Take a quick tour of the main ballroom here at the Irvine Hyatt Hotel, site of the California Republican Party’s Victory Night Celebration. This short video will show you the view from the podium at which, later tonight, Carly Fiorina will address supporters and the public — and we also harass some television reporters! Check it out… (Image may be grainy for a little while until You Tube processes the download.) … Read More

One of the cardinal principles of sportsmanship is to be a gracious winner. Every kid in little league is told to be kind and considerate to the fellow players they just bested in a competition. Apparently that principle is something that Arnold Schwarzenegger either 1) was not taught or 2) doesn’t care to follow.

This morning the governor issued the obligatory congratulatory press release praising the San Francisco Giants’ World Series win. But he didn’t stop at simply congratulating his state’s winning baseball team: he went on to attack the home state of the defeated Texas Rangers. Schwarzenegger used his press release to not only do some inappropriate campaigning against Proposition 23, he attacked Texas for having “dirty oil companies”.

The results are starting to come in — but it is way too early to try and figure out much of anything. So enjoy Fox News or your favorite TV channel, and peek over at the Secretary of State’s website.… Read More

The Secretary of State’s website is giving error codes instead of election results. Try the LA Times for results.… Read More

There is America, and then apparently there is California. Despite hiccups from the Secretary of State’s website, everyone in the media (AP, FNC, CapWeekly, SacBee, and more) are calling the Governor’s race for Jerry Brown, and the U.S. Senate race for Barbara Boxer. Blech.… Read More

Election day is finally here – the end of what has been one of the most tumultuous and unpredictable election seasons that I can recall. My election day column issues a cautionary note to Republican voters – actually, more than that – a warning. While there are not nearly as many so-called “slate cards” dropping in year’s general election as we saw in the primary, there are still a good number – and this year we have seen a rise in Mercenary Slates that are pretending to have some sort of Republican pedigree, when the reality is apparently far from the truth. I use the term “Mercenary Slates” to describe slate cards that have defining ideology or commitment to actual Republican positions on the issues. The vendors of these faux-GOP slates are mercenaries, looking to make money while advancing causes that are counter to that of the Republican Party, and voters should not be fooled. Especially while these folks hide behind the false rhetoric of saying, “But we featured the GOP ticket…” That is a false argument since voters looking to support statewide GOP candidates… Read More

We’ve been hearing all about the Harmer – McNerney race all year long, as very quietly, with a major assist from a Lincoln Club expose on Congressman Jim Costa’s left wing voter record, CD 20 challenger Andy Vidak, despite a 20 point voter registration advantage, has made his race one of the top upset districts in the country. Real Clear Politics now has CD 20 in the lean Republican column for the first time, as Hispanic voter turnout is expected to be lower than usual, and higher than usual for the Republican challenger.

Also in the Fresno area, our race for Country Supervisor featuring Lincoln Club backed Phil Larson against left wing, SEIU backed Cynthia Sterling is proving to be the most expensive Supervisor race in County history, with SEIU pouring in over $1.5 million to defeat Larson and shift the board from fiscally conservatiive to wholly owned by the unions. This is probably the most important election in our area Tuesday, and the Fresno Bee has… Read More

If I had to rank-order public employee union bosses from evil to less so, clearly on the top of the list you would have to put the California Teachers Association. Like all of the other unions they have a voracious appetite for pursuing the "standard" trio of union goals: higher wages and benefits for their members, job security for their members, and the creation of new public employee positions that are members of their union.

That said, the CTA is particularly awful because they pursue this pro-public labor agenda under the banner that somehow all of this is somehow "better for children" and helps kids to have a better education. For anyone who wants to understand how hurtful teachers union bosses can be, go see the movie Waiting for Superman, which illustrates quite well the road blocks that teachers unions put up to keep bad teachers around. Bottom line: a good teacher can make the world of difference for child, and a bad teacher can do the opposite. But the CTA protects and defends all teachers, as if they are all of equal ability.

Anyways, a friend of mine who lives in Senate District 1 just sent me a… Read More