Women to Watch (and Watch Out for) in 2011

Jerry Brown = Ahnuld Redux?
Perhaps incoming California Governor Jerry Brown’s most effective ad in his successful fall campaign against Meg Whitman was the one where he used side-by-side clips of his Republican opponent saying the same things as the Republican Incumbent. People chose Brown because they wanted a change in Sacramento and believed Brown would be the least like outgoing Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Yet, as he prepares to take office tomorrow, there are few signs that he will do things much diffe...

The Last Day of Gov. Schwarzenegger
Every other headline is going to say that Arnold Schwarzenegger says "hasta la vista, baby" to the Governor's office tomorrow in California, so let's just say that the Austrian's term has been terminated by term limits. Swept into office in 2003 in the recall of Gov. Gray Davis -- a most interesting election that included Gary Coleman and Porn Star Mary Carey (who wanted to eliminate the Deficit by taxing Breast Implants) on the ballot -- Schwarzenegger won a Second Term in 2006 by well over a m...

Jerry Brown will talk of ancestors, make appointments on inaugural day
Hours before beginning his historic third term as Governor, Jerry Brown was mingling with old friends on the Delta King this evening when one of them asked if he wanted a microphone. Brown declined. "I'll speak tomorrow," the 72-year-old former governor said. "I'll have enough to say." Brown, wearing a familiar green sweater, said he will take no major actions on his first day back in office. After the inaugural address, he said, "I'm going to go to the office, make a few appointments." Brown'...

Schwarzenegger out like a lion - And why Jerry Brown doesnt mind
These strange dynamics do not indicate any conflict between the two men. To the contrary, relations between the two Governors have been described as smooth and cordial, with Brown deciding to keep on Schwarzenegger’s Budget director as his own. California’s upside-down transition reflects the very different personalities and political needs of these two peculiar men. It also demonstrates how deep and intractable California’s troubles are, and how little maneuvering room any gov...

Schwarzenegger Grants Commutation on Final Day in Office
Today is California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's final day in office. On this final day, he granted a commutation of sentence to the son of the son of former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez, who had pleaded guilty to participating in the stabbling death of a College Student. He was not the stabber, and had no priors, but received a maximum 16 year sentence. Schwarzenegger said the sentence was excessive and reduced it to 7 years. In October, the judge refused to reduce his sentenc...

Kaine: No serious primary challenger for Obama in 2012
Tim Kaine, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said Sunday he doesn't expect President Obama will face a serious primary challenger in 2012. "It's very unlikely," he said on CNN's "State of the Union. "You'll always get a fringe Candidate, but the likelihood of a serious candidate is virtually nil." Mr. Kaine said the president and fellow Democrats must continue to do the job Americans elected them to do to win next year. "We feel very good going into the 2012 cycle," he said. Mr. Kai...

John Ridley's Top 7 'Nontroversies' Of 2010
They seemed so important at the time, didn’t they? The Facebook-worthy Scandals and tweet-level gossip that actually made Social Media seem relevant. But as we turn the page on another year and try to figure out how we explain to our Grandchildren why we allowed Snooki to happen, let's take a look back on some of the top nontroversies of 2010. 1. Meg Whitman's Housekeeper Drama Wait. Someone in California unwittingly used an undocumented worker? Both I and my pool guy Pedro were shocked to he...

The Winners Of the 2010 Golden Duke Awards
TPM is pleased to announce the winners of the Fourth Annual Golden Duke Awards! The Golden Dukes are given in recognition of great accomplishments in politics including acts of venal Corruption, outstanding self-inflicted losses of dignity, crimes against the republic, Bribery, exposed hypocrisy and generally malevolent governance. And The Crazy, of course. Our judges -- Rick Hertzberg, Susie Bright (NSFW), Sara Benincasa, Alex Pareene and TPM alum Andrew Golis -- waded their way through all 4...

