Jimmy Camp sent an email out over the weekend: He's found himself a job.
The punk rock Republican, a regular fixture in Orange County politics, has been appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger as the new deputy director of communications for the Dept. of Fish and Game. Pay is $91,128 a year, which should supplement his music career nicely.
Camp, 42, was the political director for Bill Simon for governor and the California Republican Party, and a consultant for newly elected O.C. supervisor Janet Nguyen. And he recently released a new CD recorded solely on an iPod. Camp's folk-rock album includes "White Trash Weekend" and "Crazy Little Thing Called Hate," which has these lyrics: "Well there's lots of Jews and Mexicans.
You got Japanese and lesbians,
people rolling around without no legs.
"There's candidates who won't shut up,
rich girls that drink from silver cups,
people with 12 items in a line that's meant for nine.
"Well, there's hippies smokin' pot all day,
children gettin' in the way,
somebody on my telephone.
Well, he's got a deal for me."
In his email to friends, Camp said Fish and Game "is a perfect fit for me. ... Could you imagine me working for the
Department of Corporations or the Department of Health and Human Services? Me
neither. Although I expect that I may need to buy at least one suit. However, I
did tell the Governors Communications Director that I would only take the
appointment if I were able to wear a 'Smokey the Bear' hat. He said 'no problem.' "
 I'm sorry I missed the spring convention of the United Republicans of California at the Embassy Suites in Arcadia. The $45 registration fee and a complete ignorance that the United Republicans of California even existed kept me away, unfortunately. My bad.
A featured convention speaker Saturday was Dr. Stanley Monteith, who is currently selling water filtration systems, home-schooling CDs, Miracle II soap and "Bible Bars" on his Radio Liberty website.
"The Bible Bar is a complete, wholesome food jam packed with nutritional and spiritual goodness. It is based on the seven foods from the Book of Deuteronomy 8:8 'A land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey.' The Bible Bar is a great way to control hunger pangs while still providing your body with the highest level of biblical nutrition. Case of 18 for $32.95, plus shipping. (priority mail $8.00--UPS call for quote)"
Created in 1963 to support Barry Goldwater over "liberal" Nelson Rockefeller, the United Republicans believe "God is the source of the rights and freedoms of the individual," and that "the threat of the evil of Communism must be met and overcome by a determination to achieve victory for the free way of life." Score one for the United Republicans of California (except in North Korea, Cuba and north Berkeley.)
This week, the group announced it was supporting Dr. Ron Paul for president. "The unanimous endorsement from the United Republicans of California proves what the campaign has been saying all along," said Paul's campaign chairman, Kent Snyder. "Ron Paul is the only true conservative and real Republican in the race."
The "gala" fundraiser for the California Republican Party last night in Beverly Hills was absent one important guest: the chairman of the California Republican Party.
The event featuring Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was organized to help the GOP retire some of its $4.5 million in debt from the 2006 election. The Republican governor agreed to host two fundraisers for the financially struggling party, but the first one in Sacramento was canceled two weeks ago for lack of interest. The Beverly Hilton event, according to one Republican source, was pared down as well.
The new state chairman, Ron Nehring, was in Germany visiting relatives for his birthday. He just turned 37. And he is attending the St. Gallen Symposium in Switzerland, which is a sort of mini Davos conference from May 31 to June 2 that promotes the "interfaces between business, politics and society," according to the group.
That means he'll also miss the next California GOP fundraiser, in Napa.
The St. Gallen forum is chaired by Lord Griffiths of Fforestfach, who also is a vice chairman of Goldman Sachs International, and this year features multiple seminars on energy, water and the exploitation of natural resources. Judging from some of the panel participants, they are for it. Seyed Mohammad Khatami, the former president of Iran (pictured), is a featured speaker, along with various business and political leaders, and oil and steel barons. International buffet at 8 p.m.
Nehring said he was using a ticket purchased with frequent-flyer mileage that was difficult to change.
