Los Angeles Politics Hotsheet for Thursday

-The trapped Chilean miners have all been safely rescued after spending 69 days underground. A flawlessly executed rescue operation conducted by the Chilean government is receiving high praise from around the world. The rescue craft used in freeing the miners has been dubbed the "Fenix 2". It was designed and built by the Chilean navy, with some help from our very own NASA and based on a German rescue craft from the 1950's. Shockingly, San Esteban, the company employing the 33 miners, has refused to pay the trapped workers wages since the accident occurred, nor has the company contributed anything towards their rescue. Is that called protecting your bottom line? When the mining company gets ordered to pay up will Chilean conservatives call this a "shakedown"?

-Still lagging in the polls, Meg Whitman drops another $20 million into her campaign. Aw, who's counting at this point?

-For the last 10 years or so, there have been dozens of Medical Equipment Supply stores operating in the neighborhood. A wheelchair in the window, a locked door, and never a customer in sight. Evidently, business is booming! Video.

-Free the Cyclists! CicLAvia draws 100,000! Soon to be a monthly event?

- A Prominent GOP Ute sees the light, and immediately jumps off a cliff!

Brown Picks Up Another Police Endorsement

No backroom deals or pension protection promises from Jerry (unlike Meg).

California Coalition of Law Enforcement Associations Representing 80,000 Officers Endorses Attorney General Jerry Brown for Governor
Brown For Governor Campaign
13 October 2010

SANTA ANA - Adding to the growing list of endorsements from California's law enforcement community, the California Coalition of Law Enforcement Associations (CCLEA), representing 80,000 peace officers, announced today that they have endorsed Jerry Brown for Governor.

"Meg Whitman is attempting to cover up her non-existent record on fighting crime by launching dishonest and misleading attacks against Jerry Brown, the state's chief law enforcement officer," said CCLEA President and Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs President Wayne Quint. "Attorney General Jerry Brown's record on fighting crime speaks for itself. For decades, Jerry Brown has cleaned up our streets and as the state's top cop he has been tireless in his efforts to make our communities safe. We enthusiastically endorse his candidacy for Governor."

CCLEA represents 80,000 peace officers throughout the state and is California's largest umbrella organization of law enforcement associations. In fact, CCLEA represents more than 40 peace officer groups, including the California State Fraternal Order of Police, Southern California Alliance of Law Enforcement, Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers Association, Los Angeles Schools Police Association, Deputy Sheriffs Association of San Diego County, San Diego Police Officers Association, Kern Law Enforcement Association, Deputy Sheriff's Association of Santa Clara County, Riverside Deputy Sheriffs Association, San Jose Police Officers Association, Ventura County Professional Peace Officers Association and many others.

Read more »

Meg & Jerry Go to Fresno

Jerry & supporters at post debate rally

-If you missed Saturday's contentious debate in Fresno between gubernatorial candidates Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman, Univision, a sponsor of the event, has some clips at their website.

Griffith Park Wayist questions Meg Whitman's state of mental health, as she continues to dig an ever deeper hole with the Latino community, from the housekeeper fiasco to her opposition to the DREAM Act and everything in between. In damage control mode, Meg has increased her ads targeted at Latinos by 50% since the "Nicky the Illegal Housekeeper" story broke earlier this week.

Doug McIntyre says about Meg, "Her "tough" stand is actually malleable, depending on which audience she's speaking to at the moment- tough on KFI, soft in East L.A."

That got me to thinking; is it possible that Jose Aguilar and David Hernandez could be all that's left of Meg's Latino support in Los Angeles?

The 3rd and final debate between the two candidates will be held on Oct 12th at Dominican University in Marin County.

Brown and Whitman Meet Again in "El Festival del Amor del Latinos"

Nicky Santillan was part of our family, until she wasn't.


from Neon Tommy;

"The second televised debate between Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman will take place Saturday in Fresno.

For Meg Whitman, the timing couldn’t be worse.

The debate is aimed at Latino audiences, and is being aired on Univision with Spanish and English subtitles. Brown already had the edge with Latino voters coming into this week, but now that the Whitman maid scandal has erupted, Whitman’s going to have to work extremely hard simply to maintain the portion of Latino votes she does have."

The debate is being held in Fresno, a city that Meg recently referred to as "looking like Detroit. It's awful."

