The FPPC’s general take on IE spending, with McCann vs. Block in the 78th pegged as the barn burner it was anticipated to be, and "Opportunity PAC" leading the way in spending hard-earned union dues……

Special Interest Spending Tops $2.4 Million in Ten Races Independent Expenditures balloon to over $100 million With three weeks to go until the November election, the Fair Political Practices Commission today released information showing that special interests have already spent more than $2.4 million on general election “independent expenditures” in ten contested legislative districts.… Read More

To get a glimpse inside the Obama phenomena a Zack Exley, a true believer, walks us through the Ohio Obama grass roots organization. Republicans who care should turn green with envy and respect to the intense organizational mastery achieved by Obama’s team.

I’ve heard bits and pieces about these grass roots activists. But here is the report from the Left’s trenches as they face our battlegrounds.This amazing piece comes from former Republican theoretician Arianna Huffington’s,her Post. … Read More

Maintaining a multi-year streak of always seeing someone I know on the flights between Orange County and Sacramento, today I am pleased to be joined on this mid-morning by Governor Schwarzenegger's Appointments Secretary John Cruz. Wheels up!… Read More

To get a glimpse inside the Obama phenomena a Zack Exley, a true believer, walks us through the Ohio Obama grass roots organization. Republicans who care should turn green with envy and respectfor the intense organizational mastery achieved by Obama’s team.

I’ve heard bits and pieces about these grass roots activists. But here is the report from the Left’s trenches as they face our battlegrounds.This amazing piece comes from former Republican theoretician Arianna Huffington’s Post. … Read More

[Cross-posted from OC Blog]

It’s been a couple of weeks, but I believe it’s important to respond to the OC Register’s October 1 editorial against Proposition 8.

There have been rumors the OC Register and the Los Angeles Times are discussing joint ventures, but after reading that editorial against Prop. 8, I have to wonder if those discussions include the editorial page.

Growing up, I derived cognitive nourishment from intellectually robust OC Register editorials defending freedom within the framework of the American Founding. But this editorial is more a mish-mish of wishy-washy LA Times liberalism and the stunted libertarian… Read More

If anyone has any doubt about whether Vegas-style Casino gambling is thriving here in California, just take a trip as a I did last night to the Agua Calliente Casino and Hotel on Bob Hope Drive in Rancho Mirage. It is a beautiful facility, and based on the capacity crowd jammed into their casino, the dip in the economy isn’t hurting them a bit. Maybe everyone who is pulling their money out of the stock market is “investing” in blackjack, roulette or in some of the thousands of slot machines that sang in harmony as Assemblyman-Elect Jeff Miller and I avoided the whole gambling scene (a statement of self- acknowledgment of our lack of gambling skills) and made our way to a large ballroom at the back of the resort where Jeff and I joined a few hundred other people for an evening tribute honoring the retirement of one of California’s most effective and respected Republican legislators (who also happens to be a blogger for this website).

State Senator Jim Battin has been one heck of a great legislator, and last night Jim, surrounded by… Read More

This morning I was reading through Capitol Morning Report (an influential political subscription web site) and came across a press release from an organization called “My Hood Votes.” After doing a little internet research, I discovered that My Hood Votes is a “grassroots education and mobilization campaign designed to engage non-traditional voters in underserved Black neighborhoods commonly referred to as ‘the hood…’” The organization kicked off its campaign by holding a voter registration drive on Saturday in Compton. Photos of the event show several African-American men wearing Barack Obama t-shirts as they roam their “hood” registering voters.

Upon visiting the My Hood Votes web site, a profanity-laced rap song began playing: “Above the Law” by rapper Black Superman. It seemed an appropriate song to describe the My Hood Votes activities. If it wasn’t so alarmingly serious, the web site would almost seem like a stereotypical satire on the inner city. Take the message that greets web site visitors (along with the… Read More

If anyone has any doubt about whether Vegas-style Casino gambling is thriving here in California, just take a trip as a I did last night to the Agua Calliente Casino and Hotel on Bob Hope Drive in Rancho Mirage. It is a beautiful facility, and based on the capacity crowd jammed into their casino, the dip in the economy isn’t hurting them a bit. Maybe everyone who is pulling their money out of the stock market is “investing” in blackjack, roulette or in some of the thousands of slot machines that sang in harmony as Assemblyman-Elect Jeff Miller and I avoided the whole gambling scene (a statement of self- acknowledgment of our lack of gambling skills) and made our way to a large ballroom at the back of the resort where Jeff and I joined a few hundred other people for an evening tribute honoring the retirement of one of California’s most effective and respected Republican legislators (who also happens to be a blogger for this website).

State Senator Jim Battin has been one heck of a great legislator, and last night Jim, surrounded by… Read More