Susie Bright Votes: The 2010 Golden Duke Award Winners
Susie Bright is a author, editor, performer, lecturer, sex-positive feminist and policitcal junkie. Her blog is NSFW, so read it at home -- just like you would Kwame's texts or Mark Sanford's emails. Meritorious Achievement in The Crazy Ginny Thomas: Christine O'Donnell would run for Chief Dog-Catcher in Hades if you paid her in cash. But where's the heart in her witchiness; where's the true-blue bat-shit crazy that goes beyond greed and ignorance? I want to honor Ginny Thomas this year, who ...

How now, Jerry Brown? Past may be prologue as his third term begins
Unlike his action-hero predecessor, Jerry Brown never warned, "I'll be back." And yet, remarkably, here he is, back for a third term as California Governor. At his inaugural Monday, he will be 72, exactly twice the age he was at his first swearing-in. And he's confronting a Deficit that is twice as large as the entire state Budget was during his final term. Brown could hardly have imagined that he was laying the groundwork for the daunting challenge he faces today when, at his second inaugural, ...

Synder Has One Tough Row to Hoe
Michigan’s 48th Governor, Rick Snyder, is no H. Ross Perot. But he had a certain similar appeal during the campaign and enough Michiganders are fed up with business as usual that he won the election. I’m pleased he edged past charlatans like Mike Cox, Pete Hoekstra, and Mike Bouchard. But Snyder will need more than optimism from his inaugural address if he is to succeed. We need to move from negative to positive. We need to stop looking in the rearview mirror and look toward the fu...

Will Tea Parties Transform Legislative Landscape in 2011?
2010, Bob Cusack reports at the Hill, “was the year of the Tea Party“: . . . the Tea Party was in many ways a net asset for the GOP as Republicans grabbed control of the House and cut into the Democratic majority in the Senate.  However, there was Collateral Damage as Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) and other Senate GOP hopefuls seen as the party’s best chance of winning general-election races were ousted in primaries. Some blamed Tea Party Candidates for costing Republicans a Senate ...

Bewitched: Feds Probe Christine O'Donnell's Having Used Campaign Funds To Pay Personal Expenses
In addition to Verse-Case Scenario, Tony Peyser writes about California politics with PeyserPoem, a daily feature at KPCC's news-driven page on Facebook called The Freeway....

Obama will face no primary challenger, DNC chair predicts
Stumble This! WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama is unlikely to face a serious challenge in the 2012 White House race from within his party, the Democratic Party Leader said Sunday. Obama, who became the first black president of the United States after defeating Republican rival John McCain in the November 2008 Presidential Election, is expected to run for a Second Term in office next year. "I think it's very unlikely that the president is going to face any kind of a serious primary c...

Kaine: No serious 2012 primary challenge to Obama
WASHINGTON—The national Democratic Party chairman says he thinks the chances that President Barack Obama will face a serious primary challenger in 2012 are "virtually nil." Tim Kaine says there's always the possibility that a fringe Candidate could try to mount a challenge. But Kaine says Democrats feel very good about Obama's re-election prospects if, as Kaine puts it, the president keeps doing the job that people elected him to do. Kaine also told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday th...

Kaine: No serious 2012 primary challenge to Obama
Source: AP WASHINGTON – The national Democratic Party chairman says he thinks the chances that President Barack Obama will face a serious primary challenger in 2012 are "virtually nil." Tim Kaine says there's always the possibility that a fringe Candidate could try to mount a challenge. But Kaine says Democrats feel very good about Obama's re-election prospects if, as Kaine puts it, the president keeps doing the job that people elected him to do. Kaine also told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sun...

Kaine: No serious 2012 primary challenge to Obama
WASHINGTON — The national Democratic Party chairman says he thinks the chances that President Barack Obama will face a serious primary challenger in 2012 are "virtually nil." Tim Kaine says there's always the possibility that a fringe Candidate could try to mount a challenge. But Kaine says Democrats feel very good about Obama's re-election prospects if, as Kaine puts it, the president keeps doing the job that people elected him to do. Kaine also told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday...

