I was saddened to read on my new friend Bill Bradley’s New West Notes blog that our Republican Governor’s Chief of Staff, Democrat Susan Kennedy, would not be coming with the Governor to the GOP Convention!

The Governor has been taking her along as he has gone to smaller meetings with GOP donors. I had a chance (h/t to FR friend Richard Costigan) to meet Ms. Kennedy briefly following the State of the State Address last year. I found her to be quite charming and funny.

I actually think that it would be a good idea for her to come to the convention tonight. Actually, there are a few good reasons. Enough so that I thought I would give you my list of top reasons:

#10: Delegates would be fascinated, I’m sure, to hear about what it was like to try and defend Gray Davis in the recall – she could give a speech on… Read More

The Little Hoover Commission was created in 1962, and is technically called the "Commission on California State Government Organization and Economy" — it is primary looked at as a quasi-independent body that reviews the actions of state government. It has a staff that conducts audits, studies and the like. Most recently, the Little Hoover Commission played a role in reviewing the Governor’s proposed reorganization of state government last year, recommending its approval before the Democrat-controlled legislature declared the re-org dead on arrival (after the commission gave its recommendation, then it went on to the legislature).

I call the Commission "quasi-independent" because most of its membership is appointed by the Governor or the legislative leaders in the Senate and the Assembly. However, the commission does has strict rules to make sure that no single political party dominates its membership.

There is no doubt that out of the hundreds of state… Read More

Over at the SFChron Political Blog, writer Greg Lucas pens a short piece today on Gubernatorial Spokesperson Julie Soderland being named as Press Secretary for the Governor’s re-election campaign.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s press secretary for his re-elect campaign will be Julie Soderlund, a focused and driven mainstay in his gubernatorial press office.

You can read the rest, including why Julie’s nickname is "thumbs" here.

Since Julie used to… Read More

So I’m up early as usual (ugh…I’ve become my father)…and going through my archives of stupid ideas to post on Flashreport…and I ran across an editorial that has a personal interest to me…..it waswas a Sacramento Bee editorial on some fairly decent news about what the Sacramento City Unified School District Board acted on recently.

Although my kids currently go to the elementary school across the… Read More

The speech that I want to hear from Governor Schwarzenegger tonight at the GOP convention would have as its central theme a return to fiscal conservatism. It would include an emphasis on infrastructure, with a public adoption of the proposal introduced by EVERY Assembly Republican to finance infrastructure by paying-as-we-go instead of through massive borrowing. The speech would go on to talk about the need to have pension reform, and the importance of finishing what the Governor started, by putting and end to deficit spending in Sacramento. Other highlights of the speech would include his decision to replace Rob Reiner as Chairman of California’s ‘Tobacco Tax Spending Committee’ with attorney Hugh Hewitt, the unveiling of a new Republican Chief of Staff (I’m okay with anyone at this point who is registered as a Republican), a commitment to find and appoint qualified Republican judges to the bench, and an embrace of a statewide measure to fight eminent domain… Read More

The speech that I want to hear from Governor Schwarzenegger tonight at the GOP convention would have as its central theme a return to fiscal conservatism. It would include an emphasis on infrastructure, with a public adoption of the proposal introduced by EVERY Assembly Republican to finance infrastructure by paying-as-we-go instead of through massive borrowing. The speech would go on to talk about the need to have pension reform, and the importance of finishing what the Governor started, by putting and end to deficit spending in Sacramento. Other highlights of the speech would include his decision to replace Rob Reiner as Chairman of California’s ‘Tobacco Tax Spending Committee’ with attorney Hugh Hewitt, the unveiling of a new Republican Chief of Staff (I’m okay with anyone at this point who is registered as a Republican), a commitment to find and appoint qualified Republican judges to the bench, and an embrace of a statewide measure to fight eminent domain… Read More

Since Rep. Bob Dornan lost to Loretta Sanchez in 1996, Orange County Republicans have searched for a credible candidate to beat Sanchez.

Local Republicans have over the years fronted a list of misfits, retreads and drop-outs who have amounted to nothing. But under the leadership of Republican Party Chairman Scott Baugh, the 47th Congressional District which includs Santa Ana has become competative again fot the GOP (Democrats now outnumber GOP voters by only about 3%).

So 2006 could be a year where the GOP wins or at least make a credible showing. That is if they find a candidate. Enter Rosie Availa, Santa Ana School Board Member. Rosie is a nice lady and principled conservative. But she has little ability to raise money. Tan Nguyen is the other guy in the race. He is best known for running as a DEMOCRAT against Congressman Dana Rohrabacher in 2004. He lost in the Democrat Primary.

Nguyen has all the right answers now. He says the… Read More

Okay, for the 4,000 th time……. I don’t care what speech the Governor gives, what comes out of Rules, Resolutions or Initiatives or what kind of grassroots training is on the agenda this weekend in San Jose. No amount of discussion on Republican judges, general obligation bonds, budget deficits or Rob Reiner matters anything in November. The Governor is well aware of how we feel on these issues.

Until a plan is put in place to political DEFEAT Nurses, Cops, Firefighters, Prison Guards and Teachers we are not going to win any Statewide Office in November. Do I have to type in ALL CAPS for everyone to understand this?

Voters WILL NOT BE CHOOSING between Arnold and a Democrat alternative this November. They will be choosing between Arnold and a candidate backed by the well regarded and trusted groups I have listed above. End of story. Highly paid consultants, are you listening? You want to energize the GOP base? Get a strategy in place to get this done.… Read More