SAN DIEGO– One final thought from this weekend’s California Democratic Party convention, as Capitol reporters like me head back north this afternoon:

Is there more common ground on one greenhouse gas issue between Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic presidential candidates… than there is between the governor and California legislative Democrats?

In yesterday’s speech by Sen. Barack Obama and today’s speech by former Senator John Edwards, there was a small policy point that didn’t quite register on first blush.

And that is that Obama and Edwards sound as though they basically agree with Schwarzenegger on the issue of a “cap and trade” system for carbon dioxide emissions.

On Saturday, Obama told the delegates about his stance on energy and environmental issues. And the man from Illinois promised– if elected– to enact the same kind of mandatory “cap and trade” program of carbon emissions favored by Schwarzenegger, but viewed with skepticism by many environmentalists, during last year’s debate over AB 32.

That portion of Obama’s speech, interestingly, received one of the smallest rounds of applause… in a presentation that elsewhere garnered several standing ovations.

In this portion of the speech, the senator claims a cap and trade system– one where the carbon credits would be auctioned off– would generate “millions of dollars.”

But it wasn’t just Obama. This morning, the former North Carolina senator told the convention crowd pretty much the same thing… suggesting that the carbon credits which would be bought by polluting companies should be auctioned off to the highest bidder. That’s something the governor’s climate market panel has also suggested. Click here for more of Edwards’ global warming and energy comments.

This isn’t a huge revelation that Schwarzenegger has something in common with Democrats (some Republicans would say that, and more). But Democrats and traditionally Democratic interest groups (enviros particularly) have not coalesced in California around the cap-and-trade system… in fact, strongly rejecting the system be mandated under AB 32.

Their national standard-bearers, it seems, are painting a different picture.

For a portion of the speech from Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) at today’s state Democratic convention, click here.

For a portion of the speech from Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) at today’s state Democratic convention, click here.

SAN DIEGO– Day two of the California Democratic Party’s convention is halfway over, and delegates seem to be elated over the lavish attention they’re getting from the party’s candidates for president. One Democratic strategist called the lineup of potential presidential contenders an “embarrassment of riches,” and it’s very possible that the Dems who were undecided upon arrival in San Diego… may leave that way, too.

Much more on the substantive decisions facing Democrats on Monday morning’s edition of The California Report. But for now, the– ahem– less substantive flotsam and jetsam of this 2007 convention:

* Jukebox Heroes: Political reporters always seem to enjoy playing that old game “Name That Tune” as candidates take the stage… because, sometimes, the music chosen to sweep them on and off stage seems to say something about his or her personality. Sen. Hillary Clinton was first this morning… she took the stage to the song, “Right Here, Right Now” by Jesus Jones. (No, I didn’t know that… I googled it). Her departure was met with “Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet,” by Bachman Turner Overdrive. Those aren’t exactly cliched songs in politics (whereas U2’s “Beautiful Day” has now certainly become one). But they weren’t as surprising as the theme music for Sen. Barack Obama. The junior senator from Illinois was ushered in to the convention hall with “Give The People What They Want” by The O’Jays. And at the end of his speech? “Think,” by Aretha Franklin.

All these and more, coming to an iTunes playlist near you.

* That Chant: Speaking of Obama, his volunteers spent about an hour standing in the sun waiting to see him in the flesh, just before he took the convention stage. As is the case with music, politics is home to many cliched chants, too. One chant that is way past its expiration date: “What do we want? (Your want chanted here) When do we want it? Now!”

But I heard a new one today from the Obama volunteers… a lyrical chant that weaves in his name and the year… click here for what it sounded like.

* Great Line: Sen. Clinton held an after-speech news conference, as did most candidates (except Obama)… but hers was packed with a few hundred people (not all mainstream media… some were supporters, some were partisan bloggers, etc.) She fielded a number of questions, mostly about the Iraq war and about California politics. But her best line came when asked whether a vote for her was a “two for the price of one”– a line her husband, former President Bill Clinton, once used during the 1992 campaign. Mrs. Clinton didn’t take the bait, but she did deliver a great line.

It came after her new co-chair, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, said: “This time, a woman’s in the driver’s seat.”

“That’s right,” she said. “And who would ask for directions?”

My wife would agree.

