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The Fresno mayoral race finally is heating up with Henry T. Perea saying Thursday that Ashley Swearengin is retreating on public safety funding.

Perea bases his claim on a Regional Jobs Initiative report from October of 2003 that proposed capping general fund spending on public safety and supplementing with a public safety tax.

Perea made the charge even though, as a City Council member, he three times has voted to fund the Regional Jobs Initiative headed by Swearengin.

And Perea faces a potential game-breaker with his attack. Popular Mayor Alan Autry, who hasn't endorsed either candidate, is intepreting Perea's play as an attack on his leadership. Autry also hints that he may endorse Swearengin for the nonpartisan mayor's job. Both are Republicans; Perea is a Democrat.

Said Autry on Thursday: "Accusations like this, if they continue, are making the choice for Fresno's next mayor very easy."

Autry was a founding co-chair of the Regional Jobs Initiative, a public-private partnership begun in 2003 that sought to bring 29,300 new jobs within five years to Fresno and Madera counties. At the end of 2007, the effort had added 17,100 jobs and leaders concended that the RJI would fall short of its target.

Earlier this week I wrote a column about the lack of a defining moment in the mayoral race.

Swearengin and Perea will square off tonight in a debate beginning at 7 o'clock in Fresno State's McLane Hall, north of the Kennel Bookstore. The debate is sponsored by the Smittcamp Honors College and the Fresno State Associated Students.

From the Right

Cindy McCain, wife of the GOP presidential nominee, says that Barack Obama is running "the dirtiest campaign in American history." The beer-distributorship heiress also says that inititally didn't want John McCain to seek the 2009 presidency because of the polarization of politics in America. You can read more of what she has to say here.

From the Left
Obama also protests the tenor of the campaign in an interview with ABC's Charlie Gibson. Says Obama: "I am surprised that, you know, we've been seeing some pretty over-the-top attacks coming out of the McCain campaign over the last several days, that he wasn't willing to say it to my face. But I guess we've got one last debate. So presumably, if he ends up feeling that he needs to, he will raise it during the debate." Read the story here.

Sports Beat

You might know Elgin Baylor as the befuddled ex-general manager of the hapless Los Angeles Clippers. But Baylor was one of the greatest players in NBA history: a soaring forward who changed how the game was played and a seminal figure in American sports history. Read Bill Simmons' outstanding ESPN Page 2 column here.

Laugh of the Day

"[Tuesday's] presidential debate took place in Nashville, Tennessee, which is perfect, 'cause the economy right now is kind of like a bad country song, isn't it? 'I lost my girl, I lost the house, the dog died, the trailer's gone.' " --Jay Leno

Quote of the Day

"War will never cease until babies begin to come into the world with larger cerebrums and smaller adrenal glands." -- H. L. Mencken