a Republican and making his way up right now. So you know, to me, I think Jerry Brown because he has been governor twice before in California and has worked his way back up again from being mayor of Oakland to becoming the attorney general right now. And he can kind of reach the Republicans and Democrats and bring people together, so I think he has the best shot.

The state prison guards union has to rewrite its petition to recall Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, after the Secretary of State's Office rejected their draft for failing to include Schwarzenegger's official response.

The union has to file a corrected version within 10 days, according to the secretary of state's office.

It is not unusual for initial drafts of recall petitions to contain errors, the secretary of state's office said.

Read Schwarzenegger's official response to the recall, which the union didn't include.

This summer, GOP congressional candidate Tom McClintock's campaign said he was closing down an open account to run for statewide office in 2010 and donating the funds to charity.

But four weeks before the Nov. 4 election, McClintock's account remains open and active, as the Thousand Oaks lawmaker has doled out thousands of dollars to fellow Republicans in the last week.

McClintock made $3,600 donations, the maximum allowed under state law, to a trio of Republican candidates for the Legislature: Senate candidates Tony Strickland and Greg Aghazarian and Assembly hopeful Jack Sieglock

His Democratic opponent, retired Air Force Lt. Col. Charlie Brown, made hay of McClintock's multiple accounts over the summer, calling him a career politician in search of a job.

"What office are you running for?" Brown said in a July statement.

With a month left until the election, multiple campaigns, from legislative candidates to state ballot measures, are hitting the airwaves.

Here's what's new on political TV.

An update on new polling data on three contested propositions and the presidential campaign in California.

All the polls are from Survey USA, the robo-dialing polling outfit, which released another batch of polls last week.

Proposition 4 (Parental notification measure)
Yes: 44 percent
No: 31 percent

(Last week, it was ahead 52 percent to 36 percent.)

Proposition 8 (Gay marriage measure)
Yes: 47 percent
No: 42 percent

(This was a big swing from last week, whcih showed the measure trailing 44 percent to 49 percent).

Proposition 11 (Redistricting)
Yes: 20 percent
No: 21 percent
Undecided: 59 percent

(The truth is no one seems to know much of anything about this measure. Last week, 49 percent of those surveyed were undecided. That number has blown up to 59 percent.)

Survey USA has completed some presidential polling in California, with Democratic Sen. Barack Obama leading Republican Sen. John McCain 55 percent to 39 percent.

As for last week's vice presidential debate, 51 percent said Democratic VP Joe Biden topped GOP VP Sarah Palin, who was picked by 32 percent as the clear winner. A total of 17 percent said there was no clear winner.

Being the chief executive officer of CalPERS, California's $223 billion investment fund, is a good job. If you can get it.

The spot is open and the state is recruiting via a high-end executive-search program.

What the job requires, according to the posting, is "executive leadership responsibility for an innovative organization with a staff of 2,300 and investment funds of $223 billion."

The compensation isn't too shabby, either.

"The annual base salary rate for the position is $224,000 - $336,000 (subject to negotiation), with the opportunity to earn an annual performance award of up to 40% of base salary," reads the job description.

As if that wasn't enough "a recruitment differential may be provided when hiring executives from outside state service. A competitive benefit package is also offered."

With the fallout on Wall Street, there should be plenty of available candidates. Quality candidates could be another matter entirely.

The California Teachers Association released its positions on a few of the Nov. 4 ballot measures -- and there were few surprises. The big question was whether the state's teachers union would take a stand on Proposition 11, the redistricting measure spearheaded by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

They did not.

In 2005, the teachers association spent $700,000 to beat a redistricting measure pushed by Schwarzenegger in his ill-fated special election. Millions more went to blast the full slate of ballot measures the governor was pushing.

Here are the CTA's other positions for Nov. 4:

Proposition 3
Yes

Proposition 4No

Proposition 6
No

Proposition 8
No

Proposition 9
No

Taking aim at legislative ineffectiveness, backers of a statewide ballot initiative to alter how political districts are drawn began airing their first radio advertisement Monday, a 60-second spot running statewide.

