"If I had to guess, Democrat Francine Busby will be voting for Brian Bilbray this Tuesday, because that is whom she despirately hopes to run against – the candidate who makes this seat the must vulnerable to a GOP loss." – Jon Fleischman, Publisher of the FlashReport.

In California’s 50th Congressional District, the primary for special election to replace the disgraced and now-imprisoned Randy "Duke" Cunningham will take place in just three days. National attention will be paid to the outcome of this race. After all, no politician in memorable history has disgraced the office of Congress more flagrantly than Cunningham did, and add to it that as a special election, it is the only Congressional race being voted on in the country this Tuesday. Of particular interest has been the activity surrounding the campaign of Democrat candidate Francine Busby… Read More

Who the heck wrote that?… Speaking of anonymous blogging, I received a smart-aleck email the other day asking me if I receive a check every time I mention the SDPolitics blog. You may know that blog is run and written by a mystery person, but I find it a must read everyday. I often find breaking news and other tidbits that are worth posting, and when I do, I’m gonna give credit. Alternatively, SDPolitics several times has mentioned the FlashReport as the first source of something juicy. It’s mutual, apparently.

My answer back to the emailer: "It is professional courtesy to give credit where credit is due….I don’t see FR and SDPolitics being in competition, and I believe the mutual links drive readership at both sites."

By the way, I support Jon in his decision that these pages are attributed, and I wouldn’t have it any other way for myself…but it isa decision other bloggers need to make for themselves. Just call me… Read More

As compared to Friday’s version, Datamar’s Saturday numbers remain nearly the same:

Datamar Saturday Tracking Survey 50th Congressional District Special Election Roach And Bilbray Still Tied For Second Busby Still In Lead

San Diego – Little candidate “movement” was shown in the daily tracking poll released Saturday by Datamar Inc. regarding candidates from all political parties in the 50th Congressional Special Election to be held on Tuesday.

Busby 39.6 Roach 17.5 Bilbray 16.3 Kaloogian 8.9 Morrow 6.9 Uke 4.9

See the entire survey here.… Read More

Lost in the immigration debate is whether or not the federal government is ready to implement/execute ANY plan passed by the Congress and signed by the President. The answer is no, and I can’t believe no one is even asking the question.

In Washington there is often a rush to do something, anything, to appease voters and quiet the press. This more often than not results in public policy that not only doesn’t work, but makes the situation worse. Accordingly, I opine that any bill passed by Congress would have made the immigration problem worse, not better. During this "breather" is anyone going to step up and talk about the foundation that must be built to accomodate the passage of any plan? What needs to be done?

First, we need Silicon Valley leaders to unleash their resources on the problem and devise technological solutions to take a 6-10 year process of obtaining legal residency down to a matter of 4-6 weeks. We cannot deport anyone nor ask any illegal immigrant to leave if faced with YEARS of waiting to re-enter the country. It cannot and will not happen no matter how bad people (like me) want it to happen. We must fix the… Read More

Last week, political reporter John Marelius penned a piece on the rise of political blogging in the San Diego Union Tribune that prominently featured the FlashReport. In that piece, Marelius pens a few paragraphs talking about "anonymous blogging" — here is the excerpt:

Last week, political reporter John Marelius penned a piece on the rise of political blogging in the San Diego Union Tribune that prominently featured the FlashReport. In that piece, Marelius pens a few paragraphs talking about "anonymous blogging" — here is the excerpt:

Any experienced participants or observers of politics know that watching the last-minute mail pieces that come out in the final days of a campaign is kinda like watching the commercials during the Superbowl – they are the most amazing and outrageous pieces of all. Especially right towards the end when candidates who are attacked don’t have time to respond.

The attached mail piece is a stinking attack on conservative businessman Eric Roach who is one of the leading candidates in the GOP donnybrook to replace the disgraced and imprisoned Duke Cunningham. Roach is making a big splash, spending millons of dollars to run a targeted campaign in a crowded field. You can read my take on Roach here.

That said, the mail piece that is attached below is a great reminder to anyone thinking about running for office – don’t forget to vote! You never know when it will come back at you — in this case, in full color!

Bilbray roasts Roach on missing a couple of elections, as well as trying to make him out to be a carpetbagger from San Francisco and more.… Read More

The LA Times is reporting today that Anaheim Councilman Harry Sidhu is considering a run against first-term mayor Curt Pringle. While I am happy to have been quoted in the article, I think the reporter had very little to go on and it should have been more about an internal policy disagreement rather and a potential political battle.

The fact is you can’t find anyone besides Harry Sidhu himself who thinks he should run or has even heard he is interested in running. The quote of mine they didn’t print was, "No one past, present or future could beat Pringle in November."

I really believe Sidhu (to who’s campaign I am a donor) made a big error in mixing policy with politics here. His disagreement with his colleagues (Anaheim has a five member council including a directly elected mayor) over stadium deals and land sales and whatever else on the council agenda is fair game. Those battles are won and lost in a game we call: can you count to three?

Clearly Harry cannot.

Don’t get me wrong, using the… Read More