There is a lot of great stuff to which I want to draw your attention to on the main page today.

COMMENTING SYSTEM LIVE! But first let me start by announcing that the guest-comment feature on the FlashReport is finally up and running! As this site has been custom built, adding complex features takes time, unlike if we had gone with an ‘off the shelf’ blog program for that part of things. Nevertheless, the feature is up and running, so when you are over on the blog, you can now press on the comment link below any post to read comments, or make one of your own!

The only catch is that the first time you try to post, you will have to register with this site and give a username and password. We’ll get you approved quickly, and then you can make the FlashReport an interactive experience!

**There is more – click the link**… Read More

With the commenting system now live on the FlashReport (see Jon’s entry below), thus making the electronic democracy of ideas even more…well, democratic…as well as yesterday’s reference to Steve Greenhut’s OC Register piece, "It’s a brave new media world," this morning’s SD Union-Tribune blurb is also appropriate…

Although political hacks may have missed it because it ran in the U-T’s "Personal Tech" section, the wire story says that 2005 was the year that blogs took off, with nine percent of adult web surfers writing them and 27% doing the reading:

2005 was the year of the blog How big have blogs become?

Bigger than Jesus. Bigger than sex.

More than twice as big as sex, actually, the CEO of Blogpulse found when he typed the words "blog" and "sex" into the Google search engine. That big. References, as well, to… Read More

Helen Seliverstov over at calraces.com today talks about a book by Jim Collins in which he identifies the qualities of leadership that brings success.

Helen’s commentary includes some important words. Basically to know your strengths and weaknesses and to always believe in your ability to win. The power of positive thinking aside, as a research consultant I preach the former–know how your negatives play with the voters just as much as how your opponents negative impact him or her.

I cannot stress this point enough. To often candidates and sometimes consultants are timid about asking poll questions that might "reveal" a black mark on the candidate’s past. They fear that among the several hundred voters surveyed one or several will hear the question about a tax lien or lawsuit and pass it along to the opposition.

The fact is, if your opponent has any kind of campaign, they will have already done there own opposition… Read More

How would you like to sign up to be wined and dined by host committees across the country, anxious to have a shot at attracting the 2008 Republican National Convention to their city? Fluffy pillows, champagne, rare vintage wines, sumptuous meals (like the one pictured) are sure to be had by the nine lucky members of the RNC’s 2008 Site Selection Committee.

Wining, dining, and resorting on behalf of Republicans from the Western States will be none other than California’s National Committeewoman, Barbara Alby. Formerly a member of the State Assembly, Alby is now Chief of Staff to Board of Equalization Member Bill Leonard.

Actually, for this upcoming convention, this committee will actually have more of a role to play than four years ago. For the 2004 convention in New York, the selection was more or less made by the incumbent… Read More

LEFTIST PROFESSORS TAKE HEED There have been a series of articles during the last week (there are a couple featured on the main page today) that focus on a controversial organization founded by former UCLA College Republican leader Andrew Jones’ efforts to target liberal professors at his alma-mater. Prominent advisory board members, such as esteemed former GOP Congressman Jim Rogan (a Bruin alumnus), have dropped off of Jones’ advisory board. What would be so outrageous as to cause this kind of controversy? If you are a student these days, it really isn’t hard to find out a lot of ‘intel’ to help guide your choices or class preparation. Websites about where students upload their opinions of teachers, their grading techniques, how much homework they assign, whether they are strict about attendance, and more. Jones simply is trying to put another factor out there for perspective students to look… Read More

Steve Greenhut, a senior editorial writer for the Orange County Register devoted his entire Sunday column to a topic other than policy or politics, his normal fare. Rather, he used his precious column space to talk the phenomenon of how websites and ‘bloggers’ (editorial note: I really dislike that term) are really changing the news business. He especially focuses on the idea that the internet-age means that if you have opinions, you can more easily express them.

Greenhut’s piece begins:

LEFTIST PROFESSORS TAKE HEED There have been a series of articles during the last week (there are a couple featured on the main page today) that focus on a controversial organization founded by former UCLA College Republican leader Andrew Jones’ efforts to target liberal professors at his alma-mater. Prominent advisory board members, such as esteemed former GOP Congressman Jim Rogan (a Bruin alumnus), have dropped off of Jones’ advisory board. What would be so outrageous as to cause this kind of controversy? If you are a student these days, it really isn’t hard to find out a lot of ‘intel’ to help guide your choices or class preparation. Websites about where students upload their opinions of teachers, their grading techniques, how much homework they assign, whether they are strict about attendance, and more. **There is more –… Read More

One of the first people I ever met in my early days of the political game, back in the late 1980’s was a flamboyant land developer from Newport Beach by the name of Buck Johns. Blessed with a high-octane personality and an Arkansas accent that sounds a bit like Ross Perot, Buck is a hard charger — in business, as a dad, and in politics. He’s been a leader in GOP politics in Orange County for a generation, still serving on the board of the Lincoln Club. Most Orange County politicians can point to Buck’s support as critical to their efforts. And there are a bunch of people running around "The OC" who didn’t quite make it into Buck’s good graces, or into public office.

As a pretty conservative fellow, Buck is prepared to cut the Governor a lot of slack, as evidenced by an interview he gave to Los Angeles Times columnist Dana Parson.

Parsons’ column begins:… Read More