Jeannine English, spokeswoman for Yes on Proposition 11, declined to comment on how much was spent on the ad, how long it would air, or other details of the radio effort. The 60-second spot was unveiled at news conferences in Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego.

The ad does not mention Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is helping to lead the Yes on 11 campaign and has raised nearly $2.5 million to pass the constitutional amendment.

The 60-second spot was bankrolled by a coalition, but only two individual members are identified: Reed Hastings, founder of NetFlix; and Charles T. Munger Jr., a Stanford University physicist who has donated $1 million.

Proposition 11 would give a proposed 14-member independent commission, rather than lawmakers, the authority to draw legislative and Board of Equalization districts. Congressional districts would continue to be drawn by legislators.

Supporters say that Proposition 11 would hold lawmakers accountable by making seats more competitive. Opponents criticize the measure as a power grab by Schwarzenegger that would give Republicans more clout than warranted by voter registration statistics.

Paul Hefner, of No on 11, said the ad says nothing about the "confusing process" the measure would create, or other flaws, opting instead to make "phony promises that Prop. 11 can't possibly deliver, all to fool voters into embracing their hidden agenda."

Here is the text of the new radio ad, available for listening here:

ANNOUNCER: "Paid for by Yes on 11 - Hold Politicians Accountable, a coalition of consumer, senior, public interest, taxpayer, community and business groups and leaders, Charles Munger Jr. and Reed Hastings."

POLITICIAN: "Mr. Speaker, I move we table the measure..."

MAN: "The politicians started in January - let's see what they got done. First, the budget..."

WOMAN: "Late and not balanced."

MAN: "Reforming health care? Fixing schools? Dealing with the water crisis? Energy costs?"

WOMAN: "That'd be a NO."

MAN: "So what ARE they doing up in Sacramento?"

WOMAN: "Drawing their salaries, taking junkets, driving state cars, being pampered by staff and dropping by their offices to meet with lobbyists."

MAN: "We have to hold them accountable."

WOMAN: "That's why we need Prop. 11. It'll help end the gridlock by forcing politicians to pay attention to voters - and if they don't, it makes it easier to vote them out of office."

MAN: "Real political reform."

POLITICIAN: "We are recessed until, oh, Wednesday."

WOMAN: "Help the League of Women Voters of California, California Taxpayers Association, AARP and dozens of other citizens groups clean up the mess in Sacramento. Yes on 11. Check it out at Yesprop11.org"

The deluge of independent spending by special interest groups keen on swaying the makeup of the Legislature has begun, as well-heeled groups have showered nearly $1 million in the last week on their favored legislative candidates.

And that is only the beginning.

"Independent expenditure" campaigns are outside the control of the Democrats and Republicans running for state Assembly and Senate.

They are an outgrowth of voter-approved caps on direct contributions that those same interests can make to the candidates themselves. Unable to give as much as they want directly, Sacramento's wealthiest interests have set up independent committees for political campaigns.

Tim Clark, a Republican political consultant who works on candidate campaigns, is no fan of independent expenditures, describing them as "kind of like pirates: They sail up next to you, board your ship, do what they're going to do and get out of there."

Clark would prefer the state eliminate limits on direct contributions to candidates.

But voters etched those limits into law - currently $3,600 per election - in 2000, when they passed Proposition 34.

In the eight years since, roughly $100 million has flowed through independent committees, according to campaign reports.

So far this fall, the trial lawyers, nurses and environmentalists have spent more than $170,000 in support of Democratic Senate candidate Hannah-Beth Jackson, a former assemblywoman locked in a tight contest with former GOP Assemblyman Tony Strickland.

The California Dental Association has spent $200,000 trying to elect Republican John McCann, who is running to replace termed-out GOP Assemblywoman Shirley Horton, R-San Diego. Business groups that make up the Civil Justice Association of California - the counterweight to the state's trial lawyers association - have spent another $30,000 on McCann's candidacy.

And it is still more than four weeks until Election Day.

