This morning is my first opportunity to "welcome back" the Cal-Races website, which came back online this week after undergoing a reformatting and retooling. What is Cal-Races? FR’s friends over at Meridian Pacific Consulting (including our very own Sacramento Area Correspondent Tom Ross) maintain a great website for following a lot of what is going on with campaigns in California, and other tidbits, from a decidedly Republican perspective. Tom’s colleagues at MP, Matt Rexroad and John Peschong, as well as a great crew of others at their firm (h/t to Justin Matheson) will be providing all of us with great information. I am sure that we will be linking over there quite a bit to make sure that if you don’t make it over to Cal-Races each day (I will) that you don’t miss their greatest posts. Tom, Matt and John have been good friends for a long time, and they all played a substantial role in the development… Read More

This morning is my first opportunity to "welcome back" the Cal-Races website, which came back online this week after undergoing a reformatting and retooling. What is Cal-Races? FR’s friends over at Meridian Pacific Consulting (including our very own Sacramento Area Correspondent Tom Ross) maintain a great website for following a lot of what is going on with campaigns in California, and other tidbits, from a decidedly Republican perspective. Tom’s colleagues at MP, Matt Rexroad and John Peschong, as well as a great crew of others at their firm (h/t to Justin Matheson) will be providing all of us with great information.

**There is more – click the link**

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There have been a lot of conversations about how do deal with the fact that so many of faithful GOP volunteers and donors are in the doldrums. Trying to address this issue requires trying to understand why these traditionally motivated folks are finding other things to do with their time instead of political activism.

Let me start with a startling fact – until the recent bond proposal, the single largest subject on which I had received feedback was the indictment of House Majority Leader Tom Delay. But the notes weren’t words of outrage. The overwhelming sentiment was, "With DeLay out, is this an opportunity to replace him with a conservative?"

The point here, given the conservatism of Tom DeLay, is that the machinations that take place behind closed doors, but which do not result in votes and hardline public stances by Republicans, leave grassroots activists feeling like their hard work is for naught. Especially when in Washington, Republicans supposedly "control" the… Read More

Contested Republican primaries are tricky things. They can be divisive and explosive. Add a mix of 10 GOP candidates and the dynamics get more interesting. Factor into that mix that at least four and maybe more of these candidates will have a lot of resources with which to engage their opponents. A perfect storm? Not yet, add one more element. At a time when scandals, indictments, and a resignation are plaguing the Republicans in Congress, the ‘perfect storm’ I’ve outlined is taking place in the 50th Congressional District, where Randy ‘Duke’ Cunningham plead guilty to taking seven figures in payoffs – resigning his seat in disgrace… waiting for a jail sentence.

At a time when conventional wisdom would be to disassociate with the besieged GOP establishment, there is one candidate for whom that is not an option. Brian Bilbray, one of the leading candidates is not only a former Member of Congress, but is currently a federal lobbyist.

Interestingly, Bilbray’s… Read More

This morning meeting of the San Gabriel Valley Lincoln Club featured pollster Steve Kinney. Steve (pictured to the right) is great pollster and I enjoy and incorporate many of his messages into political. He has worked for liberals and conservatives.

Kinneyshowed through data that California is not the radical left-wing state that the media makes it out to be. Our poll numbers are virtually the same on issues as they are in the rest of the country. There is an exception in illegal immigration. California is more concerned about illegals than the rest of the country.

Kinney also listed several issues that polled high in intensity among Californians. The Governor managed to mention only one of them in his State of the State speech (sex offenders).

Kinney also pointed out that the Governor didn’t do well amongGOP votersin the special election. I’m sure more debt and fees should do the trick.

In response to a question, Kinney… Read More

As Legislative Republicans continue to express their doubts about the Governor’s massive bond proposal, Gov. Schwarzenegger turned to one of the state’s top Democrats for support for his new spending program. Schwarzenegger appeared today with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at an event at Los Angeles’ Union Station, where, according to a Governor’s Office news release, the two men "explained how investing wisely in California’s transportation infrastructure will decrease commute times, speed freight delivery, improve air quality and create jobs, as the state prepares for its projected growth."

What a difference three months and a two-hundred-billion dollar spending package makes. Just last October, Villaraigosa was trashing the governor in the media.

"I’m opposed to all of his initiatives," Villaraigosa told the press.… Read More

Today is the 25th Anniversary of President Ronald Reagan’s First Inaugural Address. Below is the text of that speech. Reading it is a great way to honor the memory of a truly great man, and a great President:

Inaugural Address West Front of the U.S. Capitol January 20, 1981 This speech was delivered to the nation when President Reagan was inaugurated to his first term of office. … Read More

Last year, Michael Crichton wrote a novel called State of Fear, in which a fictional environmental organization called the National Environmental Research Fund cyncially stokes fears about global warming in order to sustain it’s fund-raising efforts.

I was reminded of Crichton’s book by this e-mail yesterday from Orange County public affairs consultant Meg Waters:

Matt –

A few weeks ago I was with friends in San Clemente and one of the leaders of the anti toll road group joined us. I told him that I supported the road and had worked with TCA on it. I ribbed him about the wild claims that the road would ruin Trestles beach – because in fact, it will… Read More