Tonight the Republican Party of San Diego County unanimously made the following endorsements:

Shawn Steel – National Committeeman

Linda Ackerman – National Committeewoman

Keith Carlson – CRP Treasurer

Steve Baric – CRP Secretary

The Steel and Baric endorsements come four days after the LA County GOP opted for the same.

Of course, the arguably competitive race is for National Committeeman. "The unanimous vote reflects the strong support Shawn Steel has among San Diego delegates," said local GOP Chairman Tony Krvaric. "He will make a fantastic National Committeeman and bring tremendous value to the CRP board."

Here also is the Red County… Read More

State Assemblyman Ted Gaines — thought to be one of the strongest candidates to replace retiring Congressman John Doolittle — anounced that he would not seek the CA-04 seat, but instead would focus on relection to his Assembly seat.

That leaves already declared candidates former State Senator Rico Oller, war hero Major Eric Egland, and Auburn Councilman Mike Holmes still in the race.

Also rumored is former CA-03 Congressman Doug Ose. Ose, who has shown he’ll tap personal resources to win, is considered a strong candidate in the race. Ose has been making calls, but has yet to declare his intentions.

Local pols will remember that Ose and Oller have sparred in the past when Marry Ose (his sister) ran for the seat Doug vacated in keeping with his 3-term limit pledge. In the end, Dan… Read More

The Pew Research Center has published the report Internet’s Broader Role in Campaign 2008

It is a good read for anyone interested in politics. Taking the information that it provides and extrapolating it out a few cycles tells us that campaigns and elections are going to be very different in the future.

Several months ago (prior to the strike by writers) I came to the conclusion that The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is one of the best sources of political news. Stewart is not only funny — he gets guests that seem to track with Tim Russert.

The evening news and a massive television buy alone is not what wins campaigns any more. It is a constantly changing environment that political professionals need to recognize.

Two things this report does not cover that are important.

First, while the internet may be a great way to reach younger voters. To be honest, most of the time I am not trying to reach younger voters. I would rather have the over 60 crowd any day of the week. They actually… Read More

On this quiet Sunday morning, be prepared to be blown away with the latest and one of the most evil ideas that has come along for the expansion of the Nanny State… The following is penned by longtime FR friend Bill Leonard, who serves as a member of the California State Board of Equalization…

Pry the Thermostat from My Cold, Dead Hands By Bill Leonard

I have written about the number of people leaving California for any number of reasons— high taxes, traffic congestion, poor public schools, burdensome business climate—but yesterday came word of a new one: the cooler cops. The California Energy Commission is proposing in its Title 24 regulations that newly installed heating and cooling systems in… Read More

On this quiet Sunday morning, be prepared to be blown away with the latest and one of the most evil ideas that has come along for the expansion of the Nanny State… The following is penned by longtime FR friend Bill Leonard, who serves as a member of the California State Board of Equalization…

Pry the Thermostat from My Cold, Dead Hands By Bill Leonard I have written about the number of people leaving California for any number of reasons— high taxes, traffic congestion, poor public schools, burdensome business climate—but yesterday came word of a new one: the cooler cops. The… Read More

Longtime GOP Activist Patrick Moir, who toiled here in the Golden State for many years, now calls Nevada home. He sent this missive over, worthy of sharing with FR readers…

As Sunday night comes to a close, I’m in my house in Las Vegas reviewing the upcoming week and next weekend and realize that the Nevada Caucus is coming up on Saturday. I have received nothing from the Nevada Republican Party about the caucus, its location or how it works. I visited their website after seeing a small ad in the local paper and learned that I need to go to a high school a few miles away "for my precinct caucus."

I’m also surprised candidates have so little interest in my vote. As a 3 of 4 Republican male (I didn’t vote in the city general election that had only a municipal court judge on the ballot in Summerlin), I would expect to be contacted as much as Shirley Horton’s campaign spoke to people in the 2004 election, but I have… Read More

Red County 2.0… The Red County network has upgraded, with a new format and new locations for the regional blog sites. Something dubbed 2.0. Ok, I’ll buy that. It also means a new URL for the local SD site. Take a look…when not posting there myself, it’s my second choice every day for the latest insider political news…after FR of course! You can check out Red County SD and its localized content here

Sheriff La Suer?… Is the former “number two” at the Sheriff’s Department eying the seat? Jay La Suer, also the immediate past 77th AD assemblyman and prior to that a 10-year member of the La Mesa City Council, is said to be doing just that. Once considered a possible contender for Duncan Hunter’s open congressional seat, La Suer has endorsed Hunter son Duncan D. for the spot. Short of waiting for an open senate seat from a termed-out Dennis Hollingsworth, the one-time undersheriff has few prospects if interested in another office.

Roger Hedgecock… Read More

The Wall Street Journal weighs in today on the Governor’s ridiculous health care plan (link might require registration) and really furthers my argument that the State Republican Party needs to actively and publicly oppose tax increases by asking each member of the State Assembly and State Senate to agree to a no new taxes pledge.

Besides blowing up the Governor’s call for tax increases related to his health care plan for the November ballot, the Party should also begin the process of raising money to overturn the ridiculous Sinclair Paint decision, which allows "fees" to be levied in lieu of taxes. Look for the Governor’s "solution" to the budget crisis to be laden with "fees". The State Party should try to qualify a ballot initiative to run in November to treat fees the same as taxes.

The Governor left the State GOP in a mountain of debt, crippling its ability to operate this year. He ignored downballot candidates and refused to campaign for McClintock and McPherson. It’s time to return the favor.… Read More