The late hit is the fear of every consultant, candidate and spouse of a candidate. And I am sure, whatever form it takes, mail or TV or radio or phone call, the late hit will always be in play as long as there are elections.

However, I believe, and it seems every other consultant I talk to, thinks the late hit is ineffective and often times backfires.

To illustrate this point, does anyone remember that just days before the Presidential election in 2000, it was released that George W. Bush had a DUI back in 1976? Most American’s don’t. But at the time it made Bush, a responsible father and husband and governor, into a sympathetic figure, being attacked by those who wanted to bring him down. Ostensibly to help the other guy he was running against, who ever that was. I can’t remember.

So if you (read your consultant) has ‘the silver bullet’ hit mail piece on your opponent printed and ready to mail just days before the election, think twice. It could and probably will backfire. And condemn you to be… Read More

Full disclosure: I am not on Pombo’s payroll. I will not benefit financially from McCloskey’s defeat. I will campaign for the Democrat if McCloskey wins the primary (which I doubt he will but one never knows).

If ever there was an example of just how much the Mainstream Media hates conservatives, it is their endorsement of Pete McCloskey, who is running against incumbent Richard Pombo in the 11th congressional district.

Pete McCloskey (pictured to the right), who served as a member of congress from 1967-1983, has been endorsed by several major newspapers in California. This week, the San Francisco Chronicle was the latest to join the ranks of hateful, hypocritical newsrooms around the state who would rather endorse a Holocaust denier like Pete McCloskey than endorse a conservative like Richard Pombo. Or, and there’s always this option, remain neutral and not take a… Read More

After I blogged a little about the Dal Rae steak house in LA as a place to me (see it here), I received a couple offers for lunch at the Dal Reae of course. Today I had lunch there with a political operative. Very nice. FR readers should know I am always for available. If there are other nominees for politico restaurants, please feel free to let me know. If you are cheap, Tommy is celebrating 60 years of tasty burgers with lotsa chili(see it here)… Read More

Looks like the dukes have come off in the regular primary election in the 50th Congressional District as conservative businessman Bill Hauf turns on the ‘contrast campaign’ — with this instructive mail piece to Republican voters, reminding them that Bilbray does not support 2nd Amendment rights.

You can be sure that the next couple of weeks will see a slew of this kind of mail, and conservatives are reminded that there IS someone about whom they can get excited about who is actively campaigning for the two-year seat.

I’m sure this kind of mail will be challenging for Bilbray, who would probably prefer to spend this time campaigning to Democrats about how he is as good on many of their issues as his Democratic opponent, Francine Busby. But instead, Bilbray will have to try and defend his not-so-conservative record to Republicans – good… Read More

The race between incumbent San Diego Supervisor Bill Horn and the local media elite has really heated up again over the last week. In the last couple days local TV stations ‘broke’ the news that Bill Horn, an avocado rancher, had some of his employees living on the property in what sounded like a rather comfortable trailer. Well, I can honestly write now that every rumor I’ve ever heard from Horn detractors who’ve whispered for years ‘the story is going to break’ or ‘the paper is investigating’ has now been given more than its share of public light. When and if Horn pulls this off at least we’ll all be spared the endless rumors and speculation from the downtown types about when ‘the big story is gonna break.”

That being said, I haven’t seen much from the Thompson campaign, and I don’t think a string of what appear to be petty scandals is going to take down a conservative Republican San Diego Supervisor in a conservative Republican district. On the other hand, I have seen recent, well done Horn mailers. One issue in particular from those mailings is going to sting Thompson pretty hard: his… Read More

Here is a column I wrote for the Orange County Register about the need for more protections against eminent domain.It ran in today’s paper. Enjoy! An excerpt is below along with the link to the full content:

The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says, in part: "[N]or shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation." Federalist Paper No. 10 says, in part: "The diversity in the faculties of men from which the rights of property originate, is not less an insuperable obstacle to a uniformity of interests. The protection of these faculties is the first object of government."

My Assemblyman, Chuck DeVore, has told me that he will be “elsewhere” tomorrow night, but NOT honoring ‘El Presidente de Mexico’ when he is in Sacramento.

Will others be joining in this silent protest of Fox?

If you hear of other legislators who won’t be there tonight, let me know or post a comment!

[Update: I have been told that Senator Tom McClintock will also be ABSENT from the Vincente Fox Speech… ]… Read More

Yesterday, the Hercules City Council voted to use its eminent domain powers to force Wal-Mart to sell property that the retailer intends to build a 100,000 square foot store.

Why? Because the residents of Hercules don’t want Wal-Mart’s type of customer (read “low-income”) coming to their community to shop. They see their city as the East Bay’s Sausalito or Tiburon (most East Bay residents are now saying, “Hercules?? Are you kidding me?”).

Here’s what the city’s vice mayor said just before the vote (as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle): "The city of… Read More