"Today is my birthday (37th) and I travel each May in conjunction with my birthday, and visiting with family overseas," Nehring said in an email. "This trip is part vacation, visiting with family in Germany, and part participating in the St. Gallen Symposium in St. Gallen, Switzerland next week, as I have every year since 2003."
(Photo: Franco Origlia/Getty Images)
Republican Assemblyman Paul "Nice Guy" Cook of Yucaipa suffered with the Capitol's smallest office for several months with a sense of humor. His domain was a drab 391 square-foot, two-room suite on the fifth floor. According to the Speaker's office, Cook was assigned the "doghouse" office at the beginning of the session by Republican leader Mike Villines, who had supported Cook's opponent in the primary.
It was only a matter of time before Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez rearranged the pecking order himself by moving Cook out and cramming Republican Assemblyman Todd Spitzer of Orange County into the doghouse office. Spitzer's cocky and impolitic comments about Democrats, and his subsequent punishment by Nunez, offer another compelling example of why a top aide in the Senate refers to the Assembly as "the trailer park next door."
Spitzer likes to mouth off. His language is not precise. He's frequently not interested in nuances.
Spitzer (pictured with Assemblyman Greg Aghazarian) recently took a prison tour near Sacramento and
emerged to say: "I personally want people to be scared, because that's
going to motivate people to act." After Los Angeles lost its bid for the Olympics, he said: "And let me pause on that
for a moment to say, it wasn't because Los Angeles didn't deserve to
host the Olympics. ... Los Angeles isn't safe." He said a San Francisco assemblyman was "pro-criminal." And he's said liberals are soft on crime because they want sentencing reform.
"Democrats have a consistent record of killing substantive bills in the Public Safety Committee, putting the rights of career criminals over those of law-abiding citizens, especially children. Bills attempting to deny conjugal visits to inmates who have committed 
violent felonies, deny early release credits to inmates who have committed a violent sex offense, and to make the use of hard drugs in the presence of a child classified as felony child abuse all stalled in committee due to Democrat opposition by the same members who have opposed Jessica's Law."
This time, there is less humor about getting assigned to the doghouse. Villines' spokesman, Morgan Crinklaw, said about Nunez's action: "This petty bullying by the Democratic leadership is not going to stop him from continuing to stand up for California families and crime victims." Hector Barajas with the state GOP said called it a "childish stunt."
Steve Maviglio, a deputy chief of staff and spokesman for Nunez, noted that Spitzer was recently given the chairmanship of a prison reform panel. And, he said, Spitzer now has a nice view of Capitol park.
When do we get to vote on the term limits initiative?
(Photo: Rich Pedroncelli/AP)
A major fund-raiser planned with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last night to raise money for the debt-ridden California Republican Party was canceled because it failed to generate enough interest, sources told Political Muscle. The official line from the state GOP is that Wednesday's fund-raiser in Sacramento was "consolidated" with another event planned for May 22 in Los Angeles.
The cancellation comes as the California Republican Party is making a significant internal shift with a new top staff and a new focus.
Chairman Ron Nehring of San Diego is considered more conservative than former chairman Duf Sundheim, who worked closely with Schwarzenegger for three years. Nehring has hired a new chief operating officer and is working to pull the state GOP out of a $4.5 million campaign debt.
To put it mildly, the ideological gulf between Schwarzenegger and the California GOP leadership is wider than ever. Schwarzenegger, who was the keynote speaker at the Republican National Convention in 2004, has since courted deals with Democrats and openly declared he doesn't care about complaints from his GOP "base."
Rank-and-file members also have grumbled that Schwarzenegger did little to help conservative candidates such as Sen. Tom McClintock. In addition, the state party was asked to pay a friend and aide to Schwarzenegger, Walter von Huene, more than $100,000 in consulting fees, even though there was little evidence he was doing work for the party.
