Ananda
10-16-2004, 07:41 PM
:thumbsup:
Hi all, Thought you all might like to see this article.
This story is taken from Politics at sacbee.com.
The buzz: Guards union may lose taste for 'three-strikes' fight
- (Published October 16, 2004)
The state's correctional officers' union may be throwing in the towel on Proposition 66, conceding victory for the measure to weaken the "three strikes" sentencing law. With about two weeks left before the Nov. 2 election, the measure is enjoying support from two-thirds of likely voters, and the California Correctional Peace Officers Association has been unwilling to put up the kind of money opponents need to run a television advertising campaign. Nor has it been able to find any other deep pockets to finance the opposition, including those belonging to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Supporters have prepared television ads that trash the embattled union and have a commitment from wealthy financier George Soros to bankroll the media campaign if the guards start to put in big money, according to sources in the Proposition 66 campaign. The powerful union, which has been the subject this year of legislative probes and searing political attacks for the influence it wields in prisons and at the Capitol, is leery of the additional pummeling it would take if it fully engages Proposition 66 supporters. But it is also frustrated that no one else has stepped up. Schwarzenegger is scheduled to campaign against the measure next week and included his opposition in a mailer he sent to 5 million voters. But there is no plan for a paid media campaign, said Schwarzenegger spokesman Rob Stutzman. The governor's efforts - and considerable campaign war chest - have been focused on defeating two gambling measures, Propositions 68 and 70. A spokesman for the guards, Lance Corcoran, said it's frustrating to see Schwarzenegger campaigning against Propositions 68 and 70 when polls show both measures all but dead. Mounting an opposition against Proposition 66, he said, "is going to take more than lip service. ... This is about more than the CCPOA. This is about crime and justice in California. We can't be the only ones to protect public safety." Stutzman said Schwarzenegger is "very concerned" about the measure passing, but added, "There has not been a larger effort against 66 than what the governor has done."
Money talks: Independent expenditure committees - interest groups that support candidates with unlimited spending without (allegedly) coordinating with them - have begun to crank up. JOBSPAC (auto dealers, utilities and oil companies, among others) spent big money last week to oppose two Democratic Assembly candidates, Mike Gordon in a Los Angeles beach district and Lori Saldana in San Diego. Opportunity PAC (organized labor) is spending to support Democrats Ira Ruskin in a south Bay Area district and Patti Davis in San Diego. ... Outgoing state Senate President Pro Tem John Burton, D-San Francisco, donated $100,000 from his campaign fund to support Proposition 72, the health care measure he wrote. ... Democratic state Controller Steve Westly wrote a $250,000 personal check in support of Proposition 62, the open primary measure many think would benefit him in a future gubernatorial run. ... Schwarzenegger took a pair of big checks last week - $500,000 from Stockton developer Alex Spanos and $500,000 from a mortgage company, Ameriquest Capital.
McIver speechless: Election Day is weeks away, yet Barbara McIver already feels burned by balloting. More than 200 Sutter County voters have cast absentee ballots in the 2nd District Assembly race without receiving the 250-word statement that candidate McIver paid county officials hundreds of dollars to distribute. Sutter County officials mistakenly printed and mailed 40,000 sample ballots that lacked McIver's candidate statement, then compounded the problem by distributing 5,000 absentee ballots before their initial error could be corrected. Joan Bechtel, Sutter's registrar of voters, said a vendor had committed - but ultimately failed - to distribute supplemental materials containing McIver's statement on Oct. 8, the same day that the county was sending out its first batch of 5,000 absentee ballots. All absentee ballots returned to Sutter County by Wednesday - 226 in all - were filed by voters who had not read McIver's pitch about why they should choose the Tehama County supervisor over incumbent Doug La Malfa, R-Biggs. Bechtel said she feels badly but can do little except refund McIver's $500 filing fee. The county spent $12,000 for the additional mailing including McIver's statement.
Hi all, Thought you all might like to see this article.
This story is taken from Politics at sacbee.com.
The buzz: Guards union may lose taste for 'three-strikes' fight
- (Published October 16, 2004)
The state's correctional officers' union may be throwing in the towel on Proposition 66, conceding victory for the measure to weaken the "three strikes" sentencing law. With about two weeks left before the Nov. 2 election, the measure is enjoying support from two-thirds of likely voters, and the California Correctional Peace Officers Association has been unwilling to put up the kind of money opponents need to run a television advertising campaign. Nor has it been able to find any other deep pockets to finance the opposition, including those belonging to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Supporters have prepared television ads that trash the embattled union and have a commitment from wealthy financier George Soros to bankroll the media campaign if the guards start to put in big money, according to sources in the Proposition 66 campaign. The powerful union, which has been the subject this year of legislative probes and searing political attacks for the influence it wields in prisons and at the Capitol, is leery of the additional pummeling it would take if it fully engages Proposition 66 supporters. But it is also frustrated that no one else has stepped up. Schwarzenegger is scheduled to campaign against the measure next week and included his opposition in a mailer he sent to 5 million voters. But there is no plan for a paid media campaign, said Schwarzenegger spokesman Rob Stutzman. The governor's efforts - and considerable campaign war chest - have been focused on defeating two gambling measures, Propositions 68 and 70. A spokesman for the guards, Lance Corcoran, said it's frustrating to see Schwarzenegger campaigning against Propositions 68 and 70 when polls show both measures all but dead. Mounting an opposition against Proposition 66, he said, "is going to take more than lip service. ... This is about more than the CCPOA. This is about crime and justice in California. We can't be the only ones to protect public safety." Stutzman said Schwarzenegger is "very concerned" about the measure passing, but added, "There has not been a larger effort against 66 than what the governor has done."
Money talks: Independent expenditure committees - interest groups that support candidates with unlimited spending without (allegedly) coordinating with them - have begun to crank up. JOBSPAC (auto dealers, utilities and oil companies, among others) spent big money last week to oppose two Democratic Assembly candidates, Mike Gordon in a Los Angeles beach district and Lori Saldana in San Diego. Opportunity PAC (organized labor) is spending to support Democrats Ira Ruskin in a south Bay Area district and Patti Davis in San Diego. ... Outgoing state Senate President Pro Tem John Burton, D-San Francisco, donated $100,000 from his campaign fund to support Proposition 72, the health care measure he wrote. ... Democratic state Controller Steve Westly wrote a $250,000 personal check in support of Proposition 62, the open primary measure many think would benefit him in a future gubernatorial run. ... Schwarzenegger took a pair of big checks last week - $500,000 from Stockton developer Alex Spanos and $500,000 from a mortgage company, Ameriquest Capital.
McIver speechless: Election Day is weeks away, yet Barbara McIver already feels burned by balloting. More than 200 Sutter County voters have cast absentee ballots in the 2nd District Assembly race without receiving the 250-word statement that candidate McIver paid county officials hundreds of dollars to distribute. Sutter County officials mistakenly printed and mailed 40,000 sample ballots that lacked McIver's candidate statement, then compounded the problem by distributing 5,000 absentee ballots before their initial error could be corrected. Joan Bechtel, Sutter's registrar of voters, said a vendor had committed - but ultimately failed - to distribute supplemental materials containing McIver's statement on Oct. 8, the same day that the county was sending out its first batch of 5,000 absentee ballots. All absentee ballots returned to Sutter County by Wednesday - 226 in all - were filed by voters who had not read McIver's pitch about why they should choose the Tehama County supervisor over incumbent Doug La Malfa, R-Biggs. Bechtel said she feels badly but can do little except refund McIver's $500 filing fee. The county spent $12,000 for the additional mailing including McIver's statement.