My first election cycle involved in politics was in 1988. It was a great year to be involved in politics – especially because the two campaigns on which I first volunteered were for two veterans of the Reagan White House who came home to California to run for Congress. One was former speechwriter Dana Rohrabacher, who won the GOP nomination and is now a high-ranking member of our GOP majority. The other was Reagan lawyer Chris Cox. I remember that Chris eeked out a primary win over the liberal Mayor of Irvine (Baker) and served a distinguished career in the House of Representatives. As a matter of fact, I was very proud when late last year President Bush nominated Chris to serve as Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. He is currently in that post, of which all California Republican can be proud.

It turns out that Chris is going to be having a surgical procedure done. Below is the Associated Press story. But I just want to encourage all who read this weblog… Read More

I don’t like Dan Lungren and he doesn’t like me. When Lungren ran for governor in 1998, he ran a self-centered, indulgent campaign in which he chose to talk about the issues that were important to him rather than those that mattered most to the voters. He doesn’t like me, I’m guessing, because of statements like the one in the previous sentence.

The relationship took a turn for the worse when he ran for Congress two years ago. On Election Night, the Associated Press incorrectly reported that one of his opponents had won the Republican primary. Based on that incorrect information, I provided analysis for a local television station on why Lungren’s comeback had been unsuccessful. Despite heroic efforts by his brother Brian to bridge this gap over the years, my friendly advice would be to avoid inviting us to the same picnic anytime soon.

But on an issue of critical importance to the Republican Party, Dan Lungren is exactly correct. By advocating for the entire GOP leadership to step down and face new elections, Lungren clearly understands the scope of the problem the GOP faces in dealing with the lobbying scandals that have… Read More

SEXUAL PREDATOR UNION? I have been scouring the Secretary of State’s website this morning for the CAPS – California Association of Sexual Predators. You see, the State Assembly Public Safety Committee Democrat majority is showing the kind of lock-step solidarity to opposing Jessica’s Law (GPS tracking of sex offenders, as was as other needed reforms) that is typically shown on bread-and-butter labor issues. Since everyone knows it is the labor unions that keep the Democrats in line, well, doesn’t it make sense that there must be a union for sexual predators? There are several articles on the main page — and a ‘must read’ column from Karen Hanretty on the Democrat Chairman of the Public Safety Committee – San Francisco’s Mark Leno. BILL THOMAS: KING OF PORK MAKES..SAUSAGE Representative Bill Thomas of Bakersfield, otherwise known as the "King of Pork" as he lords over a massive increase in… Read More

I awoke this morning, having spent an enjoyable evening at the Senate and Assembly Republican Chief of Staff Association January social last night, to find that my planned submission on The Center for Policy Initiatives own Lee Cokorinos’ "Target San Diego: The Right Wing Assault on Urban Democracy and Smart Government" had been stolen by Jon Fleischman. This is my limited, edited version:

Let’s start with this: if the "report" in question was to be sold at the local bookstore, it would probably be found in the Fantasy section. It sounds like Lee googled the names of various center-right organizations then drank a few beers and started drawing lines. He has no basic understanding of how San Diego’s center-right coalition came into being, operates, or finances itself. Hey, Lee, I’m not a prized researcher from the world-class Center for Policy Initiatives, but even I would probably spend at least five or ten minutes going through financial records or interviewing relevant persons. I mean I hate to repeat last weeks critique of another lefty who played free and loose with the facts, but c’mon Lee you could have gotten more… Read More

SEXUAL PREDATOR UNION? I have been scouring the Secretary of State’s website this morning for the CAPS – California Association of Sexual Predators. You see, the State Assembly Public Safety Committee Democrat majority is showing the kind of lock-step solidarity to opposing Jessica’s Law (GPS tracking of sex offenders, as was as other needed reforms) that is typically shown on bread-and-butter labor issues. Since everyone knows it is the labor unions that keep the Democrats in line, well, doesn’t it make sense that there must be a union for sexual predators? There are several articles on the main page — and a ‘must read’ column from Karen Hanretty on the Democrat Chairman of the Public Safety Committee – San Francisco’s Mark Leno. BILL THOMAS: KING OF PORK MAKES..SAUSAGE Representative Bill Thomas of Bakersfield, otherwise known as the "King of Pork" as he lords over a massive increase in… Read More

The word is that today there will be some kind of major announcement in a local SD assembly race. Trying to pin it down, I’ve been asking around,"This isn’t the stale Packard thing, is it?" If it turns out to be a cataclysmic story, I’ll post it later.

In the meantime, speaking of Scott Packard, former Vista councilmember and son of the former congressman, apparently he has jumped in the 74th, no surprise there, although the late entry will cause fodder. The North County Times has the story this morning.

But, I simply can’t resist the mention on the SD Politics blog, posted in the wee hours:

Getting To The Party Late

Scott Packard, son offormer Congressman Ron Packard, announced this week that he is joining the race for the 74th Assembly District.

So it’s official. Well, well, well, welcome to the party! Packard has some serious ground to make up. He’ll have few… Read More

On Tuesday I took an eight hour drive from San Diego back to Sacramento. I made myself one promise the Monday before – that I would NOT be stuck going over the hill on the 405 looking at the Getty Center at 5pm. That I would plan to avoid one of the worst bottlenecks in the state by leaving on time from San Diego at 1:30 or 2:00. Instead I left at 3:00 and found myself, you guessed it, looking right up at the Getty Center at 5pm.

I’ve now made the drive back and forth probably 100 times in the last ten years, and based on this experience I am going to state some rules of thumb for statewide campaigns on the road, since my experience is everyone’s estimates are different. Assuming light or no traffic and averaging 75 miles per hour on the parts of the road that are not totally urban, it is three hours from downtown San Diego to downtown Bakersfield. It is an hour and a half from Bakersfield to Fresno. And generally two and one half hours from Fresno to Sacramento. I’m driving down again in a month and a half and will relay the time from Sacramento to Stockton to Modesto to Fresno to Bakersfield to downtown LA to Irvine to Carlsbad to downtown… Read More

Forty-two days after Ernie Dronenburg announced he would be resigning from the board of education, two weeks after the board adopted the timeline and process for filling the vacancy, 10 days after I started railing about the lack of info (with Voice of San Diego following the lead), and a mere TWO DAYS before applications are due, someone finally did something.

The County Office of Education has posted to its website the fact that there is a vacancy on the board and applications are due this Friday, giving anyone who sees it plenty of time to jump through the hoops.

This, apparently, is how you define successinabureaucratic world.

Most telling of the County Office’s posted info: The headline, "Hartley is New President of County Board of Education; Applications Now Available to Fill Dronenburg Seat," still takes second fiddle to the now-long-posted main… Read More