OCGOP COOL TO MCCAIN If last night was any indicator, Senator John McCain has a long way to go in endearing himself to California Republicans. The Orange County Republican Party had its biennial organizational meeting last night at the Hyatt Hotel in Irvine, where former Assembly Scott Baugh was re-elected to another term as Chairman with hearty applause and no opposition. Also elected were a slate of officers that included myself as Second Vice-Chairman — also uncontested. That said, Chairman Baugh ended up holding an impromptu popularity poll of the roughly 200 party leaders in attendance for the 2008 GOP Presidential primary. The context was Baugh asking which Presidential contenders those present would like to see speak at the GOP’s big annual Flag Day Gala. Baugh cycled through all of the most talked-about candidates — where Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich received the most applause. There was what I will characterize as a polite applause for former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. But probably the most noteworthy response from the room came when Baugh… Read More

I tried to think of a more creative title for this post but this one just worked.

I have never liked Senator John McCain and when he made it his priority to cut and run with my constitutional rights with his so-called campaign finance reform, I realized that it was my mission to dislike him even more.

He has some (albeit likely short lived) ability to connect with the American People. That may be one for the reasons why people like Irvine Company billionaire Donald Bren and Schwarzenegger campaign manager Steve Schmidt have signed on with the mal-tempered senator from Arizona to try to make him president.

But I am a big believer in understanding people’s motivations. For Schmidt its a money play. He is hot coming off a huge win for the Governor and can command big $$s. So he went with whomever was willing pay him the big money. For Bren, sure it would nice to pick the next president two years out. But if McCain doesn’t become president, he will be in the U. S. Senate for life or Secretary of the Interior?, Bren knows having 100% of a U. S. Senator or cabinet secretary is better than a maybe president.

So as you see people… Read More

If you ever have to stay in Long Beach, may I suggest the Hyatt of Marriott hotels? They are non-union. The others are unionized. The Long Beach City Council decided that letting employees decide if a hotel is unionized isn’t good enough.

They passed an ordinance forcing unions on the hotels, because they are on city owned property. The Mayor vetoed the ordinance and the override vote.

Last November, the Democrats took a majority in Congress, and I don’t have enough space in this column to talk about all of the reasons why that is terrible news for America. I will simply say that if you consider the ideological perspective of Nancy Pelosi, the newly minted Speaker of the House of Representatives, you would see that she has a vision of a much larger role for the federal government than was ever envisioned by our nation’s founding fathers. Or to put it more succinctly, the freedom, liberty and property of all of the people of this great nation are imperiled by her view of a larger and more invasive role of the federal government. Needless to say, it should be a top priority for all Americans who believe in a truly limited role for our national government to rally together to ensure that the reign of Pelosi lasts precisely two years, and no more. Right? Herein lies the big challenge ahead in doing just that. Nancy Pelosi and the Party of Clinton did not achieve a majority in Congress because they were just better campaigners than the Republicans — in a very large measure, Democrats gained control of Congress because… Read More

Last November, the Democrats took a majority in Congress, and I don’t have enough space in this column to talk about all of the reasons why that is terrible news for America. I will simply say that if you consider the ideological perspective of Nancy Pelosi, the newly minted Speaker of the House of Representatives, you would see that she has a vision of a much larger role for the federal government than was ever envisioned by our nation’s founding fathers. Or to put it more succinctly, the freedom, liberty and property of all of the people of this great nation are imperiled by her view of a larger and more invasive role of the federal government. Needless to say, it should be a top priority for all Americans who believe in a truly limited role for our national government to rally together to ensure that the reign of Pelosi lasts precisely two years, and no more. Right? Herein lies the big challenge ahead in doing just that. Nancy Pelosi and the Party of Clinton did not achieve a majority in Congress because they were just better campaigners than the Republicans — in a very large measure, Democrats gained control of Congress because… Read More

SUNDAY SAN DIEGO

A couple of weeks ago, the SD Reader’s cover story by Matt Potter, entitled "San Diego’s Bad Behavior in the Spotlight," was an insightful piece about some of the best political catfights and other donnybrooks in the area during 2006.

Most interesting was that significant portions of thearticle focused on how blogging impacted the political landscape throughout the year. First, a section on former Orange County Register editorial writer Chris Reed’s hiring by the San Diego Union-Tribune to pen America’s Finest Blog. Reed’s penchant to go after SD City Attorney Mike Aguirre resulted in Big Mike deciding he needed to blog back, and thus started The Aguirre Report.

Life has not been the same since.

**There is more – click the link**… Read More

SUNDAY SAN DIEGO

A couple of weeks ago, the SD Reader’s cover story by Matt Potter, entitled "San Diego’s Bad Behavior in the Spotlight," was an insightful piece about some of the best political catfights and other donnybrooks in the area during 2006.

Most interesting was that significant portions of thearticle focused on how blogging impacted the political landscape throughout the year. First, a section on former Orange County Register editorial writer Chris Reed’s hiring by the San Diego Union-Tribune to pen America’s Finest Blog. Reed’s penchant to go after SD City Attorney Mike Aguirre resulted in Big Mike deciding he needed to blog back, and thus started The Aguirre Report.

Life has not been the same since.

Some excerpts from the "Mike vs. Chris," portion of Potter’s Reader story, in which a blogger actually gets equal billing with the colorful… Read More

* If you have a badge issued to you by a member of the California Legislature, you may want to frame it for posterity. Speaker Fabian Nunez has announced that there will no longer be badges produced for non-legislators. Which really begs the question — why were badges created for non-legislators in the first place? I wonder if the current badge-holders will have to turn theirs back in. Undoubtedly for all of their hard work, Jason Kinney, Roger Salazer, Andrew Acosta and Steve Maviglio must have badges, no? I guess they will have to make their favorite drive from Sacramento to San Francisco while observing the speed limit. Sorry guys. * I can’t say how disappointing it is that the Governor has proposed what are, so obviously on the face of them, new taxes to finance this ill-fated government incursion into healthcare in California. When he and his senior officials are trying to thread some sort of needle over technical yet important distinction between a tax or a fee, then the Governor just doesn’t get it. For example, what kind of an person doesn’t think a hike in the payroll tax — is a payroll tax? After the… Read More