The following report is filed ‘from the field’ by California Republican Party Vice Chairman Ron Nehring: I’m sending this report from the parking lot outside the packed Victory headquarters in Pleasanton in Alameda County, heart of the battle for control of Congress as the campaign of Congressman Pombo takes on the forces of liberalism for control of the 11th congressional district. One of tonight’s phoners is Jill Buck, Republican nominee for State Assembly and a real superstar running an aggressive campaign in a district that’s challenging for any Republican. Earlier in the day I visited the Stockton Victory headquarters where Central Valley volunteers were working to turn out voters on the other side of the hill. From there it was to Mountain View where Santa Clara Chairman Keen Butcher was helping to make calls pushing the entire… Read More

Many people will look at the 11th Congressional district and see a 6% Republican registration edge and assume the safety of this seat for the GOP and House Resources Chairman Richard Pombo of Tracy. What lies underneath this election year however is a strange dynamic that has made this one of the most heated races in the nation.

Due to the massive infusion of 527 group contributions (on one day the Defenders of Wildlife reported spending over $100,000 just for identification calls) that have been going on the airwaves, in the mailboxes and on the ground, this race is now ground zero in the battle for the House of Representatives.

All polling released so far has put this race as essentially even and has now drawn the full force of both the DCCC and NRCC. This race will now come down to turnout and ground game. While the Pombo team is well known for its attention to ground and ability to turn out the vote, McNerney is counting on bussing in an army from Berkeley, Oakland, Palo Alto and even from as far away as… Read More

Before the late 1990’s much of the Republican grassroots infrastructure was “outside” the party or campaign organizations. Organizations like the California Republican Assembly, Republican Federation of Women, and Young Republicans were useful suppliers of large numbers of committed trained volunteers. But over the last decade or so for various reasons the volunteer armies have tended to drift over to the Party proper, and to a much lesser extent the campaigns.

Why? A few of the coalition organizations had pretty serious demographic problems. In English, that means the base of their active membership got old, and as the organizations began to refocus towards the schedules of the retired instead of younger families, membership declined as people died. Other organizations depended on ideological tensions within the Party on being high. These groups tended to suffer during the enforced ideological peace of the Bush Machine era.

That’s why I’ve been so impressed with the College Republicans under Davidson, Puetz, and Mason. In the battle for control of San Diego’s City Council earlier this year – hardly something to make… Read More

Fresno Mayor Alan Autry is a friend of mine, but his politics are all over the board. In this election cycle, he is at odds with the Fresno County GOP and the Lincoln Club over his endorsement of left wing Sheriff Candidate Margaret Mims, and his support of the infrastructure bonds, which if passed and issued will plunge California into the fiscal abyss once again.

Sources tell me that the Mayor was an uninvited guest, and while those in attendance to get out the vote were cordial, there was a healthy bit of tension during the day, and he was quite deliberately left off of of the official program when dignitaries such and Tom McClintock and Chuck Poochigian were introduced.

Mayor, you’re a great guy – but the grassroots base of the local Party isn’t too happy with you right now. Being tone deaf in an election year isn’t smart politics, especially if you have future political ambitions.… Read More

Here are a few photos from Day 1 of the McClintock crosses the state tour. Yesterday’s co-starts were Senator Chuck Poochigian and former Assemblyman Tony Strickland. Today Secretary of State Bruce McPherson will travel with us on the McClintock RV… The three candidates rally the troops!

On the RV — from left to right – Lori McClintock, Tony Strickland, Senator McClintock, Jon Fleischman.

Jon Fleischman (left) chats with Senator McClintock, Fresno Mayor Alan Autry, and Congressman George Radanovich, at the Fresno HQ. There has been a lot of media attention on the candidates on the trip… Read More

Many people will look at the 11th Congressional district and see a 6% Republican registration edge and assume the safety of this seat for the GOP and House Resources Chairman Richard Pombo of Tracy. What lies underneath this election year however is a strange dynamic that has made this one of the most heated races in the nation.

Due to the massive infusion of 527 group contributions (on one day the Defenders of Wildlife reported spending over $100,000 just for identification calls) that have been going on the airwaves, in the mailboxes and on the ground, this race is now ground zero in the battle for the House of Representatives.

All polling released so far has put this race as essentially even and has now drawn the full force of both the DCCC and NRCC. This race will now come down to turnout and ground game. While the Pombo team is well known for its attention to ground and ability to turn out the vote, McNerney is counting on bussing in an army from Berkeley, Oakland, Palo Alto and even from as far away as… Read More

It’s a chilly morning here at the Victory ’06 Mega Volunteer Center in Sacramento for the first stop of the two day statewide tour to help promote the Republican GOTV effort.

Preparations are underway… Volunterr Bill Helgland is busy adorning the McClintock RV with big signs.

Congressman Dan Lungren has just arrived with his aide Rachel Wanner.

And now Senator McClintock has arrived with his wife, Lori. Also, Tony Strickland is here as well, with his campaign manager Paul Hegyi. We also sighted Ron Rogers, McClintock’s CM. (When we leave Sacramento, these managers will go back to their campaign hq’s to quarterback last minute activities.).

“Its great to see that the conservative side of the ticket is doing so well,” says Congressman Lungren.

We’ll report in soon as the morning rally kicks off…… Read More

Todays barnstorming tour of the Central Valley is over… And tomorrow, for day two, we’ll be taking the RV to Upland (at 10am), Temecula and San Diego. Tonight we’ll overnight in Burbank, fresh for the new day!… Read More