My wife Janice and I are in Washington, D.C. visiting old haunts (she is a veteran of the city, too, having served as Deputy Chief Counsel of the Republican National Committee), and I’m preparing for CPAC and the American Conservative Union Board meeting later today.

We visited the Pentagon Memorial for the victims of 9/11 for the first time yesterday. There is no more sobering justification for our continued presence in Afghanistan than this spot. Here are a few pictures of the grounds:

Benches pointing to the Pentagon each memorialize a person killed on the plane. Benches pointing out from the Pentagon memorialize a person killed inside the Pentagon during the 9/11 attack on our country.… Read More

For the first time in 25 years, the American Conservative Union, noted for it’s "coin of the realm" annual Congressional ratings and for being the lead organization in the annual Conservative Political Action Conference has a new Chairman. David Keene, a former national chairman of Young Americans for Freedom, took the reins of ACU in the early 1980s after the prior Chairman, Congressman Bob Bauman (another former YAF national chairman) resigned after a personal scandal. Keene greatly grew CPAC over the years and maintained high regards for the credibility of the ACU ratings. Now David is scheduled to take over soon as the new President of the National Rifle Association, and by his own admission states he just can’t chair two major organizations at the same time. So, he resigned at the ACU board of directors meeting in Washington, D.C. at the Marriott Wardman Park on upper Connecticut, N.W., and today the Chairmanship opened up for the first time in three decades, during the board meeting.

Elected without opposition, but not unanimously, was Al Cardenas of Florida. Al is a former chairman of… Read More

The last two redistricting efforts in California have brought major changes to the Congressional delegation.

The 1992 election saw the election of Lynn Woolsey, Anna Eschoo, Buck McKeon, Xavier Becerra, Maxine Waters, Jane Harman, Ken Calvert, and Bob Filner. Next year will mark twenty years in Congress for this group. Harman would be an exception because of the break she took to unsuccessfully run for Governor but then came back a few years latter but now she is planning to resign mid term.

In 2002 we saw Dennis Cardoza, Devin Nunes, Adam Schiff, and Linda Sanchez go to Washington.

Although every member of the California Congressional delegation has been elected since 1972 (Stark) almost one quarter came to Congress for the first time following these two redistricting cycles.

My prediction is that even though reapportionment did not add any Congressional seats in California retirement will provide at least eight new Members of Congress from California in 2013.

The following members will be 65 or older in 2012. Wally Herger 67, Dan Lungren 66, Doris Matsui 68, Lynn Woolsey 75, George Miller 67, Nancy Pelosi 72, Barbara… Read More

From today’s Wall Street Journal Political Diary E-mail… … Read More

On Superbowl Sunday the "Republican Caucus" of the California Teachers Association (CTA] invited me to speak. How could I resist? When the arrangements were made neither I nor the CTA was aware that February 6 would be date of the Superbowl.

Showing up at the Bonaventure Hotel in downtown Los Angeles at noon I found a 30 foot buffet spread worthy of the hotel’s reputation. A little over the top was the freezer full of Haagan Daaz ice cream. Several hundred CTA union leaders were meeting in the morning. At noon the group divided into various caucuses.

In public speaking, you learn to try to identify with the audience. I explained I earned my lifetime Teaching Credential from CSU Northridge and I currently teach Ethics at Cleveland Chiropractic College — year round.

I offered three points for these union leaders to consider:

THANKS First order of business is a thank you to the citizens of California, the people of my districts over 32 years, and to Republican volunteers. It was a wonderful, thrilling experience to serve in public office. While extremely frustrating to having never served in a majority it was also very fulfilling to help people trying to do business with the state. I do miss the opportunity to argue for conservative principles and the challenges of trying to stall the leftward drift of California government. We do have a lot of problems in California and every one of them is human caused or should I say legislator caused with help from several governors and judges. FUTURE So many friends have asked about my future and the current answer is that I do not know. I loved putting out the Leonard Letter but I am looking to other fields also. Right now I am getting reacquainted with… Read More

THE KINDER, GENTLER SQUANDERING OF THE REAGAN LEGACY by Rhonda Rohrabacher

I just returned from Ronald Reagan’s 100th Birthday celebration at the Reagan Library where Reaganites and Reaganite exploiters reveled in an euphoric sanctuary where the mood, spirit and atmosphere felt very much the same as similar Presidential events 20 years ago. It almost felt like Ronald Reagan was still president and the last 20 years had just been a bad dream. It made me reflect back to that era of hope, when I first got involved in Orange County Republican Party politics in 1988.

Orange County was often heralded as America’s most Republican county, and Ronald Reagan always affectionately referred to it as “the place where all good Republicans go to die.” In OC there were many opportunities to partake in rallies and functions where Reagan was present. The mood and… Read More

From today’s Wall Street Journal Political Diary E-mail… Reagan Belongs to the World SIMI VALLEY, Calif. — The celebration of Ronald Reagan’s 100th birthday on Sunday was marked by a video tribute during the Super Bowl along with extravaganzas held at both the Reagan Library and Reagan Ranch near here. But that’s only the beginning of the many events to be held this year to mark the Gipper’s centennial. A Reagan statue will be raised at the Washington, D.C., airport that bears his name. The National Archives is hosting a display of Reagan memorabilia. And a new stamp will be unveiled in his honor Thursday. … Read More