Congressman John Doolittle held a conference call today with reporters to discuss the latest turn of events, with his home being searched by the FBI last Friday and his subsequent decision, yesterday, to temporarily step off of the House Appropriations Committee. Speculations was starting to arise (undoubtedly helped along with posts like Tom Ross’ today looking at the GOP "bench" in CD-4) that Doolittle might resign.

He was pretty clear, saying: "I have no intention of resigning from Congress and I have every intention of running for reelection again."

You can read the entire transcript of the call here.

As I have said before, and I will say again — I’ve known John Doolittle and his wife, Julie, for a long, long time. I have found him them both to be individuals possessing high level of integrity and strong moral principle. The fact that Julie was hired by someone who turned out to be a criminal does not make her one as well, nor does it mean the Congressman is either!

That… Read More

Here is an excerpt from an e-mail on redistricting reform that I received from former State Senator Chuck Poochigian: I have been a strong supporter of redistricting reform. I prefer a judge model as was used in the 1990s and earlier. However, experience tells us that might not fly. But an element which I think is vital is "nesting." By having 2 Assembly seats per each of 40 Senate seats (vs. 5 or more as is the case in many districts now), a number of positive things occur, among them:

It imposes necessary discipline on whomever is charged with drawing the lines and limits opportunity for gaming to accommodate or give advantage to particular prospective candidates. It limits unhealthy behavior that is a natural consequence of poorly designed districts as votes are cast and relationships are forged within the legislative arena. While this may seem esoteric or inconsequential to some, where several current … Read More

Lots of calls and emails this morning on the Doolittle Seat. So I thought I’d give everybody a little update. Obviously, lots of folks concerned that a special election with lots of GOP candidates could split the vote and allow Charlie Brown (pictured below to the left) to win. Not going to happen — Charlie Brown will not receive 50%+1 of the vote in this district. A crowded field might force a runoff between the top vote getters from each party, but he wont open the door for him to win.

Senator Dave Cox isn’t going to run — too bad, he is an excellent fundraiser, a good campaigner and a great public servant .

Between Assemblymembers Ted Gaines (pictured to the right) and Roger Niello, looks like… Read More

The San Gabriel Valley Lincoln club meeting this morning offered more intrigue than I could have imagined in the 60th AD GOP race. Two candidates showed up. Larry Dick and Curt Hagman. You can see my last post on this race here. I asked both to say a few words. At the end of the meeting, one of our Lincoln Club members told me he was a potential candidate, but hasn’t decided yet. NO, I’m not hearing voices in my head. See post here. It was none other than La Habra Heights Councilman Stan Carroll. I pretty sure he has been elected at least two times to the council. Stan is a professor at Rio Hondo College and a formerprosecutor in San Bernardino. Did I … Read More

Watching the Alberto Gonzales hearings yesterday was sickening. How much RNC, NRSC and other money went in to saving Senator Arlen Spector’s political life against GOP primary challenger Pat Toomey? We pour millions into races to save the likes of Lincoln Chafee and Jim Jeffords.

I have pasted below a piece I just had published in the Valley Conservative here in the Central Valley. Enjoy.

IS CONSERVATISM DEAD

Over the past twelve years, conservatism for me has become hollow words, empty promises, and abandoned principles.I know that most of you agree. How many times do we have to bear the unbearable – the sight of a Republican candidate or elected official talking about “less government, lower taxes, school choice, less regulation, energy independence, reforming Medicare and Social Security” – knowing full well that these issues will not ever see solutions?In fact, the vast majority of our elected officials have continued to cast votes making these problems worse, not better.Do Medicare Part D and … Read More

Spring Cleaning

House Republican leaders moved swiftly to pressure two of their conference members under federal investigation to step down from key committee posts this week. Yesterday saw Rep. John Doolittle of California step down from his Appropriations Committee assignment after word leaked that his Virginia home had been raided by FBI agents seeking documents linking him with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Similarly, Rep. Rick Renzi of Arizona stepped down from the Intelligence Committee after it was revealed that the FBI had raided a business tied to his wife as part of an ongoing probe into his official actions.

House Republicans were often slow in the last Congress to… Read More

Its very possible that Congressman John Doolittle will resign because of circumstances relating to the ethical (and maybe legal) charges being brought against him.

With ethical issues being at the forefront at the national level, Doolittle’s next challenge may be from the leadership in the Republican party — asking him to step aside for “the good of the party”. It is also possible that a federal judge and/or US attorney forces this congressional seat open in a less subtle manner.

For those not familiar with the seat, this North Eastern California Congressional District is solid GOP territory that stretches from the Sacramento suburbs up to Lake Tahoe and all the way north to the Oregon border. The district has a 48% to 30% GOP registration advantage and Bush received 61% of the vote in 2004. If Democrat challenger Charlie Brown couldn’t win this district in the perfect storm last year, he sure wont win it in 2008 against a well qualified Republican… Read More

Its very possible that Congressman John Doolittle will resign because of circumstances relating to the ethical (and maybe legal) charges being brought against him.

With ethical issues being at the forefront at the national level, Doolittle’s next challenge may be from the leadership in the Republican party — asking him to step aside for “the good of the party”. It is also possible that a federal judge and/or US attorney forces this congressional seat open in a less subtle manner.

For those not familiar with the seat, this North Eastern California Congressional District is solid GOP territory that stretches from the Sacramento suburbs up to Lake Tahoe and all the way north to the Oregon border. The district has a 48% to 30% GOP registration advantage and Bush received 61% of the vote in 2004. If Democrat challenger Charlie Brown couldn’t win this district in the perfect storm last year, he sure wont win it in 2008 against a well qualified Republican… Read More