From today’s WSJ Political Diary E-mail… … Read More

For those with a chunk of time to watch what was an amazing speech, here is the video of Orange County Republican Party Chairman Scott Baugh giving his speech about the future of the GOP and of the nation, filmed last Monday night by yours truly… Big kudos to Rhonda Rohrabacher for getting it up online!

Chairman Scott Baugh from OCGOP on Vimeo.

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I caught up with Assemblyman and U.S. Senate candidate Chuck DeVore as well as Republican National Committeeman Shawn Steel in the heart of the State Capitol. DeVore had a lot to say about his experiences making GOTV calls for Scott Brown, the now U.S. Senator-Elect for Massachusetts…

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I’ve listened to all the FOX News pundits tonight, and they have all missedan important point. The reason Scott Brown won is the same reason that Senator McCain could have if his campaign (post-Super Tuesday) hadn’t been manhandled by the “Victory” operation. Like Senator McCain, Scott Brown is his own man, and Brown said it best tonight, “I know who I am, and I know who I serve.” He appeals to Republicans AND independents AND what we used to call Reagan Democrats, (until some wonk or another decided we couldn’t woo them any longer.) Do you know how many non-Republicans worked on Scott Brown’s campaign, and were in the room when he gave his victory speech tonight? If not, I hope you’ll find out. Do you know how many PUMA’s, how many hard working union Democrats, how many pro-life Democratic Catholics, and how many independent thinkers would have worked their tails off for Senator McCain if they hadn’t had to make calls for … Read More

For the first time in three decades, Massachusetts has a Republican U.S. Senator. Awesome. A fine 'tribute' to scoundrel former Senator Ted Kennedy!… Read More

UPDATE: 12:30PM — The transition from Assembly Republican Leader Blakeslee to Martin Garrick will take place in early February.

BREAKING NEWS FROM THE FLASHREPORT!

Just moments ago the Assembly Republican Caucus members gathered in the State Capitol and elected Assemblyman Martin Garrick (of San Diego County) to be their new leader.

Joining Garrick in leadership of the Assembly Republican Caucus will be Assemblywoman Connie Conway, who will serve as caucus Chairman.

As the story… Read More

The new year brings us some new great places to get insightful news and observations on the California political scene. We’ve seen the arrival of non-profit investigative journalism organizations Cal Watchdog and California Watch, both with blogs. They are already producing great content and we’ll link to their best stuff.

Today brings a new big player from the main stream media blogging front — the Los Angeles Times has partnered with the venerable Capitol Weekly newspaper to create a new California Politics blog housed on the Los Angeles Times website. You can check out the new blog page at the LA Times website here. We’re expecting big things from Anthony York (pictured), Shane Goldmacher, and more on this site. Again, we’ll link to the best of the… Read More

Do people have a constitutionally protected right to dislike someone? "Associational rights" spring from the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and the U.S. Supreme Court says this right includes both the right to associate with others, and the right to not associate with others.

The debate in the current Federal trial in San Francisco on the constitutionality of Proposition 8, the initiative that bans same-sex marriage in California, has gone well beyond resolving the question of whether gays and lesbians have a straightforward "right" to marry. The case has included allegations by the homosexual plaintiffs that the ballot proposition passed by majority vote, was stimulated by an "animus," or dislike for gay people, and therefore constituted an illegal conspiracy against them, rendering the Proposition null and void. The plaintiffs have sought to "discover" private internal memos and emails of Prop. 8’s political consultants, hoping to find disparaging remarks against homosexuals, to help prove their contention.

In the meantime, supporters of… Read More