What does premiere conservative political consultant Wayne Johnson have in common with famed-Clinton supporter Dick Morris?

What ‘special bond’ does former Reagan senior advisor Ken Khachigian share with Mary Matalin? Campaigns and Elections Magazine, one of the nation’s top publications on all-things related to campaigns, has revamped their editorial board, bringing onto it a lot of notables from around the country, clearly reaching to both sides of the political aisle to amasse quite a bit of talent.

Johnson and Khachigian, both good friends of this website, will serve on the editorial board along with Benjamin Ginsberg, Donald Green, Mary Matalin, Dick Morris, James Pindell, David Rebovich, Jeanne Shaheen, James Thurber, David Yepsen and John Zogby. While I could tell you what I think of Johnson and Khachigian, I’m sure they will agree they would rather have me tell you what Campaigns and Elections… Read More

Last week I blogged on Duncan Hunter’s new "A Team" in South Carolina.

Well, one week later, Hunter has dismissed the "A Team" – "Why," you ask?

Check out this short AP story, and read it for yourself. In the meantime, if you know someone in South Carolina who would like to head up Congressman Hunter’s efforts in that important battleground state, and they have the ability to think BEFORE they speak, then send them to the Hunter Campaign to sign up!

The story… Hunter drops two S.C. advisers… Read More

Sen. Bob Dutton (R-Rancho Cucamonga) announced today that he is no longer co-authoring Senate Bill 752. Here is the statement that he issued: “I have decided to remove my support for Senate Bill 752. In light of the state’s deteriorating fiscal situation I cannot support the bill as currently written. I will continue to work to assist California’s families by looking into tax breaks and other opportunities. Over the last 48 hours, thousands of Californians have asked me what I was thinking so I thought I would take this opportunity to share my thoughts. … Read More

The California Republican Assembly sponsored a Tele-Townhall with State Seneator Tom McClintock last night. What is a Tele-Townhall?? Basically it is a new way to communicate and get your message out. Instantly thousand of autodials can go out to a phone list and then patch through all the individuals to a conference call type event. Then our star, in this Tom McClintock” can discuss ideas and get feedback from the listeners. The listeners can ask questions. It has a radio talk show kind of feel. It is much more personal than a “live chat”. Last night’s call was for CRA members past and present. We had around 1500 connections. Those that weren’t home got a message referring them to the website. Tom was in Saramento; I was in West Covina then later driving to Fullerton as the call progressed. While at home on the computer, the hosts could see a panel that included who wanted to ask questions and how many people were on the call at any given moment. It was pretty cool. … Read More

What about ex-wives? I couldn’t help but think of the pain given to Doolittleover the hiring of his wife when I ran across this blog entry from LAObserved.Assemblyman Richard Alarcon spent over $400,000 running for Assembly and of course he DIDN’T have an opponent. Payments went to an ex-wife, a girlfirend and a fiancee. And Mitt Romney gets picked on about Polygamy. See it here.… Read More

Today’s front page story of the New York Times about the new importance of California in presidential politics as a result of moving our primary to February includes a quote from former State Senator Jim Brulte. Brulte’s comment is pretty simple: a candidate who campaigns in California will learn more about our state and be "a better president for California." As a result of the new primary, all the major presidential candidates are spending time in California seeking to be "our President."

And here today and this weekend in Washington, D.C. at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference at the venerable Omni Shoreham Hotel on Calvert Street, a bevy of the leading Republican presidential candidates are also seeking to be "our" president — the "conservative" one. With one major exception.

Every leading candidate, with the exception of John McCain (who has now passed on attending three separate conferences staged by National… 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

Well, it didn’t take long after the post below this one, where I share an ‘Anti-John McCain Manifesto’ that was sent my way before I was sent a link to this YouTube video set up to highlight areas where Giuliani has been at odds with conservatives. Now, how long until I get something on Mitt Romney? ;-)… Read More