Welcome to the first-ever FlashReport Podcast — a one-on-one interview with Presidential candidate Fred Thompson!

Our plan was to kick-off our new podscasting feature after the first of the year with a new weekly podcast, where we would bring you interviews with many of the opinion leaders here in California that impact the politics and policy for the Golden State — and we still plan on doing that.

But when I had an opportunity to chat over the phone with GOP Presidential candidate Fred Thompson, I asked if we could go ahead and record the call to put up on the site, I quickly called my developers and said, "I know this is short notice, but can we scramble to get our first podcast up tomorrow??"

Fortunately they were able to pull it off, and below you can access my first interview — with Senator Thompson.… Read More

Welcome to the first-ever FlashReport Podcast — a one-on-one interview with Presidential candidate Fred Thompson!

Our plan was to kick-off our new podscasting feature after the first of the year with a new weekly podcast, where we would bring you interviews with many of the opinion leaders here in California that impact the politics and policy for the Golden State — and we still plan on doing that.

But when I had an opportunity to chat over the phone with GOP Presidential candidate Fred Thompson, I asked if we could go ahead and record the call to put up on the site, I quickly called my developers and said, "I know this is short notice, but can we scramble to get our first podcast up tomorrow??"

Fortunately they were able to pull it off, and below you can access my first interview — with Senator Thompson.… Read More

We here at the FlashReport would like to wish all of our readers a Happy Halloween, our third since the FR went "live" in October of 2005. Last Saturday night, I had a chance to stop by a couple of great Halloween parties — one of them actually had guests "transported toa Carribbean Island circa the 17th century for some priate fun.

A jolly, rum-filled time was had by all at the home of my long-time friends Jim and Kellie Bieber. I don’t have words to describe the ornate invitation that was mailed out, complete with an "treasure map" on parchment with burnt edges, and a couple of weighty gold doubloons to pay for entry. The invite pointed to a cool website. (Since Jim creates and sends out direct mail for a living, he was able to prepare it all in-house.) The theme? Pirates of the Caribbean! A lot of Orange County politicos "boarded" the Bieber family home in San Clemente (the only one on the block… Read More

We here at the FlashReport would like to wish all of our readers a Happy Halloween, our third since the FR went "live" in October of 2005. Last Saturday night, I had a chance to stop by a couple of great Halloween parties — one of them actually had guests "transported toa Carribbean Island circa the 17th century for some priate fun.

A jolly, rum-filled time was had by all at the home of my long-time friends Jim and Kellie Bieber. I don’t have words to describe the ornate invitation that was mailed out, complete with an "treasure map" on parchment with burnt edges, and a couple of weighty gold doubloons to pay for entry. The invite pointed to a cool website. (Since Jim creates and sends out direct mail for a living, he was able to prepare it all in-house.) The theme? Pirates of the Caribbean! A lot of Orange County politicos "boarded" the Bieber family home in San Clemente (the only one on the block… Read More

Just in from Team Giuliani, the Mayor has assembled a pretty impressive array of GOP activists from up and down the Golden State as his regional volunteer leadership team. Congratulations to each of you, and if you haven’t done so alraedy, each of you should be applying to be a delegate from your respective Congressional District for next summer’s Republican National Convention!

As an aside, the ability to put together a strong local grassroots organization is especially important as each Congressional District will be tallied to determine which GOP candidate is awarded three delegates to the convention. Truly, in this state, all politics IS local…

Rudy’s California Volunteer State Leadership: Margie Handley, State Chair, Willits Tod Burnett, State Chair, Sacramento/Los Angeles Cathie Bennett Warner, State Communications Chair, Marin County Richard Sherman, Vice-Chair, Northridge Kay Spafford, Vice-Chair, San Diego June Downum, Vice-Chair, Glencoe Susan Allen, Vice-Chair, Capitola … Read More

There seems to be an elephant in the web that people are not willing to deal with.

For several years many Republicans were not happy with the performance of Congress on a host of issues.

Many people want to blame Iraq as the reason that Republicans lost control of Congress. Nope. That is why the far left was upset. The reason Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid have bigger offices in Washington is that Republicans were viewed as corrupt. That is how the people in the middle viewed it anyway. Corruption is why Republicans lost a majority of Congress.

With the exception of the one rocket scientist with the cash in his freezer the other high profile cases have involved Republicans.

Yesterday when I read the LA Times story about Orange County Sheriff Corona I could not believe what was happening …again.

Sheriff Corona is now going to be one of many Republican office holders in the country that is going to fight corruption charges and make headlines almost every day. The word Republican and corruption will be in every story, every day, every… Read More

A Big Pickup for Fred Thompson – McClintock signs on as California Chairman In a Republican primary in California, clearly the gold-standard in endorsements is State Senator Tom McClintock. For two decades now, McClintock has been so forceful and articulate in support of conservative principles and values that he has one the hearts of Republicans throughout the state. McClintock has also been the GOP standard bearer in several election cycles for various statewide offices, and one wide-spread accolades for the statesman-like approach he took as a candidate in the Recall election. In my campaign for Vice Chairman, South, of the State GOP, it was Tom McClintock whom I asked to speak on my behalf at the convention. Well, just moments ago, McClintock stood side-by-side with former United States Fred Thompson in Sacramento and announced his endorsement of Thompson’s bid for the Presidency. Thompson announced that McClintock would be serving as the California Chairman of his campaign. Clearly… Read More

The Southern California wildfires will likely go down as the largest natural disaster in California in more than a decade — more than 500,000 acres burned, nearly 2,000 homes destroyed or damaged, and losses totaling at least $1 billion dollars in San Diego alone.

There is no doubt that disasters of this sort are a tragedy of epic proportions. And my heart goes out to all of the victims of these devastating wildfires.

At times like this, it is certainly the case that some of our elected officials have an opportunity — no, an obligation to step up and make a positive difference, both materially using the powers of their offices to help to deal with the crisis and its aftermath, as well as inspirationally, providing assurances to all of those touched by the terrible situation.

I have been extremely impressed with the job that Governor Schwarzenegger has been doing the last week. As is appropriate for the Governor of any state to be struck thusly, he has dropped everything else and… Read More