In the whirlwind that followed the qualification of the recall election of 2003, I was faced with a number of choices. My choice for Governor, Darrell Issa decided to drop out of the race, after qualifying the recall. Tom McClintock, who is a committed and principled conservative, did not have the horses (so to speak) to win, and I was concerned with the entry of Cruz Bustamante into the Governor’s race. Conservatives started the recall. We couldn’t hand the seat to Bustamante, who would give us another seven years of Davis without the brakes on liberalism. Schwarzenegger appeared the only choice.

So I met with him, in a hotel room in the Mission Inn in Riverside, and I asked him a number of questions. One of those questions was how he would approach the question of life. He said California was "a pro-choice state" and that being pro-life was political suicide. He "agreed with the principles of the pro-life" movement, after all, he said, "I am Catholic" but there was "nothing a Governor could do about the issues of life." He followed up saying "You will like the judges I appoint. They will be… Read More

As I mentioned below, Meg Whitman has launched her campaign – and she has also launched MegWhitman.com (a URL that she does own). You can check it out – to answer everyone’s OBVIOUS first question – green is the campaign color with some orange thrown in. Below are two videos featured on the site – the first of which is an introduction by Whitman, and the second is that one is one of those videos that you could imagine being played to a Silicon Valley audience before Whitman makes her entrance – you see these kind of videos at major tech conference. Makes sense, right? I don’t know about you — but as a blogging commentator, I’m looking forward to this primary!

… Read More

Acting I am sure in his capacity as a private individual and not as Chairman of the Placer County Central Committee, Tom Hudson today filed a complaint with the Fair Political Practices Commission where, if I can try to summarize the charges in one sentence, Hudson asserts that Whitman, prior to today, has been running (and spending money in support of) a de facto Gubernatorial campaign for which she did not report income or expenditures. It goes on from there. Here is Hudson’s press release, and attached are the documents filed with the FPPC.

Needless to say, the timing of the complaint is hardly coincidental.

It will be up to smarter people than me to look into the allegations and sort them out. I pass this along in the interests of passing along "news" that comes across my e-mail folder.

I will close by saying that it seems like whenever the FPPC acts, it is always way after the fact and a fine is… Read More

It’s a busy day in the e-mail box today. No doubt to bolster up Steve Poizner supporters in response to the official announcement by Meg Whitman that she is officially a candidate for Governor, Poizner’s Campaign Chairman, retired State Senator Jim Brulte, sent this out…

… Read More

I’ve heard, like others, of a reputed "deal" on the State budget struck by Big Five negotiators, to be announced Monday. If it includes new taxes and fees, it will be an outrage, and the final nail in the coffin of a State Republican Party dying a slow death for 20 years. The tax issue is all this Party has left, and to cede it to a bunch of leftists, in the middle of a financial crisis, would be monumentally stupid.

But Mike, we need more revenues, you say. No we don’t. If you believe that, then you believe taxes are too low right now, and that the economy can withstand new taxes and fees. Anyone accepting either premise is either completely ignorant, or worse, intellectually defective.

Assembly leader Mike Villines and Senate leader Dave Cogdill have held out too long and worked too hard to accept a compromise. Eight years of compromise is precisely what put us here in the first place, and another compromise will plunge a… Read More

It’s a busy day in the e-mail box today. No doubt to bolster up Steve Poizner supporters in response to the official announcement by Meg Whitman that she is officially a candidate for Governor, Poizner’s Campaign Chairman, retired State Senator Jim Brulte:

Dear Friend:

If you’re like me, you think California is headed in the wrong direction. Every day the news gets worse and our great state slips further and further behind.

But the good news is that strong, tested leadership can turn this around.… Read More

I’ve heard, like others, of a reputed "deal" on the State budget struck by Big Five negotiators, to be announced Monday. If it includes new taxes and fees, it will be an outrage, and the final nail in the coffin of a State Republican Party dying a slow death for 20 years. The tax issue is all this Party has left, and to cede it to a bunch of leftists, in the middle of a financial crisis, would be monumentally stupid.

But Mike, we need more revenues, you say. No we don’t. If you believe that, then you believe taxes are too low right now, and that the economy can withstand new taxes and fees. Anyone accepting either premise is either completely ignorant, or worse, intellectually defective.

Assembly leader Mike Villines and Senate leader Dave Cogdill have held out too long and worked too hard to accept a compromise. Eight years of compromise is precisely what put us here in the first place, and another compromise will plunge a… Read More

I love politics. Every once in a while you get these "say what?" moments, where you turn your head and actually say to the person next to you, "did you just see that?"

Earlier today, we reported that Tom Hudson had filed a complaint against Meg Whitman with the FPPC (you can see that a couple of blog posts down).

Just off of the transom is the press release below, sent out about an hour ago, announcing that Steve Poizner has endorsed Tom Hudson in his bid for party office.

That’s hardball politics.

POIZNER ENDORSES TOM HUDSON FOR NORTHERN VICE CHAIRMAN

Senator Dave Cox also Joins the Team

Insurance Commissioner and candidate for Governor Steve Poizner has added his full support to the growing campaign for Tom Hudson for Northern Vice Chairman of the California Republican Party. State Senator Dave Cox has endorsed Hudson as… Read More