links for 2010-09-24

Today the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles, a leading voice on Latinos and conservatism, announced a 42-city bus tour of California that will span 32 counties and more than 2,500 miles. The tour, which starts on September 27 and runs through October 6, will encourage Latinos to vote their values and support California Senate Candidate Carly Fiorina.

"For too long, Latinos have supported candidates who spurn their core values," said Alfonso Aguilar, executive director of the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles. "Candidates like Barbara Boxer, an outspoken advocate for abortion who opposes the protection of traditional marriage, and who hampers job creation and a stronger economy with big government policies."

The tour will feature rallies in Los Angeles and San Diego, and will coincide with a series of three ads airing on Spanish-language radio starting Monday. The ad campaign is the second phase of a $1 million independent expenditure galvanizing Latinos

Boxer, once considered one of the safest Democrats this cycle, is locked in her toughest re-election bid yet. Fiorina's entrance into the race, combined with the tough atmosphere for Democrats, has put this race on the map for the GOP while the Democrats hope it will be part of the firewall that prevents Republicans from winning a Senate majority.

Fiorina, however, still starts at a disadvantage. She is trailing Boxer 47% to 41% in a new Field poll out Friday, and Republicans always face an uphill fight in California, a state where Democrats have a 13-point registration edge. Since Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) won re-election in '06, GOP registration has dropped 5%. "If she does win," a Republican strategist said, "It'll turn conventional wisdom on its ear."

But, as Republicans tell you, there is a path for Fiorina, albeit a narrow one. And with that, here is how Fiorina can upset Boxer in November.
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This is Fred Davis, hi-def political provocateur. You have probably never heard his name. Your senator probably has. A pioneering imagemaker in modern politics, Davis injects Hollywood glamour, and a dose of the bizarre, into the staid, paint-by-numbers formula of campaign advertisements. His ads are unforgettable. His candidates win races. So many politicians seek his services that he has to turn away business.
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The owner of an Oxnard metal-casting company and his son, an executive with the firm, have been charged with knowingly employing illegal immigrants, authorities said Friday.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials Thursday arrested Wayne Haddox, 67, owner of Masters in Metal, and Dennis Haddox, 37, the company’s vice president, authorities said.

The charges grew from a 2007 investigation when ICE investigators allegedly found 16 employees at the company had false permanent resident alien cards, also known as green cards. The company told investigators the workers had been fired.

Later, officials said, they received information that two of the employees had remained on the payroll and Wayne Haddox told them to go find “good” Social Security numbers.

The charges carry a maximum of six months in federal prison.
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While the millions of illegal aliens remain free.

Wonderful!

A Justice Department prosecutor, defying his superiors by testifying at a U.S. Civil Rights Commission hearing Friday into the department’s handling of a voter-intimidation case against a fringe African American militant group, blasted “senior political appointees” at Justice for “gutting” the case.

In his opening testimony, prosecutor Christopher Coates also suggested he was working against a dominant Justice Department culture which discouraged enforcement of civil rights laws in a “race-neutral” way that would protect whites as well as blacks.
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So far this week, we have examined Senator Barbara Boxer’s purchasing of endorsements, the five-figure expenses tied to her jaunts to do “official business” at beach resorts, her 143 bounced checks for more than $40,000 in three years, and massive payments to her family from campaign funds. (Notice that you don’t need to be a conservative Republican to find any of these issues troubling.)

Today, we examine the possibility that Boxer is… not really in touch with what is going on around her.

There was a revealing moment last month when Barbara Boxer, meeting with the San Francisco Chronicle editorial board, offered a vivid, compelling anecdote… that simply didn’t happen.
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