The only poll that counts is the one counted tonight.

Given the states registration numbers and hyper-gerrymandered districts, we won’t like see the same wave as what we are hoping for from across the country. However, the first job of keeping the seats we have to ‘hold’ as Republicans looks very good, with up to 2 pickups on the Assembly side and par on the State Senate, though one or par is more likely in the Assembly too, given late developments if polls can be believed.

In SD 12, the Jeff Denham seat, I was very impressed as to how our nominee Anthony Cannella and his operation was doing having spent the last 2 days there, walking and knocking in Modesto. He’s a great candidate, will be a great Senator and I think a new favorite, as I got to know him better during the walks. Kudos to Asm. and [incoming Senator], Tom Berryhill for all the hard workby his team in helping this neighboring district. It was great to join with he and Anthony for part of our precinct walks. And much praise for all the staff volunteers who have traveled to Modesto, Merced, Salinas, etc. The hard… Read More

Take a quick tour of the main ballroom here at the Irvine Hyatt Hotel, site of the California Republican Party’s Victory Night Celebration. This short video will show you the view from the podium at which, later tonight, Carly Fiorina will address supporters and the public — and we also harass some television reporters! Check it out… (Image may be grainy for a little while until You Tube processes the download.) … Read More

One of the cardinal principles of sportsmanship is to be a gracious winner. Every kid in little league is told to be kind and considerate to the fellow players they just bested in a competition. Apparently that principle is something that Arnold Schwarzenegger either 1) was not taught or 2) doesn’t care to follow.

This morning the governor issued the obligatory congratulatory press release praising the San Francisco Giants’ World Series win. But he didn’t stop at simply congratulating his state’s winning baseball team: he went on to attack the home state of the defeated Texas Rangers. Schwarzenegger used his press release to not only do some inappropriate campaigning against Proposition 23, he attacked Texas for having “dirty oil companies”.

The results are starting to come in — but it is way too early to try and figure out much of anything. So enjoy Fox News or your favorite TV channel, and peek over at the Secretary of State’s website.… Read More

If I had to rank-order public employee union bosses from evil to less so, clearly on the top of the list you would have to put the California Teachers Association. Like all of the other unions they have a voracious appetite for pursuing the "standard" trio of union goals: higher wages and benefits for their members, job security for their members, and the creation of new public employee positions that are members of their union.

That said, the CTA is particularly awful because they pursue this pro-public labor agenda under the banner that somehow all of this is somehow "better for children" and helps kids to have a better education. For anyone who wants to understand how hurtful teachers union bosses can be, go see the movie Waiting for Superman, which illustrates quite well the road blocks that teachers unions put up to keep bad teachers around. Bottom line: a good teacher can make the world of difference for child, and a bad teacher can do the opposite. But the CTA protects and defends all teachers, as if they are all of equal ability.

Anyways, a friend of mine who lives in Senate District 1 just sent me a… Read More

How many employers out there in the private sector provide Cadillac healthcare benefits to their part time employees? The answer, of course, is virtually none. Welcome to the “good life” of many part-time local elected officials…

As economic times have gotten extremely tough in the private sector, a lot of attention has been paid to the gold-plated salaries and benefits going to many public employees at both the state and local levels. Whether it extreme defined benefit retirement plans that in many instances (especially for public safety employees) to retire making more money than they did when they worked, or salaries that are no longer comparable to the private sector which has seen so many reductions with the economic recession) or just the fact that those in government have not had to face the kinds of layoffs and unemployment issues.

While these important issues have started to dominate discussions in the public square, one of the issues that is about to… Read More

California is at a crossroads. We have reached a level of government in our state that is completely unsustainable. We have reached a point where our taxpayer dollars, yours and mine, are being so frivolously spent that there are billions upon billions of dollars in waste within government programs. We have reached our breaking point as a state. Things must change.

Californians are tired of false hopes, gimmicks, phony rhetoric and politicians taking bows for simply doing what we elected them to do. We need leaders in Sacramento who will speak straight and act proactively to better our state.

This coming Tuesday it should be clear, we need to make a real change. And that change should start at the… Read More

This just in from Grover Norquest at Americans for Tax Reform… … Read More