Liberal Democrat Tom Umberg (pictured to the right) is soon to be a retired member of the State Assembly, as his bid to move up to the State Senate was dealt a fatal blow when he did not capture his own Party’s nomination. That said, Tom Umberg is hoping that his legacy as a legislator will be defined by a piece of legislation that he has passed onto the Governor’s desk (with only one GOP vote) that would, if signed, cause California to participate in a scheme to end-run the United States Constitution, and the electoral college that is used to elect the President and Vice President of the United States. Right now, on a state by state basis, depending on who wins a state, each state (by and large in proportion to their population) sends Presidential electors to Washington, D.C. to cast votes on behalf of that state in the Electoral College. We see the physical manifestation of this when we are glued to the television or our computers where we see not only which states go red or… Read More

Today’s report that the unions are gearing up to spend/waste $25 million for Angelides is the best news this Republican has heard in a while.

That the unions were going to spend big was never really in question.

The question before today was where it was going to be spent.

As Jon says on the front page, $100 million might not elect Phil, so spending $25 million is really justthrowing good money after bad.

But, for Republicans – and especially conservatives – this is great news.

Had that money not gone to Angelides, it (or someamount probably nearly as large) would’ve likely gone to some combination of John Garamendi, John Chiang, and Cruz Bustamante (Debra Bowen wouldn’t have been helped much, as some of these unions have endorsed McPherson).

Dropping, say, $8 million each against McClintock, Strickland, and Poizner, each of these candidates could’ve been in real trouble.

I’m sure the unions wouldargue that a rising time raises all ships, and that helping Angelides close… Read More

The Los Angeles Times reports that Fox Home Video has created a new film division called FoxFaith. The new studio will make about a dozen films a year, half of which will be released to theaters, with the rest going directly to DVD. The studio is reported to be interested in tapping into the success Mel Gibson’s "The Passion of the Christ" by producing films that appeal to the nation’s Christian community.

On the heels of Monday’s night debut of "Studio 60 on Sunset Strip," this announcement is intriguing. Fox, and Rupert Murdoch, are targeting American Christians while the rest of Hollywood is seething with anger and hatred that these people are even allowed to exist.

I enjoyed the premiere of "Studio 60" while hating it at the same time.… Read More

[H/T to Brandon for posting this ‘proof’ of the Governor making a public appearance today with none other than State Senator Chuck Poochigian, among others, at his side. The Governor signed some legislation, co-authored by the GOP nominee for Attorney General, that cracks down on sex offenders. You can watch the video here off of the Gov’s hi-tech website. – Flash]… Read More

We’ll be devoting a LOT of space in the FlashReport between now and election day on why the big bond measures on the November ballot should be rejected by voters.

Yesterday, two important organizations, the Reason Foundation and the Performance Institute, held a major press event to talk about why these bond measures are flawed. You can read plenty on why by going here.

Here is an AP article that ran after the Reason/PI press event:

You will no longer hear about the wild recall election in Rosemead. After spending over 200K Wal-Mart suceesfully helped Gary Taylor and Jay Imperial retain their seats. See story here.It has to be demoralizing to supporters of the recall to see the Wal-Mart open the week before the election. See previous post with links to all the others here.… Read More

Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown’s criticism that Sen. Chuck Poochigian is a “career politician” is laughable. When has Jerry Brown ever had a REAL job? He’s either been on the government payroll, running for office, on radio talking about government or giving speeches talking about government. The man has never gone to a business office or punched a time clock. Brown may think he knows what it is like for regular folk trying to live and work in California, but he doesn’t. He’s never had to find child care, look for the right school, talk to a child about being safe in the world or worry about their safety when they go off to college. Poochigian has raised a family in our state and understands why public safety isn’t just public policy—it’s real life to those of us trying to keep our families safe. Poochigian worked in the real… Read More

On the premise that President Bush is incredibly unpopular in this state, Phil Angelides’ campaign has spent millions of dollars in a to-date failed effort tomake the Governorand the President seem like one and the same.

I can do you one better, let’s tie every Democrat running for any office this year to a prominent politician even more unpopular than the President.

WHO? You might ask.

Why, Phil Angelides.

Mattier and Ross, in yesterday’s SF Chron, report findings of a Dem survey on the bonds that has the President’s approval rating in the state at a predictable 38%.

However, noteworthy in the survey that has Arnold running 20 points ahead of Angelides, 55-35, is that Angelides’ approval rating is a downright pathetic 29%.

To be the Democrats’ nominee for Governor, and for your approval to be 9-points below the President in a state with 1.3 million more Democrats than Republicans, 7 weeks before the Election…That’s got… Read More