Seen the latest presidential polling on the 2008 Republican Party presidential primary?

Pick a poll, any poll. Notice anything unusual?

What is not unusual isn’t who is in the lead (Mitt Romney in both Iowa and New Hampshire), but who is not in leading preference polling at this time. A candidate who many observers think should have been the first choice of Republicans everywhere. A presidential candidate who served in the US Senate from a southern state, a candidate considered a frontrunner based on his resume of serving in federal office, a candidate with an ability to win tough statewide races. This Southern Republican also has a charismatic personality coupled with an engaging smile to accompany his intelligence and background in public policy.

No, I’m not talking about this southern senator. I am talking about George Allen of Virginia, who is currently in forced retirement from the US Senate and not included in presidential polling tests. The reason that Allen’s name is… Read More

What a great partner I have found inthe National Association to Protect Children (PROTECT), a non-partisan group dedicated to the protection of children from abuse, exploitation, and neglect. I want you to know about them and I want you to get involved.

I got to know PROTECT almost four years ago when they sponsored my SB 33 – the bill that successfully closedthe incest loophole in California. Up until that point in California, if you sexually molested a child under 16 years of age, you went to prison for 6 to 16 years. UNLESS the child was your own, or your stepchild, or even if you had a"famial" relationship – THEN you couldget probation, and even were reunified with your victim (meaning daddy came home to molest again). An insane law if there ever was one.

Incidentally, the original, terrible, law was signed by then Governor Jerry Brown

PROTECT has turned its sights on child pornography, a genuine human rights crisis that has profound… Read More

I have received several calls asking if GOP candidate Roy Burns did inded win his race for Los Angeles Community College District. The answer from the city clerk is we will know May 30 or 31. Unlike the LA County Registrar, the LA City Clerk will not update after each dayscount.

Initial results had Burnsup 88 votes. See here. There are over10,000 outstanding ballots. See here.

And the New Majority has yet to help Roy Burns in his effort. See here.… Read More

….and that’s not a bad thing:

Sen. Hollingsworth Named SCI State Legislator of the Year FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 18, 2007

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth (R-California) has been selected as Safari Club International’s State Legislator of the Year.

This award exemplifies leadership and vision on the state level on behalf of sportsmen and women and for the promotion of sound wildlife legislation. The award will be given out Friday, May 18 in Washington, D.C. during SCI’s May Board meeting.

Sen. Hollingsworth has been a staunch, consistent advocate for the Second Amendment and the rights of outdoorsmen in the California legislature since he was first elected to the Assembly in the year 2000. Senator Hollingsworth helped create the California Legislature Outdoor Sporting Caucus, a bi-partisan, bicameral organization, modeled after the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus in Washington, D.C., to promote outdoor pursuits by presenting a strong, unified… Read More

Margaret Thatcher once said, “Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are…you’re not.”

This weekend Speaker Pelosi was in Pleasant Hill at a fundraiser for Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez. She touted the failed efforts of the Democratic majority to move the Commander-in-Chief on timetables in Iraq, even offering to take their domestic pork barrel spending out of the bill to woo him. Alas, to no avail.

She praised newly-elected Congressman McNerney as “Congress’ only mathematician and wind energy expert.’ Scary that there is only one “mathematician” working on our federal budget, and as far as being a wind energy expert, McNerney isn’t the only one who keeps the hot air balloon around the Capitol fully inflated. Funny thing is, McNerney seems to have figured out that he won’t win re-election by placating the left wing radicals who got him into office. He’s been distancing himself from a number of far left initiatives lately, and looks to be positioning himself… Read More

Someday Arnold Schwarzenegger will not be Governor anymore, but the impact of his “He-man” assualt on the alleged human-created component of some sort of warming trend on the planet will define his legacy. Of that I am sure that there is probably agreement between the Governor and this humble website publisher.

But the legacy that the Governor will, in fact, leave behind will be one of costly regulation and resource scarcity that will make it much harder to afford to be a Californian in the next generation than it is to be one now (if you can believe that).

I could start rattling off ill-advised policy goals and actions that will lead to this outcome, but for this post, I will highlight the Governor’s decision to reject the application of BHP-Billiton’s Liquified Natural Gas Facility many miles off the Malibu coastline.

The reality is that with the growth in population in California, sustainable energy sources are essential. Without new ones, that scarcity I mention above will raise prices for…everything. And guess what, it will hit those least able to afford it the most!

I know that the BHP proposal would… Read More

This morning, longtime GOP Consultant Ron Rogers sent an email to friends and colleagues announcing his newest adventure – becoming Chief of Staff to Congressman John Doolittle.

This isn’t the first foray into government work for Ron, a longtimepartner with the firm Russo, Marsh, & Rogers.He previously had served as Chief Deputy State Treasurer to former Treasurer Matt Fong, and has done stints in the State Senate, State Assembly, and Orange County Supervisors Office.

In explaining the motivation for his move, Ron said:

I want to advance the cause of Republican principles and conservative governance.

John Doolittle has been on the front lines fighting for those principles his entire life. Challenging and defeating liberal incumbents, encouraging and supporting conservative candidates, championing legislation and supporting issues that allowed Republicans to win control of the House of Representatives.

Now, those… Read More

Since summer is upon us, or at least the June through August school holiday that I still associate with summer, I thought that instead of a traditional Monday morning commentary I would offer a summer reading list. The books I’ve listed below, in no particular order, are those that I would think anyone who is interested in practical politics would be interested in rubbing their eyes against.

PLUNKITT OF TAMMANY HALL by Riordon. The classic American book on politics, it doesn’t get much straighter than Tammany District Leader Plunkitt’s ‘series of very plain talks on very practical politics’. While many aspects of what is considered savory, or legal, have changed, much has stayed the same, including Plunkitt’s observation’s that politics are based on personal loyalties, or that many businessman or good government reformers tend to fail because they fail to learn the business and practice of politics.

TRIBES ON THE HILL by Weatherford. ‘Tribes’ looks at the ‘rituals and realities’ of the United States Congress, often in comparison to various tribal governments.… Read More