From today’s Wall Street Journal Political Diary…

Re-Airing Ronald Reagan

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A huge thanks to Adam Day of Sycuan for sending the attached survey results and memo along. Some excerpts… Survey Shows Duncan D. Hunter with Comfortable Lead In 52nd Congressional District Republican Primary Race El Cajon, CA (May 12, 2008) – In a survey of 400 registered voters in the 52nd Congressional district, Duncan D. Hunter, son of current Congressman Duncan Hunter, enjoys a substantial lead over other candidates in the race with 79% voter support.

Sycuan frequently conducts public opinion polling on a wide range of regional issues and election topics and shares the results with the public. This survey of voters in the 52nd Congressional District, where Sycuan is located, also asked voters about key issues in the race. Winning the War on Terror and illegal immigration were the top priorities for voters in this congressional race.

A summary of the survey results from Dr. Richard Maullin of Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin & Associates is attached. — According to our recent survey, Duncan D. Hunter holds a massive lead over the field seeking the Republican… Read More

There is an ominous cloud on the horizon and conservative bloggers (and their readers) should beware. Conservative author, blogger and commentator Mark Steyn is about to go on trial in Canada to face charges of spreading “hate and contempt” for Muslims. A chapter of Steyn’s book “America Alone” was published in Canadian magazine Maclean’s, which drew complaints from Islamic Canadians who disagree with Steyn’s warnings about an encroaching Islamic state in Europe and the West.

In Canada, this type of “hate speech” is against the law. British Columbia actually outlaws any images or language “likely to expose a person…to hatred or contempt” for a variety of reasons, including religion, marital status or sexual orientation. So Mark Steyn now finds himself a defendant before both the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal and the Canadian Human Rights Commission simply because he wrote a book expressing his opinions about a religion and its impact on the world.

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FlashReport readers will now have another place to aim their browsers as my friend Joel Fox has launched a new website with what promises to be an interesting blog – Fox and Hounds. Joel is the President of the Small Business Action Committee, and is former President of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.

The site clearly runs the gamut of political opinion when you see Governor Schwarzenegger’s longtime Democrat advisor Bonnie Reiss topping the blogpen over there — she’ll be a balance to the more right-leaning Fox! Joel’s put together a promising crew of bloggers, and we truly wish him the best of luck with his endeavor. Trust me, ’tis no easy thing!

On the occasion of the launch of Fox and Hounds, I asked Joel if he would pen something about the new blog for FR readers, and here it is…

There is an ominous cloud on the horizon and conservative bloggers (and their readers) should beware. Conservative author, blogger and commentator Mark Steyn is about to go on trial in Canada to face charges of spreading “hate and contempt” for Muslims. A chapter of Steyn’s book “America Alone” was published in Canadian magazine Maclean’s, which drew complaints from Islamic Canadians who disagree with Steyn’s warnings about an encroaching Islamic state in Europe and the West.

In Canada, this type of “hate speech” is against the law. British Columbia actually outlaws any images or language “likely to expose a person…to hatred or contempt” for a variety of reasons, including religion, marital status or sexual orientation. So Mark Steyn now finds himself a defendant before both the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal and the Canadian Human Rights Commission simply because he wrote a book expressing his opinions about a religion and its impact on the world.

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Today each Republican in the State Assembly will have their opportunity to make it clear that ultra-liberal Karen Bass is not their choice for Speaker. Whether by voting for Mike Villines for Speaker (if his name is placed into nomination) or by insisting that their “NO” vote be RECORDED for posterity, each GOP legislator can make the record clear.

When they do, Speaker Bass should not take it any more personally than if these Republicans were voting against one of her bills to increase taxes.

Anyways, Republican legislators who quietly whisper “no” while an official acclimation (unanimous) vote for Bass s tallied aren’t fooling anyone.

Don’t complain about what this next Speaker does with her office if you don’t have the moxie to record your opposition to her being Speaker.… Read More

It is never a good thing to talk about elections in the middle of an election. I already know that, if there are responses to what I write, they will be mostly ad hominem. The conservative movement, however, is worth the criticism. As a political force, the conservative movement is dying in California, and it is dying because too many of our conservative leaders have allowed their personal agendas to trump the principles they claim to espouse.

Let me first explain what I mean. I don’t count consultants as conservative leaders. They will pick up the cause of whoever writes the check. One problem is that too many activists confuse consultants with principle. They believe that political consultants actually believe in more than the fifteen per cent they collect from their clients. The fact is that consultants serve candidates or their pocketbook, not causes. They are an important part of the political process but they cannot drive it. They have to feed their family first, and that need too often trumps principle.They are the tacticians, they are not the leaders. The two cannot be confused if we ever wish to create a… Read More

I was going to write this anyway, but since the Bee ran a story with my comments about Tom McClintock today, I figured I better get a correction out as quickly as possible. You would think that after 15 years of dealing with the press, I would know better how to talk to the press. But I guess I don’t. So I am going to issue the correction that the Bee never will to the comments I made to the reporter.

It is no secret that Tom and I have had our set of disagreements over time, mostly over strategy. I endorsed Schwarzenegger in the recall, mainly because I believed (and still believe) that since conservatives started the recall, we had to finish it with a victory. At the time I endorsed Schwarzenegger, he was tied with Bustamante, and since I believed that Tom couldn’t raise the money to win, I did what I believed was in the best long term interest of the conservative movement. I have been less than underwhelmed with the gratitude that the Governor has shown for the huge risk that I took in my own political career on his behalf, but I didn’t do it for him anyway, so I don’t take his ingratitude personally. The only bad part aboutthe… Read More