[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Former Controller and gubernatorial candidate Steve Westly visited the Internet and Computer caucus today, pitching his vision of the future of campaigning. Here's a taste:

"You are the Caucus of the future. You are what is deciding elections," he told the overflow crowd. "It's the Internet caucus; it's technology. This is it. No other election has underscored it like what's happening right now."

"This presidential race, because of the dynamism of the two extraordinary candidates, we now own the Internet. The numbers are stunning. The number of people coming out to vote is extraordinary. In the last election, the number of people who voted 65 and over exceeded the number of people 30 and under five to one. In this election: dead even."

"This whole issue of social networking tools. There are now over 1.4 million people with Facebook sites for Obama and Hillary Clinton. The number of people who are watching Obama videos in one day on YouTube: 24 million people."

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

(Brian's Disclosure)

Recently, I had the chance to sit down, errm, stand up, with former state controller (and former eBay exec, and former gubernatorial candidate, and current green venture capitalist) Steve Westly about proposition 93. Mr. Westly had an interesting take, which I think you'll see from these videos. You can play through all of them in a row, or watch just one by selecting a video from the playlist.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

At first I thought it was just me: Was Sen. Barack Obama beginning to sound a lot like Arnold Schwarzenegger? Then there it was in a Washington post headline yesterday: "Post-Partisan Obama," and another Post story talking about Obama's California groundswell, where a Santa Cruz decline-to-state voter suggested he'd do well in the Golden State because he has a similar "post-partisan" style.

Then I Googled "Schwarzenegger" and "change" and found this gem from CNN's "Inside Politics":

"Gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger ... vowed Wednesday to lead a "people's takeover" of California's government, saying career politicians have left the state in a shambles. Speaking in advance of a candidates' debate he has decided to skip, Schwarzenegger, a Republican, described his candidacy as a "movement for change." "Help me send a message to Sacramento -- game is over," Schwarzenegger told the enthusiastic crowd at California State University in Long Beach."

"Movement for change?" Arnold ought to sue Obama for plagarism.

There's more...

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Under the headline "Venture to Exploit Fall in Housing," the Times wire services are reporting that former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides has formed a new $250 million venture to, according to one of its partners, "acquire lots from home builders and lenders looking to sell holdings because of the U.S. housing slump."
 
"There's going to be a tremendous opportunity to acquire land relatively cheaply over the next couple of years," partner Bobby Turner said. "Home sales are still looking very weak. We'll focus on markets we believe will rebound quickly," including California, Florida and other Sun Belt states as well as the Pacific Northwest.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

As if it matters to anyone, in a fundraising (what else would you expect from Phil?) email to his mailing list today, Angelides urged "urgent" action to defeat a budget proposal that he says "will take California in the wrong direction." Angelides attacks Speaker Nunez -- the co-chair of his campaign who raised more funds for him than any other elected official in the state. But hey, what are friends for?
 

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

I received an e-mail from former Controller/former gubernatorial candidate Steve Westly today. Perhaps learning from Phil Angelides' mistakes, the almost anointed lamb for Schwarzenegger's slaughter hasn't bombarded me with pleas for money that are "painful to watch." And he hasn't even asked me to sign a pledge to do my part stop genocide or global warming or another season of American Idol or anything of the sort!

Instead, he's gone all revolutionary on us. "The recent 4th of July holiday served as a reminder that revolutions can be healthy. I don't just mean revolution against an oppressive monarchy, as our nation's forefathers did 231 years ago. Today, revolutions in politics, business, and technology are changing the way we protect the environment and fight for causes we care about."