The Fair Political Practices Commission, the state's campaign watchdog agency, is pressing for greater disclosure of the spending.

In a 2008 report, the agency called the growth of independent expenditures "an orgy of spending...that has thwarted the will of the people, dramatically undermined California's campaign finance laws and doubtlessly influence the outcome of numerous statewide and legislative elections."

The biggest beneficiary of independent spending thus far is Joan Buchannan, a Democratic member of the San Ramon Valley School Board running to replace GOP Assemblyman Guy Houston of San Ramon. Her opponent is San Ramon Mayor Abram Wilson.

Buchanan has benefited from $256,000 in spending from the Opportunity PAC, a coalition that includes SEIU, the California Federation of Teachers and the California Teachers Association.

Opportunity PAC has already spent $71,000 supporting Alyson Huber, the Democrat trying to win the seat of termed-out Assemblyman Alan Nakanishi. And another $72,000 has gone to support Manuel Perez, another Democrat running in a GOP-held seat, that of termed-out Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia of Cathedral City.

The California Apartment Association, meanwhile, has spent $22,000 in support of Republican Assembly candidate Danny Gilmore, who is seeking the Central Valley seat of termed-out Democratic Assemblywoman Nicole Parra.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein didn't mince any words in her statement opposing Proposition 5, the drug rehabilitation and non-violent offender measure on the Nov. 4 ballot.

California's senior U.S. senator called the measure, which The Bee's Andy Furillo profiles here, a "dangerous initiative."

Here is Feinstein's statement, in full:

"Not only would Prop 5 reduce accountability, it could allow gang-members and other criminals accused of identity theft, domestic violence, child abuse, car theft, killing someone while driving under the influence and a host of other serious crimes to effectively escape prosecution."

"Proposition 5 would also shorten parole for methamphetamine dealers from three years to just six months, a provision which is completely at odds with the goal of reducing the role of illegal drugs in our schools and communities. Proposition 5 should be known as the "drug dealers bill of rights." Proposition 5 is a dangerous initiative that would cause far too much harm to our families, schools and communities."

"For these reasons I join with Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and our sheriffs, district attorneys and probation officers in urging all Californians to oppose Proposition 5 on the November ballot."

Remember Paul Singer? He was the mystery GOP donor who funneled $175,000 through a newly formed organization in Missouri last year to the failed ballot measure to scrap the winner-take-all Electoral College system in California.

National Democrats denounced the Electoral College plan as a GOP power grab.

Well, Singer has returned to the state's campaign filings, donating $25,000 this weekend to pass Proposition 11, the redistricting measure on the November ballot spearheaded by good government groups like California Common Cause and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Democratic Senate leader Don Perata and his political team have led the opposition to Proposition 11, saying it too is a Republican power grab.

The California Democratic Party opposes the initiative; the California Republican Party has declined to take a position.

The measure would strip state lawmakers of the power to draw their own political districts and hand that authority over to an independent commission selected by the state auditor through a multi-step process.

Schwarzenegger has been the biggest contributor to the Yes on 11 campaign, which includes many other prominent Republican donors, from money manager Robert Day to the New Majority, a moderate GOP group. Some Democrats also support the measure, including former Gov. Gray Davis and former state Controller Steve Westly.

Singer, a New York hedge fund manager, was a top fundraiser for Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani. The New York Times profiled him after his involvement with the California initiative.

T. Boone Pickens, the billionaire Texas oil tycoon behind Proposition 10, has doubled down on the alternative energy bond, plunging another $4 million into the measure through his company Clean Energy Fuels Corp.

Pickens' company was already the largest financier of the ballot measure, having given $3.75 million to the campaign. The measure would provide $5 billion in rebates to help promote natural gas vehicles, the types of vehicles that could be Pickens' company's customers.

The rebates would be paid for through a general obligation bond, repaid by the state over 30 years.

The Los Angeles Times, in a news story, describes Proposition 10 as a measure "from which he would profit," referring to Pickens.

The opposition includes taxpayer groups, such as the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, and consumer groups, such as Consumer Federation of California.