* Freebies: Convention delegates are like everyone else– they like a little complimentary gift every now and then. The standard fare at political gatherings are things like tote bags (which, this time, were sponsored with a great big logo from Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell). But the most unusual one spotted today– small tins of breath mints awaiting delegates as they sat down… sponsored by the Morongo Band of Mission Indians. The tribe, which is lobbying hard to get its new gaming deal past skeptical Assembly Democrats, wins this award because of the name emblazoned on the container: “Tribal Governmints.”

Runner-up, by the way: the disposable cameras wrapped in the campaign logo of Hillary Clinton. The idea was for attendees to take photos and send them to the campaign for use online. Kind of reminded me of how the same cameras have come to dominate wedding receptions…

* Record Turnout: Party officials late this afternoon announced that the convention has drawn a record number of delegates in attendance: 2,264.

SAN DIEGO– There they were, a small but vocal group of women, yelling at the top of their lungs as the crowds came down the escalator.

“Impeach Bush and Cheney! Impeach Bush and Cheney!”

Translation: welcome to the California Democratic Party’s state convention.

Day one of the three day soiree began a few hours ago, and the crowd seems feisty. As delegates make their way to “America’s Finest City” (that’s what they call themselves down here), they’re clearly riled up by national and world events. But there’s also a real vibe of excitement, with almost every single Democratic presidential candidate showing up to woo them over the next 48 hours.

But none of that has happened yet. What has?

* A First: This is the first time that California Dems have gathered for the annual fest in San Diego, a region often known more for its allegiances to the Republican party (this is the same place, after all, where former governor Pete Wilson was mayor and where the national GOP gathered in 1996 to nominate Bob Dole in the race for president).

* Here, There, Everywhere: Unlike a lot of political conventions, there is no “central” gathering spot for delegates. The reason, according to CDP Chairman Art Torres: there are a lot of hotels that don’t allow their workers to organize. And if there’s one thing you should know about diehard Dems, it’s this: they don’t sleep in non-union hotels.

* British Invasion: It was not a California accent reporters heard as they arrived in the press room this afternoon… the volunteers all seemed to be British. In fact, some of them came from the Labour Party of British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

* More Hillaryites: Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton picked up a few more high-profile endorsements this afternoon, including state Treasurer Bill Lockyer and former Governor Gray Davis.

Tonight’s new poll on Californians and public schools has some interesting new insights, and one very familiar theme: spend more, but don’t ask me for it.

The Public Policy Institute of California survey finds a few shifting thoughts about education… including that it’s now #3 in importance of issues facing the state, trailing behind immigration and jobs/economy.

Still, 52% of those queried say the quality of education is a big problem. Democrats seem to be more concerned (64%) than Republicans (55%) and independents (51%). Latinos are more likely to say the quality of education is improving (32%) than are other racial and ethnic groups, while African-Americans (44%) lead the way in saying that the quality of education has worsened.

A whopping 87% believe that some kind of change is needed in K-12 education. But consensus on what change is tough to find; in fact, the most popular change in the PPIC poll was “teacher quality,” and that only garnered only 11% of the votes as the biggest issue. Class size and “teaching the basics” were the next two on that list.

And there is also a lot in this poll about a familiar theme: money. 57% of public school parents say their local schools don’t have enough cash. But only 48% overall agree with that sentiment.

And then there’s the familiar question of who pays.

While a slight plurality (48%) of those surveyed would oppose higher property taxes to help their local schools, 66% would support a bond measure– i.e., borrowing– to help those same schools. And although 64% of those surveyed oppose any increase in the state sales tax to help K-12 education, 68% support raising taxes on the most wealthy to help K-12 education.

By the way, the PPIC survey finds 53% of respondents approve of how Governor Schwarzenegger is doing his job, but only 36% approve of the job he’s doing when it comes to education.

The full survey will be here tomorrow morning.

If you’re keeping score at home of the number of initiatives on the February 5, 2008 presidential ballot, add #2 to the list.

This morning, elections officials certified an initiative that would establish specific funding and student fees for community colleges in the California constitution.

The initiative would create an independent system of community college districts and a new Board of Governors. It would also create a new level of community college funding under the Proposition 98 school guarantee, which the Legislative Analyst’s Office estimates would cost the state an extra $135 million in Prop 98 funding during the current fiscal year. The initiative would also set student fees at $15 per unit, per semester and would limit future increases.

Initiative #1 for the presidential primary, if you haven’t heard, is a transportation funding proposal that even its backers now want you to ignore (after they got what they wanted at the Capitol, instead). And with term limits, redistricting, and other proposals floating around, it will be interesting to see how long the ballot ends up being.

You can find more on the community college initiative on this website.

