About 17 or so years ago a young, bright San Diego up-and-comer was contemplating a run for State Assembly. Many in GOP circles were talking about him, as he clearly had a decent chance to take a legislative seat.

There was a problem, however … although it wasn’t a personal one for him, perhaps just a political one. Personally, he was in love with a young political reporter for the San Diego Union and they had become engaged. As the reporter often covered state legislative politics, she asked her employer about the situation and was told — as the story goes — that the pending marriage represented a potential conflict of interest, thus she would have to make a decision as to whether she wanted to continue her particular role at the newspaper.

The answer was simple … the young man opted not to pursue a political career at the moment, instead deciding to pursue his true heart. A smart man, I’d say.

What is remembered the most, though, is the big, annual San Diego County Republican Party Christmas Dinner — it had to be December 1989, if memory serves — and GOP Chair Betty Kujawa (rest her… Read More

Are you a Republican candidate running for President of the United States? If so, have I got an offer for you! I would like to offer my services as a delegate or alternate delegate for your candidacy at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis next Summer. There’s only one catch — I cannot endorse you, nor work towards your winning the GOP nomination. Believe it or not, that is the only ‘pitch’ available to myself and the other elected officers of the California Republican Party!

As the Vice Chairman, South, for the CRP, our bylaws prohibit my endorsing or helping a candidate in a contested Republican primary. A few of my colleagues don’t have to worry about this — the Chairman along with our National Committeemembers are automatic delegates for the RNC Convention. The rest of us are not so lucky. If you would like to submit the names of some or all of the State GOP Officers as delegates, speaking on behalf of my colleagues (without asking for permission), I am sure they would be pleased to serve.

(For those new to the process here in the… Read More

Are you a Republican candidate running for President of the United States? If so, have I got an offer for you! I would like to offer my services as a delegate or alternate delegate for your candidacy at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis next Summer. There’s only one catch — I cannot endorse you, nor work towards your winning the GOP nomination. Believe it or not, that is the only ‘pitch’ available to myself and the other elected officers of the California Republican Party!

As the Vice Chairman, South, for the CRP, our bylaws prohibit my endorsing or helping a candidate in a contested Republican primary. A few of my colleagues don’t have to worry about this — the Chairman along with our National Committeemembers are automatic delegates for the RNC Convention. The rest of us are not so lucky. If you would like to submit the names of some or all of the State GOP Officers as delegates, speaking on behalf of my colleagues (without asking for permission), I am sure they would be pleased to serve.

(For those new to the process here in the… Read More

My brother, Rick, went to his local AT&T Store yesterday in San Francisco, and missed getting his new iPhone by just a few people. Well, determination is a strong suit for Fleischmans, and he was at a local Apple Store at 8am this morning, and now has his 8 gig iPhone. He’s already loaded Star Wars into it!

While we have determination in common, we don’t share our politics. To prove the point, when he was showing it to me just now, he got an email… From Michael “Sicko” Moore. Blech!… Read More

On Thursday night I attended the LA County Republican Party’s annual fundraiser in Beverly Hills. For a County Party that just a few years ago failed to be able to consistently make rent on their headquarters, the event was a huge success.

County Chair Linda Boyd and her team should be congratulated for the ongoing success of the Party.

The event itself featured several hundred paid attendees, and brought in over $100,000 to the Party. It honored longtime LA conservative fixtures Supervisor Mike Antonovich and donor extraordinaire Burt Boeckmann and his wife, Jane.

Also in attendance were CRP Chairman Ron Nehring, former CRP Chairs Shawn Steel and Frank Visco, Sheriff Lee Baca, super donor Eli Broidy, longtime politico Bill Saracino, and former Mayor Dick Riordan. It was also good to see former Assemblyman Tony Strickland, Palmdale Councilman Steve Knight, and Nathan Fletcher – each legislative candidates from around Southern California, make it out to the event.

The old adage is that money is the mother’s milk of politics, and after Thursday night, the LA County Party will have a few bucks to invest in the cause.… Read More

Today was the day the $3 million of the CRP’s Victory ’06 massive debt was due. Yesterday the current CRP Board got an extension on the $3 million dollar portion of the $4.5 million oweduntil…….. August. Or so I’m told by four non-CRP board members that have all told me the same story.

What will be different in August? The CRP will have paid about a half a million bucks in interest. The real question is when will the Governor keep his pledge to pay this debt rather than keep raising money for his own fund.

By the September CRP Convention we will only havethe shirts on our backs—if we’re lucky.

You can see my last post on this that has links to the Victory ’06 debacle here.… Read More

As San Bernardino County’s population continues to grow, the region’s clout and influence in the State Legislature is increasing as well. Perhaps the most significant victories of the last election cycle occurred in Republican Party primaries for seats in the State Legislature. Among the 2006 victories San Bernardino County residents can be proud were the surprise wins of Yucca Valley’s Paul Cook for the 65th Assembly District and Hesperia’s Anthony Adams for the 59th AD. Both Adams and Cook replaced non-San Bernardino County incumbents (The 65th was held by termed-out incumbent Russ Bogh of Riverside County and the 59th was held by Dennis Mountjoy of Los Angeles County). Thus, the victories of Anthony Adams and Paul Cook increased the number of lawmakers in the State Capitol who call San … Read More

I’ve known Richard Pombo since before he ever a Congressman. He’s a great guy, with a lot of integrity, and there isn’t a dishonest bone in his body. That said, by the time the onslaught against him was over in Congressional District 11 last November, Pombo was out of office because of a lot of accusatory voter communication that made it out like Richard was tainted by a rather iffy connection to the now-imprisoned Jack Abramoff. Pombo is a great example of how it is perception, not reality that often times matters the most in the arena of politics. To be honest, I don’t really know Guy Houston (pictured to the left) too well. We’ve met a few times, and I find him to be quite pleasant. He’s a good conservative, and he has some great people on his staff. Like the rest of us, he has seen Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, I’m… Read More