Tonight I attended the monthly meeting of the San Joaquin County Republican Central Committee. The atmosphere in the room is a marked change from the last few years and is directly attributable to the new Chairman Dale Fritchen.

Fritchen, a local school board member, has been able to be a bridge builder and has been going about the hard work of rebuilding the committee’s infrastructure and finances.… Read More

Later today, FR friend Nathan Fletcher will announce his bid to replace termed-out Assemblyman George Plescia in the 75th AD. This is a safe Republican seat that takes in the northern portions of the City of San Diego, Poway, and a portion of Escondido.

Fletcher is a long-time Republican activist and business owner who does more than simply ‘talk the talk’ about patriotism and values…he’s a United States Marine who recently returned from combat tours in Iraq and Northeast Africa. This will work strongly to his advantage in a very military-friendly district, whichlies between the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. AD 75 communities are packed with active duty and retired military members.

I’ve known Nathan for some time, and I canfairly dub him a “Conservative Reagan Republican." Since his return to civilian life, he has not been shy about his disappointment (or disgust) with the lack of ethics and wholly irresponsible fiscal behavior of… Read More

War Resolutions: This week will contain much debate in the Senate, and perhaps some in the House, about the various Iraq war resolutions being offered. There are at least five such resolutions being offered in one house or the other that contain a spectrum of opinions on how the war should be prosecuted from this point forward. Why am I writing to tell you about them before they even come up for a vote? Because none of them will lead to any policy changes, these resolutions do not have the force of law. They are basically an expression of the opinion of Congress. Expressing such an opinion may have some value in countries where their legislative bodies only have the power to make suggestions. But Congress is not powerless relative to the Iraq war. There are at least two votes that will actually dictate policy direction in Iraq, rather than just make a political statement. One of these votes has already occurred. Ten days ago, the United States Senate voted unanimously to confirm General George Petraeus to be the commander of our forces in the Middle East. General Petraeus is basically the architect of the new strategy for and … Read More

San Joaquin County’s continued trend of moving steadily into the Republican column is highlighted by viewing the makeup of the current Board’s Republican majority and a quick look at the future.

Supervisor Leroy Ornellas defeated a corrupt democrat incumbent in his first race and has solidified his position on the board. Supervisor Ken Vogel is the former Executive Director of the San Joaquin GOP and longtime school board member who kept the seat of Jack Sieglock in the Republican column after his win in November. The linchpin of the new majority has been newly elected Supervisor Larry Ruhstaller. Ruhstaller claimed the open seat of the dreadful (and term-limited) democrat Dario Marenco and made it all the sweeter by defeating Sen. Mike Machado’s District Director Anne Baird.

The future looks even better with a strong Republican seat represented by Democrat Supervisor Victor Mow coming open due to term limits and a strong bench to take his place to add to the majority on the board. There is now even talk of being able to make a play to claim the solidly democrat seat of extreme liberal Supervisor Steve Gutierrez who is also term… Read More

Later today, FR friend Nathan Fletcher will announce his bid to replace termed-out Assemblyman George Plescia in the 75th AD. This is a safe Republican seat that takes in the northern portions of the City of San Diego, Poway, and a portion of Escondido.

Fletcher is a long-time Republican activist and business owner who does more than simply ‘talk the talk’ about patriotism and values…he’s a United States Marine who recently returned from combat tours in Iraq and Northeast Africa. This will work strongly to his advantage in a very military-friendly district, whichlies between the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. AD 75 communities are packed with active duty and retired military members.

I’ve known Nathan for some time, and I canfairly dub him a “Conservative Reagan Republican." Since his return to civilian life, he has not been shy about his disappointment (or disgust) with the lack of ethics and wholly irresponsible fiscal behavior of… Read More

FR friend Adam Mendelsohn had to work a lot over the weekend, as Phil Angelides and/or his operatives have released more of their secret cache of audio recordings of Governor Schwarzenegger with his speechwriters, that were famously extracted from the Governor’s computer system by crafty though questionable techniques. Of course Cathy Calfo, who managed Angelides’ losing bid, denies they released the tapes (again). Riiiight. The Governor’s office released the following statement from Mendelsohn:

FR friend Adam Mendelsohn had to work a lot over the weekend, as Phil Angelides and/or his operatives have released more of their secret cache of audio recordings of Governor Schwarzenegger with his speechwriters, that were famously extracted from the Governor’s computer system by crafty though questionable techniques. Of course Cathy Calfo, who managed Angelides’ losing bid, denies they released the tapes (again). Riiiight. The Governor’s office released the following statement from Mendelsohn:

"There are over three hours of private tapes. They show a Governor who is thoughtful, concerned and focused on solving some of California’s most serious problems. Governor Schwarzenegger discusses his hope of… Read More

Winsome Newsom

San Francisco’s politics have always been a colorful soap opera, but never more so than now with the city’s 39-year-old mayor, Gavin Newsom, having admitted that he conducted an affair with the wife of his own campaign manager — who has since resigned in disgust.

Many people are distressed by the mayor’s behavior, although there is no indication he will resign from office or not seek a second term this November. But hard-bitten Democratic operatives say the scandal has probably ended Mr. Newsom’s hopes of higher office. "What happens in San Francisco tends to mean politicians there stay in San Francisco," is how one of them puts it.

Indeed, Democratic leaders aren’t nearly as upset by Mayor Newsom’s affair as they were last September when the new divorcee was seen squiring about a… Read More