This just in from conservative Assemblyman Martin Garrick:
“I wanted to take a moment to relay some of my experiences with Sam Blakeslee and share why I am supporting him for Leader. Sam is someone that I have come to know to be a strong social conservative and fiscal hawk. I’ve pulled up Sam’s ratings and note that he enjoys perfect A ratings from Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, perfect A ratings from the National Rifle Association, he consistently scores among the highest with the California Manufacturers and Technology Association and the Chamber of Commerce, and received a 100 percent in the California ProLife Council’s most recent voter guide. I saw a report that Sam had voted for AB 32, and so I pulled up the vote tally on the bill. It confirmed that, in fact, Sam not only voted against AB 32, but I recall he gave quite an impassioned speech on the floor about why AB 32 was a bad bill. I know Mr. Blakeslee will be a strong social conservative and a highly effective member of the caucus who has consistently fought the good conservative fight and repeatedly led the battle against the liberal agenda.”
Publisher’s Note: Since my earlier posting, I have been getting a lot of, frankly, positive feedback from conservative legislators about Blakeslee (like the comments from Martin above, though he asked that I share them with FR readers).
We’ll see how this all develops — though in the big picture, a transition to a leader who has the ability to say with a straight face that the budget deal of last February was a bad idea is a good thing.
Oh yes, Blakeslee’s ratings the past few years from the (reliable) California Republican Assembly Scorecard:
2005 – 83%
2006 – 71%
2007 – 55% (Yes, 55%… Hmmm)
2008 – 87%
May 6th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Blakeslee may be a nice guy but staking out a “no public position” on Proposition 1A…(sounds like Obama voting “present”) and voting to place the open primary measure on the June 2010 ballot”, does not inspire confidence that this is a real change in leadership.
Martin, you are my Assemblyman; What you are saying here appears in stark contradiction to what Jon F. and Matthew. C have written.
So…what is the truth here?
May 7th, 2009 at 12:00 am
The truth is that we need to stop putting a “litmus” test on every GOP individual from activist to legislator.
There is no need to crucify one GOP person, just because for his/her stand on a particular issue.
It is very demoralizing to see bashing going on…by the way, I thought the USA is a free country for one to think freely for themselves.
The pecking orders needs to STOP!
We need to take our battles to the Democrats instead of battling within the GOP ranks!
May 7th, 2009 at 12:00 am
I have found Dr. Consiglio’s posts here to be uniformly intelligent, constructive
and well thought out. She asks questions which are tough, but always fair.
It is comforting to hear that conservative stalwart Martin Garrick is satisfied
with Mr. Blakeslee’s overall record. San Diegans are rightly proud of Martin
Garrick’s leadership.
May 7th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Allen, I agree with you that our goal is to go after and defeat Democrats. But it goes to the notion that you have to beat them with a superior product.
When we look at the overspending of Republicans when we held the purse strings in Washington, D.C. When you look at tax schemes from Sacramento that are hatched by a Republican Governor and GOP legislative leaders… Well, it makes to you step back and ask — what does our party stand for?
At some level, you HAVE to enforce some level of party discipline or the result is Obama, and potentially a Democrat Governor after Arnold.
We SAY that we are a party of lower taxes, less government spending, and more individual responsibility and freedom. But are we?
May 7th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Can we please get someone else? Assembly Republicans please don’t stick us with Blakeslee.