[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Peter Schrag

Bill Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard, dean of the neocons and now a weekly columnist for the New York Times, says the big difference between John McCain and the rest of the Republican field is that McCain seems refreshingly old-fashioned.

Read between the lines, it implies that McCain has a certain integrity that the others, being thoroughly modern men, are bereft of. McCain, he suggested, was a neo-Victorian – rigid, self-righteous and moralizing, but (or rather and) manly, courageous and principled. Maybe a dose of this type of neo-Victorianism is what the 21st century needs. But can it work Tuesday in California?

Someone less committed to the cause might put the comparison in less flattering terms. McCain's sense of principle shines in comparison to the flippers and flakes he's running against.

Mike Huckabee – who began as a straight shooter, defending his record as governor of Arkansas to provide in-state college tuition to illegal aliens, OK'ing a tax increase and sounding like an economic populist – has now joined the immigration exclusionists and touts a regressive flat tax that makes President Bush look like a Marxist.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Frank D. Russo

The Public Policy Institute of California has released a poll today that shows Hillary Clinton has a lead of 43% to 28% in the Democratic primary in California amongst expected voters. The poll is generally in alignment with the California Field Poll released earlier in the week that had Clinton at a 39% to 27% advantage. Nevertheless, when asked about the volatility of the electorate in races in other states and the possible effect of the South Carolina primary, PPIC President Mark Baldassare told me, “It just isn’t settled on the Democratic or Republican said.” He indicted other primary state results have a big impact on California voters and “We’re getting our news from other states.”

John McCain leads with 29% on the Republican side, followed by Mitt Romney at 17%, with Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, and Fred Thompson (who has dropped out) at 10% apiece. McCain’s trajectory is up, Guiliani’s has been consistently down since June of 2007 when he had 31% support, and Romney’s support has remained within a narrow 2 point range.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

The California Republican primary looks likely to come down to ArizonaSenator John McCain versus former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney,although Rudy Giuliani could gain some steam again if he is victoriousin Florida, the San Diego Union Tribune reports. Unfortuantely forthem, the GOP candidates will be facing a "pure" Republican electoratedue to rules excluding independents, and the base view of manyissues—from the economy to immigration—tends be based on, well, base instincts. In other words, the victor will be pushed even further to the right.

It should not go unnoticed, however, that Giuliani has slipped from first place in this state to barely hanging onto third, writes Dan Walters, although perhaps we should have found it surprisingthat a social moderate like him held on for so long with our GOP base.

California's Republican Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner is "all in" on the poker game surrounding term limits reform, writes Jon Fleischman of the Flash Report. Poizner, by opening hischeckbook at a jaw-dropping $1.5 million, is betting on a defeat forProposition 93 to gain credibility with the GOP base and a possible runfor Governor. But if he loses, he's done.

There's more...

by Julia Rosen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

(full disclosure: I work for the Courage Campaign)

Look out!  Hillary Clinton just passed Dennis Kucinich and is now in 3rd place both in California and nationally in the Pick Your President Poll.  Barack Obama is still leading John Edwards.  I know for sure that the Obama supporters and network are encouraging their people to vote in the poll.  What about John Edwards?  He was doing quite well before Obama supporters started working on GOTV.  Who knows maybe Clinton will catch up?

I can't share with you the actual vote margins, but suffice to say they do not match up with your average daily kos poll.  There is plenty of time for anybody to claim first place.  The poll will run until the 18th.  You can follow the results on this page.  The numbers are current as of 2 PM PST.  We will be updating over the weekend.

Here are the current California standings, which are now identical to the national rankings:

1. Sen. Barack Obama

2. Sen. John Edwards

3. Sen. Hillary Clinton

4. Rep. Dennis Kucinich

5. Gov. Bill Richardson *

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Hillary Clinton is still holding her leading in New Hampshire -- but it's dropping -- with just three days to go until New Hampshire voters go to the polls, according to a new 7NEWS/Suffolk University tracking poll released this morning.
 
In the Democratic Primary, Hillary Clinton (36 percent) leads Barack Obama (29 percent), John Edwards (13 percent), Bill Richardson (4 percent), Joe Biden (1 percent), Dennis Kucinich (1 percent), Mike Gravel (1 percent), and 12 percent were undecided.
 
Obama has climbed four points overnight and Hillary Clinton has dropped one.
 
Obama’s gains were most dramatic among young voters in New Hampshire who may have been energized by the Iowa win. Among likely voters ages 18-35 years, Obama led Clinton 44%-31%, compared to the previous tracking where he trailed Clinton 35%-31%.
 
In the Republican Primary, the 7NEWS/Suffolk University poll also shows Mitt Romney (30 percent) led John McCain (26 percent), while Iowa Caucus Republican winner Mike Huckabee and Rudy Giulianiwere tied for third at 11 percent. Other candidates receiving support were Ron Paul (8 percent), Fred Thompson (2 percent), and Duncan Hunter (1 percent). There were 10 percent undecided. This is the first time in nine consecutive polls that Rudy Giuliani has improved his numbers from a previous poll.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

With the New Hampshire Presidential Primaries just four days away, Hillary Clinton is maintaining her lead over Iowa Caucus Democratic winner Barack Obama, according to a Boston-based television stations poll released today. The poll, of course, does not take into account any bump Obama might have gotten last night.
 
In the Republican Primary, Romney (29 percent) led McCain (25 percent), while Iowa Caucus Republican winner Mike Huckabee (13 percent) continued to gain ground. Other candidates receiving support were Rudy Giuliani (9 percent), Ron Paul (8 percent), Fred Thompson (2 percent), and California's Duncan Hunter (1 percent). There were 12 percent undecided. Rudy Giuliani’s numbers have either declined or stayed the same in eight consecutive polls from a high of 37 percent in March of 2007 to the current level of 9 percent as of January 4, 2008.

In the Democratic Primary, the 7NEWS/Suffolk University poll also shows that Hillary Clinton (37 percent) continues to lead Barack Obama (25 percent), John Edwards (15 percent), Bill Richardson (4 percent), Joe Biden (2 percent), Dennis Kucinich (1 percent), and 12 percent were undecided.

There's more...

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Peter Schrag

Who said this? "Immigration to this country is increasing and is making its greatest relative increase from races most alien to the body of the American people and from the lowest and most illiterate classes among those races … half of whom have no occupation and most of whom represent the rudest form of labor.

"The immigrants who come to the United States reduce the rate of wages by ruinous competition, and then take their savings out of the country. Home as a foreign country. … They have no interest or stake in country and never become American citizens." Many, he went on, are genetically prone to crime, insanity and disease.

Five points credit if you guessed it isn't Rep. (and late presidential candidate) Tom "throw all illegals out" Tancredo of Colorado, or Mitt Romney, or Rush Limbaugh or Lou Dobbs of CNN. Two more points if you recognized it as not coming from anyone in this century. A perfect 10 if you traced it back to the last decades of the 19th century.

The author, in a pair of articles on "The Restriction of Immigration" for The Atlantic magazine in 1891, was Rep. (later Sen.) Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts. His undesirables were Jews, Italians, Poles and Hungarians, people like Tancredo's Sicilian great-grandparents. In those days, of course, everybody was undocumented.