One of the finest men I have ever met in politics is Bill Jones, former Secretary of State and Assembly Minority Leader in the early 1990’s. Aside from being part of one of more prominent westside farming families in the Central San Joaquin Valley for decades, Bill served and was easily the best Secretary of State in the history of California, and left a legacy in the legislature including the 3 Strikes law, among other accomplishments.

On his way out of active politics in 2004 he ran for Senate against Barbara Boxer, a half hearted effort doomed from the start. But he went out a true gentlemen, and his family, including wife Maureen and daughters Andrea and Wendy were simply one of the model political families anyone can remember anywhere. An incredible group. Always friendly, and always the same.

Bill’s current business pursuit is Pacific Ethanol, a relatively new company looking to put ethanol on the map, finally, as an alternative to oil and gasoline. His timing has been spectacular here. As chairman and founder of the company, he has led the effort plan/construct five ethanol producing… Read More

Today’s FlashReport has a story from the Los Angeles Times about the rescinding the mutli-language rule for recall petitions. Two of the three remaining pro Wal-Mart councilmembers have been under seige by union forces. They successfully sued to stop the recall election by using a ninth circuit ruling on the topic of recall petitions. Roles are reversed here with liberals wanting to excludemulti-language petitions and the Republican Jay Imperial arguing the other side. Politics is all local.See article here.

You can see background on the Rosemead recall and the original decision by clicking here and using the links there.… Read More

I do not like to drive. That being said, I am one of the few Republicans that I know who actually takes public transportation. For the last couple of days I have been taking the short hop from Mission Valley to Downtown San Diego. Maybe a 30 minute trip counting waiting time and one transfer.

Taking the train in San Diego is usually an interesting experience. Sometimes the trip is terrifying, particularly late into the night. Often there are bizarre and unsettling experiences. For example, late last night when I jumped onto my Old Town transfer train, a mob of visibly nervous police came storming in with dogs and searched the cars (20 minute delay… put up with with droll humor by everyone over 30 with the same rolled eyes I imagine one saw a lot of in the Soviet Union, and noted loudly by every young male under 30 every 10 seconds, loudly. One would think they would be the last ones to want to attract the cops, but there it is). The train is always a study in diversity. The one demographic rarely seen is the elite politicians and ascot wearing country-clubbers who love to spend our money subsidizing these dinosaurs.

Back to diversity. On my trip this… Read More

The FlashReport is pleased to present this short quiz, submitted to us by FR friend Karen Hanretty, a communications consultant who, until recently, served as Communications Director of the California Republican Party (pictured to the right). Any delegates to the CDP convention who are reading the FR today are encouraged to print out this post and distribute it at your convention!

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(Please note that this test is not part of the unfair, biased, mean-spirited high school exit exam. So pop a Ritalin or a Prozac, relax, and take your time. And please, use a No. 2 pencil.) 1. Who called President George W. Bush’s guest worker program to give illegal immigrants the… Read More

While Democrats are engaged in an 1500 delegate ‘food fight’ in Sacramento, as the forces and minions of Phil Angelides and Steve Westly wrestle over which (if either) Democrat will end up with an official State Democratic endorsement for Governor, California’s Republican ticket for statewide office couldn’t have been more unified.

Last evening, I attended the Orange County Lincoln Club’s annual membership dinner banquet at the gorgeous Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach. The guest of honor… EVERY REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE ON THE PRIMARY BALLOT! That’s right, while the top-billing for this ‘Lincoln-Club Members Only’ (and invited guests) event of over 400 people were Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and his running mate, State Senator Tom McClintock, every other candidate vying for the Republican nomination for a statewide office was at the dinner, working the room, and meeting the influential members of Orange County’s most prestigious Republican… Read More

While Democrats are engaged in an 1500 delegate ‘food fight’ in Sacramento, as the forces and minions of Phil Angelides and Steve Westly wrestle over which (if either) Democrat will end up with an official State Democratic endorsement for Governor, California’s Republican ticket for statewide office couldn’t have been more unified.

Last evening, I attended the Orange County Lincoln Club’s annual membership dinner banquet at the gorgeous Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach. The guest of honor… EVERY REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE ON THE PRIMARY BALLOT! That’s right, while the top-billing for this ‘Lincoln-Club Members Only’ (and invited guests) event of over 400 people were Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and his running mate, State Senator Tom McClintock, every other candidate vying for the Republican nomination for a statewide office was at the dinner, working the room, and meeting the influential members of Orange County’s most prestigious Republican organization.

When I… Read More

A few observations concerning the Democratic State Party Convention — sent into the FlashReport by State GOP Communications Director Patrick Dorinson:

The good thing about the California Democratic Party Convention year after year is that if you miss one it doesn’t really matter. They keep bringing up the same, failed, tired old ideas that they have been preaching for the last 30 years.

A few observations:

Steve Westly’s ads tout him as a “different kind of Governor”, but when you listen to him he sounds like any other Democrat running for office. Lots of old repackaged ideas but no way to pay for it. He may try to fool California voters that he is different with his ads, but at heart he is a just another liberal Democrat. Just listen to his own words from his speech to the convention:

"Like all of you, I’ve been a Democratic activist most of my life. In fact, I got my start when you elected me party treasurer in this very building 25 years ago. And I’ve been working with you ever since to strengthen this party. It’s good to be home."

Here’s another passage I particularly liked:

"I’m proud… Read More

MAY 1 PROTESTS Sometimes, when I am up early compiling news stories, I really shake my head. Today is one of those days. On May 1st, there will be a huge day of rallies to, in essence, support illegal immigration into the United States. You can say anything else you want about it, but the bottom line is that advocates of this day of protest are actually protesting the rule of law. They are protesting the idea that there is actually such a thing as right and wrong. It is fair to engage in a dialogue with the people and with policy makers about the law, which states that there is a formal and necessary process that any potential immigrant to the United States must follow before immigrating to America. The reality is that there are now millions of residents in the United States who quite literally ignored that law, and came here anyways. Congress is in the midst of a debate about how to make sure that these immigration laws can be more effectively enforced at the points of entry to America, and they are debating what to do, in a very practical sense, about what is estimated to be well over ten million… Read More