[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez will travel to Iowa this weekend to campaign for Senator Hillary Clinton.

Nunez, the first major elected official in California to support the New York Senator's candidacy, will represent Clinton at "The Iowa Brown & Black Forum" in Des Moines. The Forum is the nation’s only presidential forum in which all candidates have the opportunity to answer essential concerns of African-Americans and Latinos. All eight Democratic presidential candidates will participate.

The two hour-long forum will begin at 8:00 pm ET on Saturday, December 1. It will be moderated by Michele Norris, host of National Public Radio’s "All Things Considered," and Ray Suarez, senior correspondent for PBS’s "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer."

Panel members will be Dr. Juan Andrade Jr., President of US Hispanic Leadership Institute; Angel F. Gonzalez Irizarry, Vice Chair for State of Iowa's Commission of Latino Affairs, Adrien K. Wing, Professor of Law, University of Iowa; and Dr. Benjamin Chavis, Hip Hop Summit Action Network President and CEO. Details on the event can be found here.

Nunez will meet with Iowa voters and campaign with Senator Clinton in Des Moines before and after the forum.

The 2008 Iowa Caucus will be held January 3, 2008.

by Eric Arens [courtesy of Blog for America]

I am always wondering things that have occurred over the last 7 years, that we never hear much about any more, yet they are events that we should have answers to.

My first is: What ever happened to the FBI's Anthrax investigation after it turned out that the Anthrax sent was a strain developed in the US.

My second is: What ever happened to Dick Cheney when he refused to turn over security documents, stating that he was not part of the Executive Branch.

My 3rd: Where are all the video tapes taken by the FBI from all the local business and buildings  after the plane (?) crashed into the Pentagon on 9-11?

Here is an opportunity for us to discuss and recall all the things that the media wants us to forget, but really are part of what has been going on by this administration. Can you think of things thaqt have been "swept under the rug"? Oh, one more, What ever happened to the weapons of mass destruction?

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Well, after months and months of having a "plan" with no associated bill in the Legislature, Arnold has a bill! This probably should be a quick hit, but I wanted to give everybody the opportunity to discuss this. So, thank you Capitol Alert. So, without further discussion, here is the Governor's ABX1 2.

by Denise [courtesy of Blog for America]

Democracy for Riverside offered both Bill Hedrick and Louis Vandenberg, the two progressive candidates currently running for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 44th Congressional District, the opportunity to compete for our local endorsement and recommendation to Democracy for America for the coveted DFA-List. Mr. Hedrick accepted the offer and returned the questionnaire.

Polling on whether or not Democracy for Riverside should endorse Mr. Hedrick will kick off following discussion at our monthly meeting on November 12, and will run until midnight on Sunday, November 25. Following are the questions posed by DFR and Mr. Hedrick’s responses in his own words.

by Andrea Stander [courtesy of Blog for America]

This is a great opportunity to get some training and network with likeminded folks from around the state. I will be co-leading a workshop on grassroots fundraising with Ginny Callan from New England Grassroots Environment Fund.

Follow the links below for all the information and feel free to call or email me with any questions. The fee for this day-long conference (which includes lunch) is only $20 in advance, $25 at the door and there are discounts for 3 or more folks who are part of the same organization or group. So we could turn this into a CVTDFA outing and save money too!

Hope to see you there

Andrea
802-522-3284

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Key bills and issues we’ve been following during the past week and beyond

By Hannah Beth Jackson

Now that the dust has settled and the Governor has disposed of 964 bills by either signing or vetoing them, we will devote this update to just what did and did not become law this legislative year. Remembering that a legislative session is comprised of two calendar years, there are many bills that have not been resolved that will have an opportunity to proceed in the coming year. We'll be following them when the legislative session reconvenes in early January.

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

This is almost a placeholder diary so I can get to it later in my monthly roundup, but this diary at Open Left shows the very real opportunity available in California this time around.  Six Congressional Rpublicans who are running for re-election have less than $250,000 in cash on hand.  The NRCC, the campaign arm for the House GOP, is spread thin by retirements and challenges.  So many incumbents are going to be on their own in 2008.  And saying "Hello, I'm a Republican member of Congress" just doesn't rake in the money like it used to.  Here's the list:

John Doolittle, CA-04
George Radanovich, CA-19
Ken Calvert, CA-44
Mary Bono, CA-45
John Campbell, CA-48
Darrell Issa, CA-49

I can add to this the fact that Gary Miller only raised a paltry $40,000 last quarter.  And Doolittle's problems are well-documented.

Unfortunately, our Democrats statewide haven't fully stepped up.  Two of these incumbents (Radanovich, Issa) don't have challengers yet, and Mary Bono just got one in Paul Clay.  But I would hope that Art Torres and the team would wake up to the fact that there are opportunities all over the map, in places that would significantly help down-ballot races as well.