Because the Republican Party helped Schwarzenegger so much in last year's reelection campaign, the governor promised he would be the star attraction at GOP fund-raisers this year.
Meanwhile, he has been busy raising money for himself. The San Jose Mercury News reported recently that "since January, Schwarzenegger has pulled in $3.5 million in three different political committees — an average of $700,000 a month in this non-election year. Additionally, more than 100 private donors — including AT&T to Chevron and Oracle — paid $2.7 million total into a non-profit that paid for the governor's two-day inaugural soiree."
California GOP spokesman Hector Barajas said Schwarzenegger is still scheduled for the May 22 California Governor's Gala in Los Angeles. Another GOP fund-raiser, without Schwarzenegger, is scheduled for Napa on June 1 and 2. The event, hosted by Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines and Senate GOP leader Dick Ackerman, costs $7,500 for a day trip and $10,000 for an overnight at the posh Silverado Resort.
(Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Howard Fineman at Newsweek saw something in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's body language during the recent GOP presidential debate at the Reagan Library. Although Schwarzenegger cannot run for president, the California governor could be a leading actor in a new "independent for president" movement. Fineman writes:
"As California governor, Schwarzenegger has
prospered in the role of centrist, hybrid 'Repubocrat' — an independent
force. As he watched the ten GOP presidential candidates take turns
bowing to the GOP's conservative base, the Governator bore the fixed
smile of a man who had a desire to be elsewhere.
"If
I were a GOP strategist — or a Democratic one — I would be worried by
Arnold's body language. He and other major independent actors on the
political scene — New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Vice
President Al Gore, chief among them — comprise a Third Force that could
upset two-party politics as we know it in the 2008 presidential race."
Fineman says that Schwarzenegger, Bloomberg and
Gore "have formed a mutual admiration society that has huge potential
implications for 2008. They have come to share similar visions on the
urgency of the global warming and health care crises, and a similar
impatience with politics as usual."
Schwarzenegger has said repeatedly that he remains a loyal Republican, despite obvious splits with the core of the conservative California Republican Party. I don't see him as the next Ross Perot spoiler - or, rather, as someone who would have to stand on the sidelines supporting an independent for president. It's an intriguing proposition, but MotherJones says the Schwarzenegger-Bloomberg-Gore theory should be taken with a grain of salt.
(Photo: Mark J. Terrill/AP)
"Gil was straight up. He was on
of my mentors. We didn't agree on everything – he was frustrated with
what he called 'the machine' (of the local GOP). I'm not sure I agree
with that conspiracy theory. … (But he) wasn't afraid to take on the
establishment and that endeared him to a lot of people." Orange County supervisor John Moorlach on the death of former Republican Assemblyman Gil Ferguson.
Ferguson served in the Assembly from 1984 to 1994, and started an O.C. tradition - People Over Politics, which sponsored conservative speakers and eventually turned into a monthly breakfast club. Ferguson was 84, and suffered from leukemia. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered the Capitol flag lowered to half staff.
 The Sacramento News & Review says California Rep. John Doolittle's career is over, no matter what happens with the FBI's investigation into wife Julie Doolittle's fund-raising business and its connections to jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff. In a particularly harsh assessment of the embattled Republican, the newspapers says:
"Whatever the ultimate outcome of the U.S. Department of Justice's ongoing investigation ... it's been going on for three years now--clearly his political career is over. Even if he and his wife unexpectedly locate some loophole to avoid indictment or imprisonment for the two corruption cases in which their fund-raising activities are inextricably entangled, the Doolittles' unsavory skimming of campaign contributions and personally pocketing more than a quarter-million dollars have forever finished off their reputations among their own conservative kith and kin."
Ouch. The article also includes a mockopoly game to track the various demi-scandals and intrigue surrounding Doolittle. The congressman, meanwhile, maintains he intends to run for reelection next year, with the caveat that the FBI shadow may change his mind. As for the search of his Virginia home, Doolittle has said: "While I do not think the search of our home was necessary, I do believe it will demonstrate that she has been completely forthcoming and has had real clients with real work."
