As I wait for graphics I have time to skim through the various national columnists to see what the big brains are thinking (actually, that’s not altogether true. First I looked up the 1974 Rankin-Bass stop-motion holiday cartoon The Year Without a Santa Claus and found the fan websites for both Heatmiser and Snowmiser and played both their songs loud until everyone else in the office told me to put a cork in it).

Then I went over to Peggy Noonan who had the following gem in her Wall Street Journal opinion piece entitled Is there Progress Through Loss?

… Read More

Bringing the race for California Insurance Commissioner full-circle, Steve Poizner just picked up the endorsement of Primary Challenger and all around classy guy, Dr. Phil Kurzner.

While the Primary race did increase in volume a few decibles, Phil nonetheless decided to bury the hatchet and lend his support to Steve’s ever-strengthening effort to beat Cruz Bustamante.

Phil sent over his thoughts to share with the FlashReport’s readers:

"Steve Poizner should be the next Insurance Commissioner of California. I have gotten to know Steve well over the past year. He has a rare combination of intelligence, integrity and commitment to helping the people of this great state. He has the ability to become an outstanding public servant. He and I share a commitment to the principles of the free market. Steve also demonstrates consistent common sense in his decisions. His qualifications for this office are extraordinary. On November… Read More

One has to feel empathy for Democrat consultant Richie Ross. To the left is a photo of Ross before the race for Insurance Commissioner really heated up. Look what has happenned to poor Ross in just a few months…

The FlashReport was able to obtain photograph taken at the campaign headquarters of Cruz Bustamante just last week. Pictured below is Ross being manhandled by Bustamante, insisting that the serious campaign spots about the future of California that Ross created for Cruz be dumped and that Cruz’s personal campaign vision – commercials centered around his personal attempts at weight loss – be put on the air.

We feel for ya, Richie!… Read More

It is no coincidence that today the FlashReport is featuring an important column from Assemblywoman Mimi Walters entitled, Government Gone Awry: The Case for Proposition 90. It is because as we approach the General Election just a little over a week away, this ballot measure has become one of the most important on the ballot.

The fundamental property rights arguments made by Assemblywoman Walters (pictured to the right) in her piece lay out how this measure is about some very core conservative values.

Proposition 90 is one of the most important issues that should be passed by the voters that appears on the November ballot. Why? Because it goes to one of the most fundamental rights that we enjoy as Americans, and as Californians — the right to private property.… Read More

It is no coincidence that today the FlashReport is featuring an important column from Assemblywoman Mimi Walters entitled, Government Gone Awry: The Case for Proposition 90. It is because as we approach the General Election just a little over a week away, this ballot measure has become one of the most important on the ballot.

The fundamental property rights arguments made by Assemblywoman Walters (pictured to the right) in her piece lay out how this measure is about some very core conservative values.

Proposition 90 is one of the most important issues that should be passed by the voters that appears on the November ballot. Why? Because it goes to one of the most fundamental rights that we enjoy as Americans, and as Californians — the right to private property.

Peeling away all of the rhetoric that gets thrown about during a heated… Read More

Over at the Democrat Majority Report website, FR (liberal) friend Steve Maviglio a ‘Top Ten Races to Watch’ — I guess he is doing this once a week as he did it last week and now this week. Anyways, on the first list, he graciously threw Angelides v. Schwarzenegger in the 10th and final slot. This is commendable. Steve’s a loyal guy — after all, if Gray Davis was the HMS Titanic, and Davis the Captain on the bridge — Steve stayed with "Captain Davis" as the ship went down. Keeping Phil Angelides on the Top Ten list was a gesture of kindness as no one would rate the Governor’s race in California as one of the top ten races to watch…

Well, perhaps demonstrating a little bit of "fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me" — in his new top ten list, Steve has finally conceded that Angelides no longer makes the top ten.

He ads a "special mention" for Angelides — which I have posted below. Keep… Read More

It may be hard to believe from my slight build, but in high school I played football. My position was defensive end or “wing” on the right hand side of the line, which is humorous because the rule was I was to never let anyone from the other team get to the right of me. That rule served me well over time. It also put me in the time honored position of blind-siding quarterbacks. I’ve found that talent to be less useful over time.

While politics is full of comparisons to sports and war, and sometimes the comparisons are a bit tired and worn, over the last few days I’ve experienced what I think is an apt comparison between politics and sports.

Playing football, you learn over time that the mental game is often as important as the physical. On any given day, a small town team like mine with good morale could beat a big city team with poor morale. And many things could break the spirit of an otherwise strong team and lead to mistake after mistake as the group got more unsure of itself. Most teams were only a few fumbles or sacks away from broken morale. And most teams were only a few sacks or recovered fumbles away from good morale.… Read More

We’ve been reading about the independent efforts underway to help Tony Strickland get elected State Controller. Some Indian Tribes and Silicon Valley types are stepping up bigtime (to the tune of millions of dollars). Why would they do this? Maybe they are sick and tired of having a liberal, tax-loving majority on the State Board of Equalization? Duh.

In the meatime, Strickland’s Democrat opponent, John Chiang, has started to flake out on his media payments causing cancellations around the state. Much like his Democrat colleague Cruz Bustamante, Chiang’s campaign seems to be imploding.

There is union money out there… But with Angelides losing by a margin so vast, do the unions want to drop good money after bad?… Read More