The opponents have yet to report any donations.

Clean Energy Fuels has provided most of the funding to the campaign. Aubrey McClendon, the CEO of another energy company, Chesapeake Energy, has given $500,000. McClendon and Pickens are friends.

Photo: T. Boone Pickens, chairman of BP Capital Management, speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative on Sept. 25, 2008. Credit: Jason DeCrow, Associated Press.

With California two years deep into a drought, Lake Shasta, the state's largest reservoir, is at its lowest level in 16 years -- a full 150 feet below its high-water mark.

The receding lake line has exposed relics of the pre-dam past, including bridges and tunnels nearly 100 years old.

This Sunday, the Redding Record Searchlight did a story on the usually submerged bridges, roads and tunnels, including this photo gallery.

Back in June, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a drought for the state, its first since 1991.

This spring was the driest on record in 114 years, according to data from the Western Regional Climate Center and California Department of Water Resources.

State lawmakers and Schwarzenegger have repeatedly failed to come to terms on a water bond to expand California's supply of water storage in the last two years. Such a bond remains on the agenda.

To oversimply, Democrats have refused to include new or expanded dams -- known in Capitol parlance as "above-ground storage" -- while Republicans have refused to sign off on any package without them.

David Long, who resigned as education secretary in the Schwarzenegger administration earlier this month, has landed as a consultant to the California School Boards Association.

When Long resigned back in mid-September (Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's fourth education secretary in five years), he didn't say what was next.

CSBA made the announcement on their Web site.

"I am delighted that Secretary Long has joined the CSBA team tackling student achievement issues," said the group's executive director Scott Plotkin. "His decades of experience in public education, both in California and elsewhere, will be an enormous asset as we bolster our ongoing efforts to help governance teams close the achievement gaps in California schools."

Hat tip: Riverside Press-Enterprise Ballot Watch blog.

The brother of congresswomen Loretta and Linda Sanchez is missing off the coast of Southern California after an apparent boating accident.

The Associated Press has more:

The sisters say in a statement issued Friday that a debris field found off the coast contained fragments from the boat their brother was aboard with his girlfriend, Penny Avila.

Ensign Stephanie Young says the debris was found about five miles south of the Los Angeles harbor entrance at 7:30 a.m. Thursday.

The Contra Costa Times has even more:

The Coast Guard today called off the search that covered more than 300 square miles off the San Pedro coast. On Thursday, life jackets and fiberglass were discovered floating in the ocean.

Henry Sanchez and Avila were aboard a 26- to 28-foot Bayliner that apparently collided with a barge, the Coast Guard said. Debris included a California vessel number that matches the Sanchez boat.

You can say one thing about the Yes on 4 TV ad: It's sure to spark some strong reactions.

The campaign to pass an abortion parental notification law aired an ad last night with a young man bragging about impregnating underage girls and then taking them to get secret abortions.

The ad features a scruffy looking 20-something, wearing a white t-shirt and fleece jacket, talking straight into the camera about how, "I go out with some teenage girls."

"OK, so I get a couple of them pregnant. What is the big deal? I can just take her to get an abortion," the man says. "That's the great thing about the state of California. An underage girl can go get an abortion, she doesn't have to tell her parents, her family, not even a teacher. Nobody has to know."

Proposition 4 would require notification of a parent or guardian before an abortion is performed on a minor.

The spot opens with the man saying, "Some people think I'm a child predator. What is up with that? I think they need to be a little more open minded."

It closes when a female announcer says, "California law allows this man to cover up crimes of statutory rape. Vote yes on Proposition 4. Help stop child predators. Somebody has to."

So far, the ad has aired on television only once -- and in the small media market of Eureka, according to Yes on 4 campaign manager Charles Gallagher. It aired after last night's vice presidential debate.

"We learned that the 'no' side was putting an ad up in that market so we responded in kind," Gallagher said.

He would not discuss if the minute-long ad would get a wider airing.

"I'm looking at a couple of different ads at the moment and I normally don't discuss our campaign strategy," he said, though it sounded unlikely. "Last night's ad was a single purchase, specific to the debate."

