Paul.Gullixson: October 2008 Archives

The level of nastiness in the Sonoma County supervisorial race is hitting new lows for distortions -- and new highs in spending.
The county has never seen anything like this in terms of hit pieces and blatant lies.

Take a look at some of the recent mailers sent out by the independent expenditure committee being funded primarily by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and other labor groups. The group has spent in excess of $150,000 trying to get their candidates Shirlee Zane and Rue Furch elected to the Board of Supervisors. They're doing this largely through attacks ads directed at Sharon Wright and Efren Carrillo.
One shows an aerial photo of a clear-cut forest. The mailer states "The developers backing Efren Carrillo want to clear cut Sonoma County forests."
The ad refers to the proposed 19,650-acre Preservation Ranch project which includes planting 1,800 acres of vineyards across 30 square miles near Annapolis. No clear-cutting is proposed. On the contrary, sponsors of the project are seeking approval under the very timber-conversion rules approved by county Planning Commissioner Rue Furch, Carrillo's election opponent. This important fact is missing from this campaign ad.
The ad also states that "Carrillo has refused to take a position on the project, saying he is waiting for a report to be issued .<TH>.<TH>."
That report happens to be the environmental impact report which will trigger the county's review process. Furch also has refused to take a position on the project for basically the same reason.
Another mailer is going after Sharon Wright, who is running against Shirlee Zane for the 3rd District Supervisorial seat. The mailer contends that Wright, while on the board of Memorial Hospital, "presided over the closing of vital services" such as the psychiatric center.
The fact is the decision was made after Wright had left the board.

Efren Carrillo has responded to the hit pieces against him with his own attack mailer titled "FurchFacts.com" which focuses on Furch's delay in paying her property taxes.

In an editorial on Thursday, we call on candidates who are supported by these kinds of tactics to repudiate them. We're not holding our breath.

We're interested in hearing from those who have received these kinds of mailers.

- Paul Gullixson

Don't mix porn and politics

So you thought nobody was talking about the 1st District congressional race? Think again.

Republican challenger Zane Starkewolf suddenly has many people talking about it, but not in the way he probably hoped.

Voters around the expansive 1st District got one of those robo-calls on Sunday, this one about how incumbent Mike Thompson "has been a bad boy." The message from a breathy, seductive-sounding woman goes on to encourage voters to "Vote Yeesssssss! for Zane."

On his blog, Starkewolf has been getting beat about it.

"DO NOT CALL ME WITH YOUR FOUL, SUGGESTIVE AUTOMATED CALLS," wrote a woman named Colleen. "TWO CAME IN ON MY HOME PHONE AND MY CELL PHONE. . . ."

Starkewolf has posted a message saying that he takes responsibility for the calls. But he also defends them saying "The message is there--and what it says is that Mike Thompson went against the people of this district when he voted to pass and have us pay for the 700 billion dollar bailout . . . "

"This is simply appalling," he wrote. "And if a message needs to go out that is 'appalling' in a sense in order to get the discussion going, than I believe it is a worthy cause."

I got one of these near-porno calls during dinner last night with my two children, unfortunately, listening. Let's just say my wife and I weren't too happy about it.

The funny thing is I don't even live in Thompson's/Starkewolf's District.

To hear the message and read Starkewolf's lame defense, click here.

- Paul Gullixson

Guess which state legislator had the most bills passed and signed in 2008?

Many of you read the story recently about how state Sen. Tom McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks, was the only California lawmaker to not make any laws in either 2007 or 2008.

But which lawmaker had the most bills pass out of the Legislature and had the most signed by the governor into law in 2008?

The answer is Pat Wiggins.

According to Capitol Alert, the Santa Rosa Democrat had 24 bills pass out of the Legislature this year and 17 were signed by the governor.

It's a notable achievement given that the Capitol Alert analysis showed liberal Democrats were most likely to see their bills vetoed. It's also impressive given the questions that were raised about Wiggins' health in August after she blew up at a Sacramento pastor during a legislative hearing, saying that she thought his remarks were "bull----!"

To see the Capitol Alert story, click here.

- Paul Gullixson

Here's McCain's challenge in the debate which is now just 10 minutes away. This needs to be a game-changer. Only one presidential candidate in the history of polling data has been able to covercome a significant deficit within a few weeks of an election. That person was Ronald Reagan in 1980 who was down by 7 points two weeks out.
Recent polls show Obama with a 9 point lead this week.
The other number working against McCain is 733. That's the number of points the Dow dropped again today. The failing economy has been an anchor to voters' spirits and McCain's numbers. He needs to find a way to get Obama to blow up tonight.

Join us in our discussion thread on tonight's debate. Jim Sweeney and Pete Golis also will be contributing. To get there, click here.

- Paul Gullixson