Incumbent Members of Congress don’t lose, right? Certainly not their own party’s nomination, right? Well Rep. Wayne Gilchrist of Maryland, who was registered to vote as a Republican, liked to vote with House Democrats so much that he garnered a primary opponent in Andy Harris, a strong conservative. This primary challenge to Erlich was backed by, among others, former Maryland Governor Bob Erlich. The conservative Club for Growth weighed in heavily as well (to the tune of over $500,000!) — check out the ad below. Well to make a long story short, last night Maryland Republicans in Gilchrist’s district spoke loud and clear — tossing the liberal Republican out on his ear, and handing the GOP nomination to Harris.

This is a very positive thing because it shows that at the local level, Republicans want to send Representatives back to Washington who will stop the liberal agenda of Nancy Pelosi and her cohorts, not ones who will seek to work with her towards her goals.

For the most part, we have lived in a "weak party" system here in America. After all, take a country… Read More

Incumbent Members of Congress don’t lose, right? Certainly not their own party’s nomination, right? Well Rep. Wayne Gilchrist of Maryland, who was registered to vote as a Republican, liked to vote with House Democrats so much that he garnered a primary opponent in Andy Harris, a strong conservative. This primary challenge to Erlich was backed by, among others, former Maryland Governor Bob Erlich. The conservative Club for Growth weighed in heavily as well — check out the ad below. Well to make a long story short, last night Maryland Republicans in Gilchrist’s district spoke loud and clear — tossing the liberal Republican out on his ear, and handing the GOP nomination to Harris.

This is a very positive thing because it shows that at the local level, Republicans want to send Representatives back to Washington who will stop the liberal agenda of Nancy Pelosi and her cohorts, not ones who will seek to work with her towards her goals.

For the most part, we have lived in a "weak party" system here in America. After all, take a country like Great Britain. There,… Read More

Since I have been writing about the goings-on in the State Capitol, I have had a policy of NOT writing about the internal politics of our legislative caucuses. It just tends to be a loser all around.

This is significant now because I have received a good number of e-mails from readers asking me to handicap the race to succeed Dick Ackerman as Senate Republican Leader. I got even more of them with Senator George Runner’s announcement that he was not going to pursue the post any longer.

That said, I wanted to share with you that my absence of coverage on this is actually on purpose.

Of course, there are many other bloggers on this site, any perhaps they might weigh in.

I will only say that it is clear that a change will take place well before the budget debate comes to a head.

We look forward to working with the next Senate Republican Leader, as we currently do with Dick Ackerman (and Assembly GOP Leader Mike Villines), towards the advancement of a limited government agenda.… Read More

We thought we would bring you this piece from the WSJ Poltiical Diary E-mail because our own Dan Schnur, FR State Capitol Correspondent, is quoted (or is that re-quoted)?

Why is Mike Huckabee staying in the Republican race even though it is now mathematically impossible to win the nomination?

The answer is: Why not? His base among evangelicals is such that he can do surprisingly well in states like Virginia, where he only lost to John McCain by nine points last night. He builds up more media credibility as a possible running mate for Mr. McCain, who might not want to risk alienating Mr. Huckabee’s socially conservative followers. And the former Arkansas governor clearly enjoys campaigning.

Republicans would be wise not to pressure Mr. Huckabee to leave the race.… Read More

Donald Trump is not exactly a conservative icon. He ran for the Reform Party presidential nomination not too long ago; a party with very confused ideals. He has an odd haircut. He is very successful. Hemarries and divorces "crazy" women. He is an ultramega-successful version of someone who hangs out at the Islands Hotel Bar in Newport Beach late on a Friday night.

But Donald Trump has done something VERY RIGHT. He has taken on the California Coastal Commission. The issue? Having to get approval from the government to display an American flag on private property.

Trump did southern California a favor by purchasing the moribund Rancho Palos Verdes golf course a few years ago with intention of building it into a national course. In the process of redevelopment, he decided to erect a 70-foot flagpole and display a large American flag. The winds offer a great waiving flag, backgrounded by a spectacular view of sea and sky.

But the local environmentalists complained that the flag "blighted" the ocean views. After a great debate, the Palos Verdes City Council gave Trump a retroactive approval, by a… Read More

Charitable foundations and nonprofits across the nation are aligning themselves against AB 624 (Coto). The Orwellian measure would require all private, corporate or public operating foundations and nonprofits, with assets over $250 million, to collect gender, ethnic and sexual orientation data on their board, members, staff and grant recipients. Yes, you read correctly: sexual orientation.

So if you’re looking to receive a grant from a California-based nonprofit, be prepared for that awkward questionnaire: Do you perceive yourself as male or female? Which ethnic prefix best describes you as an American (i.e., African-, Asian-, etc.)? And what is the perceived gender of the person with whom you are now sleeping?

You can see why philanthropic organization may decide to relocate out of our politically-correct, regulatory-friendly state.

As Pacific Research Institute’s Lloyd Billingsley points out, AB 624 is an attempt to undermine Proposition 209, the historic measure that ended discriminatory affirmative action programs for state contracts, employment… Read More

Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries has introduced legislation (ACR 93) that has the goal of developing a uniform sign law governing campaign sign placement throughout California.

The League of Cities is a club for dues paying members–the legislation (actually a resolution) would request that the League along with the CA Association of Counties the FPPC to come up with the policy.

I find the premise to be an example of the arrogance in government. It can be frustrating for candidates and sign posting companies to have to learn and adhere to a myriad of of local sign ordinances. However, the heavy hand of state government should not interfere with this most fundamental demonstration of political speech.

I’ve suggested to Assemblyman Jeffries that representatives from both the Republican and Democratic parties (perhaps representatives from other parties as well) should at the very least be included in the decision making process. In my experience, elected officials who are actively engaged in leadership within the League and CA Assoc. of Counties are bureaucratic- and favor big… Read More

State Senator Abel Maldonado is a pleasant man. I don’t speak with him to frequently — as he is from the Central Coast and I am from Orange County, and he works in the State Capitol, a place that I admit I do not frequent as often as I should — but when I do talk to him there, I walk away saying to myself, "He’s a nice guy."

Well, last Summer, in the budget stand-off between Democrats and Republicans, he wasn’t so nice.

While all of his GOP colleagues were in a fox-hole, trying to defend California against an unrealistic budget that clearly spent way too much money, Abel abandoned his colleagues, and then started firing shots back at them.

**There is more – click the link**

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