Having gotten to know many of the members of the press corps that cover California politics, I have found them to for the most part be pretty fair and balanced. There is always an occasional example of some liberal reporter going too far — but generally, for our part here in the Golden State, we’ve got a good crew of reporters (almost all of whom invariably voted for President Obama – but then again, so did most Americans).

There is no good reason for Meg Whitman and her campaign to go through Herculean efforts to avoid meaningful dialogue with the California press corps. All it does is feed speculation that she has good reason to do so, when I don’t think that is the case. I have heard Whitman in intimate campaign settings, and have myself sat down with her on more than one occasion writing for this website. I’m confident that she would do just fine in media interviews.

As a Republican Party officer, who is neutral in this primary and is waiting on the proverbial "50 yard line" to help our nominee win the office in November, I really do believe that practice makes perfect where it comes to media interviews.… Read More

My good friend Eric Hogue may have indulged in a little bit of over-analysis this morning as he penned a lengthy blog post over at Hogue News on the fact that the campaign of ersatz Board of Equalization member Alan Nakanishi made an ‘amateur hour’ faux pax at the California Republican Assembly convention last weekend in Orange County

The committed sin? Nakanishi’s campaign flyers, distributed all around the convention, were printed on official government paper with a watermark. How might that have happened? Well, Eric goes on about that at length. But if you haven’t see it yet, our cool graphic artist buddy Dave took the flyer I brought home and "enhanced" it so you can see the watermark. Check out his work below.

I will ask this question — why in the heck does the state place watermarks on its paper ? And how much does it cost taxpayer to do that. While apparently there is some utility in knowing when "government" paper is used, I would think those would be few and far between. Oh well, state government does a lot of things that make normal people go,… Read More

My client Assemblyman Bill Emmerson will stay on the ballot for the April 13th special election for the vacant Republican-dominated 37 th State Senate special election, according to a bench ruling by Superior Court Judge Kenneth Andreen, issued about an hour ago in Riverside. The judge announced his ruling after a full blown Perry Mason-style trial that included testimony from a Private Eye that Emmerson opponent and Corona Councilman Steve Nolan, the unsuccessful petitioner, had hired to snoop on where Emmerson sleeps at night. I must admit, I thought the case was getting a little out of hand, but the judge delivered a resounding ruling in Emmerson’s favor and I’m pleased to chalk this one up as yet another Lacy legal masterpiece.… Read More

It has been an honor and pleasure to provide you with information and commentary about state government these past years. Today I am accepting an appointment from Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to serve as the Secretary for State and Consumer Services with the mission to hold down government spending.I am resigning my position the Board of Equalization and turning it over to the capable hands of my chief deputy, Barbara Alby. Because I now have only one boss, the Governor, this will be the lastposting for 2010.I need to focus exclusively on helping the Governor with the duties he assigns me. Thank you for your comments, support, suggestions and prayers, as they are all … Read More

" Jihad is our path. Victoryto Islam. Death to Israel. Revolution. Revolution until victory. Rolling to Jerusalem. " Sami Al-Arian, Sept 26, 2001, FOX TV.

Normally, not the kind of rhetoric one finds in a US Senate race.

Tom Campbell seems to have forgot a couple of items. Campbell denied Al-Arian was a donor… Read More

One of the things I love most about my friend Barbara Alby is her "I know something that you don’t know look" — which hasn’t changed in the nearly twenty years that I have known her. When I sat down briefly with Barbara last weekend at the California Republican Assembly’s 75th Anniversary Convention in Buena Park, and asked her about her campaign for Board of Equalization, she gave me "the look" when I asked her about her ballot designation. She told me that it was "a surprise" but that her choice for ballot designation would be very important to her campaign (along with her published statement in the ballot pamphlet).

As always, Barbara has a gift for understatement.

During the CRA Convention, it was obvious that State Senator George Runner was out-hustling her for what concluded in his endorsement by the CRA for his candidacy. Runner had a full campaign operation working the event. In contrast, with a peace of mind about her that was enviable Barbara was in what I would call a "happy place" quietly chatting with the many convention delegates).… Read More

One of the things I love most about my friend Barbara Alby is her "I know something that you don’t know look" — which hasn’t changed in the nearly twenty years that I have known her. When I sat down briefly with Barbara last weekend at the California Republican Assembly’s 75th Anniversary Convention in Buena Park, and asked her about her campaign for Board of Equalization, she gave me "the look" when I asked her about her ballot designation. She told me that it was "a surprise" but that her choice for ballot designation would be very important to her campaign (along with her published statement in the ballot pamphlet).

As always, Barbara has a gift for understatement.

During the CRA Convention, it was obvious that State Senator George Runner was out-hustling her for what concluded in his endorsement by the CRA for his candidacy. Runner had a full campaign operation working the event. In contrast, with a peace of mind about her that was enviable Barbara was in what I would call a "happy place" quietly chatting with the many convention delegates).

It turns out that Barbara was… Read More

Yesterday several interesting discussions took place at the Public Lands Steering Committee of the National Association of Counties in Washington, D.C. A disturbing trend I’m seeing is that a subject that increasingly comes up in meetings involving federal land managers is Global Warm- er … I mean ‘Climate Change’ (which is the term that attributes any change in the weather to greenhouse-gas emitting – read breathing – human beings).

One speaker, Tom Tidwell, Chief of the USDA Forest Service, claimed that climate change has increased wildfire seasons by a month, and that it has caused more frequent and severe fires and droughts. When a county commissioner asked him whether the lack of proper forest management resulting in overgrowth had anything to do with the fire problems, he didn’t seem as convinced of that possibility even though intellectually it makes more sense to a lot of people.

Later in the discussion a resolution was introduced to oppose the federal government’s plans to establish a "cap and trade" system for controlling greenhouse gases. I was quite pleased to see the resolution pass.… Read More