Though Duane DiChiara has already "stepped-on" my reporting from the CPAC meetingby beating me in postingresults of the Presidential straw poll here at the conference, I’ll thank him for getting the information to you a few hours before I could get to a computer. I was delayed because I attendeda post-CPAC party at Grover Norquist’s house on Capitol Hill. I did not see DiChiara at the party, by the way, but did see native Californian John Fund of the Wall Street Journal’s editorial pages.

I can add a little of context about the CPAC poll, however. It comprised a total of 1,705 votes of the CPAC delegates. I talked to Grover (president of Americans for Tax Reform) about his take on the vote, and the following is an amalgam of our thoughts. It was interesting that Romney led with 21%. Guiliani did rather well himself, coming in with 17%. This is especially the case because Guiliani did not buy an exhibitors’ booth,have signs or campaign literature,or have paid staff working the entire convention, as did Romney. Sam Brownback surprised with 15%, and Gingrich was no surprise with a close 14%

The one surprise… Read More

Hot off the press… the CPAC Straw Poll results are in:

First Choice

21 Romney 17 Giulani 15 Brownback 14 Gingrich 12 McCain

Second Choice

34 Giulani 30 Romney 30 Gingrich… Read More

I’ve not been shy about the fact that I’ve been underwhelmed about the Republican candidates for President. This being said, Romney’s speech at CPAC hit the right notes. Here are some fairly accurate excerpts…

ROMNEY ON THE LIBERAL MEDIA “I know there are a few [people] here from the mainstream media and they’re probably surprised that we are here in our record numbers. They wrote our obituary last fall, after Watergate, after the 1982 elections, and after Bill Clinton post-election. The truth is, it’s their wishful thinking – their reports of our demise have been greatly exaggerated. In fact, I predict that we will be around a lot longer than the newspapers will be around.”

ROMNEY ON SPENDING “We have seen an embarrassing [increase in] non-defense discretionary spending. I am proud to be the… Read More

Earlier this week, legislation was introduced by Democrat Senator Darrell Steinberg and Republican State Senator Bob Dutton that would established a state-adminstered savings account for every child born in California starting in 2008, and deposited $500 of government funds into that account. Additional funds up to a certain amount per year could be placed into the account, and the account would draw some level of interest. The funds in the accounts would only be able withdrawn after the child turns 18, and only to be spent on education, a first-time home purchase, or to roll into an Individual Retirement Account. Reaction to this proposed legislation from a broad spectrum of Republican and conservatives around the state was quick, and overwhelmingly negative. Because of the startling co-authorship of this bill by a Republican legislator, Dutton, it received a high level of interest from the media, and in the blogosphere. Yesterday, just a day after the bill was introduced, Dutton sent out a media release withdrawing his support for the legislation. There are some who want to characterize that the main reason why the bill rose ire was… Read More

Earlier this week, legislation was introduced by Democrat Senator Darrell Steinberg and Republican State Senator Bob Dutton that would established a state-adminstered savings account for every child born in California starting in 2008, and deposited $500 of government funds into that account. Additional funds up to a certain amount per year could be placed into the account, and the account would draw some level of interest. The funds in the accounts would only be able withdrawn after the child turns 18, and only to be spent on education, a first-time home purchase, or to roll into an Individual Retirement Account. Reaction to this proposed legislation from a broad spectrum of Republican and conservatives around the state was quick, and overwhelmingly negative. Because of the startling co-authorship of this bill by a Republican legislator, Dutton, it received a high level of interest from the media, and in the blogosphere. Yesterday, just a day after the bill was introduced, Dutton sent out a media release withdrawing his support for the legislation. There are some who want to characterize that the main reason why the bill rose ire was… Read More

Yes, it’s only a straw poll, but not many folks thought anyone but the supposed big three would be faring well, even at this early juncture. All of a sudden Duncan Hunter’s picture is being shown alongside McCain’s and Giuliani’s. Check out Fox News. The latest from the AP on the South Carolina contest:

John McCain Pulls Even With Rudy Giuliani, Duncan Hunter in South Carolina Straw Poll

Sen. John McCain pulled even with two of his Republican rivals when counting resumed Friday morning in a presidential straw poll in conservative Spartanburg County.

Though most of the roughly 800 votes were counted on Thursday night, ballots tallied Friday morning weighed heavily in McCain’s favor, said GOP county chairman Rick Beltram.

The updated count put McCain in a dead heat with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and California Rep. Duncan Hunter. Beltram would not release any specific numbers and said a final tally would be known Friday afternoon.

The count was suspended because of severe weather that… Read More

What about ex-wives? I couldn’t help but think of the pain given to Doolittleover the hiring of his wife when I ran across this blog entry from LAObserved.Assemblyman Richard Alarcon spent over $400,000 running for Assembly and of course he DIDN’T have an opponent. Payments went to an ex-wife, a girlfirend and a fiancee. And Mitt Romney gets picked on about Polygamy. See it here.… Read More

Sen. Bob Dutton (R-Rancho Cucamonga) announced today that he is no longer co-authoring Senate Bill 752. Here is the statement that he issued: “I have decided to remove my support for Senate Bill 752. In light of the state’s deteriorating fiscal situation I cannot support the bill as currently written. I will continue to work to assist California’s families by looking into tax breaks and other opportunities. Over the last 48 hours, thousands of Californians have asked me what I was thinking so I thought I would take this opportunity to share my thoughts. … Read More