Essential Politics: Sanders highlights his seven decades

Welcome to November. I’m Christina Bellantoni, the Essential Politics host getting your week started.

The start of November marks a real sprint toward the Iowa caucuses, and the weekend was a flurry of activity on and off the campaign trail. Catch up here, and I’ll highlight two things that also caught our attention.

Sen. Bernie Sanders released the first television spot of his campaign, airing statewide in Iowa and New Hampshire as part of what the campaign says is an ad buy of more than $2 million.

The 60-second ad uses black-and-white images to outline Sanders’ upbringings and career. It starts with the Statue of Liberty, a childhood photo and one of Sanders as a high school athlete. Over a picture of Martin Luther King, it notes he "marched on Washington" in 1963. It says in Congress he opposed the Iraq War and is "taking on Wall Street." The spot shows him on the cover of September’s Time magazine with the headline, "Socialize this, America."

The Vermont senator, 74, is shown as a "husband, father, grandfather" and a narrator calls him "An honest leader — building a movement with you, to give us a future to believe in."

Watch the spot.

It breaks some of the conventional rules of politics with an emphasis on his age. And instead of the typical shots of the early nominating states, the spot shows him at a massive rally in Oregon, which doesn’t hold its primary until May 17.

I asked an informal focus group about the ad. The takeaway message: "His campaign wants people to know he’s got a consistency of position."

Also this weekend, a campaign fundraising blast from former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush raised a few eyebrows.

"We need to meet our October fundraising goal of $50,000, but we’re still $4,729 short," read the note to supporters, under the subject line of "Hi" and signed, "Jeb."

The note, typical of end-of-month or end-of-quarter solicitations, warns that without a donation, "we might not hit our goal."

In other words, Bush told people he only brought in $46,000 last month. Surely he must be talking about a specific small-dollar donor goal, and not his campaign’s true monthly target. That figure not only seems unlikely, it’s clearly not accurate given our own reporting about him embarking on a major California tour in October to raise big bucks.

And don’t miss our team’s detailed story about how all the money in the world might not save Bush’s campaign.

On NBC’s "Meet the Press" Sunday, Bush vowed to charge forward in his quest for the Republican presidential nomination.

"I have enough self awareness to know this is the bumpy time of the campaign. This pales by comparison to being commander-in-chief," Bush said.

He added a confident note: "When I have these events where you're one on one, where you're listening to people, talking to people, town hall meetings that are growing in New Hampshire, I feel pretty good about where we are."

IMMIGRATION DEBATE: NOT HAPPENING

Sarah Wire, devoted to covering California’s delegation in a project we call "The 55," spoke with two Central Valley Republicans who say that new Speaker Paul Ryan’s decision not to focus on immigration reform while Barack Obama is president won’t stop them from trying.

Ryan reaffirmed Sunday he won’t let it hit the floor before the election.

Reps. Jeff Denham (R-Turlock) and David Valadao (R-Hanford) have been among the most outspoken members of their party pushing for comprehensive immigration overhaul, thanks in part to the Latino populations of their districts.

"It’s time to have a full debate," Denham told Wire. He said he would "push forward" on his quest to get a vote on the ENLIST Act — which would allow people brought to the United States illegally as children before 2011 to become lawful alien residents if they complete a term of military service.

But Ryan pledged to the House Freedom Caucus he would delay any action on immigration until President Obama leaves office. Read the story.

JOIN US

Los Angeles Times Data Editor Ben Welsh this week will talk about how data ranging from census information to climate statistics presents an opportunity for government, especially here in California.

The Wednesday event, titled "The Open Data Opportunity: How Government Information Can Change the Way California Does Business," is hosted by The Times and the Milken Institute.

Get more details here.

TODAY’S ESSENTIALS

-- Cathleen Decker observes in her Sunday column that California’s Republicans and Democrats are going in different directions from their respective national parties.

-- George Skelton's Monday column evaluates incoming Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon.

-- Go inside Mayor Eric Garcetti’s quest to bring the Olympics to Los Angeles.

-- Why does this man want to unseat San Francisco’s mayor? Robin Abcarian is on the case of "Broke-Ass Stuart."

-- Gov. Jerry Brown is speaking about energy efficiency in San Francisco Monday afternoon. Keep an eye on our politics page for news from the event.

-- Seema Mehta spent Halloween in Iowa with the Republican presidential candidates. Here are her observations, including Clinton masks and Common Core zombies.

-- Doyle McManus tackled the question of candidate authenticity on our Sunday op-ed page.

-- Molly Hennessy-Fiske profiles Houston Mayor Annise Parker, and how her city found itself in the center of the national debate over gay rights.

-- Evan Halper and Kurtis Lee examine why presidential candidates are always running from the politics of pot, but not necessarily this year.

-- Former GOP Sen. Fred Thompson, who ran for president in 2008, has died at age 73.

LOGISTICS

For the record: Thursday's newsletter item about the congressional football game incorrectly identified Rep. Pete Aguilar as a Republican. He is a Democrat.

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