I can’t tell you how many time I heard from politicos the following scenarioregarding the race between Ray Haynes and Michelle Steel for BOE 3, which includes a portion of LA County.

"I know Ray is lagging behind in fundraising, but ___Fill in the blank________ is so mad at Shawn Steel, there is going to be a big IE effort to crush Michelle." (Most people would use Shawn’s name instead of Michelle’s)

The ‘Fill in the black" part would change–New Majority, Jim Brulte, Gerry Parsky etc.. all these people allegedly wanted to make Shawn pay for his misdeeds as Chairman of the California Republican Party.

The reality is the IE’s never happened. I can identify only one IE that was in the $50,000 range to pay for the Prop. 13 slate. That’s it. Some of these "enemies’ maxed out to Ray. That was it.

Was Michelle lucky that the sins of her husband didn’t land on her,or does time heal all wounds? Either way, bad news for… Read More

The makeup of the Assembly Republican Caucus, which has already been fairly conservative, will be taking a slight shift even more to the right after the new 11-member Freshman class is sworn in this December. Thanks to theatrocious ‘incumbent protection plan’ adopted by the legislature earlier in the decade, almost all of California’s 80 Assembly Districts are not competitive – drawn to either elect a Democrat (which is most of the districts) or a Republican. There are 32 members of the Assembly that are GOPers right now. And if we look at the Republicans who one the party nomination in the 11 seats where the incumbents either did not or could not run for re-election, it isn’t hard to see where I am coming from: Conservatives being replaced by conservatives – in these five districts, the ideology of the new nominee virtually mirrors that of the retiring legislator.

The makeup of the Assembly Republican Caucus, which has already been fairly conservative, will be taking a slight shift even more to the right after the new 11-member Freshman class is sworn in this December. Thanks to theatrocious ‘incumbent protection plan’ adopted by the legislature earlier in the decade, almost all of California’s 80 Assembly Districts are not competitive – drawn to either elect a Democrat (which is most of the districts) or a Republican. There are 32 members of the Assembly that are GOPers right now. And if we look at the Republicans who one the party nomination in the 11 seats where the incumbents either did not or could not run for re-election, it isn’t hard to see where I am coming from: Conservatives being replaced by conservatives – in these five districts, the ideology of the new nominee virtually mirrors that of the retiring legislator.

The Schwarzenegger campaign opened the general election with a low-key but potentially destructive television commercial charging that Phil Angelides would raise taxes by ten billion dollars. Angelides’ people fought back by arguing that their man will only raise taxes by $5 billion. Something tells me that this is a debate that Team Arnold is willing to have over the next several months.

However, the ad was framed as a question of taking California "backwards". It referred specifically to "a time we never want to see again . when soaring taxes forced jobs and businesses to flee our state…" The reporters covering the announcement immediately began pressing to find out when this particular time existed, pointing out that Gray Davis’ only significant tax increase had been the $4 billion vehicle license fee that Schwarzeneger repealed several weeks after it was implemented.

Schwarzenegger campaign manager Steve Schmidt denied that the ad was referring to former Pete… Read More

With so much news being made this past week, there are a few items you may have missed. Here’s a quick wrap-up of some “must reads” this Sunday that will help you catch up on California politics.

First, is an editorial in today’s San Francisco Chronicle titled The Drugging of Foster Youth.

“ONE OF THE dark secrets of California’s troubled foster-care system is the way some young people are being drugged at the slightest sign of stress or misbehavior.

“State regulations provide a financial incentive for group-home ‘parents’ to request and administer psychotropic drugs — an option that the testimony of foster youth suggests is being exercised far too readily.”

The Chron challenges Attorney General Bill Lockyer to investigate, but we all know he won’t. Perhaps Senator Chuck Poochigian, who is facing off against Jerry Brown for the position of the state’s top cop, will commit to protecting children who, having been betrayed by parents who didn’t properly care for them and a social services… Read More

There is an Associated Press article from yesterday that highlights the unprecedented investment that is being put together to mobilize Republican volunteers to turn out voters for the GOP ticket this November, headed up by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. This operation represents a significant financial commitment by Team Schwarzenegger to a ground game. He has hired top notch operatives to head up the effort, and has assembled a field staff many-dozens strong that is deployed throughout the Golden State. The Governor should be applauded for his financial commitment to turning out Republican voters. This level of resource-commitment is truly unprecidented!

However, to use the proverbial saying — "You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink" — the key component to the success of the large scale effort is going to be the volunteers (the target goal is to mobilize 90,000 volunteers). Therein lies the single biggest challenge for the State GOP’s Victory… Read More

There is an Associated Press article from yesterday that highlights the unprecedented investment that is being put together to mobilize Republican volunteers to turn out voters for the GOP ticket this November, headed up by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. This operation represents a significant financial commitment by Team Schwarzenegger to a ground game. He has hired top notch operatives to head up the effort, and has assembled a field staff many-dozens strong that is deployed throughout the Golden State. The Governor should be applauded for his financial commitment to turning out Republican voters. This level of resource-commitment is truly unprecidented!

However, to use the proverbial saying — "You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink" — the key component to the success of the large scale effort is going to be the volunteers (the target goal is to mobilize 90,000 volunteers). Therein lies the single biggest challenge for the State GOP’s Victory… Read More

If you saw my post of about two months ago, a personal "dumping of my buckets" regarding the 77th Assembly District race, you will know why I have no choice but to gush today. In the dust-up to fill the Jay La Suer seat,a great big harrumph to Joel Anderson and Team (manager Collin McGlashen) for putting together one of the most efficient "bang for the buck" campaigns seen in recent history.

Although there are about 35,000 ballots left countywide (likely no more than 6,000 of those in the 77th) Anderson leads Santee Councilmember Jack Dale by 671 votes….a huge statistical mountain for Dale when he trailed at every click on Tuesday night.

There is no question that Dale led this match two weeks out, perhaps even one week out. Joel’s mail was just beginning to barrage the mailboxes….he ended upgoing district-wide with about 14 great pieces of mail designed by Jim… Read More