california democratic party

California Democratic Party Needs Structure for Financial Transparency and Accountability

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Ralph-Miller.jpg

By Ralph Miller
Executive Director of Latinos for America

The California Party is at a crossroads. It can either turn the way of clean money and electoral reform, embracing transparency and accountability in its own finances, or it can continue along the way of past “politics as usual” financing of elections and running the party, where kingmakers are common and the grassroots lick envelopes.

In this last election cycle, we saw, and helped finance, the California Democratic Party raise and spend tens of millions of dollars, nearly $30M of which was spend mostly for television advertising in the LA basin supporting the failed candidacy of Phil Angelides for Governor, when countless voter development efforts were left gasping by the wayside.

The Marin-DFA Democratic Club has sponsored the Financial Transparency and Accountability Resolution calling for the creation of an independent Audit Committee within the California Democratic Party to help further align party policy with operations.

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A Banner Year for California Democrats: Better Than the Post Watergate 1976 Election?

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

frankrusso-small.jpg By Frank D. Russo

Some astute political observers are seeing a parallel between this year’s general election in California and the elections of 1976 when the Republican Party cratered in the aftermath of Watergate. I remember 1976 very well. It was the year I graduated from law school, passed the bar, became an attorney, and began working for an Assemblymember from Southern California as his Administrative Assistant in his Sacramento office.

With a remarkably unpopular Republican President in the White House, Democrats surged both in party registration and votes at the polls and had a two-thirds majority in both the Assembly and the California State Senate. Jerry Brown had just been elected Governor and I had a great time as a 25 year old kid drafting a slug of legislation much of which wound its way through the labyrinth of the legislative process and became law. It was an exciting time.

Lest you think this is just wistful thinking, take a look at some figures Bob Mulholland, campaign advisor to the California Democratic Party, sent me last week. You’ll be surprised that the surge of Democratic voter registration and collapse of the California Republican Party is, if anything, even more pronounced than it was in 1974--at the height of the Watergate scandals.

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Why I Became a Democrat

by Dana Tucker [courtesy of Party Line]


Growing up in a family of mostly Democrats, I guess you can say I was destined to become one.  However, my upbringing is not the main reason I became a Democrat.  For the past seven years, I have seen first-hand how Republican politicians have ruined our wonderful country and have given it a bad name.  I have volunteered in soup kitchens and food banks where people can't afford to buy food for their families.  I have heard victims of Hurricane Katrina talk about how the government ignored them after they lost their homes and their possessions.  I have seen my college classmates struggling to pay their tuition and having to balance their time between work and class.  I even had a roommate who had to move out of our dorm, because she couldn't afford the housing payments.  It makes me both frustrated and sad to see so many people suffer, because the Republican administration won't do anything to help them; instead, they only care about the rich and big corporations, and not the average American citizen who can't afford food or gas or their home mortgage.

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Why I Became a Democrat

by Kevin Smith [courtesy of Party Line]


by Dana Tucker

Growing up in a family of mostly Democrats, I guess you can say I was destined to become one.  However, my upbringing is not the main reason I became a Democrat.  For the past seven years, I have seen first-hand how Republican politicians have ruined our wonderful country and have given it a bad name.  I have volunteered in soup kitchens and food banks where people can't afford to buy food for their families.  I have heard victims of Hurricane Katrina talk about how the government ignored them after they lost their homes and their possessions.  I have seen my college classmates struggling to pay their tuition and having to balance their time between work and class.  I even had a roommate who had to move out of our dorm, because she couldn't afford the housing payments.  It makes me both frustrated and sad to see so many people suffer, because the Republican administration won't do anything to help them; instead, they only care about the rich and big corporations, and not the average American citizen who can't afford food or gas or their home mortgage.

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Hey, intern! Get me a cup of blog!

by Kevin Smith [courtesy of Party Line]


Now that it’s the beginning of summer, we here at the California Democratic Party are getting ready for the upcoming fall campaign.  My name is Kevin, and I'm pleased to say that I'm just one of a whole host of extremely bright and talented interns who are all here because, like you, we have a deep desire to get involved and better California as well as the nation.  We will be putting up new blog posts over the coming weeks with the commentary and analysis you will need to get the real story about California, the presidential campaign, grassroots activities and of course, the final months of the Bush administration.

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Kevin was born in Bakersfield and grew up in Santa Maria.  He is a senior at UC Santa Barbara where he is majoring in Political Science with an emphasis in Public Service.  While interning with the party, he will be taking part in the UC Center Sacramento program, learning about California politics and policy.

Schwarzenegger Expert: Redistricting Effort "Doomed"

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Joe Mathews, author of "Party of One," a profile on Schwarzenegger's early years as governor, writes in the "Fox and Hounds" blog (one dominated by Arnold allies) that the Voters First initiative is "doomed to failure."
 
Writes Mathews: "The measure was doomed the moment the California Democratic Party opposed it last weekend. The Democrats will call it partisan, and it will go down in the Obama onslaught. To have any chance at succeeding, a redistricting initiative needs more than bipartisan support. It needs partisan acquiescence. And this measure doesn't have that."

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