Fifteen months after he officially began running for Governor… Almost a year since Governor Schwarzenegger proposed the legislation now known as Jessica’s Law… More than a month after law enforcement and others asked him to take a stand for California children…. More than three weeks since he himself promised to lay out an "alternative," Phil Angelides today finally came out with a position on Jessica’s Law…

He endorsed it. (No-brainer.) Nice work for a first day on the job by Angelides’ two new Democratic operatives — Steve Maviglio and Roger Salazar — who were called in to pick up the slack left when senior advisor Bob Mulholland was benched last week.

But in typical Angelides fashion, he had to tweak his support a bit to maintain his "anti-Arnold" image. So, he criticized the state’s parole system for sex offenders. And what does he use to back up his assertion? Not info from the Governor’s Office. Not stats from the Department of Correction or any other state agency. What does he use? A… Read More

I am proud to be an elected member of the Orange County Republican Party Central Committee (t/y to any FR readers who helped me get re-elected last month). Tonight, as I write this, I am at the monthly OC GOP meeting, where there is a debate taking place that is soooo boring that pillows should be issued to attendees.

The issue? It’s obscure – but has to do with whether or not the Alternate appointed by an Ex-Officio Member (in this case a State Senator) had the right to pull a candidate for office off of the Endorsement consent calendar. (The OC GOP like many other County Committees endorses in local non-partisan races.)

Chairman Scott Baugh ruled that the Alternate could vote. His ruling was challenged, sending a group of about 200 people into a unique form of hell – with pro and con speeches, etc., etc. Ultimately Baugh’s ruling was upheld.

Why am I sharing this with you? Oh, that’s simple. Misery deserves company.

My two final observations: Scott Baugh is a great Chairman who volunteers his time despite sometimes challenging times. The other is that FR blogger Adam Probolsky was the Ex-Officio… Read More

Last month in the Napa Valley, I had a chance to meet a lot of interesting people while participating as a panelist at a California Chamber of Commerce post-primary retreat. One of those people was Democrat operative Darry Sragow. I found him to be quite interesting. A bit more subdued than I thought he would be – at least as he came across at this event. Then again, given that his audience was mostly Republicans… I bring up Sragow because he is apparently gifted with the ability to understate the obvious. Today in the Sacramento Bee is a story entitled, "Campaign 2006: For Angelides, the path ahead is mostly uphill," in which Sragow is quoted:

Last month in the Napa Valley, I had a chance to meet a lot of interesting people while participating as a panelist at a California Chamber of Commerce post-primary retreat. One of those people was Democrat operative Darry Sragow. I found him to be quite interesting. A bit more subdued than I thought he would be – at least as he came across at this event. Then again, given that his audience was mostly Republicans… I bring up Sragow because he is apparently gifted with the ability to understate the obvious. Today in the Sacramento Bee is a story entitled, "Campaign 2006: For Angelides, the path ahead is mostly uphill," in which Sragow is quoted:

I was expecting a quiet Sunday as I spent time this morning surfing over fifty websites compiling the main page. Not so much. There’s a lot going on out in news-land today. Lots of great reading for those who like to do that with their Sunday. Let’s start first with recommending four great columns for you to read: Congressman Richard Pombo penned a piece for the Contra Costa Times on why the Endangered Species Act needs a serious facelift. This is accompanied on the main page by an article from the Sacramento Bee on this same subject. Also featured, from the Bee, are a pair of articles from the ‘dynamic duo’ of Walters and Weintraub. Both pieces take a really hard look at Governor Schwarzenegger and the kind of Governor into which he has evolved. I think you will enjoy them both. Finally, LA Weekly columnist (and prolific writer) Bill Bradley has a piece on his site today that illustrates a big challenge for Phil Angelides — if you want to raise taxes on everyone, eventually you need to get into specifics – or do you? On the ‘hard news’ side of things — the top story today is an… Read More

I was expecting a quiet Sunday as I spent time this morning surfing over fifty websites compiling the main page. Not so much. There’s a lot going on out in news-land today. Lots of great reading for those who like to do that with their Sunday. Let’s start first with recommending four great columns for you to read: Congressman Richard Pombo penned a piece for the Contra Costa Times on why the Endangered Species Act needs a serious facelift. This is accompanied on the main page by an article from the Sacramento Bee on this same subject. Also featured, from the Bee, are a pair of articles from the ‘dynamic duo’ of Walters and Weintraub. Both pieces take a really hard look at Governor Schwarzenegger and the kind of Governor into which he has evolved. I think you will enjoy them both. Finally, LA Weekly columnist (and prolific writer) Bill Bradley has a piece on his site today that illustrates a big challenge for Phil Angelides — if you want to raise taxes on everyone, eventually you need to get into specifics – or do you? On the ‘hard news’ side of things — the top story today is an… Read More

The Truman Show?… Former Steve Peace aide Art Castaneres and lobbyist Adrian Kwiatkowski have started a new group, the Truman Association, ostensiblyas the "centrist-left" alternative to the GOP-leaning San Diego Lincoln Club. I guess these folks are fed up with the local Democratic Party being a monthly debating society, with no real power. More on this development and the ramifications later…but with apparentties to Howard Wayne and Padres owner John Moores, the group could have some clout locally. Matt Potter has the story here in the SD Reader.

Unsealing Aguirre… Speaking of the Reader, Don Bauder pens an excellent piece for the alternative tabloid this past week on the intrigue and machinations behind getting SD City Attorney Mike Aguirre’s 1989 divorce records unsealed. Bauder, formerly a columnist for the SDUT, has no problem asking the embarrassing question of… Read More

Sept 19 was the date set for the recall of two of three remaing pro- Wal-Mart council members in Rosemead. See last post on Rosemead here.However, there is an outstanding court case that may screech this to a haly again. See here. This kind of election bring out all kinds of wackiness. The targets of the recall voted to ban all outdoor smoking and ant- Wal-Mart types are looking at everything Wal-Mart is doing on the building site. See here.

Of course for me the ironic part is that the election will take place after theGrand Opening of the Wal-Mart which, could put an anti- Wal-Mart council in charge of spending the tax revenue Wal-Mart produces. Only in California.… Read More