California has become a reliably blue state, unfortunately. It can now be counted on to produce Democrat elected officials in every office that requires a statewide vote. That having been said, the Golden State is so large that even though conservatives are in a minority here, there are still more of us here than just about anywhere else. California has a lot of influential players advancing conservative candidates and causes, and I thought that I would take the opportunity, through a series of postings, to highlight some of those that I think are making a difference. I can think of no better California conservative to highlight first than James Lacy.
I have known and toiled with Jim Lacy for a quarter-century towards conservative outcomes — and he was at it for a long time before he and I even met! I am quite certain that there is virtually no time that Lacy is awake where he is not either advancing the causes of liberty and freedom, or planning his next advance on this front. He is involved in so many things that it isn’t even practical to talk about all of them.
POLITICAL PROFESSIONAL
Professionally, while Lacy is a “jack of all trades” involved with many different endeavors most of which are political, and advance the conservative cause, he is most recognized as the owner of Landslide Communications. Lacy has build this company into the largest producers of voter contact “slate” cards to conservative voters in California. The candidates that he features on his family of products gain a significant boost in their electoral chances. I really couldn’t even list here, for space considerations, all of the Republicans who are in elective offices up and down California due to the efforts of Lacy’s Landslide Communications.
COMMENTATOR
As readers know, I have been publishing the FlashReport Website on California Politics for nearly a decade. For nearly all of that time Lacy has been a regular contributor to our efforts, having penned scores of insightful commentaries and analyses. You can check out Jim’s most recent FlashReport piece on the perils of raising California’s gas taxes here. Jim is also a website publisher in his own right, having organized an effort to take the acclaimed California Political Review policy magazine from a print publication to now a successful online conservative source of commentary. Of course his writings are featured there as well.
HE WROTE THE BOOK
In addressing Jim Lacy’s growing role as an influencer of conservative thought in California and nationally, about California, one must highlight the release of his book last year, Taxifornia: Liberal’s Laboratory to Bankrupt America. In his popular book, Lacy demonstrates his policy heft as he walks readers through how radical left-wing policies coming out of the State Capitol are literally taking our state to the brink of financial chaos. In addition to the thousands upon thousands who have gained insight and talking points from reading Lacy’s book, Lacy has also appeared on many television and cable shows, speaking as a subject-matter expert on just how poorly the left is running state government. Click here to see his most recent appearance on Fox Business News with Stuart Varney. Conservative Congressman Darrell Issa had this to say in the forward he authored in Lacy’s book: “Lacy’s ‘Taxifornia’ is a cautionary tale of what can and will happen to America if Washington follows the lead of what Sacramento has done in the past decade.”
I would counsel my readers to keep an eye on Jim Lacy as 2015 progresses. His past achievements are notable and I could write an entire column on his achievements in the national conservative movement, and even his success locally as an elected member of his own City Council. But Lacy is being highlighted here not because of what he has achieved, but because of my belief that his influence and future achievements will be even greater.