DeMaio Gearing Up… Carl DeMaio, head of the Performance Institute, advocate for reforms at San Diego City Hall, and thorn in the head of the SD City Council, has privately made it known he is running for a council seat (no surprise there), although a formal announcement will not be made until June (those pesky SD Ethics Commission rules). The word is he’s been meeting with steering and finance folks. Based on the constant media attention he garners for pushing reforms in the City of SD, I can’t possibly see any scenario other than DeMaio being in the contender category.

Tommy Thompson Hinting at a Pres. Run?… When HHS Secretary and former WI Governor Tommy Thompson spoke in SD Thursday, SDUT columnist Diane Bell has him answering a "broken health care system" question with, "It’s likely that I’ll be a candidate for the presidency of the United States, so I can take my… Read More

Though Duane DiChiara has already "stepped-on" my reporting from the CPAC meetingby beating me in postingresults of the Presidential straw poll here at the conference, I’ll thank him for getting the information to you a few hours before I could get to a computer. I was delayed because I attendeda post-CPAC party at Grover Norquist’s house on Capitol Hill. I did not see DiChiara at the party, by the way, but did see native Californian John Fund of the Wall Street Journal’s editorial pages.

I can add a little of context about the CPAC poll, however. It comprised a total of 1,705 votes of the CPAC delegates. I talked to Grover (president of Americans for Tax Reform) about his take on the vote, and the following is an amalgam of our thoughts. It was interesting that Romney led with 21%. Guiliani did rather well himself, coming in with 17%. This is especially the case because Guiliani did not buy an exhibitors’ booth,have signs or campaign literature,or have paid staff working the entire convention, as did Romney. Sam Brownback surprised with 15%, and Gingrich was no surprise with a close 14%

The one surprise… Read More

Earlier this week, legislation was introduced by Democrat Senator Darrell Steinberg and Republican State Senator Bob Dutton that would established a state-adminstered savings account for every child born in California starting in 2008, and deposited $500 of government funds into that account. Additional funds up to a certain amount per year could be placed into the account, and the account would draw some level of interest. The funds in the accounts would only be able withdrawn after the child turns 18, and only to be spent on education, a first-time home purchase, or to roll into an Individual Retirement Account. Reaction to this proposed legislation from a broad spectrum of Republican and conservatives around the state was quick, and overwhelmingly negative. Because of the startling co-authorship of this bill by a Republican legislator, Dutton, it received a high level of interest from the media, and in the blogosphere. Yesterday, just a day after the bill was introduced, Dutton sent out a media release withdrawing his support for the legislation. There are some who want to characterize that the main reason why the bill rose ire was… Read More

As a follow up to yesterday’s post on the South Carolina straw poll, in which Congressman Duncan Hunter surprised a few pundits, the SC Hotline Press says he has emerged as a conservative answer.

Classic comment from Hunter at CPAC on the upset:

You know, I woke up to … one of the commentators saying that the only reason that Hunter beat all those guys in South Carolina is because his Marine son has been there for a week. Well, I looked down at that army of consultants, everybody who was vertical in South Carolina was hired by the other guys, and I said, "You know, that is a good match-up: One Marine versus 550 consultants." We did have the advantage!… Read More

Earlier this week, legislation was introduced by Democrat Senator Darrell Steinberg and Republican State Senator Bob Dutton that would established a state-adminstered savings account for every child born in California starting in 2008, and deposited $500 of government funds into that account. Additional funds up to a certain amount per year could be placed into the account, and the account would draw some level of interest. The funds in the accounts would only be able withdrawn after the child turns 18, and only to be spent on education, a first-time home purchase, or to roll into an Individual Retirement Account. Reaction to this proposed legislation from a broad spectrum of Republican and conservatives around the state was quick, and overwhelmingly negative. Because of the startling co-authorship of this bill by a Republican legislator, Dutton, it received a high level of interest from the media, and in the blogosphere. Yesterday, just a day after the bill was introduced, Dutton sent out a media release withdrawing his support for the legislation. There are some who want to characterize that the main reason why the bill rose ire was… Read More

I’ve not been shy about the fact that I’ve been underwhelmed about the Republican candidates for President. This being said, Romney’s speech at CPAC hit the right notes. Here are some fairly accurate excerpts…

ROMNEY ON THE LIBERAL MEDIA “I know there are a few [people] here from the mainstream media and they’re probably surprised that we are here in our record numbers. They wrote our obituary last fall, after Watergate, after the 1982 elections, and after Bill Clinton post-election. The truth is, it’s their wishful thinking – their reports of our demise have been greatly exaggerated. In fact, I predict that we will be around a lot longer than the newspapers will be around.”

ROMNEY ON SPENDING “We have seen an embarrassing [increase in] non-defense discretionary spending. I am proud to be the… Read More

Hot off the press… the CPAC Straw Poll results are in:

First Choice

21 Romney 17 Giulani 15 Brownback 14 Gingrich 12 McCain

Second Choice

34 Giulani 30 Romney 30 Gingrich… Read More

ThoughMitt Romney’s speech at the Conservative Political ActionConference isstill one-halfhour from now, there is a standing-room only crowd of about 1,500 currently inside the Regency Room at the Conservative Political Action Conference waiting to hear the speech, and another 500 or more waiting in line to get in as the D.C. Fire Marshall has limited access to the room because it is so full. Guiliani similarly spoke to a standing-room only crowd earlier today. I have never seen such huge turnouts for non-meal function speeches at a CPAC, and I have attended about 20 of them over the years. This conference is HUGE!

Your author has noted other candidates for President, and their earnest supporters, such as Kansas Senator Sam Brownback (who spoke at 1:30 pm today). Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas spoke this morning and was politely received. Newt Gingrich has been very evident as well, attending the conference today and mingling in the halls with delegates even though his formal speaking role is not… Read More