Part of the reason I take this politics stuff so lightly is because I know at the end of the day,there’s more to life than politics and policy. A good man who knew that keenly passed from my neighborhood a couple of weeks ago, David Nunenkamp.

I never really knew David, but for the times I saw him at Dooley Field, our local little league complex. To be sure he was one of the most respected policy folks around…he worked for four Governors on both sides of the aisle,was the lead on reforming CEQA, and served the Assembly Republican Caucus on environmental and science issues, and most recently as Deputy Secretary for Legislation for the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Now I’m sure that garnered him therespectof many forthat important work, as it should be.

But for someone who knew him, only… Read More

Today’s news brings good polling data for the Governor – a 44 to 37 lead over Phil Angelides. I have to admit the daily email from the campaign is good stuff, the messaging is solid, and the rapid response is the best I’ve seen in many years. That having been said, there is really no campaign taking place right now, and the Governor’s numbers seem to me to reflect a couple of factors: 1) no real campaign or messaging against him right now 2). collateral damage done to Angelides in his primary 3) Arnold’scozy relationship with the Democrat Speaker, Fabian Nunes, who really wants Angelides to lose so Los Angeles Mayor Antonia Villaraigosa can be Governor in 2010 4) union money and television ads against the Governor are completely non existent.

Yes, its good to be in the lead at any point in the campaign. But there is a long road ahead, and its going to be extremely tough throughout the summer and fall. The Governor is still challenged with the GOP base and not balancing the State’s budget was a missed opportunity to give conservatives some red meat over the summer months.… Read More

There are a number of items of interest in the news today. So for my ‘commentary’ I will draw your attention to some of the more interesting ones.

Leading the page is good news for the Governor. There is a new survey out showing that Schwarzenegger has increased his popularity numbers with the electorate, and also has increased his lead over liberal Democrat Phil Angelides. Also the many, many representatives of California’s small business community within the National Federation of Independent Business have backed the Governor’s re-election overwhelmingly (95%). This makes sense since Phil Angelides has never met a small businessman he didn’t want to tax out of business! The Golden Pen today goes to columnist Tom Elias who eloquently reminds us all that California still is getting short-changed by the federal government, as money is sucked out of the Golden State and redistributed elsewhere in the nation, or used up by the massive federal bureaucracy. Vic Pollard from the Bakersfield Californian has a must-read column with his take on the latest intrigue in the most highly targeted State Assembly seat in … Read More

There are a number of items of interest in the news today. So for my ‘commentary’ I will draw your attention to some of the more interesting ones.

Leading the page is good news for the Governor. There is a new survey out showing that Schwarzenegger has increased his popularity numbers with the electorate, and also has increased his lead over liberal Democrat Phil Angelides. Also the many, many representatives of California’s small business community within the National Federation of Independent Business have backed the Governor’s re-election overwhelmingly (95%). This makes sense since Phil Angelides has never met a small businessman he didn’t want to tax out of business! The Golden Pen today goes to columnist Tom Elias who eloquently reminds us all that California still is getting short-changed by the federal government, as money is sucked out of the Golden State and redistributed elsewhere in the nation, or used up by the massive federal bureaucracy. Vic Pollard from the Bakersfield Californian has a must-read column with his take on the latest intrigue in the most highly targeted State Assembly seat in … Read More

Jerry Brown has said that he’d like to do for California what he’s done for Oakland. Well, yesterday there were two more homicides in Oakland, bringing the total for the year so far to 70 homicides. At this time last year, there were 39 homicides. With this abysmal crime-fighting record, let’s hope that in November California voters are smart enough to say, "thanks, but no thanks" to Brown and elect Sen. Chuck Poochigian as California’s next AG.… Read More

In a textbook Ken Khachigian move, the Poochigian campaign has been airing a version of it “Fictional Crime Fighter” web ad all over Oakland cable TV. From ESPN (for us World Cup addicts) to Food Network to A&E to Fox News, anyone watching local Oakland cable over the long holiday weekend had to have been asleep to have missed seeing at least one of these ads. Click here to watch the ad.

No doubt, Jerry Brown’s friends have been calling him saying, “Man, that… Read More

Secretary of State Bruce McPherson last week issued a press release (see attachment) listing out the ballot measures that will appear on the November ballot, along with their order and numbering. The first group, measures 1A – 1E are all part of the Infrastructure Borrowing Package (a.k.a… the ‘even though California takes in well over $100,000,000,000.00 (that’s over a hundred BILLION) a year we are going to borrow even more money rather than (gasp!) spend 5-10% of this massive budget each year on infrastructure needs’ package).

Here they are. Dan Weintraub of the SacBee lists them as well, with a bit more of a discription. Of course there is more detail in the attached release.

Prop. 1A – SCA 7 Transportation Funding Protection. Prop. 1B – SB 1266. Highway Safety, Traffic Reduction, Air Quality,… Read More

I may be playing ‘catch up’ for a little while, as I try to go back and catch up on things that were going on and written about during my time off – three weeks, apparently, is an enternity in the world of politics.

That said, I was looking through past issues of Capitol Weekly (a great publication, and I am not just saying that because I am a regularly featured columnist there) and in their June 29th issue, in their regular "Personnel Profile" column they did a feature on Vince Sollitto. Last March, Vince was hired by the California Chamber of Commerce as their Vice President for Media Relations and External Affairs.

While I reserve my Chamber MVP Award for the unequalled Michele Zschau (who heads up the Cal-Chamber’s political efforts), I wanted to congratulate Vince for being recognized in CapWeekly, and take an opportunity to share with FR readers that I think that, while new, Vince is already doing an outstanding job for the Chamber of Commerce.

Vince… Read More