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• Barack Obama's peace prize starts a fight
  International reaction ranged from delight to disbelief. The former winners Kofi Annan and Desmond Tutu voiced praise, the latter lauding the Nobel Committee’s “surprising but imaginative choice”.

  But Lech Walesa, the dissident turned Polish President, who won the Peace Prize in 1983, spoke for many, declaring: “So soon? Too early. He has no contribution so far.”

  Mr Obama’s domestic critics leapt on the award as evidence of foreigners fawning over an untested “celebrity” leader. Rush Limbaugh, the US right-wing commentator, said: “This fully exposes the illusion that is Barack Obama."

  (tags: barack_obama)
• CA-SEN: Boxer Maintains Cushion As Fiorina Loses Ground – Will Carly run?
  But in the Republican battle, these numbers must be insanely frustrating for Carly Fiorina. She was supposed to cruise to the nomination, but she is tied (21-20) with Chuck DeVore, a right-wing Assemblyman without a ton of money. You have to wonder, if she doesn't bounce back from her bad month or so that she had, will she really want to get involved in this mess. Carlyfornia Dreamin' was such a clear disaster, will she really want to sink much of her own money into the race, and will people really give her any money if she doesn't sink some of her ill-gotten HP gains into it? It's really something of a vicious feedback loop for Carly now.
  +++++++
  Good observation. Will Fiorina decide to invest in her own candidacy or heal up from cancer and pick another spot when Feinstein's Senate seat opens up?
  (tags: carly_fiorina barbara_boxer Chuck_DeVore)
• Poll Watch: GOP voters cooling on Fiorina Senate candidacy – Cancer Treatment Set Back?
  "Some Republicans who instinctively were backing Fiorina are pulling back and saying wait a minute � I'm actually going to give more serious consideration to both candidates," pollster Mark DiCamillo said. "Neither of these candidates are very well known. There's just a kind of a 'hold the phone' sentiment out there about Fiorina."

  Fiorina, who is exploring the race at this point and underwent breast cancer treatment over the last six months, did not attend a recent California Republican Party convention. DeVore, who has declared his candidacy, has been actively campaigning.

  (tags: carly_fiorina Chuck_DeVore barbara_boxer)
• Barbara Boxer's got $6.3 million in the bank @ChuckDeVore 700K and Carly Fiorina ALOT More
  Orange County Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, as he's told us before, may only have $$700,000 kicking around. But Chuck D from the OC has got 14,000-plus donors.

  Yawn, says Team Boxer. They're more worried about Fiorina. As they wrote on Boxer's blog this week:

  "As you may know, Fiorina was paid $100 million during her five years at HP, plus a generous golden parachute worth at least $21 million. It is widely believed that she has the capacity to contribute tens of millions to her own campaign. By comparison, the most expensive Boxer campaign in the past raised $21 million. With one personal check, Fiorina could have a larger campaign warchest than we’ve ever had."

  (tags: barbara_boxer carly_fiorina Chuck_DeVore)
• California US Senate: Dead heat for Chuck DeVore and Carly Fiorina
  Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer holds a strong edge over possible Republican challengers seeking to unseat her in the 2010 election, according to a new Field Poll of registered voters.

  The poll, conducted via telephone between Sept. 18 and Oct. 6, showed Boxer holding a double-digit lead over two GOP hopefuls, declared candidate Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, R-Irvine, and former Hewlett Packard executive Carly Fiorina, who has not declared her candidacy but has formed an exploratory committee.

  Boxer beat Fiorina 49 percent to 35 percent, and DeVore 50 percent to 33 percent.

  The poll indicated that much of Boxer's lead could stem from low name recognition for both Fiorina and DeVore.

  While 87 percent of those surveyed held an opinion about the Democratic senator (48 percent favorable, 39 percent unfavorable), 72 percent of voters have no opinion of Fiorina and 82 percent have no opinion of DeVore.

  (tags: carly_fiorina Chuck_DeVore)

• Democrat Proposals to create jobs add up to second stimulus – Porkulus 2
  Confronted with big job losses and no sign the U.S. economy is ready to stand on its own, Democrats are working on a growing list of relief efforts, leaving for later how to pay for them, or whether even to bother.

  Proposals include extending and perhaps expanding a popular tax credit for first-time home buyers, and creating a new credit for companies that add jobs. Taken together, the proposals look a lot like another economic stimulus package, though congressional leaders don't want to call it that.

  (tags: economic_stimulus)
• California Term limits tweak may be heading back to ballot
  A new proposal to change the state’s legislative term limits law has been submitted to the Attorney General’s office, and could be on the ballot by November 2010.

  The initiative is similar to a measure backed by former Speaker Fabian Nuñez and former Senate Leader Don Perata in 2008. That measure was also supported by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, but was ultimately rejected by voters – 53 percent of whom voted against it.

  But unlike the 2008 proposal, this measure does not seek to provide extra terms for those already in office. The measure states the intent is to prohibit “any current or former legislator from benefiting in any way from this reform.”
  +++++++
  This will not pass even if it goes to California voters.

