The latest shockwave (?) in the campaign for Governor, the release of a four minute audiotape of Schwarzenegger making immature ethnological analyses and derogatory statements about legislators of his own party, is being looked upon by some pundits as the death rattle of the Angelides campaign. Its being talked of as the moment when Angelides staffers and supporters stop putting extra time into the campaign, when they lose hope and look elsewhere, when donors and others really stop taking the campaign seriously. Let me tell you why they think this and then tell you why I’m intrigued.

The Angelides campaign, from what we’ve read so far, are guilty of little more than cunning and hard work and they still lost the public debate. When they could have been on the high road, righteously going on offense, citing audio recordings stored on government… Read More

A little leak can ruin a house when it becomes a gusher. The Angelides campaign is living that maxim. You really gotta be careful when hiring plumbers. (Did anybody catch G. Gordon Liddy on Fear Factor last night? Not a great plumber, but at eighty years old he kicked some serious butt on people half his age.)

Excellent job of response by the Schwarzenegger folks – apologize profusely and credibly, then turn the fire hose on your opponent. We’ll see that as a case study in a campaign textbook sometime.

My two cents to Phil: "The Buck Stops Here."

Thanks, Jon, for having me as the new Riverside County correspondent. I’ve used the Flashreport since it was a daily selection of practical news clips, and have known Jon for many years and through many causes. It’s great to be here.

Riverside County is one of the fastest growing counties in the nation. Depending on the criteria used for selection, it is usually ranked in the top three fastest. We are an incredibly diverse county – from farmland to cities, from rich to poor, from all ethnicities, from mountain towns with snow to golf… Read More

In case our Guest Editor and Los Angeles County Correspondent (along with Mike Spence) Brandon Powers needed some positive affirmation that he picked a good opinion-piece to feature as the Golden Pen Award Winner today on the main page, today’s Wall Street Journal Political Dairy selects a quote from the piece to feature in its daily e-mail:

Quote of the Day II

"Democrats are poised to take back the House. If that happens, however, conservatives will find several silver linings in the outcome…. The Congressional wing of the [GOP] lost its reformist zeal years ago and has been trying to win elections based on pork and incumbency. An election victory would reward that strategy, leaving the congressmen even less interested in restraining… Read More

Republican Assemblyman John Benoit, who hails from Riverside County, is a pilot and actually commutes back and forth from his district to Sacramento in his own Cessna plane. Today the Riverside Press Enterprise has a pretty cool story about it, and how he will sometimes take other legislators to and from work, who happen to "live on the way."

Benoit is pictured here in this photo from the PE helping Assemblyman Kevin McCarthy onto his plane (I guess as the crow flies, Bakersfield is somewhere in between Sacramento and Riverside County). Anyways, you can check out the full story here, including an actual video of the Assemblyman coming in for a landing at Sacramento’s Executive Field (don’t get too excited about the video, though it is novel).… Read More

PROP. 90 – HAYNES AND ACKERMAN HAVE TWO DIFFERENT POSITIONS ON THIS MEASURE This November, there are a host of measures on the ballot. As you will hear from the contributors to this site over the next six or so weeks, most of them are worthy of a heave-ho, and a a "vote no" — but there are a few items on the ballot that we’ll be encouraging you to vote FOR. One of these is Proposition 90, the Save Our Homes Initiative. We’ve covered it on these pages before, and we will do so again. It is a measure that is about property rights, and about curbing the current system of abuse that is rampant — where government agencies trample the rights of private home owners. Is the measure perfect? Most aren’t? And legislating from the ballot … Read More

PROP. 90 – HAYNES AND ACKERMAN HAVE TWO DIFFERENT POSITIONS ON THIS MEASURE This November, there are a host of measures on the ballot. As you will hear from the contributors to this site over the next six or so weeks, most of them are worthy of a heave-ho, and a a "vote no" — but there are a few items on the ballot that we’ll be encouraging you to vote FOR. One of these is Proposition 90, the Save Our Homes Initiative. We’ve covered it on these pages before, and we will do so again. It is a measure that is about property rights, and about curbing the current system of abuse that is rampant — where government agencies trample the rights of private home owners. Is the measure perfect? Most aren’t? And legislating from the ballot … Read More

Today will be my final Flash Report post. I am off to work on a few other new ventures, including being a candidate for seat on a local water board here in Southwest Riverside County. Another great commentator and Riverside political insider, Barry Nestande,is going to take on the task of Riverside County Blogger. Best of luck to Berry. It has been a great experience being part of the first wave of Bloggers at the FlashReport. Thanks again for the oppertunity Jon.… Read More

That’s right. In one week we will see if voters in Rosemead will recall the last part of the council majority that voted to allow Wal-Mart to come to the city. See past posts about lawsuits and the recall here.

To their credit, Wal-Mart has stepped up to the plate and spentover $200,000 to protect those that voted for it. That is a lot of profit from toliet paper. But with union and leftist attacks on Wal-Mart increasing they have to go to bat for those willing to allow them to compete. See article here.The San Gabriel Valley Tribune today also editorialized against the recall. They rightly pint out that this development brings much needed sales tax revenue and shopping access to Rosemead. By the way ,over 35% of employees will be Rosemead residents. (Hope Wal-Mart supporters registered them to vote). See editorial here.

Of course, the Wal-Mart grand opening is any day now.… Read More