Anyone that pays scant attention to politics still knows that immigration is percolating below the surface – even in non-border states. The influx of illegal immigrants, particularly post-9/11, has frustrated Americans of every political party and polling shows that there is very little daylight among Republicans, Democrats, and Independents on the issue.

A great indicator of how powerful this issue has become was the Democrat governors of Arizona and New Mexico declaring a state of emergency in their states about illegal immigration while the Democrat Speaker of the California Assembly urged Governor Schwarzenegger to follow suit. Since 1994’s Proposition 187, Democrats have used immigration to demagogue – and it says something that they are now using for their own political benefit.

The challenge however is what to do. Since Prop. 187, little has been done on the issue at the federal or state level and President Bush failed miserably in his proposal which is… Read More

Why wait until the last minute? It’s time to start the post-election spin….

I don’t pretend to know who’s poll numbers are right. The Public Policy Institute and the Schwarzenegger team seem to be polling on different planets, or at least using vastly different samples and techniques. If I had to guess, though, Proposition 76, the governor’s budget reform initiative, is pretty much dead. Propositions 74 and 75, the measures on teacher tenure and paycheck protection, could go either way. And Prop 77, the redistricting initiative, looks like a long shot but is still pretty much of a wild card, given the cross-partisan nature of its support.

Mike Murphy, the governor’s lead consultant, has been quoted saying that passing just one of the four of the initiatives would be a victory for Schwarzenegger. That doesn’t sound like a campaign that’s confident of winning three or four of them. But for the most part, Murphy’s probably right.

Passing teacher tenure reform but losing the other three would be a very thin reed on which Arnold could claim success: it wouldn’t be a believable claim… Read More

…..but if you’ve read my pithy posts on levees…you’ve seen my take on the convergence of politics post Katrina….how some smart pols recognize it….and thereal world affect this is having on development….some some of you got it….some of you didn’t. Yes…I do read all of your emails…..Dan Walters did a nice job on his piece published today.… Read More

Saturday’s column by Fresno Bee political writer John Ellis chronicles a fundraising letter sent by the campaign of Congressman George Radanovich expressing concern about a potential Democrat challenger in 2006, T.J. Cox. The fundraising letter, which I also received, suggests that Mr.. Cox will spend $1 million of his own money to defeat Radanovich and that this will be matched by "ultra liberal" Nancy Pelosi, for a total of $2 million.

Now, let me tell you what is really going on here. One of the major casualties of redistricting, as you all know, is competitive elections. It seems that all of these incumbents are having trouble raising in their Districts, precisely because donors know how safe the Districts are. I, for example, don’t give to ANY legislative candidates seeking a safe seat unless that candidate is in a contested primary. So, in order to create a sense of urgency, fundraising… Read More

You may wonder why there are two bottles of wine in this post. Well, they both have something in common. Both wines were produced by Republicans in the wine business. Both of these Republicans were formerly members of the State Assembly. But the similarities stop there. One of these former GOP legislators, now a county Supervisor, is extremely moderate, both ideologically and stylistically. The other, so successful that his family-owned business shipped out over 1,000,000 cases of wine last year is very conservative, and quite assertive. Why are they, and what does this all mean? Read my Sunday Commentary and find out more than you wanted to know!!

I’m traveling in the Santa Ynez wine region, and it seemed appropriate to share a… Read More

My brother, Rick, and I are here in the Santa Ynez Valley, enjoying some wine tasting here in God’s Country. Yesterday we stopped into the Firestone Winery for some tasting. I thought it would also be fun to rub his considerably-left-of-center nose in all of Brooks Firestone’s GOP paraphernalia that usually adorns the walls. Alas, due to an imminent remodel on the tasting room, all of the Republican goodies have been put away. Like a good red-meat-eating conservative I ponied up to the tasting bar for some Cabernet Sauvignon. Um…. No. There is NO Cabernet there (Nor any Pinot Noir, for that matter). BROOKS FIRESTONE: MODERATE WINE AND POLITICS I couldn’t help but think to myself — "Of course Brooks doesn’t make Cabernet — a bold, decisive wine — there is nothing bold… Read More

The host committee is an important part of any fund raising event.

There is a big difference between the working host committee member that has agreed to raise a determined dollar amount and the host committee member who simply lends his or her name to an event for the sake of prestige or comfort in numbers as I like to call it.

The invite that prompted this post was received this week from Laguna Niguel City Councilwoman Cassie DeYoung who is running for Orange County Supervisor (5th District, an open seat in ’06 due to term-limits). The Nov. 9 event to be held at Antonello’s Ristorante (the best Italian restaurant in OC and hot spot for old school political fund raisers for offices like Board of Supervisors and Anaheim City Council) is $175 per person.

The only thing missing from the invite though, is a list of host committee members. DeYoung, a seemingly wealthy candidate who has self funded with hundreds of thousands of dollars, is running against popular former… Read More

You don’t want to miss the actual news video coverage of this woman being attacked for her support of the Governor’s reform measures. Read the entire story, and see the VIDEO in today’s FlashReport commentary!

Oh yes, presiding over the whole rowdy rally of crazy union thugs? None other than former union-organizer turned Democrat Assembly Speaker — Fabian Nunez.

Read it all here.… Read More