Three Looming Battles in California

I know that we all have to be focused on the final eight days of this election, and I'm committed to bringing a great victory for Senator Obama, wins up and down our Congressional and legislative targets, and progressive values embodied in passing high speed rail and beating back the extremism of Props. 4, 6, 8, and 9. But there are some events on the near-term horizon that we all need to be aware of going forward. The challenge does not end on November 4. Eternal vigilance, price of liberty, etc.

• Rick Caruso, a right-wing Bush Republican developer who created the great eyesore that is The Grove in Los Angeles along with Americana at Brand in Glendale, is seriously considering a run for LA Mayor. Right now, there will either be a legitimate election between Caruso and Antonio Villaraigosa, or Villaraigosa will win in a walk. Caruso, a billionaire, says he will make the decision by the end of the week. Caruso would certainly self-fund and would have the ability to basically buy the seat if he were so inclined. Richard Riordan was able to win as a Republican and I have no doubt that Caruso could as well. He'd play it moderate on social issues over which the mayor has no jurisdiction, and mask his true colors as a right-wing plutocrat. As we head into an economic downturn, Caruso would be simply horrendous for the biggest city in the state.

• Not only has Arnold Schwarzenegger already tipped off his next move after redistricting reform (and he shouldn't be counting his chickens), but the ballot initiative has already been filed. A measure calling for open primaries has been handed in to the Secretary of State. Instead of a primary where the top vote-getter in each party would move to the general election, open primaries would move the top two regardless of party into the general. Candidates would also be allowed to remove their party affiliation from the ballot. The Governor's office is saying they have nothing to do with this filing, but color me skeptical. We've already beaten the open primary concept at the ballot box at least once in recent years. The political culture is already too diffuse to allow a candidate to hide their party affiliation at the ballot, and the success of this idea in providing competition to the political process is more than mixed.

• And then there's the Governor's race in 2010. That gadfly Willie Brown is telling anyone who will listen that Dianne Feinstein is a legitimate candidate and is seriously considering the race:

She didn't tell me outright that she's running. She talked a lot about how she wanted to make sure the Democrats have 60 seats in the Senate after Nov. 4 so they and Barack Obama will be filibuster-proof - assuming he's elected as well.

But she didn't talk about staying in the Senate, either.

She talked about how things are supposed to work between the Legislature and the governor, and she wondered why they aren't working these days - and did I have any formula for fixing it?

She even brought notes. I don't know who prepared them, but somebody had done what appeared to be a detailed briefing paper on the state of California, including its finances.

It was not the kind of information you'd be seeking unless you figured that dealing with that mess might soon be your job.

Good thing she's asking Willie Brown on how to fix Sacramento. I'm sure that appealing to the state's high Broderists would be the only way she would ever govern. God forbid she ask her constituents.

Let me be perfectly clear. Dianne Feinstein cannot be allowed to ever assume the Governor's mansion. She has stabbed Democrats in the back time and again in the US Senate and would only do the same as Governor. A perfect example of this is her cutting an ad for No on Prop. 5, putting her face out in front of a position DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSED to the consensus view of the state Democratic Party. It's not surprising; DiFi is the original "tough on crime" Democrat, and policies like the ones she advocates have caused a terrible crisis in our prisons where we are routinely violating the Constitutional rights of our citizens and bankrupting the state to pay for this warehousing. And yes, Jerry Brown's no good on this either; there's a political class of Democrats that think being tough on crime is the right thing to do, despite thirty years' worth of failure reflected in our current prison mess.

Compare this to our other Senator from the state and how she's been busying herself this campaign season - raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for potential Senate colleagues, sending a mass email to her entire list urging a No vote on Prop. 8 (good for Sen. Boxer) and writing the Treasury Department to demand that the government backstop the bad deals of AIG that would absolutely cripple public transit across the state. That's what a Senator that has respect for her constituents would do, not the contempt that Sen. Feinstein shows.

So, those are the looming battles.