Watch the spot for yourself:

The DrudgeReport is making sure millions see this story in the Los Angeles Times saying that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has written to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson saying the state may ask for an emergency $7 billion loan within weeks.

The story was linked to on the top of the DrudgeReport this morning in all caps.

"The economic fallout from this national credit crisis continues to drain state tax coffers, making it even more difficult to weather the continuation of frozen credit markets for any length of time," Schwarzenegger wrote to Paulson.

Read The Bee's story here.

The governor has already thrown his political weight in favor of the $700 billion bailout package under consideration in Congress.

Here's the Schwarzenegger's letter to Paulson, in full:

October 2, 2008

Arnold Schwarzenegger

The campaign for Proposition 7, the measure to require California utilities to get half of their power from renewable energy, went on the air earlier this week.

Here are the campaign's two TV spots, so far:

Speaking at a press conference in Santa Clara today, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger blamed marketing in part for the initial failure of the financial markets bailout package in Washington earlier this week.

The governor is himself a master marketer, from his days in body building to Hollywood to politics. Here are Schwarzenegger's thoughts, in full:

What was wrong right from the beginning was the way it was marketed. I mean, you can't talk about a Wall Street bailout. No one in America is interested in bailing out Wall Street [laughter] because those are the guys that are making the billions of dollars. So who is going to help that? But if you go and explain to people this is going to be a bailout for the ordinary citizens and for businesses, small and large, for everyone, the economy and everyone will be affected all the way down to Main Street, not Wall Street, that is then a different ball game.

So I don't know why those very experienced people in Washington that are so smart will go and sell it the wrong way to the people of America. I don't understand that. And I think that no matter what you talk about, it it's art, or if it is a sport, or if it is a product, or if it high tech, or if it's policy, you've got to sell it the right way. You can have the best idea in the world but if you don't know how to market it and sell it you have nothing. And I think they all should take Marketing 101, go back to school, so we can start all over again with this whole thing.

Assembly Majority Floor Leader Alberto Torrico vowed today to push for a bipartisan legislative backlash against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger by overturning many of his recent vetoes.

"We're all very frustrated, both Democrats and Republicans," the Fremont Democrat said at a news conference this morning. "I don't think there's going to be any problem attaining the votes for an override."

Schwarzenegger set a modern record by vetoing 35 percent of the bills on his desk. For 136 of his 415 vetoes, he issued a standard message that this year's lengthy delay in adopting a budget forced him to prioritize bills and sign only those of the "highest priority."

Torrico said that when the Legislature reconvenes in January, he will push for overriding vetoes of both Democratic and Republican bills that received two-thirds support in the Legislature. Dozens of bills could qualify, he said.

Torrico said that he had not yet discussed the idea at length with legislative leadership, but "I think that's going to be the first order of business upon our return."

Veto overrides would "send the governor a clear message that, one, he's clearly out of touch with Californians, and two, his veto will be overridden repeatedly if he continues to have these arbitrary tactics."

Here's the rub: The plan is illegal.

Greg Schmidt, chief administrative officer of the Senate, said the Legislature's two-year session ends Nov. 30. Lawmakers in one session are prohibited from overriding vetoes from a previous session, he said.

But where there's a will, perhaps, there's a way.

To accomplish the same purpose, legislators in January could introduce an identical version of a vetoed bill, pass it by a two-thirds vote, send it to the governor, then override his veto of that bill, Schmidt said.

Torrico, who learned of the legal glitch after the news conference, has not given up on overturning Schwarzenegger's actions and is weighing his options, an aide said this afternoon.

• Since we included a Daily Kos poll showing Democratic congressional candidate Charlie Brown leading GOP Sen. Tom McClintock on Wednesday, here's what McClintock's internals are showing:

McClintock: 47 percent
Brown: 39 percent

The poll, with a margin of error of five percentage points, was conducted between Sept. 22 and Sept. 24.