Hollywood cash isn't just for Democrats. The Associated Press looked at the entertainment industry's donations to Republican presidential candidates, who are arriving in California this week for a debate at the Reagan Library. Rudy Giuliani has the highest-profile donors:
"Adam Sandler, who shares a love of the New York Yankees with Giuliani and
tapped him for a cameo in his 2003 movie 'Anger Management,' contributed $2,100. 'Frasier' star Kelsey Grammer and his wife donated $6,900.
Mark Vahradian, who produced 'Annapolis' for Paramount, gave $2,100.
Writer- producer Lionel Chetwynd, an Oscar nominee for co-writing 1974's 'The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz,' gave more than $4,200. Brad Grey,
who helped the mayor negotiate a book deal, kicked in $4,200 to
Giuliani's campaign. Grey, the former executive producer of a Giuliani
favorite - the acclaimed HBO mob drama, 'The Sopranos,' also
contributed to Clinton and Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn."
U.S. Sen. John McCain scored mega-producer Jerry Bruckheimer and "Saturday Night Live" creator Lorne Michaels. "Romney had only a single donor in the
first-quarter report listed as an actor, Tamara Gustavson, though he
collected money from producers and writers," the AP reports.
The Simi Valley debate tomorrow is allowing the major Republican candidates to hold fundraisers to scoop up more California cash. McCain has a reception in Beverly Hills today, while Giuliani has events in L.A. and Orange County. Romney held a fundraiser last night in Sacramento, and is planning an appearance on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" tonight.
(Photo:
Kevork Djansezian/AP; Matthew Peyton/Getty Images)
In 2000, then-Secretary of State Bill Jones did something surprising for such a seemingly mild-mannered politician from Fresno. In the middle of a tough Republican primary battle, Jones yanked his support from Texas Gov. George W. Bush and switched to U.S. Sen. John McCain.
Jones, a former Assemblyman who lately has been running an ethanol business, was the highest-ranking Republican in California at the time. The defection embarrassed Bush loyalists who saw the switch as a betrayal - but Jones said McCain was "clearly the Republican Party's best hope for
attracting new voters and winning back the White House this
November."
Bush spokeswoman Margita Thompson, who later worked for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, dismissed the 2000 switch was
insignificant. "Californians are going to respond to Governor Bush's message," she
said. "I don't think this is going to be that significant."
Seven years later, look where Bush is now. Nowhere! And McCain is running for president again - with Jones as his California chairman, the campaign announced today. "He and I share a belief in the need for renewed
leadership in America and I look forward to the discussion with Californians
about what our country can be capable of in the future," McCain said in a statement.
Jones, according to the campaign, "will take the lead on Sen. McCain's political outreach and
use his years of statewide experience on major issues to help advise a
successful statewide effort."
(Photo:
Charlie Neibergall/AP)
Soon after his Virginia home was raided by the FBI, Rep. John Doolittle held a press conference in which he compared his plight to the unfairly prosecuted Duke lacrosse players and sounded unequivocal about keeping his job: "I would like you to know that I have no intention of
resigning from Congress and I have every intention of running for
re-election again."
But how firm is he? The embattled congressman and his wife, Julie Doolittle, are being scrutinized for their close ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Julie Doolittle's home-based company, Sierra Dominion Financial Solutions, did fund-raising work for Abramoff between 2002 and 2004, earning a total of $67,000. The firm also raised money for Doolittle's PAC, earning a commission for the family.
At about the same time Doolittle (pictured with Laura Bush at a 2006 fundraiser) said he had no intention of quitting, he offered a distinct "however" to Sacramento talk show host Tom Sullivan: "However it's - I really think we're going to have to see what happens
in the remainder of this year. I understand that in order, as a
practical matter, to run again, I'm going to need to have this question
resolved that hangs over my head."
