US Senate

In the wake of the continuing firestorms ravaging the state, California's big political guns, U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer (both D-CA), joined with Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger late Friday to urge President Bush to declare a state of emergency as well as issue a Federal Disaster Assistance Declaration for the state.

Huntington Beach Mayor Debbie CookHuntington Beach Mayor Debbie Cook is scheduled to appear on a panel focusing on energy use at the progressive Netroots Nation convention in Austin, Texas next month.

Cook is challenging nine-term Republican U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher for his 46th Congressional District seat, which spans the Los Angeles and Orange counties.

Appearing on the panel with Cook is Anchorage, Alaska Mayor Mark Begich, who is seeking a U.S. Senate seat.

U.S. Supreme Court: Getty Images PhotoA visibly upset U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-San Francisco) laced into today's U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Washington, D.C.'s gun ban.

Speaking during a meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee, California's senior senator expressed bitter disappointment in the decision, saying the 5-4 ruling will make less safe the entire nation, not just the District of Columbia.

U.S. Sen. Jim Webb is heading to Los Angeles this weekend.

Webb, who has been widely mentioned as a potential vice presidential pick, will be speaking at UCLA about his new book "A Time to Fight: Reclaiming a Fair and Just America".

That afternoon Webb will also be speaking at a rally at the University, where he will be discussing a new GI bill. The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the list of attendees to the event includes Sally Field, Felicity Huffman, and Lisa Kudrow.

Webb, a first term senator from Virginia, served as secretary of the navy under Ronald Reagan.   

Don't expect California's U.S. senators to be a presidential runningmate. In a survey of the U.S. Senate's membership not already running for president on whether they'd accept an offer to be vice president, The Hill newspaper found a variety of responses to the veepstakes question. Some were accompanied by laughs, others took the question seriously.

So, how did Democrats Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein respond?

Is there a 2010 dream team for the California GOP?  One Republican official, who asked that his name not be used, says he’s been talking up a slate that includes former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina for U.S. Senate (against Barbara Boxer), former E-bay CEO Meg Whitman for Governor, and Steve Poizner, the state Insurance Commissioner, for Lieutenant Governor.  That’s a ticket with a net work of nearly $3 billion.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jay Leno, in 2005: Getty Images Photo
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was a bit evasive Thursday with talk show host Jay Leno when he asked him about running for Senate, but he is not ruling out the job.

“I see myself as a public servant, not as a politician,” Schwarzenegger said while sitting on, ‘The Tonight Show,’ couch. “I want to finish my term, and I'm absolutely convinced that if I do a good job, and a great job, we always will get a job after that.”