It is clear that the debate that is taking place in Washington D.C. on the illegal immigration issue is going to be a major issue for the 2006 elections at every level. This means that every candidate for office, whether running for U.S. Senate or Congress, Governor or State Schools Superintendent, Supervisor or Sheriff, state legislature or school board is going to have to figure out how to address this issue.

The biggest challenge, of course, is on federal officeholders and candidates for U.S. Senate and Congress, as this is primarily seen as a national issue that should be dealt with by the federal government. To a certain extent, that is right. But the ‘trickle-down’ effect to every level of government of the impact of the United States’ failure to protect/control its borders, and the physical presence of well over ten-million people that have come into this country without permission has an impact for everyone, and for every political jurisdiction.

The lead story in today’s FlashReport is a piece penned by Timm Herdt in today’s Ventura County Star that really starts to look at the impact of this issue on California races.… Read More

Pardon me for lagging behind, but on Wednesday, the Governor announced another batch of appointments — 16 of them to be exact. (I actually created this post last night, but I often create this stuff ahead of time when I can, and then toggle it up from the blackberry when the site needs some extra content). The Governor batted .500 on appointing folks who voluntary associate with his own political party. Here is the partisan breakdown:

THE REPUBLICANS

Jim Bourgart, 61, of San Francisco, has been appointed deputy secretary for transportation at the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency. He has served as vice president for government relations and business development with Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Quade & Douglas since 1990. William Keese, 67, of Palm Desert, has been appointed to the Public Goods Independent Review Panel. Currently, he serves as chair of the Clean and Diversified Energy Advisory Committee for the Western Governors’ Association and is … Read More

Yesterday, writing from rainy Sacramento, I commented that San Diego County School Boardmember Sue Hartley, a liberal Republican who spends much of every month poking a stick in the collective eyes of her largely Republican and conservative constituents, was under siege from everyone right of say Congressman Ted Kennedy. I posted that Hartley was desperately trying to lock down some support right of center in a district with a voting base considerably right of center. And I posted that I thought the Lincoln Club endorsement was a major part of any strategy ending in her survival. The rumor train today, confirmed from 3 sources, says the Lincoln Club PAC Committee voted to endorse Hartley’s Republican conservative opponent Gary Felien.

Stop the bus folks, we got ourselves a race.

I also hear Felien has hired John Hoy, former executive director of the California Republican Party and current political consultant, to run his race. Good pick.

One better, folks in attendance confirm that Sue Hartley repeated that she would be seeking the Republican Party endorsement. I’d be willing to take odds tonight that she does no such thing. And I’ll… Read More

Today, Schwarzenegger Campaign Manager Steve Schmidt (pictured) held a ‘pen and pad’ briefing for about 20 poltical reporters in Sacramento.

You can read a few different takes on that meeting from various reports in the blogosphere: The Sacramento Bee’s Dan Weintraub, the Los Angeles Weekly’s Bill Bradley, the San Francisco Chronicle’s Carla Marinucci, and KQED’s John Myers. It’s actually kind of fun to compare what different folks took away from the briefing.

I found the most interesting part of Schmidt’s discussions to be about Susan Kennedy… Read More

Part of winning an election is:" Who you are running against?" Metropolitan News-Enterprise has article about the one Los Angeles Superior Court Judge to draw a challenger.His nameDzintra Janavs.

Would you vote against him because of his name? I remember back in the early 90’s when Armand Arabain was appointed to the State Supreme Court by Deukmejian. He lost confirmation votes in some Republican precincts in the San Gabriel Valley, while the others were winning confirmation. The article alludes to the Murphy vs. Kahn race that happened out here as well. What’s in name? You be the judge.You can access the full article here.

Metropolitan News-Enterprise Thursday, April 6, … Read More

Just received a "FlashFax Alert" from Hedgecock producer Jimmy Valentine saying that Roger will endorse a candidate in the 50th CD special Friday on the radio. As close as this race will be, that’s big news.

Most polling — like it or not — is showing a statistical dead heat between Bilbray, Kaloogian and Eric Roach. Watchers are awaiting newpolling data, and some aresaying that Roach may have the momentum and stamina to pull this thing off. I can’t disagree…completely. However, new polling will tell if Brian’s counter-strikes are having any kind of negative impact on Howard and Roach.

Between the front runners, it has been assumed turnout and ground game will be the most significantdeciders. Add to that list…Hedgecock.

Some may laff, but I say not quite so fast. Low turnout, large number of GOP contenders, close election…the radio Mayor of SD could swing this election…if he selects someone actually… Read More

Congratulations to the overseer of this prosperous blog plantation on the fine profile in the San Diego Union-Tribune.

A quote from my fellow FR blogger Dan Schnur, caught my eye:

Republican strategist Dan Schnur, a regular contributor to FlashReport, said attribution is the fundamental threshold of whether something in the blogosphere deserves to be taken seriously.

“Someone who posts to a blog anonymously is essentially a high-tech graffiti artist,” Schnur said. “If there is a user’s guide to blogs, rule No. 1 is if the blogger isn’t sharing his name, his opinions aren’t worth your attention.”

Gee, Dan — that’s a pretty severe indictment, don’t you think?

Let’s take Dan’s assessment and time-travel back to the late 1780s when citizens of the newly independent United States debated the merits of the proposed Constitution. Let’s imagine a quote from an analogous story in the New-York Packet on the influential series of pro-Constitution essays being… Read More

Without electric power the FlashReport just does not work. In fact without electric power most of our modern society does not work. We in California need more power and with power comes power lines, the big ones. Why the Mr.Science lesson you say? Well in my beat, Riverside County, there is a proposed power project that has become increasing controversial. It is called LEAPS (Lake Elsinore Advanced Pumped Storage). Last night FERC (Federal Energy Regular Commission) held a hearing in Lake Elsinore that was attended by 300 plus people, most opposed to the project. It was a vocal crowd that brought the usual signs, stickers and flyers. It was great citizen participation in our democracy and I commend all that were there for being part of the public process. However for the 300 people that showed up at a public meeting there were 300,000+ local citizens that enjoyed the evening at home, or in the mall, or at a restaurant that had one thing in common; they were all using electric power to enjoy themselves.

I wonder how many people would show at a meeting if it were announced that electric power was going to be banned one day a week. I would speculate… Read More