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 The funds in the accounts would only be able withdrawn after the child turns 18, and only to be spent on education, a first-time home purchase, or to roll into an Individual Retirement Account.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

Bad Bill Alert! (well, actually, silly bill alert)

Sometimes good intentions lead to really terrible laws. Everyone wants people to be responsible and save for the future. But making a law that gives $500 to every baby born in California (regardless of their parent’s legal residency status) in hopes they will save it is just plain silly.

SB 752 authored by Democrat Senator Darrel Steinberg and co-authored by Republican Senator Bob Dutton will give every newborn $500 – which will cost taxpayers a whooping $283 million per year – in hopes that their parents will be encouraged to save for their children’s future. Another nanny-state bill that believes that people aren’t capable of taking care of themselves, so the government should.

Notwithstanding this literally pays illegal immigrants $500 to come to California and have a baby, it also fails the math test. In an article in the… Read More

Yes, it’s only a straw poll, but not many folks thought anyone but the supposed big three would be faring well, even at this early juncture. All of a sudden Duncan Hunter’s picture is being shown alongside McCain’s and Giuliani’s. Check out Fox News. The latest from the AP on the South Carolina contest:

John McCain Pulls Even With Rudy Giuliani, Duncan Hunter in South Carolina Straw Poll

Sen. John McCain pulled even with two of his Republican rivals when counting resumed Friday morning in a presidential straw poll in conservative Spartanburg County.

Though most of the roughly 800 votes were counted on Thursday night, ballots tallied Friday morning weighed heavily in McCain’s favor, said GOP county chairman Rick Beltram.

The updated count put McCain in a dead heat with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and California Rep. Duncan Hunter. Beltram would not release any specific numbers and said a final tally would be known Friday afternoon.

The count was suspended because of severe weather that… Read More

Bad Bill Alert! (well, actually, silly bill alert)

Sometimes good intentions lead to really terrible laws. Everyone wants people to be responsible and save for the future. But making a law that gives $500 to every baby born in California (regardless of their parent’s legal residency status) in hopes they will save it is just plain silly.

SB 752 authored by Democrat Senator Darrel Steinberg and co-authored by Republican Senator Bob Dutton will give every newborn $500 – which will cost taxpayers a whooping $283 million per year – in hopes that their parents will be encouraged to save for their children’s future. Another nanny-state bill that believes that people aren’t capable of taking care of themselves, so the government should.

Notwithstanding this literally pays illegal immigrants $500 to come to California and have a baby, it also fails the math test. In an article in the… Read More

Rudy Guiliani received a very warm welcome today from the delegates at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C., as he recounted his record of reducing crime and taxes whileMayor of New York City, and his support for the war on terrorism. And there was a Californian in Rudy’s entourage — Bill Simon, who joined Rudy in the walk to the podium of the CPAC speech.

Mitt Romney is scheduled to speak this afternoon at 2:45 pm Eastern Time, and that speech will be covered by C-SPAN. Romney is holding a special reception later in the day, at 5:45 pm, and he snagged popular Conservative leader Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform to speak at that event.

I had a chance to talk to Guiliani for awhile in the Green Room before his speech. I asked Rudy about his record on taxes. He told me he was successfulin cutting23 taxes while Mayor of New York City and tried to get more taxes cut, but wasn’t able to get all the cuts he wanted from a Democrat City Council.… Read More

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