Rich Galen, the hack/philosopher/author/wack job of the D.C. based site Mullings, put out an insightful piece today on what he calls “The Abramoff Affect.” Galen played a roll in my formative years in politics as both my teacher at the RNC campaign school (they made us go…honest), but more importantly as someone who taught me even more traveling from state to state working for the first President Bush.

Some of the things I’ll always remember about Rich were his whip smart mind, his understanding of the news cycle, and his appreciation of the fundamental importance of humor in our goofy profession. Check out his site…and you’ll not only insightful commentary, but some funny stuff (Secret Decoder Ring…wtf?). It is guys like Galen who give me the courage to post stuff that mixes humor with… Read More

I just read on OC Blog that Ed Royce has endorsed Diane Harkey in the April 11 special election for the 35th Senate District seat. Diane Harkey is winning the endorsements primary hands-down. I’ll be interested to see what the campaign finance reports, due at the end of the month, show. I have no doubt Harkey will infuse a large amount of cash into her own campaign, but the real question will be how much her opponent, Assemblyman Tom Harman has raised.… Read More

ABRAMOFF SCANDAL: CALIFORNIA IMPACT? You need only pick up any newspaper in America today to see that the lead political story is the guilty-pleas yesterday of embattled DC lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Supposedly Abramoff has cut a deal with federal prosecutors where he will now assist them in going after some higher-profile DC types (read: Senators, Congressmen, staffers) in return for leniency on his sentencing. What does this have to do specifically with California politics? Well, there are several implications (just ask Joe Justin). In a direct sense, Abramoff has close relationships with many Californians, of which the most reported-about has been his close ties with Republican Congressman John Doolittle. I don’t think that Doolittle did anything wrong, but he will now have the challenges that come with having been a … Read More

Today marks the 10th Anniversary of the election of Republican Curt Pringle as Speaker of the California State Assembly. I should note that Curt appointed meto the Library of California Board, so if any of you have questions about the details of transaction based reimbursements on inter-library loans, please ask.

To every GOP leader back then, Curt and Jim Brulte– Thank you.

For those of us involved back then, it was a long fought road that involved recalling turncoat Republicans after the stunning election of 41 Republicans in the 1994 elections. Pointing out that electing someone with an R by his or her name isn’t good enough. There needs to be some party loyalty as three Republicans in succession sold out so they could be speaker for a day or worse leaving Democrat Willie Brown in charge. Can a GOP majority happen again? Don’t bet the farm on it in 2006. … Read More

"We are very proud that the Governor has selected a member of our central committee for such an important post," exclaimed an excited Michael DeNunzio, Chairman of the Republican Party of San Francisco, when I spoke with him on the phone.

Today Governor Schwarzenegger announced that he is appointing San Francisco attorney Timothy Simon to head up the appointments unit of his administration — this is a key position as the Appointments Secretary plays a critical role in the vetting of all the the hundreds of appointees made by a Governor, and clearly his or her input would be considered heavilty by the Governor.

You can read the Governor’s announcement here, which has… Read More

I just received a press release from Jim Nygren the veteran consultant who is guiding the efforts of Assemblywoman Lynn Daucher’s candidacy for State Senate in the 34th District, in Central Orange County. Incumbent Democrat Joe Dunn is term-limited out, and focused GOP registration efforts have made this into a competitive district.

The release says that:

"Assemblywoman Lynn Daucher¹s campaign for a Senate seat in Orange County today received a big boost as former Senate Republican Leaders Ross Johnson (R-Irvine) and Jim Brulte (R-Cucamonga) joined current Senate Republican Leader Dick Ackerman (R- Tustin) in endorsing her bid for the 34th Senate district." … Read More

Schnur is right. The Governor is testing conservatives and seeking to do what has never been successful in the recorded history of mankind for a GOP candidate – moving left to get Democrat votes. So, this conservative stands in front of the fork in the road. I am told the minimum wage deal is to keep a far worse initiative off of the November 2006 ballot, so let’s give him a pass on this one. The bonds, now that is just ridiculous. We don’t have the borrowing capacity and because general obligation bonds take precedent over other State spending we will have to have a tax increase to make the payments on these while maintaining current spending levels. If he facilitates the placement of these bonds on the ballot I will simply leave my ballot blank in November under Governor. Now, what other public policy issues would cause me to leave my ballot blank? Any income tax increase. Driver licenses for illegal immigrants. Gay marriage. Any substantive tinkering with Workers’ comp reform. I would vote for the Governor if he stays the course on these issues and continues to veto bad Democrat legislation.

Now what of the Democrats? They have… Read More

The potential for massive floods resulting from the torrential rains Northern California experienced over the past couple of days and Jack Abramoff’s plea bargain given today made me think of deceased blues legend Stevie Ray Vaughan and his band Double Trouble (yep…I’m that weird) Moreover, I was reminded of standing not less than 20 feet from Stevie as he wailed on Couldn’t Stand the Weather during Bush 1’s inaugural. Those were better times for sure because it’s ugly out there.

No one knows for… Read More