President Bush delivered a tremendous speechthis morningbefore a very large crowd, several thousand, of highly enthusiasticactivists at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C. The crowd wildlysupported references to the war on terrorism policy.

The Washington Post had reported this morning excerpts of the President’s planned speech, which were distributed to some reporters last night,andincluded verbiage generally supportive of McCain’s quest to wrap-up the Presidential nomination very soon. The Post had suggested in the story that Bush’s speech was an attempt to shore-up support for closing down the nomination in favor of McCain. The real story was not exactly that. Bush hit on the heartstrings of the crowd, discussed his accomplishments, the crowd responded extremely well, and, according to long-time CPAC staffer Tish Leonard, Bush ended his speech "stunned" at the highly supportive response he received. The White House must be thinking now, after the speech, of missed opportunities to rally the troops in past years with the loyal conservatives here at… Read More

Here are a few itemsfrom the Conservative Political Action Conference, being held this weekend at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C……

Total paid registrations as of noon today: 6,800, and still coming. The total for last year, which was the highest ever, was 6,400.

Total credentialed media in attendance: 500.

Number of co-sponsoring organizations: 90.

The Conservative Movement is the biggest it has ever been.

Last Fall CPAC and the hosting American Conservative Union prepared a questionnaire for all the Republican Presidential candidates and asked for responses bylate last year so the information could be distributed at this CPAC. John McCain, and all the other candidates responded in detail,with just one exception. By a letter dated December 7, 2007, California’s Bill Simon, identified as "policy director" for the Rudy Giuliani campaign, on the campaign’s stationary, informed CPAC/ACU that the Giuliani campaign would not be responding to the questionnaire, and had a policy against responding to all questionnaires because of the shear volume of work.… Read More

When you’re wrong, I have always thought, admit it. So I am going to admit it. I was wrong, this year’s California primary actually meant something. Candidates came here spent money, and actually paid attention to Californians. I thought it wouldn’t happen, and I was wrong.

I mainly objected to moving the primary forward, and I thought that, once again, that would be a futile act. It had been every other time we moved it forward, and I thought this would be no different. In my opinion, California has really screwed up the presidential primary system in its effort to be relevant. I still believe that.

I think I was wrong because of circumstances unique to this primary. For the first time since 1952, no one on the ballot has been president or vice president (that is, in every presidential election since 1952, at least one of the candidates on the ballot was president or vice president when the general election started). That leaves the election wide open, and raises a lot of uncertainty. I think that factor, more than any other, is why California was relevant this year. It is also my opinion that California would still have… Read More

You might have heard about Berkeley’s City Council’s recent vote to tell the Marines to close their recruiting station in the city. With this vote, they told the Marines that their recruiting office is not welcome in their city, and if recruiters choose to stay, they do so as an uninvited and unwelcome intruders.

In response to this, Ihave introduced the “Semper Fi Act” in the House of Representatives. This act rescinds all of the funding contained in the FY 2008 Omnibus Appropriations Act for the City of Berkeley, CA and transfers those funds to the Marines for recruiting

During the meeting, the City Council also voted to give protest group Code Pink a parking space in front of the recruiting office once a week for six months and a free sound permit for protesting once a week. According to the City Council agenda, they "Encourage all people to avoid cooperation with the Marine Corps recruiting station, and applaud residents and organizations such as Code Pink, that may volunteer to impede, passively or actively, by nonviolent means, the work of any military recruiting office located in the City of Berkeley."

The Marine Corps has… Read More

I am at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C. today and the report from the floor is no different from what viewers saw on FOX News in real time. John McCain re-established his bona fides with conservatives today in a talk that went into detail, sometimes almost excrutiating detail (immigration!) on his policy positions, and on his professed commitment to the conservative political philosophy.

McCain referred to Edmund Burke, "the Creator", and Ronald Reagan twice each during the speech to thunderous applause. This was a CPAC speech, on the record, and a promise from a great American to advance our core principles in the presidency.

And on issue after issue, McCain laid out his 24 year history of advancing our political philosophy. I was especially impressed with his stalward pro-life position, and his enthusiastic support for actually "winning" the war in Iraq, despite MSM opposition to both positions.

There is a lot going on here and I need a little shut-eye, but tomorrow I will have opportunities to enter the inner sanctums of the national conservartive movement and… Read More

Sometimes taxpayers vote to spend more money for better government, but actually get the opposite.For example, San Francisco residents voted to pay their Board of Supervisors $60,000 more a year to compensate the board for meeting on a nearly full-time schedule. The supervisors convinced San Francisco voters that full-time pay would allow them to devote even more time to the job. Voters approved the raise, thinking the supervisors would be more productive and improve the city.But, after six years, the only improvements that have been made are to the board members’ bank accounts. The San Francisco Chronicle (January 30, 2008) reported that "[e]ver since members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors persuaded voters to pay them like full-time government workers, the city’s lawmakers have been holding fewer meetings to debate and pass legislation." … Read More

From the Sac Bee….

Sacramento – Sen. Darrell Steinberg will assume the leadership of the state Senate at the end of the year, Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata said Thursday.

Steinberg emerged as the only candidate to succeed Perata, D-Oakland, during a closed door meeting of the 25 Democratic senators, Perata said.

"At my urging, the Senate Democratic Caucus decided on a process for an orderly transition of leadership," Perata said in a statement. "Our No. 1 priority this year is to tackle a giant budget deficit in a way that protects California’s future. By removing any questions about the transition of leadership, the caucus will be best equipped to decide on the critical issues confronting our state."

To read the full story go to http://www.sacbee.com/749/story/695729.html… Read More

I just watched the speech that Mitt Romney gave suspending his campaign. He did an excellent job of defining the biggest challenges facing our nation today, and what our Party must do to meet them. He was every bit the outstanding speaker that I remember seeing at the CRP convention a while back in LA…inspiring, articulate, and thoroughly motivating. His speech today was strong, gracious, and patriotic to the “n-th” degree. I know this is not an easy day for those who fought so hard for their candidate. Romney is a very good man, and a class act. Personally, I’m so proud that he is a Republican, and I know that he will fight on for the principles we hold dear. Governor Romney gave us all our marching orders…it’s time to come together to ensure that we win the White House. He outlined his belief that a Clinton or Obama presidency would mean defeat in the war against radical jihadists, and we cannot allow that to happen.

Many of you know I am a McCain supporter, and have been since 1999 when I loaded up my minivan with my 2 year old, my 6 month old, and McCain yard signs to deliver. My greatest hope is that my pals from the Flash Report who have not… Read More