On Monday, I interviewed Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez in his Capitol office about the amendments to his health care reform bill. And at more than one point, Nunez seemed to gush about the lessons he says he learned from Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on the issue (mainly, what not to do, after the 1994 failure of her effort on the national stage). It wasn’t the first time he had heaped praise on the now-Democratic candidate for president.

And it wasn’t the last.

Speaker Nunez has now endorsed of the junior senator from New York in her quest for the Oval Office. Political circles started buzzing about the decision yesterday, and it was made official this morning in a conference call with reporters.

“If you look at her [experience], the day she gets elected president she’s going to be able to hit the ground running,” Nunez said this morning. That’s just what Clinton’s campaign hopes to focus on, as she’s challenged by relative newcomers like Sen. Barack Obama.

And Sen. Clinton did her part in the mutual lovefest, pointing out the Nunez “gets things done in a bipartisan way.” She also described his work on the global warming law, AB 32, as “pioneering.”

Nunez has agreed to sign on as a national co-chair. And with the state Democratic party convention coming up this weekend in San Diego, the endorsement race appears to be on.

Consider it a gradual ratcheting up of pressure on the Assembly to approve those revised, and controversial, Indian gaming agreements.

Sources have confirmed that the Moronogo Band of Mission Indians has begun a new campaign for its gaming deal that would trade new slot machines for annual profit sharing to the state.

The tribe is reportedly targeting as many as 22 Assembly districts, with some of those being the districts of Assemblymembers who sit on the Governmental Organization Committee. Those districts are the focus of phone calls (live callers and ‘robo-callers’) and old fashioned door-to-door campaigning.

The script for the phone calls seems to go along the following lines: “Assemblymember ____ is missing a crucial opportunity to increase the state’s revenues without raising taxes.” And sources say the phone calls specifically reference AB 266, the legislation that would ratify Morongo’s tribal gaming compact.

Several Capitol sources agree that this new PR campaign is pretty much a Morongo tribe effort, not a campaign by the four other major gaming tribes with compacts that, for now, appear stalled in the Assembly. As has been noted before, labor unions remain opposed to the compacts because of the language regarding the rights of casino workers to organize.

Making good on the chatter from last week, the Morongo Band of Mission Indians has released its TV ad that urges viewers to call their legislators and ask that the revised gaming agreements be ratified.

You can see the ad here.

Interestingly, the ad makes it plea on behalf of all the major gaming compacts now under consideration, not just Morongo’s. It also tells viewers that gaming tribes are “good, responsible neighbors.”

And it ends with this line: “Don’t let special interests stand in the way.”

That must be a reference to the only major opponent of the agreements– organized labor, whose leaders have argued the deals don’t go far enough in allowing casino workers to join unions.

A few items of note as the week draws to a close, and they all just happen to thematically go together.

* Tribal PR: One of the five tribes whose revised gaming deal passed the Senate on Thursday is shifting in to high gear for a PR campaign to get that agreement through the Assembly. The Morongo Band of Mission Indians has launched a new website to help make their case, and there is also talk of an upcoming TV ad campaign. The website, called “Together California,” includes everything from an online petition to the web-standard FAQ page. And it’s clear that the most prominent selling point is the compact language calling for new, potentially large, payments to the state. “California faces a grim fiscal future without immediate help,” says the site.

Nonetheless, Morongo and the other four southern California tribes still face an uphill battle at getting past labor union objections to the compacts. (More on that here as part of this morning’s edition of The California Report).

* Horse Racing Help?: Given how often the fate of horse racing has been linked to debates over new tribal slot machines (horse tracks want slots in order to compete), one lawmaker has put forward a different idea to help the racing world– by rescinding the approximately $40 million in state licensing fees collected every year.

Sen. Dean Florez (D-Shafter), chairman of the Senate Governmental Organization Committee, today said he would introduce SB 873 to send that money back to the horse racing industry. Those fees currently pay for things like the network of state fairs and for university equine research. Florez’s bill says those programs would instead be funded by payments from the same five Indian compacts mentioned above. “The Governor and the tribes have both said they don’t want racing to become a thing of the past in California,” said Florez in a written statement. “Here is their chance to put their money where their mouth is.”

* And Speaking Of Race Horses… On today’s newsmagazine edition of The California Report, host Scott Shafer reports on how one of the most famous race horses in history, Seabiscuit, returned this week… sort of… to the small northern California town where he’s still revered. You can find local air times for the program here.