OK, you’ve gotta admit — even if you may disagree with Randy Thomasson’s Campaign for Children & Families — that the doctored movie poster is a hoot.

On the other hand, does CCF bring up some good points? More here.

… Read More

Field Poll is out today with poll numbers on the four infrastructure bond initiatives that Governor Schwarzenegger outlined in his January State of the State address this year. None of the bonds are doing especially well. You can read analysis of the poll results at New West Notes and Sacramento Bee.

While it’s not likely there will be a well-funded or organized campaign to oppose the bonds, there will most certainly need to be a clever campaign to pass the bonds in November. And probably, the governor will have to go out and actively – and aggressively – campaign in their favor.

The question is, could Newton’s action-reaction law of motionapply to the governor’s re-elect in November? What reaction (if any) will occur as a result of the governor campaigning to pass the bonds? The most recent Field Poll shows Gov. Schwarzenegger with 85% support among Republican voters – the magical percentage that the numbers crunchers said early on in the year was necessary for him to win re-election. Could that number decline, however, if the Republican governor makes the case for the education or housing bonds? Quite possibly. It’s not… Read More

This afternoon, a friend and I left foggy Oakland to venture to sunny, hot Danville, a bridge-tunnel moneyed suburb of SF with expensive boutiques, sidewalk cafes and an independent bookstore called Rakestraw Books. Rakestraw Books was hosting a book-signing lunch with Franz Wisner, author of “Honeymoon with My Brother.” I’m sure there is a good chunk of the FR readers who know Franz or have had an ex-Wilson Administration friend give them a copy of Franz’ book. But if you haven’t picked up a copy of this book, I urge you to do it—for two reasons.

First, it is a fun read. Light, easy summer fare that is written from the heart. Second, Franz was one of us—policy wonk, political addict—who chucked it all and… Read More

Captain William Driver, a shipmaster in Salem, Mass, was leaving on one of his many voyages aboard the brig Charles Doggett. It was 1831, and it was a voyage that would climax with the rescue of the mutineers of the Bounty. Some of Captain Driver’s friends presented him with a beautiful flag of twenty-four stars, and as the banner opened to the ocean breeze for the first time he exclaimed "Old Glory!"

The Captain retired to Nashville in 1837, taking the flag from his sea days with him. By the time the Civil War erupted, most people around Nashville recognized Captain Driver’s "Old Glory." So when Tennessee seceded from the Union, rebels were determined to destroy that flag, but repeated searches revealed no trace of the hated banner. Then on February 25, 1862, Union forces captured Nashville and raised the American flag over the capitol. It was a rather small ensign, so immediately folks began asking Captain Driver if "Old Glory" still existed. Some soldiers escorted Driver to his home where he began ripping at the seams of his bedcover. As the stitches holding the quilt-top to the batting… Read More

See my original post of two days ago here. Essentially, that entry was just some photos of the Gov’s "Town Hall in the Park" visit to La Mesa on Tuesday, facing an "open to all" crowd.

Yesterday the SDUT ran a story on the visit, Governor criticized at town hall meeting, which he was, but in turn the headline and other stories about the "Rolling Thunder Review" beg a question:

Is the criticism Schwarzenegger potentially faces at these open and uncontrolled events bad enough from a media standpoint that he should either 1) not have them, or 2) go back to controlled, staged, by-invite-only rah-rah rallies?

Joseph Turner offered this comment in response to my initial post:

What say you all about the press coverage of the La Mesa stop for the Governor? I am of… Read More

The article below runs in Roll Call magazine. While it would certainly seem that Jerry Lewis, our Californian who heads up the House Appropriations (spending) Committee, is willing to ‘game’ the system to help his staff, it more importantly illustrates the problem with this earmarking system in Congress. We need a solution, and fast. Of course, Lewis’ PR problems would be much less if his track record as Chairman of the House ‘Spending’ Committee was one of fiscal conservatism. Instead, he is part of a House Leadership that has presided over unprecented growth in the federal government, while giving lip-service to the idea of a limited federal government.

Pay Cut Let Lewis Aide Dodge Ban By Paul Kane… Read More

Phil Angelides might want to think about taking a family vacation to shore up votes on the home-team, as he starts to plummet so low in public opinion polls that he might not even get a majority vote at a family reunion. Who would have thought that in a state with a plurality of Democrat voters that a nominee of the party of Barbara Boxer would be suffering a double-digit deficit to a Republican Governor? Well, it isn’t rocket science. Phil Angelides is his own worst enemy. We are talking about someone who has embraced just about every form of higher taxes possible, and who has views on everything from the environment to illegal immigration that put him so far out to the left that he makes Arnold’s Uncle, Ted Kennedy, look moderate. But as much as we would all like to give Phil Angelides full credit for his deficit in public polling, we can only give him credit for being an ultra-left wing radical who has all of the charisma of a Certified Public Accountant (sorry if I have offended any of my CPA friends). Much of the credit for the Governor’s now 13 point lead (there are lots of polls, with varying leads, but that’s the latest… Read More

Phil Angelides might want to think about taking a family vacation to shore up votes on the home-team, as he starts to plummet so low in public opinion polls that he might not even get a majority vote at a family reunion. Who would have thought that in a state with a plurality of Democrat voters that a nominee of the party of Barbara Boxer would be suffering a double-digit deficit to a Republican Governor? Well, it isn’t rocket science. Phil Angelides is his own worst enemy. We are talking about someone who has embraced just about every form of higher taxes possible, and who has views on everything from the environment to illegal immigration that put him so far out to the left that he makes Arnold’s Uncle, Ted Kennedy, look moderate. But as much as we would all like to give Phil Angelides full credit for his deficit in public polling, we can only give him credit for being an ultra-left wing radical who has all of the charisma of a Certified Public Accountant (sorry if I have offended any of my CPA friends). Much of the credit for the Governor’s now 13 point lead (there are lots of polls, with varying leads, but that’s the latest… Read More