As Presidential politics heads up nationally, of course it means that all of the candidates will be looking to California as they put together their national plans — especially on the financial side of things. For the Republican candidates especially, California has traditionally been considered an "ATM Stop" as there is a lot of fertile ground here for raising political funds — that they are traditionally spend in other states. FR Los Angeles County Correspondent Shawn Steel already posted about how some of the fundraising consultants are lining up in the GOP primary, but it is also notable to see that three California major finance players are taking the lead roles in the fundraising operations of Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, and John McCain. Who are they? Stepping up early for retiring Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney’s California efforts is highly… Read More

It looks like our own California Republican National Committeeman Tim Morgan is going to be elected Treasurer of the Republican National Committee!

The primary governing body of the national Republican Party is the Republican National Committee. This body is made up of around 170 or so people — three from each state and also representation from some United States territories. Each state has on the RNC its Chairman, as well as a Committeeman and a Committeewoman. Each individual state decides how it elects these important offices. In California, since a change in the Party Rules that was in effect in 1996, the State Republican Party Central Committee has elected our Committeeman and Committeewoman, Tim Morgan and Barbara Alby, respectively. Of course the same CRP delegates elect our Chairman, currently Duf Sundheim and come February, Ron Nehring (Ron is unopposed in his ascendancy into the Chairmanship – he is currently Vice Chairman of the State GOP). As you can tell, the RNC is a… Read More

It looks like our own California Republican National Committeeman Tim Morgan is going to be elected Treasurer of the Republican National Committee!

The primary governing body of the national Republican Party is the Republican National Committee. This body is made up of around 170 or so people — three from each state and also representation from some United States territories. Each state has on the RNC its Chairman, as well as a Committeeman and a Committeewoman. Each individual state decides how it elects these important offices. In California, since a change in the Party Rules that was in effect in 1996, the State Republican Party Central Committee has elected our Committeeman and Committeewoman, Tim Morgan and Barbara Alby, respectively. Of course the same CRP delegates elect our Chairman, currently Duf Sundheim and come February, Ron Nehring (Ron is unopposed in his ascendancy into the Chairmanship – he is currently Vice Chairman of the State GOP). As you can tell, the RNC is a… Read More

Republican Board of Equalization Member Bill Leonard has been fostering an ongoing discussion about the California Republican Party’s Victory Program (Get-Out-The-Vote). He posts over on his blog here, but gives me leave to post his stuff over here, too. So his latest thoughts are below, and a few blog posts down, Brandon Powers has posted a memo from the CRP Board of Directors on some of these issues… FROM BILL LEONARD In my November 20th newsletter I asked for a financial and performance audit of the California Republican Party’s 2006 campaign effort. While I have learned a lot since then thanks to conversations with key party and Schwarzenegger campaign officials, it is still important that we look at what happened, what worked, and what did not work and why. … Read More

Thegroup of Republican volunteers that filed the original failed lawsuit challenging Jerry Brown’s qualifications to be Attorney General has been allowed to amend their complaint in Sacramento Superior Court, and they are now getting a second try to keep Brownfrom taking office.Their complaint centers on the fact that Brown allowed his official status with the state bar to become "inactive" for a few years while he was serving as Mayor of Oakland. The prohibition the Plaintiffs are relying on puts form before substance in determining the qualifications of a candidate for Attorney General: it is California Government Code section 12503, which states, "No person shall be eligible to the office of Attorney General unless he shall have been admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the state for a period of at least five years immediately preceding his election or appointment to such office."

Brown was admitted to the State Bar of California in June 1965 but was an "inactive member" from Jan. 1, 1997, through May 1, 2003, bar records show.

I didn’t vote for Brown in the election, but I… Read More

Today’s Commentary is guest authored by Jon Coupal, President of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers’ Association. Coupal takes the opportunity to offer his perspective on the healthcare proposal recently released by State Senate President Don Perata…

Senate leader Don Perata has a plan to provide all uninsured working Californians with Health Insurance at an estimated cost of $5 billion to $7 billion without a tax increase. Okay… The Perata plan would force businesses that do not provide health insurance, and their employees, through a payroll deduction, to pay into a state agency that would attempt to negotiate for “affordable” coverage. When paying taxes, workers would have to show proof of medical insurance.… Read More

Jon has posted a letter to the editor in the Washington Times from Nathan Fletcher. Fletcher served two years overseas in Iraq and Africa fighting for our country. He is also a top-notch political operative. I first met him when he was working for the CRP. He was the speaker along with his wife (Mindy Fletcher, Deputy Campaign Maager for the Gov.) at the San Gabriel Valley Lincoln Club and will also be the speaker at the South Bay chapter.

Nathan lives in San Diego. Why would he travel up her to LA? 2008 George Plescia is termed out and guess who is running for that seat?

Fletcher almost ran in ’06 when it looked like Plescia might run for Congress or State Senate. He raised around a100K in that limited time. He will be one candidate that will have to be beat.… Read More

On Tuesday, Valerie, Ella, and I squeezed into the Volvo and began the long drive home. We had beeninSan Diego for over 120 days, and it was time to clean up the yard before the neighbors rose up as an angry mob and took their pitchforks and torches to us.

At 9:30am we left downtown San Diego. It was 60 degrees. Actually, I thought recording the weather might be interesting but it turns out, as you may read, the temperature was pretty constant everywhere we passed through.

At 10:00am we passed through Oceanside. Other than a short pause on the 805 in Sorrento Valley, we averaged around 70mph through the county, and about 10mph faster through the Marine Base. The immigration check point was closed, but we actually saw what I imagine was an illegal alien being detained in the middle of the freewaynext tothe dividing fence, so I guess the signs that warn drivers against running down folks running across the road actually have a reason. It was 62 degrees.

At 10:30am we hit the 405/5 interchange in Irvine. It was 67 degrees and there was no traffic. We decided to take the 405 north.

At 11:15 we passed LAX, where it was 69 degrees. Readers will… Read More