My brother, Rick, and I are here in the Santa Ynez Valley, enjoying some wine tasting here in God’s Country. Yesterday we stopped into the Firestone Winery for some tasting. I thought it would also be fun to rub his considerably-left-of-center nose in all of Brooks Firestone’s GOP paraphernalia that usually adorns the walls. Alas, due to an imminent remodel on the tasting room, all of the Republican goodies have been put away. Like a good red-meat-eating conservative I ponied up to the tasting bar for some Cabernet Sauvignon. Um…. No. There is NO Cabernet there (Nor any Pinot Noir, for that matter). BROOKS FIRESTONE: MODERATE WINE AND POLITICS I couldn’t help but think to myself — "Of course Brooks doesn’t make Cabernet — a bold, decisive wine — there is nothing bold… Read More

Anyone that pays scant attention to politics still knows that immigration is percolating below the surface – even in non-border states. The influx of illegal immigrants, particularly post-9/11, has frustrated Americans of every political party and polling shows that there is very little daylight among Republicans, Democrats, and Independents on the issue.

A great indicator of how powerful this issue has become was the Democrat governors of Arizona and New Mexico declaring a state of emergency in their states about illegal immigration while the Democrat Speaker of the California Assembly urged Governor Schwarzenegger to follow suit. Since 1994’s Proposition 187, Democrats have used immigration to demagogue – and it says something that they are now using for their own political benefit.

The challenge however is what to do. Since Prop. 187, little has been done on the issue at the federal or state level and President Bush failed miserably in his proposal which is… Read More

Saturday’s column by Fresno Bee political writer John Ellis chronicles a fundraising letter sent by the campaign of Congressman George Radanovich expressing concern about a potential Democrat challenger in 2006, T.J. Cox. The fundraising letter, which I also received, suggests that Mr.. Cox will spend $1 million of his own money to defeat Radanovich and that this will be matched by "ultra liberal" Nancy Pelosi, for a total of $2 million.

Now, let me tell you what is really going on here. One of the major casualties of redistricting, as you all know, is competitive elections. It seems that all of these incumbents are having trouble raising in their Districts, precisely because donors know how safe the Districts are. I, for example, don’t give to ANY legislative candidates seeking a safe seat unless that candidate is in a contested primary. So, in order to create a sense of urgency, fundraising… Read More

You may wonder why there are two bottles of wine in this post. Well, they both have something in common. Both wines were produced by Republicans in the wine business. Both of these Republicans were formerly members of the State Assembly. But the similarities stop there. One of these former GOP legislators, now a county Supervisor, is extremely moderate, both ideologically and stylistically. The other, so successful that his family-owned business shipped out over 1,000,000 cases of wine last year is very conservative, and quite assertive. Why are they, and what does this all mean? Read my Sunday Commentary and find out more than you wanted to know!!

I’m traveling in the Santa Ynez wine region, and it seemed appropriate to share a… Read More

YESTERDAY MORNING… If you were spending the day yesterday at the famed Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, you might wonder what was creating all of the clamor outside of your hotel window. You part the curtains, and look down into adjacent Pershing Square…

What do you see? There is a fired-up latino yelling to a crowd of seemingly-deranged and maniacal followers. A cult? A demonic ritual? From the window, you can see that many are carrying signs, and you squint to try to read them.

That’s when you notice that many in the crowd have turned on a woman — they surround her, and the chanting turns into yelling. Through the glass of the window, you can’t tell exactly what they are screaming, but the tone would fit screams of "Go to hell, Bitch!"

From your vantage point, high up, it looks like the crowd has descended on this poor woman — are they hitting her?

As you pull away from… Read More

You don’t want to miss the actual news video coverage of this woman being attacked for her support of the Governor’s reform measures. Read the entire story, and see the VIDEO in today’s FlashReport commentary!

Oh yes, presiding over the whole rowdy rally of crazy union thugs? None other than former union-organizer turned Democrat Assembly Speaker — Fabian Nunez.

Read it all here.… Read More

The host committee is an important part of any fund raising event.

There is a big difference between the working host committee member that has agreed to raise a determined dollar amount and the host committee member who simply lends his or her name to an event for the sake of prestige or comfort in numbers as I like to call it.

The invite that prompted this post was received this week from Laguna Niguel City Councilwoman Cassie DeYoung who is running for Orange County Supervisor (5th District, an open seat in ’06 due to term-limits). The Nov. 9 event to be held at Antonello’s Ristorante (the best Italian restaurant in OC and hot spot for old school political fund raisers for offices like Board of Supervisors and Anaheim City Council) is $175 per person.

The only thing missing from the invite though, is a list of host committee members. DeYoung, a seemingly wealthy candidate who has self funded with hundreds of thousands of dollars, is running against popular former… Read More

ON SURVEYS IN THE FINALS DAYS… As we get closer and closer to election day, the media’s voracious appetite for stories related to the election will only increase. This is always the case. My favorite phenomenon takes place around now, when we get within two weeks of the big day. The press folks all look for a ‘big story’ and then rush to print it. [the visual here would b e when you put food in a fish tank, and all of the fish swarm to eat the little flakes in the water]. This is the period of time where all of these different polling companies will release information, all in the most startling manner possible, in order to gain notoriety for their individual poll.

Today’s headlines are dominated by the first of these ‘last minute’ polls — this one from the Public Policy Institute of California, based out of San Francisco. These folks have news-making down to a science. First they set up… Read More