I was on vacation for a good chunk of last week, so I am playing catch-up on "Appointment Watch" where we review the Governor’s appointments to various positions, and look at the partisan registration of those individual, using the basic guideline that voluntary association of an individual to a political party gives some indicator of their basic ideological and philosophical leanings.

Last week Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced the appointment of longtime Democrat Richard M. Goul to a judgeship in the Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Goul, 48, of Newport Beach, has served as a deputy district attorney with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office since 1989. He is currently deputy-in-charge of the sexual assault unit of the Long Beach branch of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Goul was a law clerk for the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office from 1986 to 1989. He also served on the Cerritos College Board of Trustees from 1979 to 1985. Goul… Read More

Voter Guides (slates) can be a cheap way to deliver a campaigns message to voters. I find them extremely helpful in local races, where a campaign needs to reach a large number of voters on a small budget. It also allows you to target your message to a specific demographic (GOP, DEM, Latino, Women, Military, etc.).

Elizabeth Hansell from our office spent some time last year cleaning up our list — you can find it over at calraces.… Read More

Last Thursday I posted about the Governor’s latest appointment to The LA County Bench, Richard Goul. You can see it here.I have been a critic of the Governor’s judicial picks, especially in LA County where the ratio runs 2 to 1 in favor of the Democrats. The California Republican Lawyer Association introduced and got passed a resolution calling on the Gov to appoint Republican to judicial slots.

So what’s the big deal about this appointment?The press release noted he was a decline to state. That is sort of an abstention in the way most us of count stuff. It doesn’t count for you and it doesn’t count against you.

Well, guess what asource connected in the LA DA’s office told me that Goulwas a Democrat. The Orange County Registrar of Voters shows that he was registered for about eight years AS A DEMOCRAT in Newport Beach until 2/21 of 2006 when he suddenly registered as a decline to state voter.

Why did Goul change his registration? Did he doit tomislead us judicial… Read More

This is the headline to yesterday’s OC Register story on Saturday’s protest in Costa Mesa against the anti-illegal immigration bill:

1,200 protest in Costa Mesa

Foes of proposed immigration policy changes march peacefully, but numbers fall short of predicted 5,000.

Apparently, all those high school Cesar Chavezes don’t think protesting this issue is all that urgent unless it means they can blow off school authorities, ditch school and act like juvenile delinquents.

Aah, the idealism of the young — it’s so inspiring!… Read More

Due to the lack of meaty political news today I’ve decided to comment on global warming.

It came to my attention today that San Diego, Los Angeles and other parts of California are under a flood watch. After doing about 10 minutes of research I discovered that this is all due to global warming . 10 more minutes of research yielded the following caused by global warming:

Drought Hail Tornados Hurricanes Cold Weather Hot Weather Excessive Rain Wind Flooding

So, you see, global warming is a real situation that we must deal with because ALL weather is caused by it! And don’t ever challenge this theory or some people will get really, really mad!… Read More

Having just returned from a quick vacation, I want to first thank our Guest Editor Nicholas Romero for his fine work – he put together the FR main page on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday and did an outstanding job I must say. Nick will continue to help me out, as needed, going forward. Thanks, Nick! The "must read" today is a piece by LA Times political reporter Peter Nicholas on Governor Schwarzenegger: "The Private Side of his Governance. The piece offers an ‘inside look’ at Arnold Schwarzenegger and how he runs his office and how he approaches his job. I found it to be quite interested and eye-opening. I was fascinated to read a piece in the Contra Costa Times (reprinted from the LA Times, so you may have already read it) that focused on the California GOP delegation and the immigration issue. The piece talked about while all of the Democrats support some degree of guest worker program, the GOPers remain solid in their opposition to any kind of amnesty. However, the exception to the GOP solidarity comes from Central Valley Republican Congressmen George Radanovich, Devin Nunes and Bill Thomas, who… Read More

I’m probably too close to this thing for my own good. So be it.

I was on the ground with Steve Baldwin in 1988 in a spirited attempt against Steve Peace (old 80th AD), then when Willie Brown clean-clocked Baldwin in ’92, electing Democrat and future felon Tom Connolly in a four point GOP seat. In 1994, against the best sentiments of Rob Hurtt and others, Baldwin ran again and knocked off Connolly, with a bit of help via Tom’s penchant for 14-year-old prostitutes. We felt vindicated. We were vindicated. Heck, Steve even got to chair Assembly Education for about … what was it, six months?

Six years later Steve and I (and many from the Baldwin team) worked hard for Jay La Suer, a conservative stalwart that I am proud to have served alongside for 10 years as a La Mesa councilman. Although others ran in that 2000 GOP primary, no one could match Jay’s law enforcement and military background. With Joe Justin consulting, and Steve and Duncan Hunter raising money for Jay, the general… Read More

FEC Filings in 50th… The SDPolitics blog first posted them here. Below is the roundup as noted in the post:

Francine Busby (Democrat): She’s raised over $1.3 million. Owes debts of just $9,000 and has about $363,000 cash on hand.

Brian Bilbray (Republican): Raised $328,349 so far in the campaign. Has $107,704 left. (Bilbray had also transferred over about $195,000 from his previous congressional account which has helped his campaign financing).

Eric Roach (Republican): He’s spent over $1.8 million. He had cash on hand of $96,748 but debts of $1,917,388. Of course he can always write another check to his campaign.

Alan Uke (Republican): He reports just $58,056 with debts of $234,667. (This explains the reports that Uke was considering withdrawing from the race. He can write himself a check at any point but he has already spent over $1 million in the race and still has debts of over $200,000).

Bill Morrow (Republican): He has raised $391,000 but now has just… Read More