Party Time!
Bob Casey Vulnerable in ’12? Lancaster, Pa.—Seventeen months before the 2012 Republican U.S. Senate primary in Pennsylvania and nearly two years before the next General Election, GOPers in the state are already discussing who their Candidate will be against freshman Democratic Sen. Bob Casey Jr. The talk of a spirited 2012 challenge to Casey has been fueled by a just-completed Quinnipiac University Poll showing only 39% of state voters approve of his performance, while 29% don&rsquo...;

Schwarzenegger makes last-minute appointments
In a final flurry of appointments before leaving office, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Sunday handed out paid jobs on state commissions to three former state senators and several staff members from the Governor's Office. Former Sen. Roy Ashburn of Bakersfield and former Senate Republican Leader Dennis Hollingsworth of Murietta each won $128,109-a-year posts on the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board. Former Sen.Carole Migden, A San Francisco Democrat, was appointed to s $128,109-a-...

Top 10 Reasons to Hate Sarah Palin
Palin Derangement Syndrome Hatin’ Palin - Why Palin Provokes the Left’s Fury When Sarah Palin first stepped onto the national stage (in the Hottest red High Heels anyone ever saw) this country was changed forever. It will be remembered in history as the moment Conservative Women stepped onto the grid in a meaningful way. In the same instant, the Left froze in terror and a seething hatred began to build until it could no longer be contained and was unleashed in the most bruta...

'Sarah Palin's Alaska' to be on DVD
Published: Jan. 2, 2011 at 4:32 PM Former Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin speaks during a Republican National Committee (RNC) get-out-the vote rally in Anaheim, California on October 16, 2010. Palin and RNC Chairman Michael Steele held the rally to raise money for the RNC. Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Meg Whitman and Senate Candidate.Carly Fiorina were not among Palin's so-called Mama Grizzlies on hand for the rally. UPI/Jim Ruymen HOLLYWOOD, Jan. 2 (UPI) -- The Discovery Network says ...

2010 in review: Explosive losses, Giant victories
The top local stories of 2010 betray conventional wisdom. Torture feels good. But only if you're a Giants fan. The Candidate who spends the most money does not win. Even if she is a Billionaire. And what happens when a Mayoral Candidate in Oakland receives the most first-place votes? He loses. But the most unexpected story in 2010 was also the most tragic. On Sept. 9, a gas line exploded and killed eight people in a suburban San Bruno neighborhood. It was a blast that continues to reverbera...

2010 in review: Explosive losses, Giant victories
The top local stories of 2010 betray conventional wisdom. Torture feels good. But only if you're a Giants fan. The Candidate who spends the most money does not win. Even if she is a Billionaire. And what happens when a Mayoral Candidate in Oakland receives the most first-place votes? He loses. But the most unexpected story in 2010 was also the most tragic. On Sept. 9, a gas line exploded and killed eight people in a suburban San Bruno neighborhood. It was a blast that continues to reverbera...

2010 in review: Explosive losses, Giant victories
The top local stories of 2010 betray conventional wisdom. Torture feels good. But only if you're a Giants fan. The Candidate who spends the most money does not win. Even if she is a Billionaire. And what happens when a Mayoral Candidate in Oakland receives the most first-place votes? He loses. But the most unexpected story in 2010 was also the most tragic. On Sept. 9, a gas line exploded and killed eight people in a suburban San Bruno neighborhood. It was a blast that continues to reverbera...

Hot Airs top 10 most commented posts in 2010
Over the last week, I reviewed the 50 most viewed posts in 2010 for Hot Air — but which got the most comments?  Just before imbibing prodigious amounts of Alcohol, pita chips, and those weird hors d’oeuvres that people carry on platters at New Year’s Eve parties, our technical wizards and web masters produced one last list for 2010 — the ten most commented posts at Hot Air.  The two lists don’t exactly match up, as you’ll see: #10: Er, great news: Bristol ...