• Termed-out Sen. Sheila Kuehl, the chair of the Senate Health Committee, is not too happy with Schwarzenegger's vetoes of health legislation.

To say the least.

"To add insult to injury, he put out a press release-- breathtaking in its hyperbole and misdirection-- titled ( try not to laugh) "Gov. Schwarzenegger Signs Urgently Needed Legislation to Protect Consumers from Unfair Health Care Practices". This title takes even his chutzpah to a higher level. He protected no one, except the insurance industry."

She breaks down all the vetoes on the California Progress Report.

• The California Nurses Association is not the shyest of unions.

And neither is the labor group's new anti-John McCain TV ad, which non-too-subtly plays up fears that McCain could die in office.

With an EKG and a black-and-white image of a grimacing McCain on the screen, a woman sings "one heartbeat away," before the ad pivots to blast vice presidential nominee, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post reports, "The ad went up in six battleground states -- Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Colorado, and Missouri -- (Wednesday) morning, and will run for two days with a low six-figure buy behind it, according to sources familiar with the spot."

As Cillizza writes, "The goal of these ads is not to persuade but rather to provoke reaction and conversation from both sides of the political aisle. In that regard, mission accomplished."

Watch the ad below:

• This got missed amid the busy day on Wednesday, but California Correctional Peace Officers Association spokesman Lance Corcoran found himself on the wrong side of the law earlier this week.

The Bee Andy Furillo reports Corcoran "was taken into custody Monday at 7:20 p.m. after a California Highway Patrol officer found him slumped over the wheel of his car on Eight Mile Road with the motor running, according to CHP assistant chief Mike Champion.

Corcoran, 44, was booked into the San Joaquin County jail and released the next day, Champion said. The CHP plans to submit the case today to the San Joaquin County district attorney.

CCPOA spokesman Ryan Sherman said the union, which is seeking to recall Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, would have no comment on the arrest."

• Speaking of spokesmen, the Fresno Bee reports Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein' s press secretary, Scott Gerber, is leaving the senior senator's office in Washington D.C.

Gerber's not leaving California politics though. He has signed on to work in Attorney General Jerry Brown's Oakland office.

• Finally, a former Orange County congressional candidate was indicted on Wednesday.

The Los Angeles Times reports:

Tan Nguyen, whose staff sent letters to 14,000 voters in central Orange County with Spanish surnames in October 2006, allegedly misled investigators who were looking into whether the letter violated federal election laws, federal officials said.

The letter also falsely said that the state had developed a tracking system that would allow new Latino voters' names to be handed over to anti-immigrant groups.

Among hundreds of bills Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed this week was one to place a measure of the 2010 primary ballot that would create one publicly funded political campaign.

Schwarzenegger signed AB 583, the pilot project to create a publicly financed campaign for secretary of state in 2014. Berkeley Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, a Democrat, authored the legislation.

Hancock has been pushing to move the state toward public financing for years, though this is the first time such legislation has been signed.

What happens next depends on the voters; the measure will be on the June 2010 ballot, alongside the gubernatorial primary.

If approved by voters, the measure would let secretary of state candidates qualify for public financing by raising $5 from 7,500 contributors. The funding to pay for the politicians' campaign would come largely from higher lobbyist fees.

In 2006, another, much broader public financing measure was swamped at the polls by a three-to-one margin. But that initiative relied on new taxes and had broad opposition from entrenched Sacramento interests, everyone from the California Teachers Association to the California Chamber of Commerce.

The Hancock legislation, AB 583, was one of the more heavily lobbied bills on the governor's desk. The governor's office set up an automated message-taking system for seven bills in the last days of signing season. AB 583 was one of the seven.

Some of the others were AB 2567 (to create Harvey Milk Day), AB 2747 (the "California Right to Know End-of-Life Act of 2008"), SB 60 (to grant drivers licenses for illegal immigrants) and AB 1656 and SB 364 (two privacy bills).

One other political side note: California Common Cause heavily pushed for the public financing legislation, an organization with which Schwarzenegger has teamed to press for a redistricting overhaul, Proposition 11, on the November ballot.