I am on a Teletown Hall for Gov. candidate Meg Whitman right now.

Got the call at about 7:20pm and it seems like people from all over the state are on the call, althoughI can’t be sure of that.

Meg seems very atease talking about water policy, jobs, technology.

They did an online pollabout top issues which is usefulfor the call itself to guidewhatquestionsto ask, but they actually tag households with top issue for targeting.

Cool products theseTeletown Halls.

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How often do you get to get pitched by an elected officer of the Republican Party to help elect the nominee of another political party to Congress?

Well, that’s what you are getting right here.

All eyes in the country are looking at a special election that will take place this Tuesday in upstate New York in the sprawling 23rd Congressional District. The incumbent Republican Member of Congress there resigned his seat mid-term to take an appointment from President Obama (!), and this set the stage for a special election.

Unlike in California, where we would have a special primary election where the party nominees would be determined, in New York this decision is made, literally, by local county political bosses. In this case about a dozen Republican County Party Chairmen gathered and anointed a candidate to be the Republican nominee.

The only problem is that the candidate they tapped, Didi Scozzafava, who is a registered Republican, happens to side with the Democrats on… Read More

Republicans should be winning and in fact in a week, Republican candidates will most likely become Governor of Virginia and possibly even New Jersey. Obviously that is a great sign. Both candidates are generally conservative and are running as such.

A recent Gallup poll showed that 40% of Americans say their political views are conservative. Only 20% said their views are liberal and 36% said their views are moderate.

But things really aren’t that good. A recent Washington Post Poll showed only 19% of the people identified themselves as Republican.

Why is the Republican Party doing so poorly when people say they are conservative?

The answer is leadership. In particular Republican Leadership. In the late 1970’s through the early 1990’s the Republican party was perceived as the party for conservatives. Thanks to Ronald Reagan and others we saw areas realign and that culminated in the 1994 take over of Congress.

After that the Republican Party Leadership decided big government…good. Corruption. Sure. Why not? There are many other failings of our leadership. Basically, they de-linked the Republican Party from conservatism.

And… Read More

How often do you get to get pitched by an elected officer of the Republican Party to help elect the nominee of another political party to Congress?

Well, that’s what you are getting right here.

All eyes in the country are looking at a special election that will take place this Tuesday in upstate New York in the sprawling 23rd Congressional District. The incumbent Republican Member of Congress there resigned his seat mid-term to take an appointment from President Obama (!), and this set the stage for a special election.

**There is more – click the link**

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You can’t "see" this message online, but here is a graphic of today’s San Francisco Chronicle editorial on the whole flap of the Governor spelling out "f*** you* on the left margin of a veto message to Assemblyman Tom Ammiano.

The headline of the editorial, Message On The Margin should be taken literally…

For those who need help, the letters are… G R O W U P G I R… Read More

Just heard from Jim Nygren the consultant for the Alliance for California’s Tomorrow, the Sacramento insider crowd that is ponying up big-time to try and elect Linda Ackerman in AD 72.

Their latest expenditure comes in the form of individualized letters to voters (all voters, not just Republicans — presumably those with some propensity to vote). These letters are from a well known local elected official to people in their area or city. Tucked in with each letter is a brochure/puff piece on Ackerman.

Below is an example It is a letter from longtime Fullerton Councilman Don Bankhead. First is a letter to Republicans, and below that a letter to non-Republicans. They are virtually identical. Below that is the brochure in the mailings.

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I am pleased to announce that over the next week or so we will be introducing a group of new contributors to the FlashReport Weblog as we maintain a commitment to bringing you insightful, timely, cutting-edge analysis opinion from some of the Golden State’s best politicos from the center-right all of the way to the hard right.

As we “roll out” some of our new talented writers, I will ask for patience from our readers. About the time that I am posting up this announcement is the first time that these three contributors are getting their registration packets with the details on how to blog on FlashReport.

So in this “first wave” announcement, I am pleased to share with you that Ken Minesinger, Cassandra Pye and Jason Roe will be joining our ranks. Actually, in the case of Jason, it’s more like “welcome back” as Jason was our first Washington, D.C., Beltway Correspondent when the site first launched back in 2005. I should also add that Cassandra is finishing up a well-deserved vacation so you may have to wait until next week before she starts to contribute to the blog. … Read More

Last April 15th thousands of Californians descended upon Sacramento for a tea party protest of out-of-control government. On the same day, hundreds of thousands of other Americans met for similar protests in cities all across the nation. Political commentators wondered whether these massive nationwide protests were merely a passing fad or whether they were the beginnings of a legitimate movement. Seven months later, the tea party movement is still gaining momentum, which bodes well for conservatives in 2010. Last Sunday the Tea Party Express launched the second phase of its national bus tour with a rally in San Diego. Sponsored by the Our Country Deserves Better PAC, the tour will visit over 30 cities on its way to Washington, DC. The San Diego launch was very well attended and the crowd was bursting with energy. With the USS Midway providing a patriotic background, tea party participants were rallied by Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, … Read More