Having just returned from a quick vacation, I want to first thank our Guest Editor Nicholas Romero for his fine work – he put together the FR main page on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday and did an outstanding job I must say. Nick will continue to help me out, as needed, going forward. Thanks, Nick!
The "must read" today is a piece by LA Times political reporter Peter Nicholas on Governor Schwarzenegger: "The Private Side of his Governance. The piece offers an ‘inside look’ at Arnold Schwarzenegger and how he runs his office and how he approaches his job. I found it to be quite interested and eye-opening.
I was fascinated to read a piece in the Contra Costa Times (reprinted from the LA Times, so you may have already read it) that focused on the California GOP delegation and the immigration issue. The piece talked about while all of the Democrats support some degree of guest worker program, the GOPers remain solid in their opposition to any kind of amnesty. However, the exception to the GOP solidarity comes from Central Valley Republican Congressmen George Radanovich, Devin Nunes and Bill Thomas, who presumably have concerns because of the labor needs of the agricultural interests in their districts.
At the end of the day, will Westly’s wealth buy him the Democratic nomination for Governor? Bill Bradley on his New West Notes website looks at the latest media buy from Democrat State Controller, and co-founder of EBay, Steve Westly. He is buying in five major media markets now, and there is a real question about whether or not Angelides can or will try to keep up with Westly.
One of FR’s San Diego Correspondents, Barry Jantz, finally starts his coverage of the AD 77 (La Suer seat) GOP primary. Barry’s insights here will be huge because he is not only from there, but is close to all of the players. Jantz has passed up two opportunities to run for this seat himself as a front-runner, prioritizing life with his wife and their cute little daughter (once you meet them), you would agree that Barry’s priorities are in order). That said, Jantz starts his coverage today, and you’ll want to tune in!
Newt Gingrich, the former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, has made it clear in recent remarks that GOPers in Congress have lost their way (this is pretty obvious when you look at the sharp clip at which federal spending is going up). I’ve included an AP story on his dire warning to the GOP majority for your reading pleasure.
The Los Angeles Daily News today has a story looking at the candidates vying to replace Keith Richman in his San-Fernando Valley-based Assembly seat. The story doesn’t tell anyone what we didn’t already know – that Santa Clarita Councilman Cameron Smyth is the overwhelming favorite to replace Richman. This will be a good thing as Richman, a self-described moderate who supports open primaries, has publicly lamented that there is not more of a spirit of compromise in Sacramento. As the saying goes, "A compromise between holding the line on taxes and raising taxes — means raising taxes."
There’s a lot of interesting reading today on the main page, including all of the stories I mention above!
Have a great day, and fire over your tips, and suggestions.
Jon
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