In the 1990’s, voter registration trends, the rise of public employee unions, and internal party conflicts played havoc with the traditional lock Republicans had on San Diego City Hall. By 2003 only two of the city’s eight council seats and the mayor’s office were held by by the GOP. With the resignation of Republican Mayor Dick Murphy in 2005 and the “strong mayor” system of city government enacted by initiative starting in 2006 the public employee unions and Democrats believe the time is ripe for the election of Donna Frye, a liberal Democrat. But the fortunes of the GOP in the City of San Diego are not as low as they might appear at first glance. First, four of the city’s eight council seats are actually naturally Republican – Democrats are holding two seats that will probably move into the Republican column when term limits kick in for the sitting incumbents. The losses occurred in the period after the rise of the public employee unions and before the awakening and reorganization of the local business community and the San Diego Republican Party. Second, while the GOP does not have the registration edge it once enjoyed, self… Read More

Go to the Orange County Registrar of Voters for the latest results.

[Due to the Jewish holiday Adam will not be posting until late Wednesday night. This posting was scheduled in advanceto appear at this time.]… Read More

Ican’t believe it’s only my second posting and I’m writing about sports already.

Well, I’m on my way to the game in a few minutes, so here goes.

I know this is hard to believe, but I may have misheard a broadcast (or maybe I correctly heard a misleading broadcast) on L.A. radio yesterday that said Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle had lifted his season-long “boycott” of Angels baseball games in time for today’s opening game of the American League Division Series against the hated New York Yankees.

Before that rumor goes any further, let me clarify what I believe to be Pringle’s actual position: The Mayor will host the Boys and Girls Clubs of Anaheim at today’s game as a charity event. Pringle has said his choice not to attend regular-season games was not actually a boycott, as some people have described it. The Mayor’s choice to attend post-season games will be considered on a game-by-game basis, with special consideration given to benefit selected charities.

I feel better knowing all of that, although I had been impressed by Pringle’s principled stand – You… Read More

Senator John Campbell to debate Minuteman Founder Jim Gilchrist today LIVE on John and Ken (KFI AM 640) 3pm – 7pm.

For all you political junkies this afternoon there will be one of those moments–a time when your spouse and friends won’t understand why you would be glued to you computer or radio or actually drive to the Ayres Hotel in Laguna Woods to hear a political debate between these candidates for Congress…but you do it anyway.

Detail on the show: www.johnandkenshow.com

Live streaming audio: www.kfiam640.com/interactive/streaming.html

Gilchrist has the advantage on illegal immigration hands down, especially since Campbell has a couple bad votes in the Senate. But he does not present well and Campbell will mop the floor with Gilchrist on every other issue. Some politicos might suggest that this is a mistake, a strategic error on the part of Dave Gilliard, Campbell’s consultant. Actually, Campbell is going to be the top GOP vote getter no matter what, so he should try to reach a bit to see if… Read More

Recently a police officer friend of mine, very active in his Central California based union, grabbed me by the shoulder told me how critical it was to get Fresno State Senator Chuck Poochigian elected Attorney General in 2006. After a nod and a brief pause, I asked “then why are you screwing him so bad on TV right now?” Befuddled, he looked at me and asked me “what I meant by that.” I replied, “It’s real simple, your union is spending $50 million in a concerted campaign to destroy the Governor. What makes you think ANY of our candidates down the ticket from the Governor can win if you are successful in your efforts? You can’t have it both ways. If you defeat Arnold, you get a terrible replacement AND Jerry Brown for your Attorney General. You will be less safe under that scenario than ever before. But you might get a 4% cost of living raise!” With that, my friend walked away shaking his head. I shook my head back. I have never been more disappointed in public safety unions that I am today. Pursuing a narrow, labor first agenda, they are imperiling all the citizens of California by attacking our Governor. If you know a… Read More

UNION THUGGERY Today in the Los Angeles Times is a ‘must read’ story that talks about how, in their battle to stop Proposition 75, "Paycheck Protection," unions how now resorted to threatening companies if they contribute towards the passage of the measure. This is thuggery at its worst. But, the public employee unions have everything on the line here. Remember that the CTA even mortgaged its headquarters to pay for their political push to defeat this measure. Why? You need only look to the union membership. Exit polls showed that in the 1993 recall election, around 40% of union members actually voted for Arnold Schwarzenegger or Tom McClintock. Yet, if you look at public employee union political spending, 100% (yes, that would be ALL) went to defend Gray Davis. It is really about a small group of union leaders that are totally out of touch with their members. The do not want to empower the individual employees, for fear that if they continue to be myopic in their spending habits, that their members will simply stop giving a portion of… Read More

A Los Angeles Times editorial laments the the passing over of David Dreier as the Republicans replacement for Tom Delay. (http://www.latimes.com/…)

Of course it blames conservatives for opposing him because of his votes to federally fund experimentation on human embryos, his opposition to a constitutional ammendment to stop homosexual marriages and of course his views on immigration. While other accounts verify this, they fail to mention the most important point. This was good news for Dreier.

The 2004 elections saw his vote totals plumment as attacks on his record concerning illegal immigration by LA Radio Hosts John and Ken became more widely known.

The Majority Leader position would of made him a bigger target for those trying to recruit a credible candidate to run in the GOP Primary. Most of the focus is still on John March, the father of Deputy March, killed by an illegal alien.

The lower profile the better. Conservatives didDreier a big favor.… Read More

– Inland Outrage Sparks Initiative Against Sex Offenders –

SAN BERNARDINO — The Inland Empire is the most vast, spread-out metropolitan area in the nation. So for decades, the desire to elude the prying eyes of cops in densely populated cities has drawn criminals to Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. Exacerbating the criminal migration, the relatively low cost of housing and lower density of surrounding residences also has led state agencies to place sex-offender parolees – and other persons who have committed sex crimes – in halfway houses, group homes and other living arrangements in Inland areas. The result is more than four million residents at higher risk of being victimized.

But with increasing economic and educational opportunities, a rising sophistication among the Inland electorate has put some pretty smart, pretty tough lawmakers into office to change the way government deals with problems. And as California voters are wont to do, when politicians don’t deal with problems, those uppity voters do it for them.

That’s where… Read More