According to a survey commissioned by CBS 5 in San Francisco interviewed 500 Bay Area adults,57% of Bay Area adults oppose a ban on spanking; only 23% support a ban. Actually, depending on how many of those asked were in San Francisco, there probably would be more support for the ban if they had only clarified that this is a ban on parents spanking children. Lieber’s bill doesn’t ban adult-on-adult spanking, a popular past-time in parts of San Francisco…… Read More

For several years now after each gubernatorial election, the UC Berkeley’s Institute for Governmental Studies hosts a post mortem seminar featuring members of the winning and losing campaign teams. This afternoon, members of the Westly, Angelides and Schwarzenegger campaign teams gathered on the Cal campus to discuss their perspectives on the ’06 primary. While there was nothing earth shattering said, there were some highlights worth sharing:

* The Wesley and Angelides staffers couldn’t make enough jokes about California’s new Democratic governor. Jude Barry, Wesley’s campaign manager, cracked, “This past year proved that it was a good year to be a Democrat. Two people proved that…Phil Angelides and Arnold Schwarzenegger."

* The animosity between the Westly and Angelides campaign teams was apparent, especially between Gary South (Westly) and Paul Maslin and Katie Merrill (Angelides). Gary South… Read More

Today the Governor made21 more appointments into State Government — 12 Republicans,5 Democrats and4 Decline-To-State (we hope this ismore of a trend…):

Assemblyman Todd Sptizer, when accepting the Legislator of the Year Award from the Orange County Republican Party last Monday night, gave a heartfelt speech. In it, he recounted to the hundreds present about his disappointment over the Governor’s Inaugural address. Click here to hop over to Red County/OC Blog, where Matt Cunningham has posted the video. It’s worth taking the two minutes to watch. To Spitzer I say, "Here, here."… Read More

If you are a denizen of the State Capitol and happen to come across State Senator Tom Harman, I’m quite certain there will be a broad smile on his face. Today, Dana Point City Councilwoman Diane Harkey threw her hat into the ring for the 73rd State Assembly District GOP primary, in a bid to succeed Assemblywoman Mimi Walters in this safe Republican legislative district in south Orange County. Harkey ran a valiant and conservative campaign against then Assemblyman Tom Harman in a special election when former State Senator John Campbell was elected to Congress in a special election to replace Christopher Cox, who was tapped by the President to head up the Securities and Exchange Commission (whew, that was a long sentence). Harman, who also ran on conservative themes won that special election, though it is clear to those of us who follow such things that Harman benefited (as he did in his first legislative election) from the ‘open primary’ nature of the election, where Democrats… Read More

I decided to take a few minutes this morning and search on the internet for "Crop Insurance" — a search that virtually every FlashReport reader is sure to never have done before. You will see that the there are a ton of headlines in California papers today talking about the negative impact of the really, really cold weather on a lot of California agriculture — especially the citrus crop. There have been local states of emergency declared by cities and counties, and even Governor Schwarzenegger has declared emergencies in many parts of California, opening the doors for President Bush to make similar declarations at the federal level. Of course, these ’emergencies’ are not life or death crisis situations — no American will live or die without their fresh glass of orange juice — these are states of economic emergency. Farmers are losing their crops, their livelihood, and are seeking aid during a very challenging time. Which brings me back to why I… Read More

One of the three candidates for Vice Chairman of the California Republican Party, Tom Del Beccaro, is an attorney who is currently a plaintiff in a lawsuit against Jerry Brown. While that case, and the merits of it, have been discussed on this page quite a bit, the nickel tour is that Del Beccaro and several others who joined with him in filing the suit alledge that Brown was not qualified to run for Attorney General because his license to practice law in California went dormant during his time as Mayor of Oakland. A judge will decide this matter.

But I find it ironic that the judge in the case has scheduled a hearing for 1:30 p.m. on February 9th. This, of course, is the beginning of the California Republican Party’s convention, where Del Beccaro is running, along with Jalene Forbis and Tom Bordonaro, for Vice Chairman. Given that Del Beccaro has gone ‘point’ on this matter, one cannot imagine that he will not be at the hearing (which, conveniently, is in Sacramento). But the timing it interesting. There is no substitute for being on-hand at these conventions as a candidate,… Read More

Monrovia is the San Gabriel Valley is one of those cities having a March Election. Turns out that the candidate running against incumbent Mayor has been convicted of grand theft. Finally, a politician with that has admitted what most of them really end up doing. Of course he attacks the Mayor, a good guy named Rob Hammond, for being a pawnbroker. Maybe Hammond wouldn’t fence his stuff?See article here.… Read More