by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Getting this one in under the wire.  On the last day of April, with just over a month to go until the June primaries, and six months to go until Election Day, there's a lot going on all over the state in the Congressional races.  Of the 19 seats in California currently held by Republicans, 17 will be contested in the fall, and some strongly so.  And we now have a full 34 Democrats with the election of Jackie Speier early in the month, and only one of them is a serious challenge.  We also have the first quarter of 2008 fundraising numbers, which will raise some eyebrows.  You can track these races yourself with the 2008 Race Tracker wiki.

A note: I'm mainly getting my numbers on cash-on-hand competitiveness from the Swing State Project.  Fundraising information comes from the FEC.

Here we go...

by James Ginsburg [courtesy of Blog for America]

I am on the Steering Committee for Chicago's Northside DFA. This week at our monthly meeting, our group voted 15-0 to endorse Obama. (The vote will be held open for a week so voting members of our group who weren't there can vote on line, but I don't expect the result to change.)

I believe DFA members need to find a way to convince national DFA to hold a membership vote ASAP so DFA can endorse Obama while it still matters. This race is for the soul of the Democratic Party: will we be a party of the people or of corporate lobbyists, grassroots or big money? DFA was founded on the idea of making the Party truly democratic (small d). Endorsing Obama and working toward his election is the way to achieve this.

In Iowa DFA had a campaign to elect a progressive: either Edwards, Kucinich, or Obama. Now that Obama is the only one left of those 3, I think we need to give the DFA membership a chance to endorse him.

When I spoke to Jim Dean 2 weeks ago, he said he did not plan to hold another vote. I think this would be a huge mistake. DFA has a role to play in this fight. We should not sit on the sidelines. I hope people reading this can find a way to persuade the folks in Vermont that the time for a new vote is NOW.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Julius Young

The blizzard of vetoes issued by Governor Schwarzenegger this past weekend highlight the fact this is not a family-values governor. In almost every instance Schwarzenegger sided with the corporate lobbyists and the Chamber of Commerce rather than family values activists.

Over the last few decades the Republican Party has attempted to portray itself as pro-family values. But as New York Times columnist David Brooks recently observed, the party has recently been unable to connect with the concerns and aspirations of middle class voters. Voters who work two jobs so they can pay the bills. Voters who need some flexibility in their lives so they can balance the needs of work, home and extended family. Voters who are an injury away from losing a grip on their finances and homes. Even the vaunted “soccer moms” so key in many legislative races share family concerns.

Some thought Arnold might show an independent streak by signing some of the pro-family bills that survived legislative scrutiny this year. Any hope for that died over the weekend. The overall picture that emerges is a Governor who does not put family values first.

Examples of the pro-family bills vetoed by Schwarzenegger include the following: