Sunday in San Bernardino County was, appropriately, a day of reflection. It started with the McTour bus visiting the Upland GOP Headquarters where Sen. Tom McClintock (pictured right) and Secretary of State Bruce McPherson thanked the volunteers who are helping make 60,000 calls in the county’s final push to get out the vote.

Then there was the memorial service in Devore for the five U.S. Forest Service firefighters who were killed by the Esperanza Fire last week. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger led a moving tribute, and later privately presented flags to the families of the fallen firemen. In the audience were thousands of firefighters, officials from throughout the region and other mourners paying their respects.

Later, back at the Headquarters, a few of us were reviewing some internal polling from the week, including one in which we tested the Governor’s county numbers. He was at 54 percent to Phil Angelides’ 28%. Meanwhile, Schwarzenegger’s statewide numbers were showing him up 49% to 32% and climbing. The new… Read More

From the WSJ’s Best of the Web daily e-mail: Republicans’ Golden State

Democrats are supposed to do well in tomorrow’s election, but the New York Times reports from Los Angeles that one bright spot for the GOP is likely to be California, a state John Kerry carried by almost 10% of the vote:

As the FlashReport finished up our election year coverage by recognizing some of the Most Valuable Players from a few of the statewide campaigns (we are only highlighting Republicans because we really have no interest in heaping praise on the technicians who work hard to elect those who grow the size and scope of government), our focus goes to the campaign of former Assemblyman Tony Strickland, who is in a close contest with Democrat John Chiang in the race for California State Controller. And Tony’s MVP is… TONY’S MVP: PAUL HEGYI, CAMPAIGN MANAGER The FlashReport MVP Award for the Strickland for Controller campaign goes to Paul Hegyi who is the day-to-day campaign coordinator for Team Tony. Unlike the previous two campaigns we have already featured in the "MVP" category, Strickland has really had to wage two campaigns — a hard fought win in the primary… Read More

The three week radiocampaign driving Central Valley Voters to www.fresnolincolnclub.org to view our voter guide has generated an astounding 110,000 visits to the club’s website. This news bodes well for locally endorsed candidates and the ballot initiatives and seems to represent significant local interest in the elections.… Read More

The Chairman of the San Bernardino County Republican Party is FR friend Bill Postmus. Postmus also happens to be the Chairman of the County’s Board of Supervisors. He’s now running for County Assessor and is the prohibitive front-runner for that seat. It was Postmus who welcomed us to this GOP volunteer center in Upland.

Bill introduced GOP State Senator Bob Dutton, who thanked all of the volunteers before introducing Senator Tom McClintock…

TM: “This election is now up to you (the volunteers). We have not had this sophisticated of a voter turnout program since 1972!”

Secretary Mc Pherson thanked volunteers and stressed the importance of this election.

Kudos for this well run HQ goes to Postmus and his team, which include Diane Fedele (the local V6 field rep) , Adam Aleman, John Richardson, and Robert Eland, among others.

Many volunteers are here this morning, including “super volunteers” Christina and Jessica Sandoval, who have been personally recognized by the Governor for their amazing dedication as volunteers.

GOP Assemblyman Bill Emmerson, FR’s San Bernardino County… Read More

We’re on the road to Temecula, and I am sitting at the McRV table with Secretary of State Bruce McPherson and his wife, Mary, and our next Lieutenant Governor, Tom McClintock. . We’re chatting about the energy and excitement we all feel about election day…

"I applaud the Governor for being such a great team player. For commiting his resources to the massive Victory ’06 GOTV effort," the Secretary of State said.

Mary McPherson is so excited at the prospects of the election of Senator McClintock. She thinks that Tom’s defeat of life-long liberal Democrat John Garamendi is so awesome… If we could bottle Mary’s enthusiasm, we could power the entire state!

As we zoom down the road (with the retired General at the helm) we’re looking forward to our Temecula stop and more exciting energy exchanged with Victory GOP volunteers.… Read More

We’ve been mobbed here in Temecula, on the west end of Riverside County. County GOP Chairman Jeff Miller has welcomed the McTour here.

Miller’s welcome committee also includes Kevin Jeffries, who will be following the retiring Ray Haynes as the next local GOP Assemblyman.

Jeffries introduced first Secretary McPherson…

BM: If Republicans can get out our votes, we will have a majority of the statewide elected positions in the Republican offices. We were swept four years ago, and now we are poized for an amazing victory.”

McPherson then introduced Tom McClintock, “the most principled man in the legislature.”

TM: “Think of the message that we will send nationally if we shift this blue state into a red country. We can remind everyone that California truly is Reagan Country.”

A shout out to longtime FR friend Ryan Kenny, who is the local V6 staffer on the ground here.

In a funny moment, Senator McClintock was approached by a man named Eric. It turns out they went to high school and were both Young Republicans together!… Read More

McClintock for LG campaign Communications Director Stan Devereax has just shared an interestesting story with those of us on the McTour — an operative from the Democratic National Committee showed up at our Temecula stop…

Anne-Marie Reynolds is apparently a fellow with the CORO foundation, and is out lying about her professional while on the campaign trail. Ms. Reynolds came into the Temecula HQ with her camera, and when questioned about her identity, identified herself as a photographer with the San Jose Mercury News (she couldn’t even pick a local paper). Stan pressed her for some I’d, and she grudgingly admitted her real identity. She said that she is on leave from CORO helpiing out the Democratic Party – scoping out the opposition.

As a funny aside, apparently McReyolds (who is following behind the McRV) said she has been following our tour via the FlashReport and is doing some “research” on “new media” like the FR…. Nice.

Maybe right now she can wonder if the San Jose Mercury News is going to ask her bosses at CORO why their fellow is out impersonating one of their photographers.… Read More