The next Santa Ana City Council meeting might be a little more tense than usual. Long-time directly elected Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido has endorsed Councilman Jose Solorio over Councilwoman Claudia Alvarez for the 69th Assembly District (one of Orange County’s two Dem Assembly seats, the other is the 56th which only takes in Buena Park).

While Pulido is not a powerhouse in Dem politics, he certainly has respect among the voters. There have been dueling polls on the race that show dramatically different results.

According to a new release from the Solorio campaign–Jose is polling slightly ahead of Alvarez:

A recent poll of likely Democratic voters in the 69th showed Solorio with a slight lead over Alvarez. Just last week in the Los Angeles Times, the publisher of the California Target Book, which analyzes assembly races said, "It’s really a tossup between Alvarez and Solorio, and I’d give a slight nod to Solorio."… Read More

In 1986 I was 23 years old. Two years earlier I had cast my first vote in a Presidential election. It was for Ronald Reagan, the greatest President on the 20th Century. The reason for the history lesson is to say that I knew I was a Republican in 1986.

Also in 1986 there was a Democratic primary for the 54th Assembly District, won by Ed Waters the son radical leftist Congresswomen Maxine Waters. Again you must ask, why are you telling me this? Here is why. In that Democratic Primary Waters beat a 31 year old Lakewood City Councilman named Dan Branstine. Yes the same Dan Branstine that is currently running in the Republican primary for the 66th Assembly District.

This was not the first time Branstine ran in a Democrat primary. In 1979 he ran for the State Senate in a special election. He lost that race too.

The funny thing is that if you go to Branstine’s web sitehttp://www.dan2006.com/ there is nothing written about these two failed runs as a Democrat. I guess Mr. Branstine has a very selective memory about his past. It makes you wonder what else he may be… Read More

Woodie Guthrie’s communistic song must be sung by the planning czars on the West ide of Los Angeles. They recently had to back down on a permit granted to a Christian School thatlimited the school toonly secular educations during the week. See the article here.But there is a catch. You have to read it to believe it. the city may require a reduction in enrollment if the school can’t get the carpool ratio of 2.5 children per driver.

My solution: The school should rent some Hummers and tell the carpool goons they have 6-8 in a car.… Read More

CRP Vice Chairman Ron Nehring sent an important email out today and if you missed it, you need to visit www.unionfacts.com to check out the beginning of an important strategy to retain the Governorship. I am not going to get into how many times I have written about the importance of defining unions before they beat up the Governor, again. As a matter of fact, the Governor really needs to run his race against them, and not against Westly or Angelides.

Democrat approval numbers are even lower than Arnold’s. This is why they have transferred their voice to teachers, nurses, firefighters, cops and prison guards. And those groups are our real opponents in November. Run your campaign against the legislature, the unions, and the Democrat nominee, in that order, and you just might win.… Read More

I was talking with a friend of mine — a very educated, articulate conservative — a couple of weeks ago about Governor Schwarzenegger‘s re-election. The topic: why should we care if the Governor returns for another four years?

Now, this is an odd conversation for two politically active conservatives to have. I want to care. I want to want to support the Governor‘s re-election.

It‘s more than the standard divide between conservative and moderate Republicans. Governor Pete Wilson always managed to bridge that divide somehow, even in the wake of Ron Unz‘s 1994 primary challenge. Wilson‘s people could ultimately boil it down to, "Hey, we know conservative don‘t like that the Governor‘s pro-choice and he signed a huge tax increase, but he‘s… Read More

Sign of the Times: Arthur Laffer Reverses Jed Clampett’s Trek

California legislators were slapping themselves on the back last week for having passed a $35 billion infrastructure bond measure that will go before the voters in November. Predictions filled the air that all the building would spur job creation. Aides to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger say his success in pushing the bond package may help seal his re-election this year.

But one of the 16 members of Mr. Schwarzenegger’s council of economic advisers isn’t nearly as optimistic. Supply-side economist Arthur Laffer says the biggest threat to the national economy — which… Read More

The editorial cartoon that the Oakland Tribune ran today is great (it’s syndicated from the Detroit News). This cartoon particularly hits home here in California after an Oakland judge struck down the state’s exit exam yesterday, calling it unfair. Of course, what’s unfair is allowing students to graduate from our public high schools who don’t even have a grasp of sophomore-level English, which is what the exit exam requires.… Read More

The ‘Making Sure the Corrupt Mexican Government is Happy’ post published an hour or so struck a nerve. Cheers to Congressman Darrell Issa’s office for firing off a letter to Homeland Security. In the letter Congressman Issa requested that the US Department of Homeland Security "immediately suspend all activities that provide the Mexican government with inappropriate surveillance information about law abiding American citizens" and that the reporting of Minutemen locations to the Mexican government "would intentionally the efforts of patriotic American citizens who seek to provide information to Federal agents about illegal crossings and other activities." Best line from the Congressman, and one that hits the nail squarely on the head: "Mexico has not been a partner in creating a safe and secure border region. Providing Mexico with information that can help smugglers and illegal border crossers evade capture is absurd."… Read More