One of the unsung heroes of the Bilbray campaign is campaign manager John Franklin. In his real life, John is a senior staff member of Congressman Issa’s Washington D.C. Team. He was loaned out to the Bilbray Campaign and it could not have been a better break for Bilbray. Franklin is a take charge type of guy and he took charge. Being the campaign manager is one of those jobs where you work 18 hours a day and multi task all day long. From my point of view he was a critical part of the razor thin victory Tuesday night. Along with political consultant extraordinaire Dave Gilliard and local PR Consultant Steve Danon, Franklin was the critical third component to a winning campaign. John Franklin is going to be one of the names that you will hear in the future when you see a triumphant campaign in action.… Read More

If you rent a old movie or two there is bound to be a western where the town is controlled by a rancher or mining company. People have to rent from them and the town is controlled in every way by the company in charge. Well, in LA county there is such a place. It’s called Vernon. Vernon hasn’t had an election in over 20 years. The mayor’s grandfather was on eof the founders. By the way the mayor is a Republican and so are two other council members. Most homes are owned by the city.

Vernon was founded as an industrial town and has fewer voters than a normal precinct. It sports 60 cops and is home to Farmer John. They have their own ultities and most important have about $100 million in various investments they control.

In a city this size a sudden influx of peope could change who controls power. That happened a few months ago. The interlopers may be asscoiated with the convicted Treasurer of South Gate, Albert Robles. Albert went to UCLA with me. In Fact we ran against each other for a slot on the student body council. The Bruin Democrats endorsed ME!. Get the idea.

As a result there have been evictions, lawsuits and the… Read More

The fact that the Democrats are even contemplating a competitive November election season is more a statement about Republican leadership than anything. We KNOW the Democrats have zero agenda. Yet, they might win some seats in the House and Senate this fall. Why? Representatives likeJerry Lewis, who evidently doesn’t get back home much to listen to the people, don’t understand the conservative malaise they have caused. In my column for the Lincoln Club almost 15 months ago I outline exactly what issues threaten the Republican Majority. Congressmen Lewis’ response to the Wall Street Journal editorial is not an encouraging sign.

The federal budget is now over $2.7 trillion – from just over $1.2 trillion when the "revolution" started in 1995 under Newt Gingrich. Any Republican Member of Congress defending that record doesn’t deserve reelection.… Read More

Recently, anti war activists at UC Santa Cruz mobbed a job fair to protest the presence of military recruiters on campus. Students who are members of the group “Students Against War” got so out of hand that military recruiters actually left the job fair to avoid a violent confrontation after an hour long standoff.

UC officials have said they allow military recruiters on campus because of the 1995 Solomon Amendment which states that campuses must allow military recruiters on campus or forfeit federal funding. According to a news release from UC officials, UC Santa Cruz received $80 million in federal funding last year- not an amount the school can afford to forfeit.

I believe students have every right to protest their beliefs on campus no matter how crazy, liberal, conservative, right or wrong they may be but this is unacceptable. The anti-war protesters should allow the military recruiters the same space and right to speech as they enjoy. In order for our democracy to remain healthy and function as it was intended we should give one another space to express opinions- even when we disagree.

I wish Students Against War, despite their objections to the… Read More

[Sorry if the formatting is off – this was posted via Blackberry.]

FR friend Karen Hanretty sent this along, which makes it worthy of sharing:

"Today’s LA Times article about Gov. Schwarzenegger reappointing Joe Nunez to the Board of Education deeply troubles me. Joe Nunez is the chairman of Alliance for a Better California, the union effort that spent $100 million to defeat the governor’s special election initiatives last year. More troubling to me is the fact that Barbara Kerr, President of California Teachers Association, personally lobbied the governor last December to have him reappoint Nunez and the governor took her advice just one month after she celebrated his defeat.

California’s public education system is in desperate need of reform, and Joe Nunez is a huge roadblock to improving our schools. But that’s not all. We know the current state of education in… Read More

I have spent the last few days at the Orange County Registrar of Voters as a member of the Harkey team monitoring the vote count.

You will hear more about this count and recount from others and from me later. But it is worth noting now, that I have a new appreciation for the ‘government bureaucrat‘. I have known OC Registrar Neal Kelley as a competent and fair Registrar but we generally don’t work with the people that work throughout the office on a regular basis.

These last few days I have found them to be just as knowledgeable and just as fair. That doesn’t mean they have bent over backwards for either the Harkey or Harman campaigns, they have just responded to our requests and been generally pleasant.

If you think I am just kissing up–believe me, if there was something askew to report, I would post it!… Read More

I’m in a rush this morning — so I will just draw attention to a few important items on today’s main page: The lead story today is right out of the Wall Street Journal. You’ve all heard me go on (and on) about the spending problems that we have in Congress. Since the GOP majority was elected in 1994 in the House, federal spending is UP over 33%. Conservative Republicans in the House, understanding that our majority is at stake, have become more aggressive in trying to curb our spending. The leadership of the Republican Study Committee (the conservatives in the House) started some very real negotiations with GOP leaders about spending cuts. As these negotiations have become more ‘real’ — there is squeeling coming out of the House Appropriations Committee (one of the "pork" committees of Congress) where apparently Representative Jerry Lewis, a California Congressman who chairs the committee, has a problem with House Republicans negotiating cuts in spending without going through…HIS committee. In no uncertain terms, Jerry Lewis should applaud any effort to cut spending, whether these… Read More

I’m in a rush this morning — so I will just draw attention to a few important items on today’s main page: The lead story today is right out of the Wall Street Journal. You’ve all heard me go on (and on) about the spending problems that we have in Congress. Since the GOP majority was elected in 1994 in the House, federal spending is UP over 33%. Conservative Republicans in the House, understanding that our majority is at stake, have become more aggressive in trying to curb our spending. The leadership of the Republican Study Committee (the conservatives in the House) started some very real negotiations with GOP leaders about spending cuts. As these negotiations have become more ‘real’ — there is squeeling coming out of the House Appropriations Committee (one of the "pork" committees of Congress) where apparently Representative Jerry Lewis, a California Congressman who chairs the committee, has a problem with House Republicans negotiating cuts in spending without going through…HIS committee. In no uncertain terms, Jerry Lewis should applaud any effort to cut spending, whether these… Read More