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I tweeted last night that Carly Fiorina would soon begin her California State-Wide television media campaign since it was apparent from the election calendar (absentee and early voting will start in California in a few weeks) that she would either begin or allow Barbara Boxer have a full two week start on television (she began her television ads over 10 days ago). Then, I learned that my assumptions were correct and that the first ad would begin its run on Thursday.

I haven’t seen it yet on Los Angeles channels as of yet but the rotation will begin soon. The Carly Campaign will probably not reveal the extent of their ad buy for obvious strategic reasons.

From the early morning press release:

 U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina today launched her first television advertisement of the general election, “Sir.” The 30-second ad marks the start of a series of statewide advertisements Fiorina will air during the general election campaign.

“It has only taken 30 years, but California voters have finally been afforded the complete and accurate picture of Barbara Boxer. In her own words, she demonstrates the arrogance that is the hallmark of a career that has gone on for far too long and will mercifully end on November 2. She’s invested much in furthering her career and liberal ideology but has delivered little for the people of California,” said Carly for California Campaign Manager Marty Wilson. “Boxer’s treatment of General Walsh is seared into the minds of Californians, and this is the beginning of our campaign’s fact-based approach to exposing the lowlights of Barbara Boxer’s career dedicated to raising taxes, increasing the size of government and promoting policies that strangle the private sector’s ability to create jobs. Carly provides the perfect contrast through her background in business and commitment to addressing our country’s challenges with bipartisan, common-sense solutions.”

“Sir” features the infamous exchange between Barbara Boxer and Brigadier General Michael Walsh in which she demands he call her “senator” rather than “ma’am.” “Sir” underscores the arrogance that has become the hallmark of Barbara Boxer’s nearly three decades in Washington and contrasts that to Carly Fiorina’s commitment as a political outsider to focus on bringing people together to get the nation’s economy back on track and restore accountability in our government.

The timing of the ad for the Fiorina Campaign is interesting. Carly is in DC fundraising through Saturday (Boxer is in DC attending Senate sessions) asking donors for campaign cash to pay for “on air” time. Fred Davis, her ad creator, has delivered the product, now it is up to either Carly or political donors to distribute them. My bet is that Carly will pull out her own checkbook, if campaign cash is slow in delivery.

The television media campaign of Carly Fiorina Vs. Barbara Boxer has begun – watch for Fiorina to start to pull away in the polls in about three weeks.

• CA-Gov: Equality California targets Whitman, Cooley on Prop. 8 and Gay Marriage
  Whitman, who opposes same-sex marriage but supports civil unions, has said she believes the governor is legally bound to defend the law passed by voters and would appeal Walker's ruling. Cooley has also said he would defend Proposition 8.

  Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown both declined to join a challenge of the ruling.

  The ads, which you can watch below, will run on cable news stations –CNN, FOX and MSNBC — in the Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, San Diego and Palm Springs markets, according to the group. They will begin airing next week.
  ++++++
  I don't think these ads will benefit Whitman's and Cooley's opponents as much as stir up enthusiasm for social conservative voters to go to the polls.

  (tags: proposition_8 gay_marriage)
• CA-Sen: Fiorina vs. Boxer: Let the television ad wars begin
  Television advertising in California’s Senate race has been tame compared to the millions being spent in the governor’s race. But Republican Senate candidate Carly Fiorina is expected to air her first spots since the primary this week, according to several sources familiar with her latest ad purchase.

  Fiorina’s Democratic opponent, Barbara Boxer, got a head start 10 days ago, first launching a positive spot and then, two days later, a scathing attack on Fiorina’s record as chief executive of Hewlett-Packard — a move that analysts saw as an indication of how close the race is.
  +++++++
  And, Carly will begin airing her ads this week with a $500-750K buy in the Los Angeles Market

  (tags: barbara_boxer carly_fiorina)
• NY-Gov Shocker: Another Poll Shows Andrew Cuomo Lead Shrinking
  A new SurveyUSA poll in New York finds Andrew Cuomo (D) leads Carl Paladino in the race for governor by just nine points, 49% to 40%.

  The results are similar to a Quinnipiac poll released earlier today which found Paladino just six points behind Cuomo.
  ++++++
  Oh My!

  (tags: andrew_cuomo carl_paladino)
• NY-Gov Poll Watch: Cuomo leads Paladino by six just points
  Democratic gubernatorial nominee Andrew Cuomo, who had led the GOP field by thirty points for most of the year, is now leading Republican rival Carl Paladino by just six points among likely voters, an astonishing new Quinnipiac University poll shows.

  Among the most surprising numbers in the survey is that 49 percent of independents prefer Paladino, compared to 43 percent for Cuomo, an inverse of the topline number.

  It's the first head-to-head of the general election, and Q's first likely-voter survey.The margin of error is 3.6 percent, and Rick Lazio, who is currently the Conservative Party nominee but whose intentions are unclear, was not included in the survey.
  +++++++
  Voters are extremely unhappy with status quo candidates

  (tags: andrew_cuomo carl_paladino)
• NV-Sen: Harry Reid’s botched battles
  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid hoped the defense policy bill would help make a final pre-election argument for Democrats while energizing the base on gay rights and immigration.