Mainstream Democrats have been fairly quiet about calling for Doolittle to resign - they'd rather have him wounded than dead. Democrat Charlie Brown came within 3 percentage points of beating Doolittle last year, in a Northern California district where Republicans have an 18-point registration advantage. A strong GOP candidate would make it even more difficult to unseat Doolittle.
But what happens if the GOP leadership asks Doolittle to resign, so they don't risk losing a Republican seat? Tom Ross, a political consultant with Meridian Pacific, said the district has a strong bench that includes state Assembly members Ted Gaines, Roger Niello, Rick Keene and Doug LaMalfa, as well as state Sen. Dave Cox. (Cox's office said he's not interested in running for the seat.) Ross also said Sen. Sam Aanestad, termed out in 2010, "represents a big part of the
district and would get a lot of professional support from his friends
in the dental community."
And finally, what about Sen. Tom McClintock? Ross said McClintock (pictured), "is rumored to be considering a run here from his Sacramento home even
though he represents a district that covers Los Angeles, Santa Barbara,
and Ventura Counties. McClintock is probably thinking that if Dan
Lungren can re-invent himself as a Sacramento-area Congressman then he
can too."
(Photos: Steve Yeater/AP; Rich Pedroncelli/AP)
Guess who's being a complete killjoy about the Democratic convention in San Diego? California Republican Party chairman and San Diego native Ron Nehring, in a letter to the delegates:
"It's the first time in more than a decade that the state Democrats are
coming to San Diego - I suppose they finally found enough rooms among
the small number of unionized hotels that labor officials allowed the
party to come back to our fair city. Good for them.
"San Diego is not the same city it was ten years ago, however. Organized labor took control of the city council in 2000, which
immediately ran the city into the financial ditch through massive
payoff to the public employee unions who elected them, in the form of a
colossal pension benefits increase that has forced the city to the
brink of bankruptcy. Several former union officials and allies are now
under indictment or investigation for their role in the scheme."
I don't think he means it when he says "good for them." Nehring continues the letter by rubbing it in about eight high-profile Democratic losses in San Diego County races, including Republican Brian Bilbray over Democrat Francine Busby.
Anyway, I'm sure Democrats won't be so rude as to bring up the Iraq War, Jack Abramoff, Democratic control of Congress, the ideological capture of Arnold Schwarzenegger, John Doolittle, or Duke Cunningham's jail cell when Republican candidates debate Thursday in Simi Valley at the Reagan Library. Full text of Nehring's letter after the jump.
(Photo: Denis Poroy/AP)
Read on »
The California Republican Party has a new chairman, Ron Nehring, and a new blog. Nehring reports today that Schwarzenegger is speaking this morning to the California Federation of Republican Women at their advocacy workshop. The event features several hundred GOP women and two hundred students. But no media - the governor's office did not announce the event as public.
Political notes from San Diego: Duncan D. Hunter, the son of Rep. Duncan Hunter, has hired Sacramento-based Gilliard Blanning Wysocki & Associates to run his Congressional campaign. Duncan pere has embarked on a bid to become the Republican nominee for president (pictured in Concord, New Hampshire.)
Duncan fils, a Marine captain, is campaigning to replace his father in Congress despite his pending deployment to the Middle East. Chris Wysocki told Diane Bell with San Diego Union-Tribune that his firm will organize Duncan's campaign so "he can hit the ground running" upon his return. GOP Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth has endorsed the younger Hunter - effectively ending speculation that Hollingsworth would challenge him.
Meanwhile, Bell reports, about 160 San Diegans attended a private fundraising dinner for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at the Rancho Santa Fe home of Ellen and Tim Zinn last Tuesday.