The debate will be held at 11am and aired on Univision at 4pm. If anyone is aware of other viewing options please let me know.

Post Debate Round-Up;

OC Register

WSG

SF Chronicle

Mercury News

AP

New CNN-Times Poll; Brown Dominates Whitman 52%-43% of Likely Voters

"The one state in the new poll where third party candidates are playing no role is California, where Democrats Barbara Boxer and Jerry Brown have cemented leads over their GOP opponents. Boxer pulled away from Republican challenger Carly Fiorina, a former Hewlett-Packard CEO, in her bid for a fourth Senate term. Boxer leads Fiorina 52% to 43% among likely voters. That's a significant improvement from earlier this month when a CNN-TIME-Opinion Research poll found Boxer just edging past Fiorina amongst likely voters 48% to 44%. Likewise in the gubernatorial race, Brown leads former eBay CEO Meg Whitman 52% to 43% among likely voters, a reversal of fortunes for Brown who earlier this month was losing to Whitman 46% to 48% in a poll conducted Sept. 2-7. Brown and Boxer both benefit from moderates breaking for them: 59% for Boxer to Fiorina's 32% and 59% for Brown to Whitman's 36%. " TIME

Whitman/Brown Post Debate Round-up

Okay my friends, it's pretty obvious that Meg came across at last night's gubernatorial debate more as a greeter for Wal-Mart than as someone who has a solution (much less a grasp) for what ails California, but that's just my take.

Notables;

"I apologize to everyone in California, and no one is more embarrassed by it than me." -Meg Whitman (on why she failed to vote for years).

"There's no question: Brown won. Whitman may have been reassuring to her base in the cow counties, but they would vote for her anyway. But it was a good lesson in the contrast between government and corporations: this is the kind of person who runs a corporation, and if you really believe that corporations and their billionaire execs are more trustworthy than government, you're driving too close".- Joseph Mailander

"Jerry Brown just won the first debate." -Eric Garcetti

"I've been in the kitchen, I've taken the heat." -Jerry Brown

" I don't support a path to legalization." -Meg Whitman (on immigration)

"The fact that Jerry Brown is trying to distance himself from the labor unions is amazing to me, because Jerry Brown and the labor unions have been joined at the hip for the last 40 years." -Meg Whitman

"I will not give millionaires and billionaires a $5 billion tax break, those with the biggest belts should tuck them in first." -Jerry Brown

"Jerry Brown won. No doubt. Smarts. Humor. Reality. Reminds us (who were there) why we voted for him the first time. Explains to those who weren't why California was once the envy of the nation. Jerry still has the values and optimism that made us great then and will again. The greatest things about this election is that making Jerry Brown the once and future Governor of California could well make our state the once and future envy of the nation!" -Cameron Sanders


SF Chronicle splains it.
GPW splains it even better.

LA Times has more. As does Politico, Neon Tommy.

Your civil and insightful response is most welcome.

Brown vs Whitman Debate Tonight

The momentary equalizer in today's world of mega-million politics is that no amount of money, spin, or campaign commercials, can protect you once the cameras start rolling in a live debate. You're on your own. Naked as a jaybird. The down side is that the debate is only for an hour, it will be watched by a relative few, yet the mind numbing campaign commercials will continue 24/7.


The first debate between gubernatorial candidates Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown will be held this evening from 6-7pm on the campus of UC Davis. You can view the debate online by following the links at the UC Davis official site.

UPDATE: Feel free to add your post debate analysis.

Brown and Boxer Pull Ahead in New Poll

Meg Whitman's ongoing effort to buy the governorship of California finds her $119 million out of pocket and 5 points down in the latest poll by LA Times/USC. The Times/USC poll has Brown at 49% over Whitman at 44%.

Meanwhile, Carly Fiorina finds herself even further behind at 43% to Sen. Boxer's 51% according to this poll.

The first debate between the two gubernatorial candidates will be held Tuesday night at UC Davis. More details here.

Jerry Brown Releases 2 New Ads

Public Service Announcement: Jerry Brown is now campaigning. Actually he has been campaigning for some time, just nowhere near the $125 million dollar level that the non voting billionaire has. Trivia: Meg Whitman's campaign is the biggest spending non-presidential campaign in American history.