Embattled Democrat Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez continues to duck debates with her GOP challenger, popular Assemblyman Van Tran. One can presume, I suppose, that the important responsibilities of an important Member of Congress like Sanchez have her too busy for such "luxuries" as debating an opponent before a competitive election.

So what exactly is keeping Representative Sanchez busy?

You need look no farther than the Twitter feed of none other than Playboy Magazine founder and owner Hugh Hefner. Yesterday afternoon Hef tweeted, "Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez is having lunch at the Mansion. I’m a long time supporter."

One has to wonder if the choices that Loretta Sanchez makes in who she hangs with and where … Read More

Tonight’s debate between Carly Fiorina and Barbara Boxer was probably the worst debate I’ve ever seen in all my years of watching political debates. Not on Fiorina’s part—she did a great job for her first general election, televised debate. But Randy Shandobil, KTVU Channel 2 and the panel of journalists should collectively be ashamed of themselves. Now, because this is a right-of-center blog, I’m sure that they may easily dismiss my observations as simply partisan, but they would be wrong. Like most people, I want to see a fair, balanced exchange between the two major candidates running for one of the state’s most powerful jobs. But what I saw was not a fair and balanced debate. It was Shandobil, the SF Chronicle’s Carla Marinucci, KQED’s Scott Shafer & La Opinion’s Pilar Marrero piling on Fiorina while throwing generalized, softball questions to Boxer. And not once, not twice, but over and over… Read More

While I have some general concerns about becoming nauseous in the mere presence of ultra-shrill, ultra-left wing, and ultra-annoying Senator Barbara Boxer, I am going to take some Pepto and suck it up — because tonight I am going to be at the United States Senate debate between Boxer and Carly Fiorina taking place at St. Mary’s College in Moraga in the East Bay Area.

This should be an excellent show — and frankly my expectations for this debate are high, at least in terms of drama, and presentation. Both Boxer and Fiorina are articulate, forceful people and that should make for good show — important for bloggers covering the event!

As always, our coverage will be fair — and biased. As a matter of fact, we’re calling the debate for Fiorina now. Details to come later…

The debate will apparently be carried live on C-SPAN — which means you can tune into C-SPAN via your cable or satellite provider — or you can go to C-SPAN’s website and catch their live feed there. The action starts at 7pm and goes for one… Read More

Check out my live-tweeting from the U.S. Senate debate…… Read More

Here at the press room at the Fiorina Boxer debate, I asked CalBuzz blogger Jerry Roberts to critique the food spread…

I will certainly say that the food spread here doesn’t come close to the one from the Orange County Whitman-Poizner debate. Here is the video critique from that night…

… Read More

America’s fifth largest county, San Diego, once more has a Republican plurality. In the last month or so the county has gone from a 4,850 Democrat advantage to a 891 Republican advantage. Cheers to San Diego County Republican Party Chairman Tony Krvaric and his team.… Read More

Yesterday, showed exactly why it is hard to get things done in Sacramento . Senate Bill 399 would overturn a voter approved initiative and allow the state to re-sentence violent juveniles that have been sentenced to life without parole. Needless to say this has been controversial. As it came to the floor of the Assembly, it was clear the bill didn’t have the votes to pass. This particular piece of bad legislation has had so many lives I have nearly lost count. I first encountered this public safety nightmare in 2009 when it came before the Assembly Public Safety Committee of which I am vice chair. At that time the committee believed SB 399 was a bad idea and it did not garner the votes to pass. Fast forward to January 2010 during a month when the legislature is focused on getting two year… Read More

It’s the final hours of the 2009-2010 legislative session here in California and legislators are furiously passing bills left and right to beat the constitutional deadline. Legislators did take the time today to vote down two budget proposals, but as Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg said, "I feel an urgency, but not an urgency at any price, and that’s really what this has come down to."

And that’s the problem. Legislators seem to have no incentive to pass a budget this year. This is the second longest period the state has gone without passing a budget (In 2008, it was 85 days past due.). Some have even speculated Governor Schwarzenegger would like to hand the unpleasant responsibility of trying to hammer out a budget to the next occupant of the horseshoe.

But just because it’s hard work doesn’t mean politicians can be let off the hook that easily. It’s time for legislators and the governor to declare a moratorium on any legislation that isn’t related to the budget process. Americans for Prosperity… Read More