  (tags: term_limits California)
• Classy: CA Dem Assemblyman Ammiano to Schwarzenegger: "Kiss my gay ass"
  Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown is lambasting what he calls "highly inappropriate" behavior by San Francisco Democrats Wednesday who greeted Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger with a hostile reception during a surprise drop-in at a San Francisco Democratic Party fund-raiser.

  But outspoken State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano of San Francisco, who shouted "You lie!" to Schwarzenneger during the event at the Fairmont Hotel — and didn't deny reports he walked out with a quip of "kiss my gay ass" — said the GOP governor's "cheap publicity stunt" earned a very appropriate show of political theater, San Francisco-style.
  ++++++++
  Gay leaders do nothing to help themselves, now do they?

  (tags: gay_politics Arnold_Schwarzenegger Tom_Ammiano)
• Poll Watch: American Voters Oppose Obama's Health Care Reform Plan 47-40 Per Cent
  American voters oppose 47 – 40 percent President Barack Obama's health care reform plan, and don't want an overhaul that only gets Democratic votes, but they support key parts of the plan, including 61 – 34 percent for giving people the option of a government health insurance plan that competes with private plans, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released today.

  By a 57 – 37 percent margin, voters say Congress should not approve a health care overhaul with only Democratic votes. Democrats are OK with a one-party bill 63 – 29 percent, but opposition is 88 – 9 percent from Republicans and 62 – 32 percent from independent voters.

  (tags: Obamacare)
• Obamacare: New Math Boosts Health Plan – Budget Office Says Senate Bill Will Trim Deficit; Democrats Still Split on Key Details
  The latest Senate health bill will cost $829 billion over a decade and slightly reduce the federal budget deficit, congressional budget crunchers said Wednesday, marking a major step forward for Democrats' plans to overhaul American health care.
  The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found the sweeping measure will cover 94% of nonelderly legal U.S. residents, up from about 83% currently. The bill will cut the deficit by $81 billion over the 10-year period, owing to trims in Medicare spending and new taxes.
  (tags: Obamacare)

Meg Whitman looked at one time as a very viable candidate but her lack of candor about her voting record has damaged her credibility. It will be difficult for her to crawl back into the race.

California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has the ability to self-fund a big media campaign but has failed to catch-on voterwise. He may be the front-runner at the present time – despite the current polling because of his potential.

Former Congressman Tom Campbell is a moderte Republican but charismatically he is no Pete Wilson and will not motivate the GOP base of donors.

The REAL race may be between “Any Two-some” Newsom and Jerry “Moonbeam” Brown.

• Rudy Giuliani endorses Meg Whitman for California Governor
  Former New York Mayor and Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani has endorsed GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman, according to a press release from the Whitman team released this morning.

  Whitman has already received endorsements from other national GOP figures such as Sen. John McCain, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney – both of them presidential candidates last year – and Republican Minority Whip Rep. Eric Cantor.

  GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner has received endorsements from a handful of federal legislators, including Reps. Elton Gallegly, Jerry Lewis and Gary Miller, according to Poizner's Web site.

  (tags: rudy_giuliani Meg_Whitman)
• Is the United States Preparing to Bomb Iran?
  Is the U.S. stepping up preparations for a possible attack on Iran's nuclear facilities?
  The Pentagon is always making plans, but based on a little-noticed funding request recently sent to Congress, the answer to that question appears to be yes.

  First, some background: Back in October 2007, ABC News reported that the Pentagon had asked Congress for $88 million in the emergency Iraq/Afghanistan war funding request to develop a gargantuan bunker-busting bomb called the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP). It's a 30,000-pound bomb designed to hit targets buried 200 feet below ground. Back then, the Pentagon cited an "urgent operational need" for the new weapon.

  (tags: Iran barack_obama)
• U.S. Supreme Court wonders: Is animal-cruelty porn protected by the First Amendment?
  The law applied only to illegal acts of torturing or killing animals, not legal hunting or fishing. It was intended to dry up the underground market in so-called crush videos, which show squealing animals being stomped by women in high heels. More recently, it has been used to prosecute people who sell videos of pit bulls and other dogs fighting.

  On Tuesday, most of the justices sounded wary of reviving the law, fearing it might be used to ban depictions of legal activities such as hunting.

  Justice Antonin Scalia, an avid hunter, insisted the 1st Amendment does not allow the government to limit speech and expression, unless it involves sex or obscenity…

  (tags: Elton_Gallegly Supreme_Court)
• Sarah Palin: We Must Win in Afghanistan
  For two years as a candidate, Senator Obama called for more resources for the war in Afghanistan and warned about the consequences of failure. As President, he announced a comprehensive new counterinsurgency strategy and handpicked the right general to execute it. Now General McChrystal is asking for additional troops to implement the strategy announced by President Obama in March. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers in harm's way in Afghanistan right now. We owe it to all those brave Americans serving in uniform to give them the tools they need to complete their mission.
  (tags: afghanistan sarah_palin)