My very first job in politics was for Bruce Herschensohn’s 1992 campaign for U. S. Senate. He embodied everything I believed in. He was also a good and kind and gentle man who to this day can articulate the conservative-small government principled position on any issue better than anyone I have ever heard or read.

Others have already written about how much Bruce has meant to them, but I feel compelled to write my own story and make sure we all remember that it is the dirty-work of Susan Kennedy that tanked Bruce’s chances in that pivotal election.

I won’t rehash the details, Jon Fleischman explains them well.

And I won’t even suggest that the dirty-tricks that Susan Kennedy (then executive director of the California Democratic Party) pulled were any worse than some tactics we see today.

But I keep coming back to why? Why the… Read More

Last week, Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger reached outside of his own political party, tapping former California Democrat Party Executive Director Susan Kennedy to be his new Chief of Staff. Kennedy has been serving the last couple of years as an appointee of recalled Governor Gray Davis to the Public Utilities Commission, taking that post after having served as Davis’ Deputy Chief of Staff. Kennedy’s bizarre connections made for unique post to the FR blog.

I’ve written about this appointment a few times, as well as a recap of a conversation I had with Governor Schwarzenegger here.

I can tell you that I continue to get a steady string of e-mails from folks were are quite upset over the appointment – now well over a thousand of them. It was… Read More

Former State Assemblyman Mike Briggs (R) is contemplating yet another political run, this time for his old City Council seat in Fresno, District 1. A brief background: Briggs served one term on the City Council before running for State Assembly in 1998, winning a contentious four way primary and then breezing through that fall’s general election. Briggs, in his first two years in the State Assembly, made a name for himself in working across the aisle in attempting to craft legislation to help his Central Valley District. Alas, in 2000, Briggs went a little too far. It was his disastrous vote on the 2000 State Budget that set the wheels in motion for California’s fiscal meltdown and massive deficits. Without his vote on that budget bill, California’s fiscal problems wouldn’t be nearly as severe as that are today. I estimate that his vote cost Californians somewhere north of $40 billion in principal and interest.

"Coincidently", a new Congressional District was created by the Democrats right over the top of his Assembly District, again, "coincidently" right after his collaboration with the Democrats on the budget. So, in… Read More

SPECIAL ELECTION THIS TUESDAY While only a small portion of FR readers are from Orange County relatively, and even less in live in the 48th Congressional District, I want to remind folks that this Tuesday is the special election to fill the unexpired term of Congressman Christopher Cox, who resigned from Congress after being tapped by the President to head the Federal Exchange Commission. This race is being viewed nationally because minuteman founder Jim Gilchrist is on the ballot as an American Independent. Every political observer has said that Gilchrist has no shot, but that how well he does will signal, nationally, whether the GOP has a problem on the immigration issue. … Read More

My thoughts on the Gov’s Chief of Staff…

I’ve been too in shock to comment up ‘til now.

No question that Governor Tom McClintock would never had made such an appointment … but, I guess the question remains whether McClintock would have been in the position to choose.

This is the “age old” debate in the GOP, is it not? How far are moderates and many conservatives (me among them) willing to go, how much are we willing to give up, to have a Republican in the statehouse at any cost, or in any number of offices, when the “general consensus” is that a true-blue candidate can’t win?

I am reminded of Winston Churchill’s comments after Neville Chamberlain returned from… Read More

The last several days of discussion hiring have made it clear how tenuous the relationship between the Governor and the Republican grassroots was even before Susan Kennedy was hired. As I noted on my Wednesday posting, these ideological differences have existed from the very beginning of the recall campaign. Many conservatives chose to overlook their differences with Schwarzenegger because of their desire to get rid of Gray Davis, others decided that his positions on the car tax and drivers’ licenses for illegal immigrants were enough to overshadow other areas of disagreement, and some were drawn in by the celebrity star power that Arnold radiated on the campaign trail. But whether it’s Kennedy, a tremendous bond measure proposal, or other issues, it’s clear that Republican conservative activists are angrier than they’ve been in over a decade.

So my question is: now what?

The business/lobbying community is supporting Kennedy’s hiring: they’ve been in the newspapers talking about her pro-business credentials all week. It would be one thing if the GOP ideological base and donor base were both furious with… Read More

There are a couple of reasons why I surmise that the State GOP has been silent on the Kenney Chief of Staff kerfuffle. First, Arnold is now, and always has been his own entity. Although he owes his original election to the GOP base and other disaffected voters, he is not now nor will he ever be our titular leader. You could see this as the RNC Convention last summer, and nothing has changed. I for one have not ever heard from anyone in his administration or campaign, ever. As the founding chairman of the Lincoln Club of Fresno County, former CRP Treasurer and two term Vice Chairman Central, this is fairly astounding. Second, the State Party cannot raise any real money without him, so he will not be criticized. Third, and the reason why I have not protested, is there is no conceivable scenario under which he can be re-elected next year. Now, his appointment of this Chief of Staff has crushed whatever was left of our volunteer base, so even if Arnold has an unlikely spectacular year, there won’t be any rallying the troops come next Labor Day.

I liken this entire Arnold situation to a patient (California) that has to be rushed to the emergency room for a… Read More

KEVIN MCCARTHY: KENNEDY APPOINTMENT A "MISTAKE" Yesterday in my commentary, I had a short mention of the fact that while State Senate President Dick Ackerman has been quite vocal, and critical of one of California top’s Democrat operatives being placed into the #1 staff position in the Governor’s office, Assembly Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy had been very quiet in the papers.

Since then, I have heard from several sources that McCarthy has actually been a vocal critic of the choice within the closed-door circles of the state capitol, including with the Governor.

I spoke with McCarthy yesterday, and he made it clear to me that he things that this appointment was a mistake. When we spoke, he told me that we can look for public comments from him in the media as early as Monday, vocalizing his concerns. In the meantime, McCarthy says that he has been making his concerns known in his speeches to groups and organizations.

Look for more of a profile on the Assembly Republican Leader and how he will navigate his caucus through the unchartered waters… Read More