… Read More

Our continuing Republican circular firing squad has gained some powerful new gunmen as KFI’s "John and Ken" Show hasseen the commercial value of Republicans picking on Republicans rather than Democrats, in their development of a political "lottery" system to dole out venom against the likes of freshman Assemblyman Jeff Miller, who is both a good and decent guy and a conservative star, who doesn’t deserve the abuse.

Miller’s heresy, according to John and Ken, is that he was one of 28 (of atotal of 29)other Republican members of the Assembly who didn’t support a motion to axe the Republican Leader after the budget deal was made in Sacramento. Miller himself voted against the budget. But that doesn’t matter to John and Ken, they want him recalled, as a result of randomly picking his name out of a hat. The result has been a verbal Jihad against Miller over the airways, (inter-spiced with commercial announcements) and for what I (with due respect for the showmanship of John and Ken) think is a crime Millerhas not committed:being a liberal.

Is all this recall talk of… Read More

The "endorsement battles" continue to the GOP primary battle for Governor. Earlier this week Meg Whitman announced endorsements from former Senate Republican Leader Dick Ackerman and Assemblywoman Connie Conway.

Poizner has responded with a pretty big name in California Republican politics — today rolling out an endorsement from venerable GOP strategist Ken Khachigian. Khachigian has been engaged in the political scene for a longtime, playing key roles in the elections of Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George Deukmejian, and Pete Wilson.

I have known Khachigian for over twenty years now, and he has served as a personal mentor to me, and played a critical role in the establishment of the FlashReport (you can read that here)!

Khachigian’s endorsement is a big one — and to the extent that the advice and input he offers to the Poizner campaign is thoughtfully considered, he can really be of assistance in the campaign.… Read More

Most FR readers will remember that as a freshman Republican Assemblyman, longtime FR friend Joel Anderson successfully passed substantive legislation and had it signed into law(that alone is an accomplishment for a GOPer in California) that caused the massive investment portfolios of California’s public pension systems to divestfrom investments inIran, which i a country that is a knownsponsor of terrorist organizations.

Well, in addition to making sure that public funds of Californians are not being used to create a healthy economy for terrorists to prosper at home, Assemblyman Anderson is now looking at pioneering legislation to take away a potential tool that terrorists, international or domestic, may use here at home.

I encourage you to take a couple of minutes and watch this network television interview with Assemblyman Anderson, as he talks… Read More

As I began reading Senator Abel Maldanado’s oped yesterday in support of the proposed "blanket" primary, the great compromise in the budget negotiations, I was stunned by the following lead sentence, "When I was first elected to the state Assembly 10 years ago, I was elected in an open primary system."

Wait! I thought he was trying to make a case FOR the blanket primary? Now that he has refreshed our memories of the circumstances of his election, which we can now tie to a $60 billion haircut for taxpayers over the next five years, why in the hell would any thinking person support this initiative.

We now can quanitiify the cost of our last "blanket primary". $60 billion. Yes, this is the great outcome from the last time! What a persuasive argument to vote no.… Read More

We’re fed a media diet rich in monotonous blah blah blah and light on substance; the mix is occasionally supplemented with nutritive additives provided by thoughtful "consultants" convincing us like a square paper carton of bad Chinese food we’re not quite full and should maintain our rate and quantity of consumption.

Such is the debate over the Democratic campaign to "annoint" a new head of the Republican Party: Rush Limbaugh.

Yesterday’s news delivered the exclamation point in an op ed by former Obama campaign manager David Plouffe. Politico ran coverage of the issue, as did the Washington Post. Jay Nordlinger weighs in over at NationalReview.com.

But sadly, it’s a strategy that is sexy to the media and to the public for the moment but is really a shock and awe campaign that will quickly fade.

Every candidate has had a mail piece dropped prior to an election with their face adjacent to the… Read More

The Republican Party is clearly in a re-building phase and innovation will be a big part of the makeover process. CA State GOP chairman Ron Nehring is known for his use of technology and his willingness to go to far corners to promote the Republican brand. So it’s not surprising that RNC chairman Michael Steele has appointed Ron to lead the committee of state Republican chairmen.

The press release follows…

RNC ANNOUNCES NEW CHAIR OF STATE PARTY CHAIRMEN COMMITTEE

WASHINGTON – Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele announced today the appointment of California Republican Party (CRP) Chairman Ron Nehring, to be the chair of the State Party Chairmen Committee.

“Ron’s experience and dedication makes him a valuable member of our team,” Steele said. “I have no doubt that he will help bring the voice of every Republican state party to the national table.”

Nehring is the Chairman of the largest Republican state party in the United States. He was first elected Chairman in 2007 and was recently re-elected on a platform of ensuring that California is a leader in utilizing new and innovative… Read More

Okay, so we weren’t on at the same time, or even the same night… Last Wednesday night, Maldonado came onto San Diego’s Rick Amato show where he made his case for why he had to vote for the largest tax increase in the history of any state. He took some shots at yours truly in that interview as well.

On Monday night, I was Amato’s guest for about an hour, and I gave some critiques of Maldobama (h/t to Barry Jantz on the nick-name).

You can get more information on the Rick Amato show here.

The two segments I reference are available here.… Read More