[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom greeted bloggers today during the general session of the California State Democratic Convention. It was a friendly chit chat with folks from Calitics and the California Majority Report, but the real intrigue was behind the scenes. I've heard rumblings that the Mayor was seen meeting with high-level California Teachers Association figures earlier today. Something tells me they weren't talking about school lunches.

Speaking of not school lunches, former Controller Steve Westly was also seen entering a closed-doors private sit-down with Attorney General Jerry Brown.

by Jeff Morris [courtesy of Blog for America]

  We've heard a lot lately about how significant the super delegates might be in determining the Democratic Pres nominee. A super delegates vote on the average, is the equivalent of 9,538 voters. Many of the super delegates are veterans of the "old school" wing of the Democratic party. The longer you have been an established figure in your party, the better for where you stand with these super delegates. Advantage...Sen Clinton. Hillary is the longer standing established figure.

  Sen Obama has captivated his many supporters with his message of change. He wants to bring a new way for the political system to operate in Washington, that will cut through the partisan divide . Obama's campaign speaks of the need for a new direction in both Washington, and in the direction America has been heading over the past seven years under Bush. Sen Obama's message also calls  for some much needed change in the "old school wing" of the Democratic party. This is the wing of the party that often goes to the middle ground, and always concedes to Bush in the end. 

by Julia Rosen [courtesy of Working Californians blogs]

Things are progressing, spurred in part by a few bottles of wine and ice cream. This marks the beginning of a new stage of negotiations. The legislative leaders are no longer bashing each other in public, but are chatting amicably behind closed doors. It has been prompting rumors that we may have a deal and a vote on the budget this weekend.

As expected, more information is trickling out about the Republican's proposed budget cuts. They called for a 1-2% across the board cut in all state programs. That would net about $1 to $2 billion. The Democrats have already declared it unacceptable, particularly with regards to education.

“Democrats are not going to cut public education. Period,” said Steve Maviglio, the speaker's spokesman. “That type of meat-ax approach to budgeting won't fly.”

Arnold has also ruled out cuts to education.

Let's see how things go today. Progress is a good thing. Perhaps we need to just order them a full course dinner and we will have a deal. Or is it really just alcohol and desert that gets things moving?