As I wait for graphics I have time to skim through the various national columnists to see what the big brains are thinking (actually, that’s not altogether true. First I looked up the 1974 Rankin-Bass stop-motion holiday cartoon The Year Without a Santa Claus and found the fan websites for both Heatmiser and Snowmiser and played both their songs loud until everyone else in the office told me to put a cork in it).

Then I went over to Peggy Noonan who had the following gem in her Wall Street Journal opinion piece entitled Is there Progress Through Loss?

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Several years ago, my wife and I got in a cab in pre-Katrina New Orleans. The cabbie asked was where we were from. We told him California. At that point he stopped the cab and said "You guys elected Maxine Waters!?”. I anxiously assured him that wasn’t us. He did finally drop us off in the right place. I was a little worried.

"Activist "Najee Ali may be on to something. He just got a Temporary Restraining Order against the Congresswoman. She apparently threatened him after a Schwarzenegger event he attended. See article here.

To be honest, I don’t need a TRO against Maxine Waters. There are a couple Republicans that I should get one for. You know who you are.

Imagine getting verbally attacked by some lawmaker and then getting a TRO. That would make a great CRP Convention. Then again a CCW would be more effective and more inclusive.… Read More

A Republican behind the scenes big wig dies in a seedy place later raided for prostitution and there are lots of unanswered questions about what happened when he died.

Where would you read about?

Everywhere is the right answer and it would be at least two-three days on the cable shows.

That same story actually happened to Democrat LA Labor boss Miguel Contreras. The story gets published only in the LA Weekly. See it here.Then the target becomes the LA Weekly. See article here and then here.

Now, I’m not sure it is in the interests of the Republic to reveal all of this. It definitely isn’t good for the family etc.. But we all know what would have happened if Contreras had been a powerful GOP Leader.… Read More

It’s hard to say who is running a more inept campaign – Phil Angelides or Cruz Bustamante. While a good argument could certainly be made for Angelides, my money’s still on Cruz.

From the day he released his ballot statement in the Primary, talking about his personal weight loss crusade, you just knew that he was going nowhere fast.

But it’s continued.

His TV spots are out, and besides the fact that they are probably only running alongside infomercials in the wee hours of the night, they are among, if not THE worst ads you’ll see this year.

Take a look for yourself. They are each only 15-seconds.

Ad 1 Ad 2… 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

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

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

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