The couple's daughter, Jacqueline was in New Jersey attending a review lecture for her medical boards, but she couldn't avoid the Republican governor even 3,000 miles away, Bell writes. During Jacqueline's lecture, anatomy specialist Dr. Barry Goldstein displayed photos of Schwarzenegger as a body builder.
(Photos: Jim Cole/AP; Candice Bergen via AP)
 From Roll Call this afternoon:
The FBI has raided the Northern
Virginia home of Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.) last Friday, according to
Congressional sources. No details are publicly available yet about the
circumstances of the raid, but Doolittle and his wife, Julie, have been under
federal investigation for their ties to the scandal surrounding imprisoned
former lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
"Because of the pending Abramoff investigation, I am not going to confirm or deny that the Doolittle’s home was raided," Doolittle attorney David G. Barger, a former assistant U.S. attorney, told the Bee. "The congressman continues to be fully supportive of his wife, Julie, and believes that the truth ultimately will prevail."
In a statement, Doolittle denied wrongdoing and shifted the focus to his wife: "My wife has been cooperating with the FBI and the
Justice Department for almost three years and that cooperation is going
to continue in the future. I support my wife 100% and fully expect that the truth will prevail."
UPDATE: The Hill confirms, and reports: "Doolittle came within three percentage points of losing his election in November after facing months of scrutiny over his relationship with Abramoff, who is in jail for an array of fraud, bribery and money-laundering charges.
Doolittle has been under fire for paying his wife’s company, Sierra Dominion, a 15 percent commission on all contributions that the company raised for Doolittle’s campaign committee and leadership PAC.
"The Justice Department previously subpoenaed Julie Doolittle’s files.
Doolittle also received contributions from indicted defense contractor Brent Wilkes and his associates, and investigators are probing whether those contributions are linked to any official action Doolittle took to help Wilkes's company obtain millions of dollars in government earmarks.
Wilkes recently was indicted in connection with his investigation stemming from former Rep. Randy 'Duke' Cunningham’s (R-Calif.) bribery conviction and jailing."
(Photo:
Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)
Lifelong Republican, Marine veteran and former congressman Pete
McCloskey has left the GOP and registered with the Democratic Party, the Contra Costa Times reports on its politics blog. McCloskey says he is disgusted with the "succession of ethical
scandals, congressmen taking bribes and abuse of power by both the
Republican House leadership and the highest appointees of the White
House. ... A pox on (Republicans) and their values."
He wrote to his supporters in an email: "I was proud to serve with Republicans like Gerry Ford, the first George Bush and Bob Dole. In 1994, however, Newt Gingrich brought a new kind of
Republicanism to power, and the election of George W. Bush in 2000 has
led to wholly new concept of governance. The bureaucracy has mushroomed
in size and power. The budget deficits have become astronomical. Our
historical separation of church and state has been blurred. ... The single cardinal principle of political science, that power corrupts, has come to apply not only to Republican leaders like Tom DeLay, Duke Cunningham, Bob Ney and John Doolittle, but to a succession of White House officials and appointees. The stench of Jack Abramoff has permeated much of the Washington Republican establishment."
McCloskey is best known as the anti-war Republican who ran against Richard Nixon in the 1972 presidential primary. He also co-authored the 1973 Endangered Species Act, which Nixon signed. Last year, he attempted to unseat GOP Rep. Richard Pombo in the Republican primary, but lost that race as well and backed the Democrat, (who won.)
He also faced criticism, to say the least, for giving a speech to a group of Holocaust deniers. In the speech to the Institute for Historical Review, McCloskey used the phrase, "the commonly accepted
concept of what occurred during the Second World War in the so-called
Holocaust." Dan Schnur has more here about the anti-Republican Republican who is now a Democrat.
