Well FR readers, welcome to 2008. This promises to be a VERY eventful year in California politics.

Just think about it…

We have not one, not two, but three statewide elections… Already we know that the first one will be filled with the politics of four referendums on Indian Gaming Compacts, the effort of Fabian Nunez to extend his time in office by another six years, and, oh, the minor matter of which GOP and Democrat candidates will win California delegates to their respective party Presidential nominating conventions.

At the center of this year’s three-ring circus will be the politically schizophrenic Arnold Schwarzenegger. On some days of the week, he’ll get out of bed putting his right foot down. This will be the Governor who wants spending caps, opposes “job killer bills” and talks tough on cutting state spending to tackle the state’s massive overspending problems. Other days of the week, he’ll leap out of bed onto his two left… Read More

Another one for the Democrat "do as we say, not as we do" file.

Fox News reports that the Hillary campaign, in order to turn out Iowa voters ID’d as her own voters evidently, has secured two hundred ninety five SUV’s to turn out voters to the caucuses tomorrow. Also, they are lining up vehicles to spread salt on Iowa’s roads where her voters live.

Wouldn’t 600 Priuses have done the job? Do they have enough carbon credits accrued to cover this global warming atrocity caused by all those SUV’s? And sowing the fertile Iowa road-edge soil with salt? I’m appalled at the environmental damage from the Clinton campaign. But Fox reportsHillary is making 600+ snow shovels available so that voters can shovel their way tothe caucuses for the privilege to cast a vote for her. No word on how many months to see a doctor under HillaryCare for a wrenched back from shoveling snow. On the bright side, after the snow subsides, I’m sure those shovels will still come in plenty handy for the rest of the Hillary campaign platform!… Read More

The Orange County Taxpayers Association (OCTax) released their official positions on the statewide ballot measures for February.

OPPOSE Prop. 91 – Transportation Funds.

OPPOSE Prop. 92 – Community Colleges. Funding.

OPPOSE Prop. 93 – Term Limits on Legislators’ Terms in Office.

OPPOSE Props. 94, 95, 96, 97 – Referendum Petitions to Overturn Amendments to Indian Gaming Compacts.

No real surprises here. But with OCTax now maintaining a political action committee they could weigh in heavily if they choose. While today the PAC has limited funds on hand, the membership includes some very large business entities which could choose to use the OCTax PAC as a vehicle for impacting county and statewide measures.

A quick look at the most recent donors demonstrates the caliber of the OCTax membership. Donors include The Irvine Company, owned by billionaire Don Bren; Ware… Read More

Congressman Tom Lantos has announced he is retiring from Congress. He has been diagnosed with cancer.

Former Senator Jackie Speier will now be running for an open seat.… Read More

On the last day of 2007, it’s worth taking a moment to see where the Republican presidential campaign sits as we close two years of prognostication and predictions and start in on the phase where real voters actually begin to weigh in.

The most notable aspect of the race at this point is that our party – which is usually extremely efficient in identifying and anointing a front-runner — has yet to do so. Rudy Giuliani started the year with the inside track on becoming the GOP’s likely nominee, followed by turns taken by Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson, Romney again, Mike Huckabee, and most recently, John McCain. But while the Huckabee-Romney battle in Iowa will conclude tonight, it’s unlikely that the final outcome in the Hawkeye State will bring much clarity to the field. Meanwhile, McCain has mounted a mini-surge that has positioned him well on his old stomping grounds in New Hampshire, while Thompson is pushing for a third-place finish that would allow him to stake a claim in South Carolina later this month.

And Giuliani? Last Saturday night, after three campaign events that day across the state of Iowa, Rudy did the smartest thing… Read More

Interesting article in the Washington Post today about a meeting being convened by University of Oklahoma President and former US Senator David Boren with a host of other former partisan officer holders. The press is spinning this as an opportunity for New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to further explore an independent candidacy for President.

So why don’t we have more bipartisan cooperation in California? Some would look at the efforts of Governor Schwarzenegger and think this is the ticket to the political promised land. That would be folly.

The reality is that party primaries are what prevent this sort of thing from occurring. Schwarzenegger was elected Governor under a very strange set of circumstances and possibly the only way he could have won. I doubt if he could have beat Senator Tom McClintock in a Republican primary.

Let’s think about those Republican elected officials that have crossed the aisle regularly to work with the Democrats on an issue or issues.

Assemblyman Paul Horcher – recalled. worked for Willie… Read More

As promised below, here is the other version of the upcoming political drama in Sacramento — so without further ado, I give you…..

Night of the Living Democrats! (<—- click the title)

In this version I had to expand the stars into the Assembly (primarily because the Senate Republican caucus is currently all male) and one of the main parts is female.

Don’t blame us for not having a female Senator – we tried mightily to have Lynn Daucher join us – blame the Dems (right, Lou Correa?)

So now this becomes an action drama starring (see if you can spot them all): Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia (as the heroine) me! (as the hero) Senate President pro TemDon Perata Senator Carole Migden Senator Darrell Steinberg Speaker Fabian Nunez Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (as the intrepid repoter – it’s a post-partisan role)

Thisparody isso funny in how exactly perfect all the dialogue is –we live this every… Read More

I’m currently visiting family in Chicago, and just attended a beautiful Catholic Mass that integrated the seven principles of Kwanzaa. The service had all the traditional rituals of the Mass I celebrate at home in Pleasanton, so I could fully participate in a very comfortable and familiar way. And yet, the service integrated new concepts that I had never seen before, celebrating Kwanzaa by weaving it into the age-old traditional Mass. It was beautiful and inspiring. It had the comfort of home, and the wonder of something new. I felt the warmth of familiarity, and the sense of belonging to an organization of millions of people I may never meet who are my spiritual family, woven together by tradition, shared faith, and common rituals. No matter where I travel, a Catholic Mass will be celebrated nearly the same as my church in Pleasanton, yet will have its own regional flare.

I hope I feel as warm and hopeful leaving the February CRP convention, as I did leaving Mass in Chicago today.

I have seen a lot of email traffic between members of the Drafting and Platform committees regarding the new Party Platform that will be adopted in San Francisco in February. Most of… Read More