John Peschong is a Senior Advisor to the McCain for President Campaign here in California… As I watched last night’s presidential debate at the Reagan Library, it became crystal clear to me that among the ten Republicans on stage, there was only one with both the experience and the energy needed in our next commander-in-chief: Senator John McCain.

John McCain’s record in public service is well-known by now: with 22 years in the Navy and 20 years in the Senate, he is clearly the candidate best prepared to serve as President. And with newly released polling data showing him leading in the pivotal early primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, Senator McCain entered the night strongly positioned to win the Republican nomination.

And yet, I didn’t see Senator McCain rest on his laurels for one second. In fact, he distinguished himself from the rest of the field by passionately addressing head on the most pressing issues our country faces. In doing so, he sounded Reaganesque and looked presidential.

When… Read More

Everybody Loves Arnold & Jeb

You may have noticed the GOP candidates at last night’s debate in California spent an inordinate amount of time sucking up to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Wait till they go to Florida. That state’s former Gov. Jeb Bush, who left office as popular as his presidential brother isn’t, was already in big demand for his endorsement in the GOP presidential contest. That nod just became an even more coveted prize now that Florida’s legislature has voted to move the state’s presidential primary up to January 29.

That makes Florida’s primary one of the earliest in the nation, creating outsized influence in the race for the White House. A January 29 primary would come shortly after early contests in Iowa, Nevada and New Hampshire, but a week before the mosh pit of 23… Read More

I won the debate. It was very simple. Several years ago in West Covina there was a city council campaign that had about a dozen candidates. They had a debate. It went something like this. “You have one minute to tell the audience your position on gangs.” Everybody was against them. When that was over they had one minute on several topics. The format is awful and boring. I figured the same thing would happen at a Presidential debate that size and limited to one hour. So, instead my family had a few people over from church, had dinner and let the kids play. After reading the transcript and the reviews from commentators. I know I won. … Read More

By the magic of TIVO, I joined the debate fun a few hours after all the hoopla had already beenwrapped up. For while in the world of us politicos Thursday was a big day – akin maybe to the dual characteristics of sloppiness and potential that define NFL Training Camp or Baseball Spring Training – it also marked the 56th Annual National Day of Prayer, something that for me put all the political stuff in its rightful context.

Up in my neck of the woods, a great event marking the occasion was organized by two local conservative leaders, Dan Kirby and Peter Amundson – Councilmembers of Monrovia and Arcadia respectively. The guest speaker was my friend Captain Tim Escobar, fresh back from flying attack helicopters and training Iraqi forces. I had forgotten what a commanding speaker Tim was, and found myself pleasantly captivated by his weaving of history, storytelling, and offering a compelling message, all seamlessly.

Tim offeredhis takeof why we’re there, why we can’t leave until the job is done, and how America is changing perceptions of the West and of Christian nations by giving the Iraqis something they’ve never had: hope.

Coming home… Read More

The Homosexual lobby loves the word “tolerance”. They use it in many ways to gain special rights for homosexuals. What they don’t like is practicing “tolerance”. SB 777 sponsored by Sheila Kuehl includes language that would add state censorship rulesto screen out anything negative about homosexuality in textbooks, curricula etc. at all public and private schools and universities. (Like universities are really targeting homosexuality). It could go so far as to eliminate distinctions like Prom King and Queen and could require various restrooms for students “perceived” gender. The Governor vetoed a less expansive version of this bill last year. Two days ago on Fox Karen England of the Capitol Resource Institute (CRI) debated the issue with a proponent of the bill. (See it here). The proponent refused to declare that the bill would not do the things Karen England … Read More

Today we feature a good amount of coverage on last night’s GOP Presidential debate at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley. We have post debate ‘spin’ from representatives of the three ‘front-runner’ candidates — Rudy Giuliani, John McCain and Mitt Romney — as well as a note from Duncan Hunter’s campaign. As of my writing this, a couple of members of our FR team have penned their observations over on the blog page, and we, of course, feature on the main page an extensive listing of articles from around California (and a few nationally) about the debate. I will make a few general observations about the debate.

With the field of candidates so wide (ten), there was not enough time in an hour-long debate for any one candidate to really take command and leave this debate in a substantially better position than before. I was really impressed with Sam Brownback’s performance. That was the most notable surprise to me. I think … Read More

On Tuesday Orange County Register columnist Frank Mickadeit wrote about the failed effort of state senator Jenny Oropeza to ban outdoor smoking on state beaches and in state parks. Mickadeit who is most concerned that enjoying a cigar on the beach could become illegal, quipped that had Oropeza found the votes for her bill he would have unleashed me on an "Oropeza Oppresses Girl Scouts" campaign. The reason…camp fires are far more noxious and produce much more lung damaging toxins. Perhaps camp fires are next?

The following well illustrates what my message/campaign would look like if I were to run such an effort.

Just in case the Senator decides to bring the issue back…she knows what she could be up against.… Read More

FIrst the debate won’t really change anything — Guiliani, McCain and Romney will still be the front-runners tomorrow (with Fred Thompson as a popular, undeclared alternative). Bottom line is that they have the money, organization and support to win votes and compete nationally.

There were no real losers. Everyone looked credible and serious — and, other than Cong. Ron Paul, mostly agreed on the issues.

While I have been impressed with Giuliani as a solid front-runner, Romney got the biggest boost from his performance at the just concluded Presidential debate. And, this being his de jure introduction to the nation, the time could not have been better for his campaign.

Romney looked Presidential, handled questions with aplomb and gave credible responses to critiques that he’d flipped on key issues.

McCain made no fatal mistakes — but hit no long drives either.

Rudy looked tentative and seemed to stumble over… Read More