[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Steve Chessin
Member
California Democratic Party Executive Board

Bill Cavala is very selective in the Democrats he names as supporters of the Common Cause/League of Women Voters/AARP-backed redistricting initiative. He neglects to mention that both former Controller Steve Westly and former Governor Gray Davis support it, and neither of them has ever been on the losing end of a redistricting fight. Also, the California Democratic Council, "the conscience of the Democratic Party", supports the initiative (although certain California Democratic Party insiders are trying to get that undone before the November election).

The real issue is one of control. While it is egregious for elected officials to pick their voters before the voters get to choose their elected officials, most of those elected officials don't want to give up the control that being able to draw their own districts gives them.
(In fact, some years ago, in a slightly different context, I asked one of the Party insiders if he believed in democracy or if he believed in control. He was honest enough to tell me that he'd have to get back to me on that.)

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom greeted bloggers today during the general session of the California State Democratic Convention. It was a friendly chit chat with folks from Calitics and the California Majority Report, but the real intrigue was behind the scenes. I've heard rumblings that the Mayor was seen meeting with high-level California Teachers Association figures earlier today. Something tells me they weren't talking about school lunches.

Speaking of not school lunches, former Controller Steve Westly was also seen entering a closed-doors private sit-down with Attorney General Jerry Brown.

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

[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."

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

It's hard for politicians to be subtle sometimes. Just moments after calling speculation about a gubernatorial bid "wildly premature," San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom indicated that he would run if he could "add value to the race," according to Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee. If that's not an annoucement, I'm not sure what is.

Newsom also made news today for threatening to sue the state government over cuts to Medi-Cal, calling the reduction in care unconsionable, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Gavin's right. When the legislature approved the cuts, Democrats were hopeful that funding could be restored for Medi-Cal and scheduled the cuts to begin this summer to provide time for other solutions. When we're chipping away at basic services for our neediest citizens, it certainly says something about our values.

The gubernatorial field is already getting more crowded by the day, and by the San Jose Mercury News count, four of other candidates besides Gavin are either current or former Silican Valley moguls: Steve Westly, Steve Poizner, eBay CEO Meg Whitman and former HP CEO Carly Fiorina (all but Westly are Republicans).

There's more... 

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

One of the state's most prestigious Latino organizations is mounting an opposition campaign to the redistricting plan being funded by big Republican donors and Governor Schwarzenegger -- and surprisingly, by former Controller Steve Westly.<> <>In a letter to the Pasadena City Council -- which plans to vote on endorsing the initiative -- the William C. Velasquez Institute calls the initiative "a flawed piece of legislation that contains numerous suspect provisions and is not the answer" and "full of unrealistic goals, harmful rules, and complex systems that would impede competent redistricting by commissioners and limit involvement by members of the public and experienced line drawers alike."There's more...

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Yesterday, Gov. Schwarzenegger and former Controller Steve Westly had a press conference in Sacramento to kick off signature gathering for the "Voters First" redistricting effort. What they didn't tell the press was that while they were hugging each other in front of the cameras, they were banking another $100,000 check from another big Republican donor.
 
William Powers, an investment manager with PIMCO, wrote the check. Last year, he's given
$250,000 to Arnold's California Recovery Team, $50,000 to California Counts, Make Your Vote Count! (infamous ballot electoral college reform measure), $13,700 in kind contribution of auction items for the California Republican Party, $4,600 for Republican Congressman Ken Calvert, and $4,600 for Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman's re-election campaign.
 
While the redistricting campaign has hired Democratic pollsters and consultants, it has yet to receive any funding from any major Democratic donors.
 
Gee, I wonder why.