(Photo: National Archives and Records Administration)
Assemblyman Chuck DeVore - the China-hating, novel writing, constant blogging, gung-ho Republican National Guard officer from Orange County - is scheming to write legislation that would divide Democrats along racial lines. In the OC Register today, columnist Frank Mickadeit writes about attending a conference of Republican lawyers at Chapman Law School last week:  "Assemblyman Chuck DeVore told the group how even as a member of the minority party in the Legislature, he's trying to be relevant. He's working a bill that would suspend the California Environmental Quality Act for five years for low-income housing, farm-worker housing and urban infill projects.
"The strategy, he said, is to split the Democrats in the Legislature into two factions: the black and Latino caucuses, which favor the bill because it would reduce housing costs 10-20 percent for constituents, and what he called 'the white, urban limousine liberals,' who oppose lowering environmental standards.
" 'I'm purposefully eff-ing with them,' DeVore said."
Mickadeit walked up to DeVore after the meeting and asked if maybe the Orange County lawmaker was being a tad cynical. Apparently unaware a reporter was in the audience, DeVore "turned even whiter than a limousine liberal," he writes. DeVore said the legislation is valid, since he does oppose CEQA standards.
Forty-six California lawmakers, all Republican, have signed a pledge promising to vote against any tax increases this year. The pledge is a nationwide project of Americans for Tax Reform, the conservative group run by activist Grover Norquist, who was in California today promoting the efforts.
The only GOP lawmaker who didn't sign the pledge was Assemblyman Roger Niello of Sacramento, who generally opposes pledges. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has not signed the ATR pledge either, but he has consistently said he would resist tax increases.
Republicans have identified 10 relatively minor tax increases - on car registration, alcohol, tobacco and real estate - circulating in the Legislature this year. But, significantly, state Sen. Tom McClintock (pictured above) believes Schwarzenegger's proposal to raise "fees" on hospitals, health plans and doctors should be considered a tax increase worthy of resistance by all 46 lawmakers.
"Anything that involves compulsion, that is forced, is a tax not a fee," McClintock said. Norquist (pictured), speaking at the same press conference this morning, said that "in 50 states people would love to argue that you can get more money and not call it a tax, but they would be wrong." Norquist's group doesn't oppose all tax increases, by the way. They generally stand aside if tax proposals are "revenue neutral;" it's OK to raise taxes on one group as long as taxes are decreased an equal amount on another.
Norquist was planning a barrage of interviews today on conservative radio to promote the tax pledge, and he is scheduled to participate in a "conference call town hall" with McClintock supporters on Tuesday.
It's possible the ATR tax pledge won't mean much this year. No significant tax increases have been proposed to balance the state budget, and the Schwarzenegger administration seems convinced their health-care fee increases can be approved by a simple majority in the Legislature - bypassing Republicans once again.
(Photos: Rich Pedroncelli/AP; Yuri Gripas/AP)
California GOP reaches out to African American churches. Earl Jacobs, Market St. 7th-Day Adventist Church in Alameda County: "I don't care if
you're a Republican. What I care about is if you're here to serve
mankind or your own interests."
The debate between Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Rush Limbaugh over conservative values has spotlighted a schism within the Republican party that could alter the 2008 presidential race, says one conservative commentator. The over-publicized feud wasn't necessarily about the Republican California governor compromising with Democrats, although that was part of it.
Within the GOP itself, there is growing frustration over the abandonment of conservative fiscal restraint by the Republican leadership in Washington D.C., which operated for six years without having to compromise with Democrats like Schwarzenegger (shown in February at a UCLA basketball game talking to former Gov. Gray Davis.)
Kevin A. Hassett writes: "How will they choose? Schwarzenegger's might
seems to suggest that the compromisers will win, but I am not so sure.
Republican policy in the past six years, especially the burgeoning size
of government, has been so far from mainline conservative theory, that
many in the party must hunger for a candidate who returns the party to
its roots."
Alien & Sedition agrees somewhat, and offers a warning: "Milton Friedmanite movement conservatives are focusing on
a showdown over the entire tax code - and, by implication, the future
of American entitlements - in 2011. One way or another, there is a
major budget gap that will need to be addressed. If the Rush Limbaugh
ideologues do indeed triumph over the Schwarzenegger 'compromisers,' it
will have important effects on the politics of the great budget debate
when that time comes."
