I wanted to wait for a few days to react to the Governor’s speech. This will be brief. I haven’t changed my mind from previous posts, which you can read if you like. The special election was the Governor’s re-election and he lost. Republican strategists have no answer for nurses, teachers, firefighters, prison guards and cops. Republicans cannot buy votes by outspending Democrats, so the State of the State speech was of little consequence to Arnold’s re-election bid. Bill Whalen succinctly outlined what the Governor didn’t say in his speech.

Let me add a couple of items to this list. While the Governor correctly outlined the massive infrastructure deficit faced the by the State, what he didn’t say is that the Legislature has made choices over the years to spend windfall tax revenues on programs, not infrastructure, and that this is the only reason bonds are necessary to finance these projects. He also didn’t point out the obvious – there is waste, fraud and abuse in State Government, and… Read More

I just finished reading Jon’s commentary on what has become of the Rev. Lou Sheldon and his Traditonal Values Coalition, and agree with him absolutely.

I remember the Fong incident well, because I was communications director for Issa for U.S. Senate at the time. Rev. Sheldon approached our campaign first (presumably because we had more money), and offered to endorse Darrell — if our campaign donated $50,000 to the TVC.

The answer was "no" whereupon Sheldon hit up the Matt Fong campaign, which readily agreed in order to shore up his campaign among religious conservatives.

I’m sure a number of my fellow FR blog contributors could relate similar incidents.… Read More

I wish I could tell you when I read, with interest, the column by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Debra Saunders in which she reveals the connection between admitted-criminal Jack Abramoff and Lou Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition, that I was surprised. Hardly. As a matter of fact, I wasn’t surprised at all, which is too bad. If you aren’t familiar with the Traditional Values Coalition, it is an organization that has done a lot of good work over the years advocating for socially conservative causes. But they have been plagued over the years by sometimes public and often private … Read More

Time Magazine is reporting that ex-Congressman Duke Cunningham wore a wire in cooperation with the FBI before he publicly admitted to being on the take and resigning in disgrace.

As you may remember, I am not a fan of federal prosecutors (see my previous post here) but I have even more distain for rats. Those among us who would for their own personal gain abuse friendship and a history of trust to entrap someone else are some of the lowest of the low.

It’s a sad day when any office holder is found or admits to being guilty of crimes against the very people they represent. But even worse to me is the crime of being a rat which is punishable with a total and complete… Read More

John Boehner, Ohio. Currently the chairman of the House Education & the Workforce Committee and formerly the House Republican Conference Chairman (defeated by J.C. Watts). Boehner has been in the leadership before and has a conservative voting record. He comes in with the support of a united Ohio delegation and probably the support of more senior Republicans and committee chairman. Although he has a conservative voting record, he will be able to pick up significant moderate support thanks to his easy going, non-confrontational style.

Roy Blunt, Missouri. The Majority Whip and acting-Majority Leader was picked out of no where in his second term to be Chief Deputy Whip to then-Whip Tom DeLay. When DeLay was elected Majority Leader, Blunt easily moved into the Whip job. Sometimes referred to as the “Velvet Hammer” due to his smoother style. Blunt doesn’t have a big state delegation but as Whip has 30-40 members… Read More

Dan, I have had a couple of days to ponder your open question to the FlashReport contributors, and so I thought that I would take a shot at answering a few of your questions. First, a brief historical note. As you know, on the GOP philosophical scale, I am pretty much bumping up on the right end. A red meat conservative with a healthy amount of libertarian ‘marbling’ throughout. My credentials include three years as State Chairman of California Young Americans for Freedom (the conservative youth organization founded by William F. Buckley, Jr, in 1960), two years as State President of the California Republican Assembly, and while my service as Executive Director of the State GOP years later isn’t a reference to my degree … Read More

Another response, in addition to Lew Uhler’s (see prior post). Whether I agree with it or not, and whether he meant it as such or not, Republicans and GOP legislators could view Richard Rider’s comments as a challenge (and definitely food for thought):

San Diego Tax Fighters E-mail: RRider@san.rr.com

Press Release – For Immediate Release by Richard Rider, Chairman

The Terminator Morphs into Girlie Man San Diego – It’s over. The giddy times of tossing out Gray Davis and replacing him with the tough Terminator are now behind us. After Governor Schwarzenegger’s State of the State speech, stunned Democrats welcomed him with open arms. Democrat Assemblywoman Saldana offered him a voter registration card so he could officially change his party affiliation. He’s become the very Girlie Man he denigrated in times past.

The Governator is… Read More

I remember about two hours after the big speech, getting an email to my blackberry. I had received a couple dozen already, from very frustrated GOPers. But this one was pretty succinct: “Jon, is there going to be a Republican response to the Governor’s address?”

If you think about it, here is a Republican volunteer who walked dozens of precincts, has probably made thousands of GOTV phone calls, and has volunteered at countless GOP conventions.

This person heard the speech, and felt Republicans should have a response. The Governor can’t be mad at these volunteers though. The Governor is moving to the center (at least rhetorically – Dan Schnur argues he’s been there on policy since day one) and those who worked to elect the “fiscal conservative” Arnold — not the “prolific borrowing/spend it-build it/regulate business Arnold — that seems to have emerged from the Christmas holiday.

To the volunteer who wrote that note, and the many others similarly concerned – be vocal and make your feelings known to your GOP elected leaders, your legislators and to your Governor. Be respectful but firm.… Read More