I have penned the following commentary, which appears today in the print and online version of Capitol Weekly newspaper. Its intended reading audience is our State Supreme Court Justices…

When considering Proposition 8, remember Rose Bird Jon Fleischman

On May 15 of this year, four Supreme Court Justices – Chief Justice Ron George and Associate Justices Joyce Kennard, Carlos Moreno, and Kathryn Werdegar– put on their “judicial activist” hats and tossed out Proposition 22, which had been passed by California voters by a healthy majority, placing into California law that marriage shall only be between a man and a woman.

The decision by these four individuals set into motion the… Read More

[Publisher’s Note: After the defeats suffered by the Republican Party in the General Election, we have reached out to some California leaders to ask them to reflect on this question, "What must the GOP do to once again be the majority party?" We are pleased to bring this you column from FR friend and esteemed political consultant Frank Schubert, who contributes weekly to this website. Most recently, Frank along with his business partner, Jeff Flint, managed the successful Yes on 8 campaign – Flash]

I’m a lifelong Republican and I want to root for the home team. Problem is, I look out on the field of battle and I can’t tell which team is wearing the white uniform.

What do Republicans stand for anymore? The GOP leadership in Congress has virtually destroyed the Republican “brand” and turned it into something of value only to white, well-off conservatives. They have vastly expanded federal government spending and influence. They’ve turned… Read More

[Publisher’s Note: After the defeats suffered by the Republican Party in the General Election, we have reached out to some California leaders to ask them to reflect on this question, "What must the GOP do to once again be the majority party?" We are pleased to bring you this column from one of our own FR correspondents, Dan Schnur – Flash] After last Tuesday’s elections, there are twenty-one Republican governors in the country. Because of constitutional restrictions, only twenty of them are thinking about running for president in 2012. But it’s always better to be a mile outside of hell heading out, and as the GOP looks to rebuild itself, as it did after the 1976 and 1992 elections, the political, policy and intellectual firepower for that effort will come from the states.

The Republican leadership on Capitol Hill seems resigned to fighting a series of rear-guard actions to watch for likely Democratic overreaches. John Boehner is one of the best political minds in the party. Mitch McConnell is one of the ablest legislative tacticians in either… Read More

[Publisher’s Note: After the defeats suffered by the Republican Party in the General Election, we have reached out to some California leaders to ask them to reflect on this question, "What must the GOP do to once again be the majority party?" We are pleased to bring you this column from one of our own FR correspondents, Dan Schnur – Flash] After last Tuesday’s elections, there are twenty-one Republican governors in the country. Because of constitutional restrictions, only twenty of them are thinking about running for president in 2012. But it’s always better to be a mile outside of hell heading out, and as the GOP looks to rebuild itself, as it did after the 1976 and 1992 elections, the political, policy and intellectual firepower for that effort will come from the states.

The Republican leadership on Capitol Hill seems resigned to fighting a series of rear-guard actions to watch for likely Democratic overreaches. John Boehner is one of the best political minds in the party. Mitch McConnell is one of the ablest legislative tacticians in either… Read More

They counted another 11,000 or so ballots in Ventura County, and Strickland picked up a net 1100 or so votes, putting Strickland up about 1600 votes as of now. Estimates are that there are at least 30,000+ ballots left to count in Ventura County (good for Strickland), around 6,000+ ballots in Santa Barbara County (good for Jackson) and at least 1500+ more ballots left in the LA County portion of the district (it's Santa Clarita – and very good for Strickland). Bottom line — looking very good for Strickland. But as they say, it ain't over 'til its over…… Read More

The McClintock campaign hasvery good news today: Tom is now up 1,283 votes. The most encouraging news of the day is that McClintock’s lead is increasing even in counties considered unfriendly to Republicans. Although the 4th CD is a predominantly Republican area, there are pockets of Democrat infiltration. The counties of El Dorado, Nevada and parts of Sacramento are areas expected to decrease McClintock’s lead, but when those counties reported their vote tallies today, McClintock’s lead increased.

Campaign insiders are pleased with the trend in the vote counting and very optimistic that McClintock’s lead will continue to surge. The largest county in the district, Placer, is still counting (and will probably be the last to report final numbers) and is friendly territory for Tom McClintock. McClintock’s campaign is inching its way ever closer to certified victory…… Read More

For the past eight years or so, I have been on various e-mail lists at The White House, alerting me of the President's initiatives, speeches and the like. I just got one where W is calling on Congress to pass the U.S.-Columbia Free Trade Act. Right. The Democrats were in no hurry to pass that before McCain was thrattled by Obama last week. Why would they suddenly pass it now? W should enjoy a final round of holiday parties, and maybe a few more joy rides in AF1 — because there will be no more good policy items coming his way from Harry and Nancy. Live with it. It's just the facts of lame duck status in a transition to a new POTUS who dispises him…… Read More

Early last week the Dow Jones Industrial Average was above 9,200. It has declined over 1,000 points in the last week, after Obama’s election,and settled at a little over 8,200 today with over a 400 point loss. Are we paying attention? Since the LA Times and Time magazine are caught up in selling commemorative editions, I guess not.… Read More