Yesterday I received a phone call from my longtime friend Karen England. Some of you may know Karen in her role as head of the Capitol Resource Institute – others may know her as a leader in the California Republican Party. Karen was calling me to tell me that she had decided to announce a write-in candidacy for the office of Lt. Governor. She told me that, from her perspective, the choice between San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and appointed Lt. Governor Abel Maldonado represented no choice at all for committed Republican voters. She went into a litany of issues where she found substantial fault with Maldonado.

After hearing Karen out – I told her that while I shared many (well, to some degree, all) of her concerns about Maldonado, that Republicans need to stay unified behind out party’s nominee as chosen in the primary we held in June. I let Karen know that I was committed, as an officer of the California Republican Party, to the election of Maldonado (despite our significant differences on some policy and political issues). I even went a step further and counseled Karen not to do this – not to run as a… Read More

The single most important column of the year.… Read More

Pugno Fact #3 Emotion regarding social issues is clouding the political judgment of political observers and the local press in the race for the 5th Assembly District between Republican Small Business Owner Andy Pugno, Democrat Community Physician/Educator Richard Pan, and Peace and Freedom College Student Elizabeth Martinez. So the Pugno campaign will attempt to provide some facts for people to consider about the race, the district and the candidates. Fact #3 Proposition 8 passed in Assembly District 5 by a margin of 55-45 in the best turn out year for Democrats in more than a decade. Note: This is the same margin that it passed in Speaker Perez’ District. Pugno Fact #2 In 2008, Peace & Freedom candidate Karen Martinez won 8% of the vote for Assembly District 5 in a 3-way race. This year it is again a 3-way race with Peace & Freedom candidate Elizabeth Martinez (her daughter) on the ballot. Polling shows the… Read More

Am I the only one who has noticed that the only Republicans with the "cojones" to stand up to the Democrats are the women in the conservative movement? Even conservative men seem to be a little meek these days, with many of them running for the hills every time the Republican establishment announces that this race or that has to have a "moderate" Republican carrying the Republican banner in November. Conservative women say no, and fight the establishment to advance the movement. Thank you Sarah Palin, Sharon Angle, Christine O’Donnell.

I find it really ironic that many in the Republican establishment, not that long ago, were telling us conservatives that we were too "white" too "male" and too focused on the "social issues" to win in November. The Tea Party movement has been established, energized, and fought to defend the Constitution and has emphasized strict "fiscal" conservatism. Now we are being told that this emphasis on "fiscal" issues makes one too conservative to "win in November." Oh, and by the way, it is being advanced by a woman who… Read More

Unlike some well seasoned politicos in DC including the NRSC, Chairman Michael Steele is running hard supporting Christine O’Donnell. See below.

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Jerry Brown and the media love to talk about the money that Meg Whitman has spent in her bid for governor.There’s no doubt that she’s spent a hefty amount.But there are a couple of points that her critics leave out. First, California is a large state and it takes a lot of money to introduce a candidate to the voters.A political newcomer cannot simply hold coffee klatches and expect to connect with the nearly 37 million people who live here.Despite the popularity of the Internet, television and radio are still the most reliable way to reach people and they are also the most expensive form of advertising. Of the roughly $100 million Whitman has spent on her campaign (primary and general) thus far, $60 million has been spent on direct communication with the voters (paid advertising). Her critics … Read More

Today’s Wall Street Journal Political Diary E-mail was so interesting, I thought I would post it up here. As a shout-out to the WSJ, let me encourage you to go to this link and sign up to get the Diary to your own email account. There is a small fee — but as you can see from below, well worth it… The last item below is California-specific. … Read More

No, I don’t mean Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but Internal Combustion Engines. They pretty much all run now on some refined petroleum product. But what about alternative fuels? There are a lot of alternatives out there, but each has challenges or else they would be in wide distribution already.

The most commonly know is E85, which is a blend of 85% ethanol with 15% gasoline. Cars in Brazil can run on 100% gasoline, 100% ethanol, or any mixture in between. Ethanol is most efficiently produced from sugar cane – something Brazil has a lot of. We don’t have much. So, we tend to produce it from corn. Virtually all gasoline in the US now contains 10% ethanol. We may be able to go to 15% without damaging existing cars. We cannot produce enough ethanol domestically to go entirely to E85 or even E25, and we currently have a 30% tax on imported ethanol. I have cosponsored a bill to remove that tax, which was initially intended to protect US sugar producers, but is now interfering with energy policy. Plus, ethanol has downsides. In addition to the fact that it results in more emissions than gasoline, it is corrosive and cannot be used at too high a… Read More