State Senator John Campbell has won (absentee ballots show him ahead 53% to the Democrat’s 25% to Gilchrist’s 19%) today’s Special Election for California’s 48th Congressional District.

See live election results here. See OC Registrar of Voters live webcam here.

As the OC Blog points out, Gilchrist is running behind the Democrat. I guess the Minute Man has had his 15 already.… Read More

I’ve come across a talented young OC blogger at the always lively OC Blog, a fellow by the name of Robbie Haglund.

Since I’m still warm to the topic of John & Ken’s excesses, I’d like to reprint a comment Haglund posted on OC Blog regarding L.A.’s top-rated talk show hosts:

I just read the entry powerbluereport wrote. I have some simple questions for him regarding the content.

So for the record… you don’t believe that when John and Ken call Gilchrist a "Republican" that they are being a little misleading?

Do you also find it fine and dandy that they choose not to mention that Jim was invited to the Hugh Hewitt show, accepted, and then backed out scheduling a debate on the John and Ken show at the same time?… Read More

As my wife and I were driving to The Claremont Institute’s Winston Churchill Dinner honoring columnist Mark Steyn this past Friday, we listened to John & Ken on KFI-AM.

J & K were expressing their frustration that state Sen. John Campbell would not be attending their 48th CD special election forum that was held last night. [Full disclosure time: I was a consultant on John Campbell’s first campaign for Assembly in 2000, and I would vote for him today if I still lived in that district]

I like listening to John & Ken as much as the next conservative. I don’t share their near-obsession with illegal immigration, but they do a public service in keeping the issue on the political front-burner.

At the same time, they are so far in the tank for Jim Gilchrist that I suspect that John Kobylt, especially, will say anything to further Gilchrist’s candidacy.

For example, this past Friday, Kobylt was telling listeners there were two Republicans on the ballot,… Read More

In the week since Governor Schwarzenegger has appointed Susan Kennedy to be his new Chief of Staff, GOP grassroots volunteers and donors up and down the state have been reacting strongly to the news. Whether it is her former positions as Gray Davis’ Deputy Chief of Staff, Executive Director of the California Democrat Party, Senior Staffer to Senator Dianne Feinstein, or her post as Executive Director of the California Abortion Rights Action League — news of the appointment is really ginning up ire.

Apparently the members of the California Republican Party Board of Directors have been really been feeling the heat. So much so that they held an emergency telephonic meeting of the Board of Directors late last week, and coming out of that meeting have asked for an in-person meeting with Schwarzenegger to discuss Kennedy’s appointment, as well as go-forward plans between the Governor and the State GOP. One area that will certainly need to be ironed out is who will represent the… Read More

Overlooked in the riots against the Kennedy coup in the horseshoe were comments by a couple of Los Angeles County legislators regarding the appointment.

As reported in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune by Mike Sprague

Huff said he now wonders if Schwarzenegger will be willing to sign legislation on driver licenses for undocumented immigrants.

State Sen. Bob Margett, R-Glendora, said he’s concerned Schwarzenegger may not have thought out the ramifications of the appointment.

… Read More

I just received an email from William Bennett Finn, the VERY capable political reporter for the North San Diego County Times.

He sent the following:

Wyland announces run for state Senate

After weeks of speculation over whether he would decide to run for Congress or the state Senate or both, Mark Wyland told the North County Times on Monday that he will definitely run for the state Senate seat now held by Bill Morrow, R-Oceanside.

Morrow will leave office due to term limits and has already declared his candidacy for the 50th District congressional seat that until last week was held by Randy "Duke" Cunningham.

Wyland’s announcement to run for the Senate would appear to take him… Read More

My very first job in politics was for Bruce Herschensohn’s 1992 campaign for U. S. Senate. He embodied everything I believed in. He was also a good and kind and gentle man who to this day can articulate the conservative-small government principled position on any issue better than anyone I have ever heard or read.

Others have already written about how much Bruce has meant to them, but I feel compelled to write my own story and make sure we all remember that it is the dirty-work of Susan Kennedy that tanked Bruce’s chances in that pivotal election.

I won’t rehash the details, Jon Fleischman explains them well.

And I won’t even suggest that the dirty-tricks that Susan Kennedy (then executive director of the California Democratic Party) pulled were any worse than some tactics we see today.

But I keep coming back to why? Why the… Read More

Bill Leonard, one of the two Republican Members of the Board of Equalization, is well regarding throughout California. During his time on the Board, as well as many, many years preceding that as a member of both the State Senate and State Assembly, Leonard has earned a reputation for being smart, thoughtful and articulate Republican Leader. Today in his weekly e-mail, the Leonard Letter, the Board of Equalization Member had some very strong words on the Governor’s appointment of former Gray Davis’ Deputy Chief of Staff, Susan Davis, to head up his own staff: