Over the weekend, the FR main page included some links to stories about the Saturday passing of longtime GOP consultant Jack Orr. Duane Dichiara also posted a tribute to Jack yesterday.

Today on Red County/San Diego, Ernie Cowan of the North SD County Association of Realtors posts an open letter in tribute to his friend:

To God. Letter of Reference for Mr. Jack Orr As a founding member of the Albondigas Political Society and a person who considered Jack Orr a deep personal friend, I don’t think we can go without assisting him as much as possible. His loss saddens us greatly, but knowing him brightened our lives and filled many of our days with fun and excitement.

Jack, old friend, you will be missed terribly, but thank you for contributing so much to so many.

To: God Subject: Letter of Reference for Mr. Jack Orr

Dear God:

It is with sadness that I provide this letter of… Read More

I guess this blog post is aimed squarely at GOP State Senators Sam Aanastad, Tom Harman, and Abel Maldonado. You see, these are the only Republicans who voted for a piece of legislation that, in essence, bans the use of cell phones and PDAs of 16 an 17 year old drivers while they are operating a car. My question is this… Would they also vote for legislation that would ban ANY driver, regardless of age, from doing this? My guess is probably not. (Well, Aanastad did vote last year to… Read More

[I am writing this commentary from Santa Barbara, where today I will be on hand for a special ceremony at the Ronald Reagan Ranch Center here, to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" speech. I’ll be bringing you footage of the event, as well as coverage of a trip I took to "Rancho Del Cielo" — the Reagan Ranch — tomorrow morning! – Flash]

It’s been a little while since I have penned anything on the goings on in the City of Anaheim. FR readers may recall that I took the folks at Disney to task for pushing a city-wide ballot measure that would create ‘ballot box’ zoning in close proximity to Disneyland — but not IN Disneyland. In otherwords, other property owners would have onerous regulations placed on them, while the Disney Corporation would not. Anyways, you can read more about what they call the "SOAR" plan in my previous column.

… Read More

[I am writing this commentary from Santa Barbara, where today I will be on hand for a special ceremony at the Ronald Reagan Ranch Center here, to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" speech. I’ll be bringing you footage of the event, as well as coverage of a trip I took to "Rancho Del Cielo" — the Reagan Ranch — tomorrow morning! – Flash]

It’s been a little while since I have penned anything on the goings on in the City of Anaheim. FR readers may recall that I took the folks at Disney to task for pushing a city-wide ballot measure that would create ‘ballot box’ zoning in close proximity to Disneyland — but not IN Disneyland. In otherwords, other property owners would have onerous regulations placed on them, while the Disney Corporation would not. Anyways, you can read more about what they call the "SOAR" plan in my previous column.

… Read More

Cross-posted from Red County/OC Blog.

Another Republican Party of Orange County Flag Day dinner has come and gone. 1,100 people attended this year’s event and the OC GOP raised $300,000.

This year saw a continuance of the parade of presidential hopefuls who have become a staple for the yearly dinner, in the former of former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. You can read account by Martin Wisckol (here and here) and Larry Gilbert.

Giuliani’s Speech I haven’t picked a horse in this race — at least among the four front runners (Giuliani, Mitt Romney, John McCain and Fred Thompson). I find it difficult to imagine a scenario in which I would vote for Rudy Giuliani in the primary, and his speech last night didn’t change that.… Read More

This just in…..

Assembly Republicans Call for Defeat of Immigration Law 22 Sign letter to Congress & Presidential Candidates Sacramento, CA – Today, 22 California Republican Assembly members have sent a letter to the United States Senate and Congressional leadership, as well as presidential candidates expressing opposition to the pending Federal immigration legislation.

“The proposed Federal immigration legislation would be disastrous for California and the Country,” said Assemblyman Joel Anderson, who gathered the signatures from his fellow legislators. “We have a responsibility to inform our Federal representatives and presidential candidates, who will be seeking California’s votes, that this thinly veiled amnesty bill should be killed,” said Anderson.

The letter states:

We opposed this ill-conceived and dangerous legislation for the following reasons:

-It is veiled amnesty for 11 million law-breaking immigrants, people who have violated the law by entering this country illegally.

-It will allow 11 million… Read More

In a little over two weeks voters will go to the polls to elect a new Congressman for the 37th Congressional District. The area is most of Long Beach, Compton, Carson and Signal Hill. It is the 4th most Democratic district in California. In 2006, the GOP did not field a candidate. This special election, due to the death of Juanita Millender-McDonald has brought out 17 candidates. Four of them are Republicans. While the Democratic field is dominated by Assembly member Laura Richardson and State Senator Jenny Oropeza, the GOP side has been controversial in the LA GOP circles. There have been two failed attempts by factions within the Los Angeles County GOP to endorse a candidate in the race. The candidates are: LEROY JOSEPH "L.J." GUILLORY also know as Bishop Guillory. He is the most controversial and colorful. He served 8 ½ years for kidnapping and extortion. Time he says was … Read More

[Yesterday, the FR posted about news of an impending release of Republican legislators’ encouragementof former U.S. Senator and Law & Order actor Fred Thompson to enter the race for the presidency. Thanks to Senate Republican Caucus ChairmanGeorge Runner, the FR can now share with readers the actual letter of encouragement signed by nine members of the Senate and Assembly.]

An exerpt from the letter of encouragement to Fred Thompson (also attached below):

"Americans are looking for a leader to serve as our next President with a proven record of limiting the size and scope of government. Americans trust in political institutions has been jaded by broken promises of reduced spending and lowered taxes.

"Your… Read More