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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

Sen. Boxer and the ‘Three-Inch Smelt’

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is attacking Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer of California in two ads accusing her of favoring a "three-inch smelt," a freshwater fish, over water and jobs. The ads aren’t quite accurate, however.

According to The Associated Press, the ads began running Sept. 8 in Sacramento, Fresno, Bakersfield and San Diego. Both ads say "Boxer is famous for protecting the three-inch smelt" and accuse her of voting to "cut water" to San Diego and the Central Valley.

Whitman, Unions Swap Misleading Charges

A coalition of labor unions called California Working Families for Jerry Brown has relentlessly attacked Meg Whitman since she won the Republican gubernatorial nomination June 8. Now Whitman is firing back — accusing Democrat Brown of …

Jerry Brown: ‘A Legacy of Failure?’

Republican Meg Whitman is making false claims about Democrat Jerry Brown’s “lifetime in politics” in an attack ad, her first TV spot of the general election campaign. The two are battling to become the next governor of California. The ad claims that “crime soared” while Brown was mayor of Oakland. That’s false. …

California Dreaming

Steve Poizner, who’s running in California’s GOP gubernatorial primary, has launched an attack on front-runner Meg Whitman, accusing her of not being sufficiently Republican. But several of his claims are off the mark. Whitman has never voiced support for “amnesty” for illegal aliens, however the term is defined …

California: Drug Company Half-Truths

The industry wages an $80-million campaign against a California ballot measure to require discounts on prescriptions for middle-income patients.