The Governor recently called term limits "crazy." Now, I don’t agree that they are crazy, there were good reasons for term limits, and the voters were not crazy in enacting them. But I have come to the conclusion they are not a good idea.

I ran for office in 1990 supporting term limits. I believed at the time that doing whatever it took to remove Willie Brown as the Speaker of the Assembly was justified. Dem Legislators weren’t going to do it, it appeared voters weren’t going to do it. Maybe term limits would.

Well, the voters did, in 1994, when they elected the first Republican majority in the Assembly since Reagan’s first term as Governor. I was elected to the Assembly in 1992, then in 1994, two terms in the Senate, and when my term there was done, I went back to the Assembly. I supported term limits through my first term in the Assembly and my two terms in the Senate. I changed my mind when I went back to the Assembly.

My first term in the Assembly was an interesting one. We were the first class elected knowing we were subject to term limits, but we were mixed in with some of the war horses of the… Read More

Longtime La Mesa City Councilmember Dave Allan, a one-time San Diego areaRepublicanlocal elected official of the year and more recently a registered Democrat, confirmed tonight that he will run for the 2nd district seat on the County board of supervisors in 2012.It is anticipated that incumbent Supervisor Dianne Jacob will seek a sixth term that year.

Jim Sills broke the story on San Diego Rostra tonight that a David M. Allan of La Mesa had filed the candidate intention paperwork (Form 501) necessary to begin fundraising for the seat.Councilman Allan confirmed with me a short time later that he is indeed running.

"It shouldn’t be news to anyone that the number one priority to me is fire protection in San Diego County," said Allan, a retired San Miguel firefighter."I don’t think the county supervisors have prioritized that issue the way they should."

Referring to the budget impacts being faced by local government and the potential of firefighting jobs being lost, he further said that "the supervisors’ lack of focus on fire protection is now catching up to… Read More

A "water deal" that results in a massive bond package of nearly $10 billion would not go before voters until at the earliest June of next year. Which means that the drive to achieve a two-thirds majority vote for a water package NOW is on an "artificial" deadline. Given that there are so many open issues out there, it is pretty clear that we need to put on the political brakes, step back, and decide if the way that this particular water deal is coming together represents good public policy for California.

As a conservative, I have grave concerns on the bond part of this deal. The package, as described to me, contains literally BILLIONS in spending that is not in there due to "need" (to solve the water crisis) but is in their either to appease special interests or to try and broaden coalition of votes necessary on the Democrat side of the aisle.

Never mind that the Democrats are taking advantage of the water crisis by pushing for all kinds of regulations on conservation issues that have no bearing on the storage and movement of water.

Look, I don’t expect that I will be pleased with the ultimate water package —… Read More

Yesterday we crunched numbers again on the scientific poll I commissioned through my company, Landslide Communications, Oct. 22-25 among Republicans in the 72nd Assembly District regarding the special election to be held in less than three weeks to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Mike Duvall. I had the numbers broken down city by city and Norby is way ahead in the City of Fullerton and is ahead or tied inall cities in thedistrict, at least as of last weekend. Here are the results, city by city:

Question:"If the special election for state assembly were held today, for which of the following candidates would you most likely vote?"

Anaheim: Norby, 22.73%/Ackerman 15.91%

Brea: Norby 38.89%/Ackerman 19.44%

Fullerton: Norby 35.71%/Ackerman 16.33%

La Habra: Norby 25%/Ackerman 16.67%

Orange: Norby 14.29%/Ackerman 14.29%

Placentia: Norby 20.83%/Ackerman 20.83%

Yorba Linda: Norby 19.51%, Ackerman 14.63%

Attached is the top line on this question broken down by city.… Read More

Attorney General Jerry Brown has done it again: He has misused and abused the authority of his office as California’s top cop.

Is anyone surprised?

It’s clear since day one that Brown views the AG office as a bully pulpit for promoting his political views, not serving the people.

His misdeeds aren’t limited to clandestinely taping phone calls with reporters; Brown has also abused his powers by issuing inaccurate and misleading Title and Summaries for statewide ballot measures, including one that I authored for the 2010 election cycle.

And as most people know, Brown has raised the ire of Harvey Rosenfield, founder of Consumer Watchdog.org and author of Proposition 103, the landmark measure protecting insurance consumers that voters approved in 1988.

Rosenfield says Brown caved to pressure from a powerful insurance company – and campaign donor – when he reworked the summary of a ballot measure to omit mention that it could boost premiums for thousands of drivers.

Brown… Read More

Gavin Newsom has just announced that he is dropping out of the race for Governor. According to the Sacramento Bee, Newsom said "’young family and responsibilities at city hall’ made it ‘impossible’ to commit time needed to complete effort the way it should be done.’" Newsom had trouble with fundraising and wasn’t making much headway in the polls so it looks like he decided to get out before wasting too much donor money. This iscertainly big newsand clears the way for Jerry Brown as the Democrat nominee. Read Newsom’s full statement here.… 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.

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