"Party of One" by Sacramento Bee columnist Daniel Weintraub is the book i just finished reading. It is a very good read that i would highly recommend.

The start of "Governor" Schwarzenegger was something that I missed. When I came back from Iraq in the summer of 2003 I had missed the signature gathering for the recall and the tensions surrounding it. When I left, Gray Davis was getting inaugurated for his second term. When I got back, he was toast, and the candidates to replace him included the Terminator, a porn queen, Peter Ueberroth, and Arianna Huffington, 2002 GOP nominee Bill Simon, Gary Coleman, and Senator Tom McClintock. It seemed like things were more stable in Baghdad.

Many of you will not find the parts about the recall as interesting as I did. What you will find interesting is the observations of someone that has observed the Governor almost every day for the past four years.

We all have our views of the Governor that may be based on individual issues. Weintraub breaks down some… Read More

I read an article in the Oakland Tribune today. I know Oakland, I’ve been to church there, and, trust me, there aren’t many Republicans in Oakland. The article said that Republican party candidates were campaigning in Oakland for the delegates available there.

When I visited there, and visited a church in South Central, I heard the same complaint from both pastors, both of whom were Republicans. Both of them said, how can you expect us to stand up for Republicans. When we do, they said, the local political operation turned against them, and made their life difficult. One fellow had a Bush sign up in his store window in the 1992 election, and someone broke his store window. The Republicans response? Nothing. No help, no defense, no response, no nothing. The pastor said we couldn’t expect any help from people if we didn’t stand with them when they were standing with us.

That got me thinking. How are we going to get Republicans interested in places in California that are dominated by Democrats? Legislators won’t do it, there is nothing in it for them. Local candidates won’t do it. They are lost causes, and… Read More

Full Disclosure: Like many in my home county of San Bernardino, I am a supporter of Mitt Romney’s candidacy. San Bernardino County – a county which solidly went for then-Governor George W. Bush over US Senator John McCain in the 2000 GOP presidential primary – is today fast becoming unshakable territory for Mitt Romney. As news broke that Fred Dalton Thompson has ended his bid for the White House, San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors Vice Chair Gary Ovitt – an early Thompson backer – announced he is now enthusiastically supporting Mitt Romney. Ovitt, who also serves as chair of the county’s Republican Party Central Committee, is joining all three of his Republican supervisorial colleagues (Chairman Paul Biane, Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt, and Supervisor Dennis Hansberger) in backing the former Massachusetts governor. In … Read More

Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson this afternoon pulled the proverbial plug on his candidacy for the White House.

He issued a brief statement.

"Today I have withdrawn my candidacy for President of the United States. I hope that my country and my party have benefited from our having made this effort. Jeri and I will always be grateful for the encouragement and friendship of so many wonderful people." I know few Thompson supporters who did not share with me, privately in most cases, on how underwhelmed they were with Thompson’s performance.

One the the challenges about being an actor by profession, is that there is a high expectation that you will act… Presidential.

In the end, emulating his character from Law & Order, D.A. Arthur Branch, did him in.

As to where his supporters, especially, in the key battleground state of Florida end up? We’ll see!

I’m sure our two Thompsonites here in FR-land, Senator Jim Battin and former Managing Editor Nicholas Romero, will add… Read More

This morning Congressman Dana Rohrabacher announced his endorsement of the Presidential candidacy of Mitt Romney. He’s penning something for FR readers that goes into his reasons why, but we want to let you know asap.

Wonder if any more of the Congressional delegation (many of whom are on the sidelines) will endorse in the final days?… Read More

Our Golden State Presidential primary is quickly approaching — it’s just two weeks from tomorrow. In fact, to many Californians, election day has come and gone as so many now vote by absentee ballot! It seems like most people understand that the California Republican Party has changed the way that delegates are allocated — and that we are no longer a state where whomever gets the most votes statewide is awarded all of our delegates. No, this system which ensured that former Governor Ronald Reagan took 100% of California’s delegates to the 1976 convention in an effort to challenge President Gerald Ford is no longer in place. Or is it? Back in the 2000 election cycle, many years ago, a change in the system was made by the State GOP with the hope that a new system would infuse more energy and activism into the Presidential primary in California. The idea was that if California was "in play" to figure out a way for Presidential contenders to come and campaign here — even if they could not afford the tremendous costs associated with a statewide effort here. I remember a lot of… Read More

Our Golden State Presidential primary is quickly approaching — it’s just two weeks from tomorrow. In fact, to many Californians, election day has come and gone as so many now vote by absentee ballot! It seems like most people understand that the California Republican Party has changed the way that delegates are allocated — and that we are no longer a state where whomever gets the most votes statewide is awarded all of our delegates. No, this system which ensured that former Governor Ronald Reagan took 100% of California’s delegates to the 1976 convention in an effort to challenge President Gerald Ford is no longer in place. Or is it? Back in the 2000 election cycle, many years ago, a change in the system was made by the State GOP with the hope that a new system would infuse more energy and activism into the Presidential primary in California. The idea was that if California was "in play" to figure out a way for Presidential contenders to come and campaign here — even if they could not afford the tremendous costs associated with a statewide effort here. I remember a lot of… Read More

Destiny Schmesticy… Many San Diegans will care less about anything political today, if they did care before, in favor of the biggest Chargers game since 1995. Heck, many regular church-going folk will even fore-go that for the morning, or at least be seen at an earlier service so as to get to a TV by noon.

Although the Chargers are playing the AFC Championship against the 17-0 Patriots — a team of destiny, some say — there is no doubt that San Diegans are united in hope and excitement. The odds makers say this is a long shot, the Pats in the midst of one of the greatest seasons in NFL history, maybe the greatest. None of this has dashed the hopes of local fans. "On any Sunday…" the saying goes.

Politically,the town’s united passion is like that of a Ron Paul supporter, ignoring the polls, discounting the odds, looking only to their belief in a potential outcome that says the pundits are wrong, but the world is alright.

The Decline of the Trad Media and the Rise of the… Read More