  But what he got was a failed vote and a mix of frustration and disappointment from the people he was trying to help. The stalled defense authorization bill — one of the last major Senate votes before November’s elections — was emblematic of the Nevada senator’s struggles to cut deals with the GOP while still pleasing core Democratic constituencies.

  Gay rights groups were upset that the process Reid employed may have undermined progress in repealing the Pentagon’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy prohibiting gays from serving openly in the military.

  Hispanic groups were disappointed that they couldn’t even get a vote on a narrow piece of comprehensive immigration reform — an amendment known as the DREAM Act that would have enabled citizenship for illegal immigrant students in exchange for military service.

  (tags: harry_reid)

A number of Tea Party organizations will be coming to the aid of Carly Fiorina in the closing days of the campaign. Whether it be in direct contributions or third party independent expenditures remains to be seen. 

Stay tuned…..

The national Republican Party will unveil a new “Contract with America” for 2010 named the “Pledge to America” tomorrow.

House Republican leaders will unveil a 21-page “Pledge to America” on Thursday that presents a “governing agenda” for what Republicans would do if they win control of Congress in November.

CNN obtained a copy of the document Wednesday.

The plan focuses primarily on jobs and the economy, with a short reference in the “preamble” to the party’s position on social issues.

Here is a draft copy.

GOP Pledge to America Draft

Read it all.

Remember the House Banking Scandal in 1992?

In 1992, angry about stalemated government, soaring deficits, and economic recession, the public focused its attention on check bouncing in the House of Representatives bank as a symbol of government perks, or special privileges. For 150 years the House sergeant at arms had operated a bank in the Capitol, where members could write checks based on their deposited salaries. A General Accounting Office (GAO) investigation revealed that many representatives had written checks with insufficient funds in their accounts to cover those checks, but the bank had taken no action to suspend or penalize those who bounced checks. Extensive media coverage caused the House to abolish the bank and reveal the names of more than 300 members who had bounced checks. An unusually large number of representatives chose not to run for reelection, and several other check bouncers were defeated. The bank scandal spurred the House to establish the position of director of nonlegislative services, who would serve as a general manager of financial and other administrative activities.

Well, shocker, Senator Barbara Boxer when she was in the House of Representatives was the 24th most egregious of the miscreants.

The PBS onlineNewshour summarizes the House Banking Scandal, also known as Rubbergate: “In 1992, many House members were suspected of bouncing checks from accounts they held at the so-called “House Bank” — a loose operation that allowed member of Congress to cash their checks but kept shoddy records and often were quite delayed in recording deposits or withdrawals. Although the lawmakers had broken no laws and many did not even know they were bouncing checks, several took advantage of the bank system and many voters viewed the scandal as a blatant abuse of power. Of the 296 sitting representatives and 59 former members who had overdrafted their personal accounts in the preceding 39 months, the House Ethics Committee released a list of the 24 worst abusers.”

Boxer was among the top 24 involved in the House bank scandal. On March 1, 1992 the Sacramento Bee quoted Boxer as admitting she didn’t pay enough attention to her House bank account. More specifically, that meant 143 bad checks totaling $41,417 over a three-year period that she had written on the House bank.

So, why would something dated back to the 1990′s be so important?

All of this occurred as she was preparing her first campaign for Senate; she decided to attempt to defuse the matter with humor, joking that if she did not win her party’s Senate nomination, she would form a new self-help group: ‘Born Again Bookkeepers.’

Yuk, yuk, yuk.

Clearly, she never became a born-again bookkeeper; when Barbara Boxer entered the U.S. Senate, the national debt was a little over $4 trillion. Today, it is $13.4 trillion.

Why bring up these old matters? To ensure Californians know what they may return to Washington for another six years. In her long political career, we’ve seen Boxer appear to buy endorsements, jet-set around the world to exotic resorts for “official business,” bounce checks, and there will be two more examples of embarrassing behavior to come later this week. She has yet to suffer a serious consequence for any of this.

What is different this election is the internet, the availability of communicating these abuses and a worthwhile opponent in Carly Fiorina. There will be consequences when California voters wise up and kick Senator Barbara, “The Bouncer” Boxer out of office.

Yes, Democrat Chris Coons did.

Tea Party-backed Christine O’Donnell (R) took aim at New Castle County Executive Chris Coons (D) Tuesday night during an appearance on Fox News.

O’Donnell referenced an article Coons wrote in college in which he referred to himself as “a bearded Marxist.”

Prompted by host Sean Hannity about Coons’ years-old comment from Coons, she said, “if the media is going to attack me for statements I made in my 20s, that’s fair game. He made some very anti-American statements, apologizing for America and calling himself a bearded Marxist.”

Coons said earlier Tuesday on CNN that the reference was made in jest, calling it “a tongue-in-cheek reference to how Republicans on campus” viewed his transformation from a Young Republican to a Democrat.

Right, Chris.

Christine O’Donnell has a long way to go in this race. Can she overcome her youthful indiscretions/nuttiness with Bill Mahr?

The voters of Delaware will decide and Democrat Chris Coons is certainly not a compelling candidate. So, she has a shot.