It may be hard to believe from my slight build, but in high school I played football. My position was defensive end or “wing” on the right hand side of the line, which is humorous because the rule was I was to never let anyone from the other team get to the right of me. That rule served me well over time. It also put me in the time honored position of blind-siding quarterbacks. I’ve found that talent to be less useful over time.

While politics is full of comparisons to sports and war, and sometimes the comparisons are a bit tired and worn, over the last few days I’ve experienced what I think is an apt comparison between politics and sports.

Playing football, you learn over time that the mental game is often as important as the physical. On any given day, a small town team like mine with good morale could beat a big city team with poor morale. And many things could break the spirit of an otherwise strong team and lead to mistake after mistake as the group got more unsure of itself. Most teams were only a few fumbles or sacks away from broken morale. And most teams were only a few sacks or recovered fumbles away from good morale.… Read More

The results of Public Opinion Strategies’ latest tracking poll is in, and it has Lt. Governor nominee Tom McClintock up 4-points.

The survey, conducted over the last few nights with a sample of 800, has Tom up 39-35 with 15% undecided.

Further, of those who’ve already voted, Tom’s up even bigger: 43-35.

And despite attacks against him, Tom’s overall image rating remains in the neighborhood of 3:1, with his negatives still in the teens.

Last, of those left undecided, Tom’s image rating stands higher than Garamendi’s.

Going down to the wire, Tom stands in a great position to win.… Read More

FR friend Matt Rexroad is one of California’s most capable political consultants. He has worked in many capacities in political campaigns and in government offices. Currently he is a partner with Meridian Pacific, and in that capacity, he is playing a very hands-on role in GOP campaigns. Most recently, Matt has become involved in helping to quarterback some major independent efforts to help Tony Strickland become the next Controller. This is in addition to his direct efforts on behalf of Bruce McPherson’s campaign for Secretary of State, and a host of other conservative causes.

Believe it or not, while he doing all of this, and being a great husband and father, Matt is on the City Council of his home town of Woodland, and is running a hard-fought race for Yolo County Supervisor. His platform is one of property rights, fiscal… Read More

FR friend and former FR State Capitol Correspondent will once again be providing insights and wisdom as a guest on the Fox News Channel’s Hannity and Colmes program, airing from 6 – 7 p.m. (Pacific time).

Karen will actually be appearing live from the U.S.S. Midway Aircraft Carrier, which is now a museum and permanently birthed in San Diego’s Mission Bay.

We were sad when Karen left our Blog Roll here, but we are pleased that it was to start blogging for the ABC affiliate in Sacramento. You can read her stuff here.… Read More

It’s actually pretty disturbing that someone as far to the extreme left end of the ideological spectrum can continue to carry a false ‘image’ that she is some sort of moderate, thoughtful politician. Yet, that is apparently exactly what the general perceptions are of incumbent Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein. Of course, this image has been bolstered over the years as Republicans have continually, in their zeal to retire the other Democratic Senator from California, made Feinstein out to be ‘reasonable’. The reality is that the only major difference between Feinstein and Boxer is one of temperament — with DiFi being a bit more reserved and considerate in her approach to matters — with Barbara Boxer being more shrill and strident. Note that these are stylistic differences, not ideological ones. In 2004, both Senators received a 4 out of 100 (with 100 being the most conservative) from the American Conservative Union, and in 2005, they both received a 12. The National Taxpayers Union, who also scores federal legislators, in 2005 gave Boxer a 12 and Feinstein a 13. In 2004, Feinstein ‘out liberaled… Read More

The FlashReport has learned that tomorrow, in a featured oped in the Sacramento Bee, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will articulate to the public why he is coming out against Proposition 90, the Save Our Homes Initiative.

Of course this is a horrible decision by the Governor.

Proposition 90 is one of the most important issues that should be passed by the voters that appears on the November ballot. Why? Because it goes to one of the most fundamental rights that we enjoy as Americans, and as Californians — the right to private property.

Peeling away all of the rhetoric that gets thrown about during a heated campaign where the primary mode of communication is the ‘soundbite’ — those who support Proposition 90 seek to give the owners of property, in many cases, the voter themselves, significantly increased protections against an unfair action by the government to infringe on their property rights and in some cases take their property from them!

While there have been some specific, high profile, instances of abuse of the taking of a private property owner’s holdings by the government (referred to as eminent domain)… Read More

Over the next couple of weeks, the FlashReport will be profiling a few campaign MVP’s for our readers…

When looking at all of the campaign operatives on the GOP side of the isle this cycle, a small group of notables rose to the surface, the first of which we are happy to recognize as our pick for Team Arnold MVP — and the winner is… Katie Levinson, the Communications Director for Californians for Schwarzenegger! Congratulations, Katie!

You can actually probably tell the day that Katie Levinson started with her important and central position with the Governor’s re-election campaign — that would be the day that someone turned "on" the power switch, and the Schwarzenegger Public Relations Machine has been operating at full speed ever since. Levinson is rather famously an import into the California political scene as a part of "Team Schmidt" — the young and energetic group of folks that worked with Schwarzenegger Campaign Manager Steve Schmidt on President Bush’s 2004 re-election efforts, whom… Read More

SURVEY ON CALIFORNIANS AND THE FUTURE

WHAT ELECTION? CANDIDATES SKIRT THE ISSUES, VOTERS TUNE OUT Voters remain skeptical about cost of bond measures; Majority want Democrats to control Congress, but also want third party