65th Assembly Candidate and San Jacinto Councilman Jim Ayres is bringing on Tim Clark ashis lead consultant. This is a long needed and very smart move by Ayres. Ayres and Hemet Councilwomen Robin Lowe are the leading contenders in this Riverside & San Bernardino County Assembly seat currently held by the termed out Assemblyman Russ Bogh. Ayers has been the top fundraiser in this race, but has been hampered by a weak campaign team. Look for the addition of Clark & company to turn things around ASAP. With Clark on board for Ayers and Jim Nygren working for Lowe, Sacramento money will be taking a serious look at both these candidates.… Read More

Governor Schwarzenegger is expected to name Adam Mendelsohn his next Communications Director this week. Mendelsohn will take over from Rob Stutzman, who is expected to be going to the campaign to handle media duties.

I’ve known Adam for almost 15 years — he is one of the hardest working and most loyal operatives in California politics. His management skills are second to none, he recently was responsible for starting a DC based PR firm that services fortune 50 companies like AT&T and Microsoft. His California rolodex is strong — developed working for Bruce McPherson, Matt Fong and Steve Kuykendall.

Welcome back to California Adam, we’re glad to have you and your talent back in the state. [Publisher’s Note: I’ve known Adam for many years. Solid pick – I’ll write more tomorrow. Flash]… Read More

I read this heartwarming article in the Los Angeles Times yesterday: "Route For New Tollway Goes Through Sacramento, D.C."

And why is an article about building a tollway "heartwarming"? Because it details how OC’s Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA) — and more specifically, TCA General Counsel Robert D. Thornton — have consistently defeated the efforts of environmentalist Luddites to halt the expansion of Orange County’s transportation infrastructure.

It has long been my considered opinion, based on observation, that compromising with environmental extremists isn’t an option. They must be defeated, not accomodated — politically. legally and rhetorically.

… Read More

A January 10 San Diego City Council Special Election will determine whether reformers or machine types control the council. The reformer is businessman Kevin Faulconer (disclosure: he is a Coronado Communications client) and the machine type is Bustamonte aide Lorena Gonzalez. Today’s Union Tribune editorial:

“Faulconer is a public relations executive who has pledged to support most elements of Sanders’ recovery plan, including a pay freeze for non-public safety workers, increases in worker contributions to the retirement system and contracting out of more municipal services. And, like Sanders, he rejects any tax hike to pay for the oversized pensions of city workers.

Faulconer’s opponent, Lorena Gonzalez, is backed by labor unions that oppose the mayor’s program. An attorney who works for Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, Gonzalez is bright and articulate. But we fear she would be a consistent vote to stymie San Diego’s financial recovery effort, which is precisely why she has the backing of organized labor. She will not commit to support any aspect of Sanders’ agenda and even refused to respond to his questionnaire probing… Read More

Arnold Schwarzenegger made a very poor decision when he hired Susan Kennedy to be his Chief of Staff. He did so knowing full well that her leadership role in the administration of recalled Governor Gray Davis (Kennedy is pictured, to the right, with Governor Schwarzenegger in the background), as well as her extremely partisan credentials (former Executive Director of the State Democrat Party and the California Abortion Rights Action League, as well as time spent as a senior aide to Democrat U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein) would not sit well with grassroots Republican activists and donors throughout the state. I am not saying that a less-partisan Democrat would have been more readily accepted, but with this pick, the Governor reached for someone with the most patisan resume of Democrat activism possible. Perhaps the Governor felt that everyone would simply understand that he still runs state government, and not to be concerned. This… Read More

The 38th Assembly District takes in huge stretches of Los Angeles County before going into Simi Valley. The stretch includes Sunland-Tujunga, Santa Clarita, Valencia and parts of the San Fernando Valley. Republican registration is at 43% several points higher than the Democrats. In other words very safe GOP District. The GOP primary winner is the winner of this seat.

Liberal Republican Keith Richman is term limited and running statewide.

The race features two Republicans.

Cameron Smyth is the mayor of Santa Clarita and has the endorsements of the Runners, Tom McClintock and almost every politico in the district. He has raised decent money and is conservative enough not to draw an ideological opponent. Smyth is a former staffer for the late Sen. Pete Knight.

So far only one opponent has surfaced. Mary Barrientos has raised very little money—Like really very little. She does sport the endorsement of LA County Sheriff Lee Baca. But he endorsed Smyth as well. She has somecontacts in the San Gabriel Valley- Which is not in this district!

Done Deal. Smyth to Sacramento.… Read More

At o’dark thirty, when I was compiling news stories, for some reason I couldn’t get onto the Sacramento Bee website. There is an article and two columns there that I would have put on the main page (I won’t bother since 2/3 of FR readers have read that page already. Though i will include both of the columns tomorrow. Anyways, here are the three links that should have been on the main site this morning:

DAN WALTERS COLUMN: Governor miscalculated, fumbled as he declared his war. Dan is penning a ten-column series critical of the Governor’s performance.

DAN WEINTRAUB COLUMN: If Arnold could just get ‘er done, he’d be fine.

If you really want to get angry, you can read about the latest chapter in big-government social engineering: Solar plan resurrected by PUC.… Read More

Polish dissident and Solidarity union leader Lech Walesa is said to have inspired U2 to pen the song “New Years Day” back in 1983. I’m sad to say my first exposure to this song was not through hanging out with hip kids, but through their dramatic video showing them as Kossaks riding through the snow.

I was inspired to write this drivel because I was forwarded a web address to a left leaning website that blew me away in its scope and content. It’s called the Daily Kos and my tie in here is that its readers call themselves Kossaks. While I’m sure these Kossaks would be sleeping much better if Walesa had failed, their website is clearly flourishing and we should take note.… Read More