Flap's Blog – FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog

• CA-Gov: Death penalty may play role in Whitman-Brown race
  Jerry Brown's 1977 veto of a death penalty bill and his appointment of the overtly anti-capital punishment Rose Bird as the state's chief justice haunted him as well, playing a major role in his losing a U.S. Senate bid to Republican Pete Wilson in 1982.

  Kathleen Brown enjoyed a big lead over then-Gov. Wilson when she began her 1994 run for the governorship, but Wilson hammered her on capital punishment and won in a landslide.

  "Kathleen Brown is against the death penalty," one Wilson TV spot said, "even for drive-by killings … even for carjackings that take innocent lives. Kathleen Brown has the same position on the death penalty as her brother, Jerry Brown, who appointed dangerously lenient judges like Chief Justice Rose Bird, who voted to overturn 68 out of 68 death sentences."
  ++++++
  Meg needs to pursue this line of attack.

  (tags: Meg_Whitman Jerry_Brown)
• CA-Sen: Barbara Boxer Will Say Anything, Really
  One, in the heat of a reelection campaign, Boxer will say just about anything so long as she can get away with it. And she usually can. Two, she is under extraordinary pressure from Fiorina, by far the strongest Republican candidate she’s ever faced. Three, Boxer is a tough, resourceful, and shrewd campaigner and not too haughty to correct a false statement when necessary to avert trouble.

  Often that’s not necessary. Boxer, 69, makes so many dubious, untrue, hypocritical, or outlandish remarks in a single debate that most of them fly by without registering.
  ++++++++
  Pretty much explains Boxer and her camapign.

  Let's retire her.

  (tags: barbara_boxer carly_fiorina)
• CA-Sen: Oh my: Carly Fiorina now within one point of Boxer in new Reuters poll
  What an odd race. Things tightened up in early September, then Boxer bounced out to a six-to-eight point lead, which made this ol’ eeyore’s fragile little heart think she was pulling away. But no: The three polls taken this month have had the race by three or four points, and now suddenly via Reuters we’ve got a virtual dead heat.

  If memory serves, Fiorina ended up pulling away in the last few weeks of the GOP primary thanks to a statewide ad bombardment. Boxer’s actually outspent her on TV two-to-one thus far, but I can’t believe that’ll continue when Fiorina’s budget for the race is basically infinite.
  ++++++
  Brand new ballgame

  (tags: carly_fiorina barbara_boxer)
• Stimulus Cash Flowed to Completed, Under-Way Renewable Energy Projects
  Critics, however, contend that the program emphasizes building over producing power, with insufficient safeguards for taxpayers. The grants are more generous and likely benefit more companies than the tax credit they supplanted, analysts said. And government watchdogs questioned how much business growth the spending actually stimulated.

  "It's essentially funding economic activity that already would have occurred," said Steve Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense. "So it's just a pure subsidy."

  Money spent on those projects might have helped the economy more had it been used for other efforts targeting the most troubled states or workers, Ellis added. The stimulus bill "threw cash" at programs, he said, without a comprehensive plan.
  +++++++
  Big government boondoggle

  (tags: economic_stimulus)
• What Is Influencing West Virginia and California Voters?
  One of the reasons Democrats thrive is that when they run a place for a long time — think the East Coast’s big cities, or New Jersey until 2009, or California (at least the state legislature) — they tend to enact policies that drive out those who oppose them. Some will object to counterproductive liberal policies at the ballot box, but many others will vote with their feet. Why do Democrats run Washington D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Detroit? Because their policies have driven most who demand better out to the suburbs.

  If these electorates really do make their decisions based on housekeepers and casting calls . . . those states will deserve what they get.
  ++++++
  Well, California business will certainly vote with their feet and their employees will go with them.

  (tags: California)
• Charlie Cook: House Flips to GOP. Senate Doesn't
  At this juncture, I am still sticking with a 1994-level outlook: Eight Senate and 52 House seats are the over and under, with a 50 percent chance that Republican gains will be higher and a 50 percent chance that they will be lower. House gains in the 60s, 70s, or even 80s seem unlikely, as do Senate gains of 11 or 12, which would require the GOP to capture or hold 100 percent of the 18 or so Senate seats that could change hands. Even so, Republicans stand poised to make sizable gains that will flip the House and bring them close to winning the Senate.
  +++++++
  Continues to be a good year for the GOP. For a party that was down so far just wo years ago what a comeback.
  (tags: GOP charlie_cook)

Well, everyone knew this was going to come – Boxer going extremely negative in her political ads. And, using Sarah Palin – yeah, she is a nefarious character, isn’t she?

Why?

Desperation.

Figures released this afternoon show Boxer blowing $11 Million last quarter in campaign cash and then being in a dead heat with Carly Fiorina in the polls.

