The Strickland (for controller) Campaign has released the results of a new statewide poll conducted by Public Opinion Strategies (POS) showing Strickland leading Democrat Chiang by 3-points.

There is no runaway victory waiting for Strickland but this does mean that if the election were held today, one of the down-ballot GOP candidates would win.

Conventional wisdom says that the Governor AND McClintock AND McPherson AND Poizner must win for a candidate like Strickland to have a shot. While that scenario is exciting to think about, I believe Strickland’s campaign is unique in that he has better name ID than most other statewide candidates (Schwarzenegger and McClintock excluded) and Strickland has an excellent ballot title: Taxpayer Organization President

When looking only at voters most likely to turn-out in November, the POS poll shows Strickland’s lead grows to 31% over Chiang’s 23%.

Don’t get me wrong, I have not drank the kool aid, I know a statewide win for a Republican is a huge up-hill battle. But to start with an advantage shows Strickland may be able to rally Democrat votes if he has the resources to wage a… Read More

Here’s an email that Assemblyman DeVore sent out to constituents and supporters (as I am both a constituent and a supporter, I thankfully receive these):

A Big Government Budget Last night the California Legislature approved the budget for 2006-07. Compared with the approved budget from the current year, it grows government by $11.3 billion – $90 billion to $101.3 billion in the General Fund, $131 billion overall including even more State employees than the record number under former Gov. Gray Davis. I voted “no” as did 23 of the 31 Republicans in the Assembly, with only 8, the minimum needed, voting to approve the budget. Last year, by contrast, almost… Read More

After much effort to gather the more than 1 million signatures necessary, the Protect Our Homes initiative has qualified overwhelmingly. Voters swept this measure onto the ballot to protect farms, small businesses and homes from landgrabbers. Enough signatures were verified at a high validity rate to easily allow Secretary of State Bruce McPherson to declare its eligibility.

Conservative heroine Assemblywoman Mimi Walters led the charge to qualify this initiative in response to the Kelo v. New London, CT Supreme Court decision of last June. In a 5-4 decision in that case, the court tacitly allowed the taking of private property, homes, farms, small businesses, even church properties for other private uses, under the premise that higher property taxes or sales taxes generated from the new use than the existing owner’s use are in the ‘public good’. This ‘public use’ justification to allow takings is a blatant abuse of the Founders intent.

This initiative became necessary after the legislature’s unwillingness to place real reform on the ballot via the much more direct legislative route, a 2/3 vote of both houses.… Read More

One should not take for granted the United States Constitution and our Bill of Rights.

For the past two weeks, I have been on vacation in Great Britain (just a few more days to go!). The trip has been great, but I won’t bore you all with the fun details of my vacation. But I will say that it has been quite interesting to watch the affairs of British Government played out in the local news tabloids (an apt description) as well as on the‘telly’.

It is amazing to me that here in the United Kingdom, thetelevision airwaves are owned by…the government. So guess what this does for choice and varietyfor the millions of Brits who do not have a satellite dish? You got it, there are only six stations in the whole country –and two of them always seem to be showing the same thing.

I tried to makea call on Prime Minister Blair today, over at10 Downing Street – but could not get past the Bobbies! Tomorrow I’m going to try to get into the ‘Strangers Gallery’ at the House of Commons to watch the Q&A period with the Prime Minister in person.We’ll see if it is an raccous in… Read More

I’ve enjoyed sharing my thoughts on the situation with the Republican base and its "energy" for the past two weeks. As I stated initially, I think the free fall has subsided, and our mood has stabilized for the time being. While we are only one policy disaster away from despair, I still sense that the GOP has bottomed out and has a chance to turn it up a notch this summer and fall. How we handle illegal immigration and spending issues in Washington and Sacramento remain the greatest concerns of conservatives everywhere.

Last week I detailed three issues which would serve to energize the Republican base: balancing the State budget (evidently now not going to happen); protect us from crazy liberals; and define the public employee unions before they define you. It appears that of these three, the Governor is only willing to protect us from the worst of what the legislature has to offer. His recent overtures to the CCPOA and… Read More

Yesterday I recieved a press release from the Free Enterprise Fund announcing that Jim Terry, chief-of-staff to Congressman (and FR Blog correspodent) John Campbell, will be FEF‘s new execuitve director:

"I could not think of anyone better suited to help us lead the charge for free markets and free enterprise. I am proud to bring Jim Terry on board as we continue… Read More

Lately, all of the Congressional office in Washington have been inundated with bricks that have been mailed in from citizens concerned about border security. The bricks, which are accompanied by a letter calling for tougher border security, are meant to send a message to Congress that if we don’t build a fence the public is willing to do the job on their own. (The effort is being organized by www.send-a-brick.com) I couldn’t agree more that immigration reform must begin with tougher border security, and I voted for a border fence when we considered the immigration bill. However, my strong stance on this issue doesn’t change the fact that more bricks arrive every day. They have already filled up a whole cabinet in my office. So, we have a new and very serious issue to address. What am I supposed to do with all of these bricks? So far my office has received over 60, and we get more every day. Now, if every House member has received the same number would total over 26,000. … Read More

I’ve enjoyed sharing my thoughts on the situation with the Republican base and its "energy" for the past two weeks. As I stated initially, I think the free fall has subsided, and our mood has stabilized for the time being. While we are only one policy disaster away from despair, I still sense that the GOP has bottomed out and has a chance to turn it up a notch this summer and fall. How we handle illegal immigration and spending issues in Washington and Sacramento remain the greatest concerns of conservatives everywhere.

Last week I detailed three issues which would serve to energize the Republican base: balancing the State budget (evidently now not going to happen); protect us from crazy liberals; and define the public employee unions before they define you. It appears that of these three, the Governor is only willing to protect us from the worst of what the legislature has to offer. His recent overtures to the CCPOA and… Read More