New Rule:

If you are running for anything, post a high-resolution photo of yourself on the Internet. Preferably several of them and on your own web page.

There are hundreds of independent efforts going on right now to support (and certainly some to oppose) candidates all over the state from water board to U. S. Representative. And many of these independent expenditure committees are scrambling to find photos of their favorite candidate for the direct mail.

Mail is much or effective with photos of the candidates.

While I am not a lawyer, I do believe it is legal to ask a candidate for a photo of themselves. Asking for a photo is not considered coordination. [Perhaps Dana Reed can comment and confirm my assertion]

However it is not always easy to reach the candidates and life would be a lot easier for everyone if you would all just get a high quality photo on the web.

You might be surprised by a positive piece of mail sometime soon if you do.… Read More

As we approach the general election, I have to tell you that no vote that one of the most important votes that any conservative in this state can cast is a vote in support of Proposition 11.

By passing Proposition 11, Californians will be making it possible to add more conservatives to the legislature than ever before. That’s right – despite all of the rhetoric of misguided Prop. 11 supporters, who somehow believe that this measure will end partisanship in Sacramento – it will not. But what it will do is add more Republicans into the mix, giving us more votes to stop spending increases, tax increases and the growth in government that we have seen at the hands of the liberal Democrats who control the institution.

Ironically, a trip to the Yes on 11 website allows you to peruse quotes from officials of groups like the… Read More

As we approach the general election, I have to tell you that no vote that one of the most important votes that any conservative in this state can cast is a vote in support of Proposition 11.

By passing Proposition 11, Californians will be making it possible to add more conservatives to the legislature than ever before. That’s right – despite all of the rhetoric of misguided Prop. 11 supporters, who somehow believe that this measure will end partisanship in Sacramento – it will not. But what it will do is add more Republicans into the mix, giving us more votes to stop spending increases, tax increases and the growth in government that we have seen at the hands of the liberal Democrats who control the institution.

Ironically, a trip to the Yes on 11 website allows you to peruse quotes from officials of groups like the… Read More

You have to ask yourself what kind of LOSERS go out and steal campaign signs. Stealing signs is not only LAME, it is also a violation of law, and an infringement of the First Amendment rights of others. Well, the California Republican Party is offering a $500 reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the LOSERS who you can see sign-stealing in this video… (Can you help finding the culprits? If so let me know.

… Read More

Two stories of note.

Over at Roll Call, this article shows that there may be a silver lining to a GOP rain cloud this year. More on the rain cloud.

Over at the Sacramento Bee’s Capitol Alert, the opponents to Prop. 11 have been caught in double-print (the written form of double-speak).… Read More

Democrat John MacMurray is hoping that a tsunami-sized Obama wave washes across California, and even into the very Republican 72nd Assembly District in Orange County.

MacMurray, the Democrat nominee facing off against incumbent Assemblyman Mike Duvall (pictured), has dropped a full color mailing (see links below to piece) where he bangs on the Republican for a host of "bad" votes, one of which implies that Duvall opposes "Domestic Violence Protection."

On one hand, you might say that it would have to be a terrible year, indeed, for a Republican in this VERY Republican seat to lose. Then again, some pundits are predicting a very bad year for the GOP. MacMurray is counting on it. That said, Duvall’s got deep pockets. Makes you wonder if, in this particular year, he’ll reach in a fund a few mailers. He is, after all, in the insurance business.

As a funny aside, this website… Read More

Today Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner spent some time at the St. John’s Shelter Program for Women & Children, in Sacramento. Poizner’s visit to this facility coincides with an annual week of volunteerism that is hosted by the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation. During the week of October 20, 2008, thousands of insurance employees will donate upwards of 12,000 service hours across the nation.

Poizner’s visit to St. John’s provides me with a long overdue opportunity to sing the praises of a good friend of the FlashReport, Michele Steeb. Formerly a Vice President with the California Chamber of Commerce, Michele left the political arena to focus on a charitable endeavor, and serves as Executive Director of St. Johns Shelter.… Read More

Hot off the presses, former eBay Chairman (and ersatz California Governor) Meg Whitman today took out her rather sizable checkbook, and wrote a rather sizable check to the campaign against Proposition 5, which we here at the FlashReport like to call the "Let Criminals Out of Jail" Measure. Law enforcement leaders, and frankly most political leaders around the state have unified against the measure (heck, anything that gets Orange County’s conservative D.A. Tony Rackauckas and actor Martin Sheen on the same side, against it, must suck on a whole new level).

Whitman’s contribution certainly represents a high-profile donation, and the No on 5 campaign can use it. While the initiative is terrible, the reality is that raising money to defeat it has been very difficult.

Of course, I have to finish off this post by juxtaposing some 2010 Gubernatorial politics. With this donation, Whitman will be sure to get a boost with law enforcement types, who are all opposed to this thing. If… Read More