Conservative Republican Assemblyman Ted Gaines has retained well-respected pollster, strategist and FR friend Arnie Steinberg for his public opinion research. Steinberg & Associates just got out of the field with a survey… Here is a memo from the pollster to his client (but really written for the rest of us)…

Date: September 7, 2010 To: Assemblyman Ted Gaines and Dave Gilliard Fm: Arnold Steinberg Re: Senate District 1 Conclusion. Based on my review of the data, I believe Assemblyman Ted Gaines is in a good position at… Read More

Earlier today Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner put out a statement (h/t to the Sacramento Bee) endorsing the entire GOP ticket for the General Election. Most significantly this included his endorsement and support of Meg Whitman, his former opponent in June’s epic primary battle.

Poizner had not endorsed Whitman, which frankly was not a big surprise to many. We are all too familiar with campaigns that go negative — and the Poizner vs. Whitman battle royale was no exception. It is often times very hard for the loser of a campaign with a lot of attack ads (and there were plenty to go around on both sides of this fracas) to circle in behind the winner. It often can take some time for wounds to heal, or at least to not hurt as much.

That said, when you take into account that everything was done on such a grand scale with the Whitman campaign… Whitman didn’t just attack Poizner — she pummeled him with more negative attack mail than — well, more than I… Read More

With the dust clearing on the “fine works” of the Democrat-controlled state legislature, it’s becoming very clear that some very noxious pieces of legislation are now sitting on Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s desk, awaiting his perusal. While the FlashReport annual Top Twenty Bills To Veto feature is due out later this week, there is one particular set of terrible bills that are worth their own separate mention right now. Given that our state’s economy is in bad shape, these bills represent job killing legislation at its worst.

We are calling on the Governor to swiftly use his veto pen on Senate Bill 900 and Assembly Bill 1602. These two companion pieces of legislation together represent an effort to see California embrace Obamacare years early, and (of course) seeks to put into place regulations well beyond those required by the unpopular federal legislation. One bill creates a “California Health Benefits Exchange” and the other dictates how it will be operated. Under federal mandates, it is estimated that between 4 and 9 million Californians would be… Read More

A hodgpodge of otherwise mostly-missing-from-the-mainstream missives from the San Diego area…

Public Twitter Act… By Kelly Thornton at Voice of San Diego, an excellent analysis of the growing question: Should politicos be able to communicate electronically during public meetings and just what exactly in this day and ageis a public record? (Side note: A few years ago when a local reporter asked for my public calendar, assumingI must have a paper one, I was half inclined to hand her my Blackberry and ask how soon I could get it back.)

Read the Voice piece, Silence of the Thumbs. San Diego Rostra Fledgling, but Growing… The little area conservative blog, which I consider a local partner to… Read More

So it is clear, I am talking about Republican officeholders and candidates, not the tireless volunteers that work endless hours helping that hapless group get elected. We are about to enter the sprint phase of this electoral marathon, and Republican officeholders and candidates are very ill equipped for the victories they are about to receive.

The good news is, voters don’t care. Voters are so angry at Democrats that Republicans can show up to this party drunk and get power. But those officeholders and candidates are not ready. I listened to Meg Whitman on John and Ken. It was painful. But the race is over. She can phone it in now, and Jerry Brown is still toast. Carly Fiorina will probably beat Boxer. It is close, but I think Boxer loses (I said so in January). It will be a duel, but in the end, I think Fiorina wins. But like Whitman, she has not persuaded the voters that she is good. They just know that Boxer is bad.

And that is because Republican officeholders are lazy. The first rule of politics is that the purpose of the political process is to persuade the people to entrust you… Read More

Floyd Mayweather Jr. regrets today making racist comments about Manny Pacquiao yesterday.… Read More

Carly Fiorina’s campaign just sent out a press release detailing her position on the nine propositions on the ballot this November. Readers may recall that during the debate with Barbara Boxer on Wednesday evening, Fiorina didn’t take a firm stance on Proposition 23, the measure to suspend AB 32. But the press release from her campaign states Fiorina endorses Proposition 23, while calling it a “Band-Aid fix and an imperfect solution.” However, reiterating the point Fiorina made during the debate, it also states, “AB 32 is undoubtedly a job killer, and it should be suspended.” I’ve included the rest of the Fiorina press release below. FR’s Jennifer Nelson provided some outstanding analysis of the Wednesday evening debate, pointing out the outrageous journalistic malpractice that took place. And my … Read More

It might be time for the Washington prognosticators to move CD47 from "leans Democratic" to "toss up."

A new poll of 400 likely voters in CD47 by the American Action Forum has Assemblyman Van Tran with 43% to 45% for Rep.Loretta Sanchez — well within the 4.9% margin of error.

It remains close even when you factor out the "leaners": Sanchez 42%, Van 40%.

There isn’t a lot of good news for Sanchez in this poll.

For example, in response to the question, "Do you think Loretta Sanchez deserves reelection as congresswoman, or do you think it is time to give someone else a chance?", only 35% said Loretta deserves… Read More