It was a pleasure to help California Trailblazers kick-off its second candidate training for the 2013-14 election cycle last week in Burbank. The program followed the successful nuts and bolts training in Sacramento in April. Candidates were put through an election boot camp, which focused on communications and media training. Enthusiastic candidates from across the state listened to and learned from the best practitioners in political communication.

I talked with candidates about my experience running for office and offered tips and techniques on how best to interact with reporters and media during an election.

The lineup was impressive. Jonathan Wilcox, a former speech writer to Governor Wilson, Governor Deukmejian and President Reagan, explained how candidates should develop a comprehensive communications strategy and execute a strong roll out.

Jeff Montejano offered his expertise to attendees as well. Jeff of KCOMM, is a veteran of California Republican politics and has more than a decade of private sector experience working with fortune 500 companies to help CEOs with crisis communications. Jeff offered on-camera training for the candidates,… Read More

During the 2012 campaign against Republican Mitt Romney, President Obama repeatedly claimed “Al Queda is on the run,” reassuring Americans that his counter-terrorism policies are working and implying Americans are safe, or at least safer, from the threat of radical jihadism.

This week’s closure of nearly two dozen American diplomatic facilities throughout the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region has raised new questions of whether it is Al Queda that is on the run – or America.

In a report released last month, our friends at the Heritage Foundation documented 60 publicly known terrorist plots directed against the United States since 9/11. Of these, 56 were foiled while four were successful: (1) an attack with a motor vehicle on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2006; (2) a shooting at a military recruiting center in Little Rock, Ark. In 2009; (3) the Ft. Hood shootings by Maj. Nidal Hasan in 2009; and (4) the Boston Marathon bombings earlier this year.

A… Read More

We are at a crossroads on the prison question in California. For years, Democrats have refused to build prisons, have refused to take actions to protect Californians from bad people, and placed our prisons under the control of federal judges to indulge their perverse concept of justice. They have passed laws saying the purpose of prison is to rehabilitate people, they have pushed initiatives to rewrite three strikes so that the really bad felons can get out of prison after they have been sentenced to life, they have realigned the prison system so as to put the responsibility for letting bad prisoners go on the backs of counties, and now they fought the federal judges to the end of the line in the federal courts in the hopes of avoiding responsibility for their failed policies on crime. Everything they have done with respect to crime and punishment has been to look for scapegoats for what is now the inevitable rise in crime rates that will result in substantial harm, and in some cases, death to many Californians.

They now have only two choices: (1) The first and best choice is to build more prisons, find more prison space however they can, and keep these bad guys off… Read More

Democrats have repeatedly crushed “self-funding” Republican candidates at the ballot box, making now a good time to ask why our party appears to go out of its way to run wealthy candidates who fund their own campaigns, and better understand how these candidates fare on Election Day.

It’s been said that the road to political oblivion is lined with the remains of self-funding candidates. President Steve Forbes, Governors Meg Whitman and Al Cheechi can each attest to how their wealth was insufficient to prevent Election Day wipeouts.

Why does our party seem to have such a bias in favor of rich candidates who can fund their own campaigns? I count four major factors at work.

1. Contribution limits discriminate against candidates who must rely on others to fund their campaigns. The Supreme Court has held that candidates have an absolute right to advocate on their own behalf with their own funds, without limits. Meg Whitman could spend $170+ million on her own campaign, but only donate $27,200 to someone else.

2. Consultants like to have their invoices paid on time. The skilled operatives who lend… Read More

During the effort to curb collective bargaining rights for public employees in Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker suggested the exemption for public safety employees was necessary to avoid the possibility of a strike by “first responders.” The real reason may have been a political calculation; restricting the bargaining rights of all public employees including public safety could have triggered a losing battle. Cynics may argue that Walker, and other Republicans – from Ohio to Orange County – have stood on principle against public employee unions in general, but exempted public safety unions in particular since they tend to be heavier contributors to Republican political campaigns.

Fortunately, public sector union reform is something even Democrats are realizing is essential if governments are going to get budgets under control, implement labor-saving new technologies, reform public education, and have funds left over to rebuild and upgrade infrastructure.

Now a Democratic Senator in Wisconsin, Tim Carpenter, has picked up where Gov. Walker left off. An article in the Wisconsin Reporter entitled “… Read More

It occurs to me that for some bizarre reason the saga of San Diego Mayor Bob Filner is best played out with some clips of Jack Nicholson in several of his classic roles:

First Tim Burton’s iconic dark thriller, The Batman, where Nicholson’s portrayal of arch-villian “The Joker” steals the show. The Joker’s uncanny resemblance to Filner matched by the idea that, like the Joker, Filner is battling some inner-demons that have made him a monster.

As the accusations were made, Filner quickly… Read More

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Montana Senator Max Baucus, who led the effort in Congress to pass Obamacare, is now referring to it as a “coming train wreck”. Baucus has announced he will not to seek re-election in 2014, perhaps to avoid the inevitable embarrassment of this pending disaster. He’s not alone in his concern. The prospect that too few Americans will enroll in the program, thus rendering it unfeasible, has the administration fearful that Baucus is right — it may actually end up derailed. These enrollment fears have prompted the creation of dubious non-profit organizations to promote Obamacare. Enroll America and Organizing for Action are tax-exempt organizations, led by former Obama campaign operatives, which plan to spend tens of millions of dollars pitching Obamacare enrollment. Their funding primarily comes from special interests and healthcare related corporations who stand to profit from Obamacare.

Success or failure of Obamacare depends on the administration’s ability to sign up a large portion of the 50 million Americans currently without health insurance. One group that is particularly vital to Obamacare’s success are young adults, ages 18 to 35, who… Read More

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In a little noticed pronouncement, the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors created an entirely new application process for taxpayer advocates. As a result, taxpayers will be punished in the name of good government, especially the taxpayers least able to afford it. The problem is that this process creates a new bureaucracy without getting near solving the perceived problem.

You may have missed that Los Angeles County had a discernible problem with the person overseeing the collection process for its single largest source of revenue – property taxes. The County Assessor, John Noguez, has been charged with multiple counts of accepting bribes. He and an aide were charged with accepting bribes from a tax consultant, Ramin Salari, that resulted in a cumulative reduction of tax collections for the County of $10 million.

The County Supervisors reacted by first trying to change the law so the assessor position from being one that is elected to being appointed. Their rationale was that because this is an elected position, it was more subject to influence peddling. Did the five omnipotent supervisors ever think of the irony of that position?… Read More