The last several days of discussion hiring have made it clear how tenuous the relationship between the Governor and the Republican grassroots was even before Susan Kennedy was hired. As I noted on my Wednesday posting, these ideological differences have existed from the very beginning of the recall campaign. Many conservatives chose to overlook their differences with Schwarzenegger because of their desire to get rid of Gray Davis, others decided that his positions on the car tax and drivers’ licenses for illegal immigrants were enough to overshadow other areas of disagreement, and some were drawn in by the celebrity star power that Arnold radiated on the campaign trail. But whether it’s Kennedy, a tremendous bond measure proposal, or other issues, it’s clear that Republican conservative activists are angrier than they’ve been in over a decade.

So my question is: now what?

The business/lobbying community is supporting Kennedy’s hiring: they’ve been in the newspapers talking about her pro-business credentials all week. It would be one thing if the GOP ideological base and donor base were both furious with… Read More

My thoughts on the Gov’s Chief of Staff…

I’ve been too in shock to comment up ‘til now.

No question that Governor Tom McClintock would never had made such an appointment … but, I guess the question remains whether McClintock would have been in the position to choose.

This is the “age old” debate in the GOP, is it not? How far are moderates and many conservatives (me among them) willing to go, how much are we willing to give up, to have a Republican in the statehouse at any cost, or in any number of offices, when the “general consensus” is that a true-blue candidate can’t win?

I am reminded of Winston Churchill’s comments after Neville Chamberlain returned from… Read More

SPECIAL ELECTION THIS TUESDAY While only a small portion of FR readers are from Orange County relatively, and even less in live in the 48th Congressional District, I want to remind folks that this Tuesday is the special election to fill the unexpired term of Congressman Christopher Cox, who resigned from Congress after being tapped by the President to head the Federal Exchange Commission. This race is being viewed nationally because minuteman founder Jim Gilchrist is on the ballot as an American Independent. Every political observer has said that Gilchrist has no shot, but that how well he does will signal, nationally, whether the GOP has a problem on the immigration issue. … Read More

Members of the legislature will receive a pay raise of 12% this month. With the raise, they will make $110,880. Of course, this is augmented by a ‘per dium’ payment that they receive to cover the additional costs of travel and residency near the capitol This amount to $153 a day when they are in session. Too much money? Too little money? That debate can rage on – though if you have full-time legislative, you need to give them full–time pay. I’ll let you readers decide what is fair pay. The legislators do not decide their own pay, however. Their compensation is set by an obscure commission, not selected by the voters. More newsworthy than the raise is "the list" – who took the raise and who turned it away. Note, legislators took the raise, but have said they will donate the raise to charity (presumably keeping the tax deduction). Those folks did not make the list.… Read More

There are a couple of reasons why I surmise that the State GOP has been silent on the Kenney Chief of Staff kerfuffle. First, Arnold is now, and always has been his own entity. Although he owes his original election to the GOP base and other disaffected voters, he is not now nor will he ever be our titular leader. You could see this as the RNC Convention last summer, and nothing has changed. I for one have not ever heard from anyone in his administration or campaign, ever. As the founding chairman of the Lincoln Club of Fresno County, former CRP Treasurer and two term Vice Chairman Central, this is fairly astounding. Second, the State Party cannot raise any real money without him, so he will not be criticized. Third, and the reason why I have not protested, is there is no conceivable scenario under which he can be re-elected next year. Now, his appointment of this Chief of Staff has crushed whatever was left of our volunteer base, so even if Arnold has an unlikely spectacular year, there won’t be any rallying the troops come next Labor Day.

I liken this entire Arnold situation to a patient (California) that has to be rushed to the emergency room for a… Read More

When the British Crown raised taxes on the American colonists’ consumption of imported tea, the colonists revolted. Lead by such patriots as Samuel Adams, the American colonists asserted their independence from a distant government with no responsiveness to the local wellbeing. In 1973, in the wake of rampant state spending and increasing tax burdens on the middle class, the voters of California staged a tax revolt, passing Proposition 13, which requires voter approval of tax increases. The Boston Tea Party and Prop. 13 here in California came to be symbols of the concept that taxation without representation is wrong.

Similarly, the state GOP is now at a turning point. Susan Kennedy, aliberal activist Democrat, has been announced as the governor’s chief of staff. Yet the state Republican Party leadership has been notably silent in its criticism of the selection. Much like the British… Read More

OK – it is getting hard to read the playsheets these days, and so it should have come as no surprise to me that I got an email yesterday from Nick Valasquez, the Press Secretary to the Steve Westly for Controller campaign.

Apparently, I confused my former employees of new Schwarzenegger Chief of Staff Susan Kennedy…. (pictured left)

You see, I reported that smarmy Democrat operative Bob Mulholland had taken a position with Westly’s campaign last Thursday. Valasquez correctly pointed out that Mulholland actually went to work for the Angelides campaign!

This makes sense because when Phil Angelides was Chairman of … Read More

KEVIN MCCARTHY: KENNEDY APPOINTMENT A "MISTAKE" Yesterday in my commentary, I had a short mention of the fact that while State Senate President Dick Ackerman has been quite vocal, and critical of one of California top’s Democrat operatives being placed into the #1 staff position in the Governor’s office, Assembly Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy had been very quiet in the papers.

Since then, I have heard from several sources that McCarthy has actually been a vocal critic of the choice within the closed-door circles of the state capitol, including with the Governor.

I spoke with McCarthy yesterday, and he made it clear to me that he things that this appointment was a mistake. When we spoke, he told me that we can look for public comments from him in the media as early as Monday, vocalizing his concerns. In the meantime, McCarthy says that he has been making his concerns known in his speeches to groups and organizations.

Look for more of a profile on the Assembly Republican Leader and how he will navigate his caucus through the unchartered waters… Read More