My Republican state senator is a big zero. A cipher. A giant goose egg.

Senator Bob Dutton, who represents the 31st State Senate District (Riverside and San Bernardino counties), was just awarded a zero rating from ultra-liberal special interest group California Public Interest Research Group. The left-wing bestowed the low ranking to Senator Dutton specifically for his work against a big government health care scheme (Nunez/Perata), heftier fees on minivans and SUVs, and his stance against proposed bills that would have halted California’s economy.

You can tell a lot about a legislator by those opposed to him. In Senator Bob Dutton’s case, he ought to be proud of his rating from such an out-of-touch extreme leftist organization that aims for a California where Big Government reigns supreme. A California with an… Read More

Longtime California GOP leader Steve Frank publishes his winners and losers of the CRP Convention. His "big loser" is former State GOP Chairman Duf Sundheim.… Read More

Today Assembly Democrats informally chose Majority Leader Karen Bass to succeed Fabian "Louis Vuitton" Nunez. We call this rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Unless Bass is going to usher California Democrats into an era of reducing the size and scope of state government. Don’t hold your breath!… Read More

FR friend Shane Goldmacher, over at the Sacramento Bee’s Capitol Alert, interviewed incoming Senate Republican Leader Dave Cogdill. It’s an interesting piece that you can read here (free registration required).… Read More

FR friend Ryan Clumpner, Chairman of the California College Republicans, along with a number of his CR colleagues, presented signboards to State Senator Tom McClintock with hundreds of signatures, urging the Senator to run for Congress in the 4th District.

Below is a photo of the Senator talking to reporters with Clumpner and company, along with the signboards.

McClintock is still being coy about whether he will get into the race, but promises a final decision by "early next week" — whatever that means.… Read More

With last weekend’s convention, the state budget back-and-forth, and the presidential race, I missed the chance to comment on something the Governor has been pushing pretty aggressively: the continuation of Operation Jump Start.

If you’ll remember, that’s the code name given to the mission assigned to the National Guard to temporarily help secure the border while thousands of additional Border Patrol agents are hired and trained. In 2006, when the federal government announced the mission, Governor Schwarzenegger wanted guarantees that California’s Guard troops would still be available to assist during disasters here, which he received. The Governor then agreed to the mission and since then, National Guard troops have been supporting the Border Patrol along our border with Mexico.

And from what I have been told, the mission has been working. Illegal border crossings are down. Arrests are up. Drug trafficking has been reduced.

The mission was scheduled to end this coming July, but the feds are apparently only about halfway toward their goal of hiring and training 6,000 more agents.

Governor Schwarzenegger has urged President Bush to continue… Read More

Steve Kinney, the California Parter of Public Opinion Strategies sent over the attached memo written by his colleague — Glen Bolger about the media bias (my term not his) in its reporting of the Republican Party being split on McCain. Based on empirical data — it is the Democrats that should be more worried about a split in their party. And this was before a Nader candidacy.

Here is Bolger’s concluding paragraph:

As Senator McCain readies himself for the November election, it is clear that conservative Republicans are nowhere near as disgruntled with him as the press narrative would have us believe. Thus, he is able to do what he does best – and what the GOP needs to do most – appeal to Independents.

Enjoy!… Read More

Amidst the "Run, Tom, Run" furvor that has sparked up and down California at the prospects of conservative icon and State Senator Tom McClintock entering the GOP primary in the 4th Congressional District (where John Doolittle is retiring), one prominent conservative isn’t too fond of the idea. Jeff Flint, proprietor of Red County’s Placer blog says he’d vote for Tom in a general election, but that’s it. He pens a lengthy commentary this morning, entitled Thanks But No Thanks, Tom.… Read More