Also, look at some of the sources of the ad: The Sierra Club and Planned Parenthood – please.

Most of the claims from Boxer are so preposterous that California voters will say – huh? and/or what?

One, in the heat of a reelection campaign, Boxer will say just about anything so long as she can get away with it. And she usually can. Two, she is under extraordinary pressure from Fiorina, by far the strongest Republican candidate she’s ever faced. Three, Boxer is a tough, resourceful, and shrewd campaigner and not too haughty to correct a false statement when necessary to avert trouble.

Often that’s not necessary. Boxer, 69, makes so many dubious, untrue, hypocritical, or outlandish remarks in a single debate that most of them fly by without registering.

Carly Fiorina is NO extremist and Californians know it.

Anyway, here is the statement from the Carly Fiorina Campaign:

Barbara Boxer is clearly getting desperate as she continues to gain no traction in the polls after spending millions on special interest backed, misleading advertising. Not only is this newest ad based on patently false claims that bear little, if any connection to actual facts, but it completely ignores Barbara Boxers 28 years in Washington where she has established herself as one of the most extreme, partisan and ineffective members of the U.S. Senate, while at the same time becoming a multimillionaire, funneling hundred of thousands of dollars to members of her family and taking special stock deals the average Californian would never have access to. Her record is so dismal that even her own hometown newspaper refused to endorse her for a fourth term saying that shes known for little other than delivering partisan shots. Barbara Boxer can try to run from the facts which are that under her watch taxes have gone up, our national debt is at record levels and more than 2.2 million Californians are unemployed, but she cannot hide behind false advertising. We demand that she immediately remove this ad from the airwaves and apologize to Carly, and California voters, for not only this deliberate and blatant distortion of reality, but also for her refusal to have an honest and serious debate about the issues during this crucial time for our nation.

- Marty Wilson, Campaign Manager

The U.S. Chamber is going back “on air” to inform California voters about Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer.

We hear that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — which has emerged as a big-time player in the midterm elections — is about to drop at least $1.25 million in negative TV ads next week against Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer next week.

Look for the spots to hit in LA, Fresno, Bakersfield, and Sacramento.

“We can neither confirm nor deny this,” the Chamber’s J.P. Fielder told us. But, he said, “All options are still on the table.” Asked whether the very close race — which Boxer is still slighty leads — is still in play, Fielder said: “Absolutely.”

That’s bad news for Boxer, who has already absorbed $3.2 million in Chamber TV ad pummeling.

I would expect even more independent expenditure money to come into California at the last minute since this race may determine control of the U.S. Senate for the GOP.

The race is a dead heat in the polls.

Well, everyone knew this was going to come – Boxer going extremely negative in her political ads. And, using Sarah Palin – yeah, she is a nefarious character, isn’t she?

Why?

Desperation.

Figures released this afternoon show Boxer blowing $11 Million last quarter in campaign cash and then being in a dead heat with Carly Fiorina in the polls.

Also, look at some of the sources of the ad: The Sierra Club and Planned Parenthood – please.

Most of the claims from Boxer are so preposterous that California voters will say – huh? and/or what?

Carly Fiorina is NO extremist and Californians know it.

Anyway, here is the statement from the Carly Fiorina Campaign:

“Barbara Boxer is clearly getting desperate as she continues to gain no traction in the polls after spending millions on special interest backed, misleading advertising. Not only is this newest ad based on patently false claims that bear little, if any connection to actual facts, but it completely ignores Barbara Boxer’s 28 years in Washington where she has established herself as one of the most extreme, partisan and ineffective members of the U.S. Senate, while at the same time becoming a multimillionaire, funneling hundred of thousands of dollars to members of her family and taking special stock deals the average Californian would never have access to. Her record is so dismal that even her own hometown newspaper refused to endorse her for a fourth term saying that she’s known for little other than ‘delivering partisan shots.’ Barbara Boxer can try to run from the facts which are that under her watch taxes have gone up, our national debt is at record levels and more than 2.2 million Californians are unemployed, but she cannot hide behind false advertising. We demand that she immediately remove this ad from the airwaves and apologize to Carly, and California voters, for not only this deliberate and blatant distortion of reality, but also for her refusal to have an honest and serious debate about the issues during this crucial time for our nation.”

- Marty Wilson, Campaign Manager

This is hilarious especially with them making peace over at UCLA.

As Democrats on the UCLA campus here are preparing for their big get-out-the-vote rally starring former President Bill Clinton, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown and Lt. Gov. hopeful Gavin Newsom, the CA Republicans and the Meg Whitman campaign had a little bit of fun reminding folks that Brown and Clinton were not always such great buds.

So Team Whitman and the state GOP held a movie “premiere” at LA Live of “The Way We Were” this morning, starring the two Dems in some of their finer moments together in the 1992 presidential campaign.

What politically expedient hypocrites they are.