Amidst the "Run, Tom, Run" furvor that has sparked up and down California at the prospects of conservative icon and State Senator Tom McClintock entering the GOP primary in the 4th Congressional District (where John Doolittle is retiring), one prominent conservative isn’t too fond of the idea. Jeff Flint, proprietor of Red County’s Placer blog says he’d vote for Tom in a general election, but that’s it. He pens a lengthy commentary this morning, entitled Thanks But No Thanks, Tom.… Read More

With last weekend’s convention, the state budget back-and-forth, and the presidential race, I missed the chance to comment on something the Governor has been pushing pretty aggressively: the continuation of Operation Jump Start.

If you’ll remember, that’s the code name given to the mission assigned to the National Guard to temporarily help secure the border while thousands of additional Border Patrol agents are hired and trained. In 2006, when the federal government announced the mission, Governor Schwarzenegger wanted guarantees that California’s Guard troops would still be available to assist during disasters here, which he received. The Governor then agreed to the mission and since then, National Guard troops have been supporting the Border Patrol along our border with Mexico.

And from what I have been told, the mission has been working. Illegal border crossings are down. Arrests are up. Drug trafficking has been reduced.

The mission was scheduled to end this coming July, but the feds are apparently only about halfway toward their goal of hiring and training 6,000 more agents.

Governor Schwarzenegger has urged President Bush to continue… Read More

FR friend Ryan Clumpner, Chairman of the California College Republicans, along with a number of his CR colleagues, presented signboards to State Senator Tom McClintock with hundreds of signatures, urging the Senator to run for Congress in the 4th District.

Below is a photo of the Senator talking to reporters with Clumpner and company, along with the signboards.

McClintock is still being coy about whether he will get into the race, but promises a final decision by "early next week" — whatever that means.… Read More

FR friend Shane Goldmacher, over at the Sacramento Bee’s Capitol Alert, interviewed incoming Senate Republican Leader Dave Cogdill. It’s an interesting piece that you can read here (free registration required).… Read More

Today Assembly Democrats informally chose Majority Leader Karen Bass to succeed Fabian "Louis Vuitton" Nunez. We call this rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Unless Bass is going to usher California Democrats into an era of reducing the size and scope of state government. Don’t hold your breath!… Read More

Longtime California GOP leader Steve Frank publishes his winners and losers of the CRP Convention. His "big loser" is former State GOP Chairman Duf Sundheim.… Read More

Today we feature a "Guest Commentary" — which is actually the prepared text of Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner’s address at last Friday’s Dinner Banquet at the California Republican Party Convention. I thought it might be interesting reading, especially given that Poizner is often spoken of as a potential GOP candidate for Governor in 2010…

REMARKS TO THE CALIFORNIA REPUBLICAN PARTY FROM INSURANCE COMMISSIONER STEVE POIZNER

Let me start off by saying, “Thank you members and friends of the California Republican Party for helping to defeat Proposition 93.”

Without your support and hard work, we could never have taken on the entrenched special interests in Sacramento, and won.

We all know that Prop 93 wasn’t about reform – it was about power,

…the naked desire of a few to keep their power.

And that’s why defeating Proposition 93 was so… Read More

Today we feature a "Guest Commentary" — which is actually the prepared text of Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner’s address at last Friday’s Dinner Banquet at the California Republican Party Convention. I thought it might be interesting reading, especially given that Poizner is often spoken of as a potential GOP candidate for Governor in 2010… REMARKS TO THE CALIFORNIA REPUBLICAN PARTY FROM INSURANCE COMMISSIONER STEVE POIZNER

Let me start off by saying, “Thank you members and friends of the California Republican Party for helping to defeat Proposition 93.” Without your support and hard work, we… Read More