No one in the Republican Party likely expected Mayor Jerry Sanders and Councilman Kevin Faulconer to ever be what a conservative refers to as "hardcore." The City of San Diego doesn’t exactly have a history of breeding conservative politicians, and many ideologues seem to have settled with the fact that"centrist-right" elected officials inSDwill, for the most part,at least holdtheirown on fiscal issues (the small issue of the pension debacle aside).

Sure, those registered as Reps may stand up for the Mt. Soledad Cross (while watering down the core argument by noting they are defending aWar Memorial, not a religious symbol), and most back the Boy Scouts fairly consistently, but Republicans on the San Diego City Council are typically a fairly moderate crew. But, needle exchange?

As noted on these pages, the program was recently reinstated in San Diego at the urging of Mayor Sanders, passing the city council on a 6-1 vote. (Find the SDUT story… Read More

It’s time for a course-correction. I understand that the strategy for the Governor to be re-elected this November includes firmly planting his flag in the political center and holding his ground — with conservatives holding their noses at some of his policy moves, as the specter of a Phil Angelides’ Governorship is too much to bear. Relative to conservatives, that strategy is working to some extent (look at me, I have said a hundred times on this page that I am supporter Schwarzenegger for re-election). But lately I have noticed that among many of my conservative friends who are involved in politics, the enthusiasm and energy is waning. Oh, these friends will vote. And by and large they will vote for Schwarzenegger (one told me yesterday he was going to write in Tom McClintock). But the enthusiasm to get out that and charge the hill for Schwarzenegger lessens with each shift to the left. I know that there… Read More

While this is not a California-based political story, I thought fellow political junkies (especially those of us in PR/communications) would be interested in the story in today’s Chicago Tribune about the death of Earl Bush, press secretary to the first Mayor Richard J. Daley (father of Chicago’s current mayor). I’m sure that Pres. Bush’s PR folks can relate to Earl Bush’s frustration with the press!

Putting words into the mouth of the malaprop-prone Richard J. Daley wasn’t an easy task.

So consider the plight of Earl Bush, the late mayor’s press secretary for… Read More

I often think that government watchdogs and those among us who gripe about lobbyists and political fund raising and ‘influence’ in government were the kids who never cut sixth period in school. They were the hall monitors who reported the rest of us for being late to class.

If I were a research scientist perhaps I could prove that the anti-lobby crowd lacks a critical element in their genome which precludes them from forming meaningful personal relationships which make them less human and therefore less interesting and in the end, it means they have no choice but to be naysayers.

These sticks-in-the-mud lack the charm and good natured persona that allows the rest of us to operate with ease in the world of politics and government. And they hate us for that.

So the next time your local gadfly wags his finger at you for being to cozy with the mayor or some Common Cause lawyer suggests that everyone, including the mother-in-law of the homeowner who is trying to add a second story on his house and therefore needs approval from the planning commission and ‘lobbies’ for a vote, must register as a lobbyist and pay a fee to the county… Read More

I had an opportunity to work with Gerry Parsky quite a bit during the President’s first election in 2000 – Parksy headed up the President’s campaign for California and I was serving at the time as Executive Director of the California Republican Party. Generally, I would say that it would be a fair characterization to say that Parksy and I were not close. I could pen an entire column on that whole set-up, and my observations of Parsky’s job in his role for the President. But that is for another day (maybe). Let’s suffice it to say that I don’t see much or hear much about Parsky these days, other than occasional stories in the news as he is an appointee to the University of California system’s Board of Regents, and right now he is serving as the head of the board. The nexus to Parsky in this commentary will come to play in about five seconds… When you sift through 80+ websites in a morning looking for political news, you occasionally come across the kind of story that would make you choke on your Wheaties — and this morning that happened when I got to the San Francisco Chronicle. There is a story… Read More

I had an opportunity to work with Gerry Parsky quite a bit during the President’s first election in 2000 – Parksy headed up the President’s campaign for California and I was serving at the time as Executive Director of the California Republican Party. Generally, I would say that it would be a fair characterization to say that Parksy and I were not close. I could pen an entire column on that whole set-up, and my observations of Parsky’s job in his role for the President. But that is for another day (maybe). Let’s suffice it to say that I don’t see much or hear much about Parsky these days, other than occasional stories in the news as he is an appointee to the University of California system’s Board of Regents, and right now he is serving as the head of the board. The nexus to Parsky in this commentary will come to play in about five seconds… When you sift through 80+ websites in a morning looking for political news, you occasionally come across the kind of story that would make you choke on your Wheaties — and this morning that happened when I got to the San Francisco Chronicle. There is a story… Read More

Yesterday marked the 37th Anniversary of the first stepsof man on the moon, by the USA’s Neil Armstrong. Strong leadership was required to see this feataccomplished, during theSpace Race era of the Cold War. Spurred onby President Kennedy in 1962,declaring we must put a man on the moon by the end of the decade, the efforts of NASA, and a country mostly united behind this goal, it did come to fruitionJuly 20, 1969.Using what is now looked at as cumbersome antique technology, our nation was able to flymen to the moon, land them and bring them home safely to Earth, something still never accomplished by any other nation.

The Voting Rights Act, passedAugust 6,1965 [the day after Armstrong’s 35th birthday] required strong leadership to succeed as well. The notion that all US citizens have the right to vote without impediments such as poll taxes or intimidation at polling places was widely held and resulted in VRA’s passage, by a strong bipartisan vote of Senate Republicans 30-1… Read More

It occurred to me that in my commentary on Tuesday, I suggested reporters call a political attorney before writing about conflicts of interests.

Here, for the benefit of political and government reporters are some attorneys that I have worked with or seen in action (sometimes on the opposite side of one of my clients). They all have experience with political law and are good at what they do:

Ben Davidian Law offices of Ben Davidian Fair Oaks

Dana Reed Reed & Davidson Los Angeles

John Ramirez Rutan & Tucker Costa Mesa

Michael Houston Rutan & Tucker Costa Mesa

Chuck Bell Bell, McAndrews & Hiltachk Sacramento

Tom Hiltachk Bell, McAndrews & Hiltachk Sacramento

Mark Rosen Law offices of Mark Rosen Santa Ana

Jim Lacy Wewer & Lacy, LLP Laguna Niguel

Fred Woocher Sturmwasser & Woocher LLP Santa Monica

Darryl Wold Irvine

Chip Nielsen Nielsen, Merksamer, Parrinello et al Mill Valley

And last but not least…added at the… Read More