As Vincente Fox, the President of Mexico, comes to speak to the state legislature, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is preparing to allow the California national guard to be deployed along our state’s border with Fox’s country.

This will pit Fox against Schwarzenegger, as Fox has been a vocal critic of creating a wall or strong border enforcement between the two nations.

Tonight the Governor will have ample opportunity to hit a ‘home run’ with conservatives should he choose to take it — either by deciding not to attend Fox’s speech — or by taking the opportunity to vocalize public criticism of Fox for his hypocritical position. As Assemblyman Chuck DeVore points out below, Fox supports Mexico’s law making it a FELONY (punishable by two years in prison).

**There is more – click the link**

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I’m not sure how I missed this one — but it is significant:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will veto a bill passed by the Senate and pending in the Assembly to revise California’s school curriculum to include the contributions of gays and lesbians to the state and nation, a gubernatorial spokesman said Wednesday.

"The governor believes that school curriculum should include all important historical figures, regardless of orientation," said Schwarzenegger’s director of communications, Adam Mendelsohn. "However, he does not support the Legislature micromanaging curriculum."

Wednesday’s announcement signaled a death blow to the efforts of state Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, the… Read More

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The late hit is the fear of every consultant, candidate and spouse of a candidate. And I am sure, whatever form it takes, mail or TV or radio or phone call, the late hit will always be in play as long as there are elections.

However, I believe, and it seems every other consultant I talk to, thinks the late hit is ineffective and often times backfires.

To illustrate this point, does anyone remember that just days before the Presidential election in 2000, it was released that George W. Bush had a DUI back in 1976? Most American’s don’t. But at the time it made Bush, a responsible father and husband and governor, into a sympathetic figure, being attacked by those who wanted to bring him down. Ostensibly to help the other guy he was running against, who ever that was. I can’t remember.

So if you (read your consultant) has ‘the silver bullet’ hit mail piece on your opponent printed and ready to mail just days before the election, think twice. It could and probably will backfire. And condemn you to be… Read More

There is a controversy in Mill Valley over a physics teacher who annually fires a gun into a piece of wood as a hands-on way to teach his students how to calculate the speed of a bullet. For more than 10 years, teacher David Lapp has brought his M-1 Carbine rifle (leftover from Lapp’s days as a military police officer in the Korean War) to school to conduct one of his many unusual physics experiments. Lapp has had the approval of his principal, but apparently the district was not aware of it. Critics say that he is violating state law by bringing a gun to school.

I’m a big supporter of gun rights, but I honestly don’t know if I’d want my kids’ teacher bringing his gun to school. It’s not that I wouldn’t trust the… Read More

Reps. Ken Calvert and Gary Miller both Republicans representing parts of Orange County are fed up with OC 5th Dist. Supervisorial candidate Cassie DeYoung’s antics.

DeYoung, is a councilwoman in Laguna Niguel running for the south county seat against former Assemblywoman Pat Bates (a client of my firm). Bates is well liked and has virtually all the local elected and partisan endorsements.

DeYoung has been sending mail knocking Calvert and Miller for supporting transportation solutions that she says would be bad for Orange County.

Its a bold move on the part of her consultants. And it backfired. First the chairman of the Orange County Transportation Authority Art Brown release a letter pulling his endorsement (one of the few DeYoung had) because, and I am paraphrasing, it’s pretty stupid to attack two sitting Members of Congress that represent big chunks of Orange County and who have huge say over federal dollars coming to OC. I think Congressmen Calvert and Miller who have both been Probolsky Research clients would have let the first mail piece slide. But the … Read More

I have been told by a reputable source that the City of Hercules had a large booth and a big delegation at the International Council of Shopping Center (ICSC) Spring Convention in Las Vegas this week. So, at the same time the City Council was abusing their power by invoking eminent domain authority to force Wal-Mart (a ICSC member) out of their community, they were spending big money to recruit other retailers to their town. Residents and city leaders have said that a Whole Foods or other trendy, high-end store would be acceptable, but that Wal-Mart, which attracts a lower-income, more diverse crowd, is not. The elitist attitude of Hercules residents and city officials is just amazing, especially given that the city resides in the open-minded, diversity-loving, liberal Bay Area.… Read More

Looks like the dukes have come off in the regular primary election in the 50th Congressional District as conservative businessman Bill Hauf turns on the ‘contrast campaign’ — with this instructive mail piece to Republican voters, reminding them that Bilbray does not support 2nd Amendment rights.

You can be sure that the next couple of weeks will see a slew of this kind of mail, and conservatives are reminded that there IS someone about whom they can get excited about who is actively campaigning for the two-year seat.

I’m sure this kind of mail will be challenging for Bilbray, who would probably prefer to spend this time campaigning to Democrats about how he is as good on many of their issues as his Democratic opponent, Francine Busby. But instead, Bilbray will have to try and defend his not-so-conservative record to Republicans – good… Read More