[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

California Republicans: put a fork in it.
 
That's the word from respected Republican consultant Frank Schubert of Schubert Flint Public Affairs, speaking before a meeting of the American Association of Political Consultants in Sacramento earlier today
 
Schubert made the remarks when asked about the impact of the presidential race on the gay marriage initiative on this November's ballot. He said since the presidential race was "potentially over" in California already, so the battle over the initiative would stand on its own.
 
So much for California being in play for McCain.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Senator Barack Obama holds a commanding 53-41 percent lead over Sen. John McCain in the presidential race in California, according to a Survey USA poll released today.
 
Democrats have flocked solidly behind Obama; he is favored by 78-16 percent (so much for Hillary supporters holding out). Obama also handily is leading among Independents, 57-33 percent.
 
But where Obama really shines is among female voters. He clobbers McCain 62-29 percent. Among males, McCain leads 52-43 percent.

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

We haven't done a Calitics show in quite a while, but we haven't forgotten about it. On Monday, we will have a show at 7:30, featuring myself and David Dayen, and, hopefully, some special guests. We'll update if and when guests are confirmed. We're also going to try to get in a song or two from the Grateful Dead show in San Francisco, but we're still working on the technology aspect of that. We'll be talking about the presidential race, and, if you care to join us, you can call in at (718) 664-9561.

At the Calitics BlogTalkRadio page, you can check out the first Calitics Show, way back when, set a reminder for yourself, or download a podcast.  

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Secretary of State Debra Bowen just released new voter registration numbers, and they bode well for California's big D Democrats and small d democracy. California has 700,000 new voters since the 2004 primary and 240,000 new voters since early December. Of the newly registered since December, 150,633 are Democrats while only 39,246 are Republicans. Also, while Decline-to-State voters represented 16.43% of the electorate in 2004, they now represent 19.37%."There are just four days until the earliest primary in our state’s history, and California voters will step on the scales of the presidential race in a major way," said Secretary of State Debra Bowen, the state’s chief elections officer. “Voter registration drives across the state have paid off, because there are now tens of thousands of new voters who will have their voices heard on February 5."

by Bill Lackemacher [courtesy of Blog for America]

You Spoke – We Listened!

We’ve responded to feedback we received regarding the movie we chose for our November meeting. Since most people have already seen "An Inconvenient Truth" (and Al Gore has not yet thrown his hat into the Presidential race), we’ve decided to show another film this month. A great film recently became available, and so we’re going to take this opportunity to bring you No End In Sight!

To RSVP and watch a preview, click here:
http://www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=24756

No End In Sight, winner of the 2007 Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize: Documentary, has received incredible reviews. Time Magazine has called the film "Without a doubt the most important film you are likely to see this year," and it is possibly the best reviewed film of the entire year, as you can see from the selection of critic quotes below.

Join us this Wednesday to see for yourself - This film makes a case against Bush’s Iraq policy, even by some of those who helped put those policies into place.

We’ll provide the popcorn and sodas (and coffee, tea and snacks); you provide opinions and discussion!

by Sheri Divers [courtesy of Blog for America]

1)       INDN's List Campaign Camp: Reshaping Our Political Landscape, tanasijournal.com

2)       A 2008 Netroots Strategy: Ignore the Presidential Race, mydd.com

3)       Finch: No Inde Run, fairfieldweekly.com

4)       Tom Hughes: Democracy for America says Impeach Gonzales! Shopfortruth.com

by jra [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Cross-posted at votehope2008.org

The mainstream media has discovered Vote Hope, and it seems like they can't quite get their heads around it.

While we are thankful for the publicity (any press is good press as long as they get the url right!), it's clear that it's going to be a little difficult for some people to grasp an independent campaign that isn't designed to ruthlessly smear someone. News stories published in two places today, both the L.A. Times and MSNBC's "First Read", are focusing on the past history of negative independent campaigns, rather than on the reality of what Vote Hope is trying to do in California.