FR Publisher Jon Fleischman had the opportunity to chat with U.S. Senate hopeful Carly Fiorina for about a half hour yesterday afternoon and here is his take-away from their conversation…

The California Republican Party’s Fall Convention starts tomorrow out in Palm Desert – and as someone that has been regularly attending these semi-annual confabs since the late 1980’s, I can tell you that this particular convention is considered the “opening bell” for the upcoming statewide elections – and of course the primaries that will precede them in June. Next year there will be a lot of offices on the ballot – the two most significant of which will be the positions of Governor and United States Senator – Arnold Schwarzenegger is term-limited out of the former and Democrat Barbara Boxer currently sits in the latter.

In the primary for Governor, delegates to the convention will get to hear from Steve Poizner, Meg Whitman, and Tom Campbell in person – as each has a prominent spot on the agenda. As for candidates for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, only one of the two… Read More

Last week GOP Gubernatorial candidate got kudos from us here at the FlashReport for being the first candidate for the GOP nomination to sign the Americans for Tax Reform No New Taxes pledge. Poizner called on his opponents to sign it as well, and we said at the time that they should absolutely do this.

This morning I was told by FR friend Patrick Gleason over at Americans for Tax Reform that yesterday they had faxed into them a signed ATR Pledge form from Meg Whitman! Outstanding.

Tom Campbell, you are next… It’s time to stop calling for higher taxes, and instead make it clear that state government is too big and spends too much…… Read More

The Meg Whitman for Governor campaign is engaged in creating a professional "videography" of the entire campaign — a big endeavor which involves a lot of work. We see some of the work of these professional video folks when they roll our in-house videos here and there.

One can only hope that they were allowed to do video and audio taping of Whitman’s campaign team folks as they have been dealing with the results of an investigation undertaken by the Sacramento Bee, released today, that looks both at Whitman’s extremely poor voting record as well as the sparse and inconsistent statements coming from the Whitman campaign on the issue of Whitman’s past voting (or lack thereof) record. I just think it would be fascinating the see the back and forth that lead to this, her official statement (thus far) on this controversy:

MEG WHITMAN STATEMENT ON HER VOTING RECORD … Read More

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

Are Whitman and Fiorina California Dreamin’?

… Read More

Dave Bossie, the head of Citizens United, is normally not described as self-effacing or recalcitrant. However, as the man responsible for what the New York Times described in editorial yesterday as one of the biggest cases to go before the U.S. Supreme Court this year (it is surely the biggest campaign finance casesince 1976), he is circumspect. "Don’t quote me!" Bossie chuckled, over a glass of Qupe Chardonnay at the Capital Grille in Washington, D.C. last night with me and Floyd Brown. "I don’t want to jinx the case."

Bossie produced a moviecritical ofHillary Clinton a la the style of Michael Moore, and intended to commercially release it and promote it during her last presidential campaign. The Federal Election Commission didn’t like that idea and they got into a legal tangle. The result was Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, a case Bossiewon before a three-judge panel with the help of well-known constitutional lawyer Jim Bopp of Indiana. I know Bopp and was co-counsel with him… Read More

[Cross-posted from RedCounty.com post by Allan Bartlett]

As the race for the 72nd AD crystallizes, it was only a matter of time before some early polling results leaked out. I think it’s fair to say at this point that a plurality of the GOP establishment in OC is falling in line behind Linda Ackerman. This is based on my conversations with insiders in the party. However someone in the party forgot to get this memo out to the voters of the 72nd District who favor Chris Norby over Linda Ackerman by a whooping 2 to 1 margin in early polling. Granted this is still very early in the election, but right now this election is Chris Norby’s to lose. This poll used a sample of 300 very likely voters. In one likely ballot match up, Norby leads Ackerman 30% to 14% with Democrat John MacMurray at 13%. Norby’s favorable to unfavorable is at a net positive of 22.5% right now.

You can read the rest of the post… Read More

When I left the legislature, I applied to become a judge. I never figured I would make it, because I just can’t keep my mouth shut (and the Governor has to like you before you can become a judge), but the judiciary needs more people who have a right view of what a judge does, a restrained interpreter of the law, not a frustrated legislator. Chuck Poochigian is just such a person. I sat next to Chuck on the Senate floor for several years, and in that time, and watching him at work, saw a man of intelligence, hard work, balance, and insight. He is in my opinion perfect for the job of a judge. He has the temperament, the experience, the knowledge, and the insight necessary to be not just a good judge, but a great judge. I was glad to see the Governor appoint him to the appellate court.

And now to read that the Commission on Judicial Nomination Evaluations ranks him not qualified to sit on the bench because he hasn’t practiced law enough? Outrageous, not just outrageous but comical. Who do these people think they are? Are they so biased, so pompous, so narrow minded, or so intimidated by a man of Chuck’s obvious qualifications that they… Read More

As reported by our friends up at the Redding Record, State Senator Sam Aanestad is officially running for the GOP nomination for Lieutenant Governor. In making this announcement, the oral surgeon from the northern part of the state enters into a primary that for over a year has been solely occupied by his Senate colleague, Jeff Denham. Aanestad, a strong conservative, will certainly give Denham a run for his money. That said, Denham begins this primary with a huge lead in funds raises, endorsements garnered, and slate cards purchased. But it is still a long ways until the June primary, and Aanestad is a very well respected legislator.

FR readers have seen and read a lot about Denham here on the site — so now Ive reached out to Aanestad — we spoke earlier this afternoon — and he is penning a column for you to read that will talk about who he is (for those living south of Sacramento) and why he is seeking this statewide office.

There will be plenty of time for some more in-depth analysis of this primary, and where there may be policy and political… Read More