Saturdays are local politics days at MadProfessah.comToday there are stories about two Los Angeles area State Assemby races that I have been following closely, AD-53 and AD-43.In the 53rd Assembly District race to replace termed-out Ted Lieu (who is running for California Attorney General) openly gay Mayor of Redondo Beach Mitch Ward has been endorsed by the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund. Ward is competing in a crowded field which includes straight Equality California board member (and registered lobbyist) Betsy Butler, her ex-boyfriend Jim Aldinger, city prosecutor Nick Karno, enviromentalist James Lau, former staffers Kate Anderson and ...

The National Organization For Marriage has found its next Golden State golden opportunity. Though this time it's not a ballot initiative that strips gays of a civil right. Instead it's California Attorney General candidate John Eastman, for whom NOM will next week co-sponsor a Washington D.C. fundraiser. This from NOM's Maggie Gallagher: Former attorney general Ed Meese, Rep. Michelle Bachman, and half the conservative establishment are hosting a fundraiser for [Eastman] on Monday, February 22, at the Capitol Hill Club in D.C. When: Monday, February 22, 2010, 5:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m. Where: Capitol Hill Club, McKinley Room, 300 First Street SE, Washington, ...

On her last show for the show’s first full year on the air, Rachel Maddow offered a manifesto. She recalled the many “TRMS Investigates” episodes that the show has covered this year, something she calls “this mini-mission we’ve taken on of talking about the forces on the fringe of American politics”. And she explains brilliantly why she and her staff will continue to do even more such investigations. She quotes a remarkable document prepared in 1961 by the California attorney general’s office that looked into the John Birch Society, when that fringe group was at the peak of ...