[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

The Democratic presidential contest is getting closer to California,both on the map and on the calendar, as the Los Angeles Times reportson a heated exchanges between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama on theNevada campaign trail. More California representatives are starting to make endorsements too—of note recently are Rep. George Miller and State Sen. Gil Cedillo for Obama.

Women and Latinos in California will be key to the chances of both Democrats Obama and Clinton as well as the Republicancandidates, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. But California is alsoa far cry from the wind mills and rural diners of Iowa and NewHampshire—the retail part of the campaign is largely over, and much ofthe battle will be over the airwaves and in newspapers and pressconferences. With two female Senators, a female Speaker of the U.S.House and a swelling Latino population, these groups are targetedheavily.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

I had a hearty chuckle over the weekend reading the San Francisco Chronicle's editorial page editor, John Diaz, finding himself caught in the web he's weaved about "Sacramento politicians" dragging their feet on redistricting and election reform. Apparently the system we have in place is working in the Bay Area, and Diaz isn't quite sure how to deal with it.
 
Diaz reports that there are two hotly-contested Democratic primaries on the horizon: the much talked about face-off between Sen. Carole Migden and Assemblyman Mark Leno (with the possibility of the entry of former Assemblymember Joe Nation) as well as a potential donnybrook between incumbent Congressman Tom Lantos and former State Senator Jackie Speier. Indeed, these are looking like contests where Democrats will have to choose between outstanding candidates in safe Democratic districts.
 
Not that redistricting would change a thing. The Bay Area is solid Democratic; no possible map redrawing is going to change that. Yet Diaz constantly moans in his editorials about how redistricting is going to be the be-all and end-all that will change California politics.
 
Yet right in his own backyard there are two major challenges in the making.