(Photo:
Kevork Djansezian / AP)
 Whoops.
Art Torres, the chairman of the California Democratic Party, says he will not attend a planned roast for Duf Sundheim, the former chairman of the state GOP, after discovering the private event would also raise money for the California Republican Party.
Democratic spokesman Roger Salazar said Torres agreed to appear at the Sundheim roast as a professional gesture, but he "would absolutely never attend a fund-raiser for the Republican Party."
Torres (pictured below) was unaware the reception was a $250-a-person fund-raiser until contacted by Political Muscle. "This was represented to him as a friendly roast for his former sparring partner," Salazar said, "but they never sent us the invitation."
The GOP roast for Sundheim, who stepped down this year after four years as chairman, is scheduled for April 14 at the Escondido home of Kristina and Larry Dodge. The Dodges run the American Sterling Group, a conglomerate with interests in banking, insurance, real estate and entertainment. Other roasters include former Assembly Republican leader Scott Baugh of Orange County.
 Hector Barajas, GOP spokesman, confirmed the event would raise money for the Republican Party. Barajas said Torres' staff was informed the April event would be a fund-raiser--a fact that should have been otherwise obvious, he said.
"It's a roast of Duf in the home of a major donor for the California Republican Party. My understanding is this had been agreed to in December." Barajas said Torres is still welcome, if "he wants to raise money for the Republican Party."
The California Republican Party has a new chief operating officer, approved by the board of directors last night. Ordinarily, this would go unnoticed beyond the party apparatchik, but the new manager for the GOP is causing a minor stir in the ranks. He's Michael Kamburowski, a real estate agent from New York with almost no experience in California.
True, he does have conservative credentials. Kamburowski is the former executive director of the Reagan Legacy Project, which has set out to name bridges, airports, schools and anything else it can find after the former California governor and U.S. president.
And this is why Kamburowski has come to California to manage the fundraising, grassroots organizing and general operations of the California Republican Party. He has strong connections with Americans For Tax Reform, which started the Reagan naming project, and its well-connected conservative leader, Grover Norquist (pictured left).
California GOP chairman Ron Nehring also is a longtime associate of Norquist, who once said he would like to "shrink government down to the size where we can drown it in a bathtub." In addition to its close ties to the Bush administration, Americans for Tax Reform served as a "conduit" for money from lobbyist Jack Abramoff's clients to quietly finance grass-roots lobbying campaigns. As the money passed through, Norquist's organization kept a
small cut, the Washington Post reported.
Nehring (pictured right) worked as a senior consultant for Americans for Tax Reform, and his own consulting firm has listed the conservative anti-tax group as a client. His new California GOP lieutenant, Kamburowski, was the lobbyist for Americans for Tax Reform in the late 1990s. Both men have not been connected in any way to the Abramoff influence-peddling scandal, and a party spokesman declined comment about Kamburowski's hiring.
In recent years, Kamburowski has put his free-market philosophy into selling real estate for Century 21 in Manhattan and in the Dominican Republic, where he was "ready to serve your investment and residential needs here in the relaxed, beautiful and enchanting Punta Cana.
With his attention to detail, laid-back yet professional approach, and sense of humor, Michael will smoothen the road to your dream property in Punta Cana."
(Photos: Yuri Gripas / AP; Rich Pedroncelli / AP)
Vox Day puts a lot of labels on himself. On his website, Vox Popoli, he's a "scientist and Christian Libertarian commentator." I hope that covers everything. He sees moral lessons in a broken cage at a (French) reptile show. And now he's a bit disheartened by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other "Frankenstein" Republicans.
He blames it on political pragmatism, which is what Schwarzenegger calls post-partisan. Others may call it moving the ball forward. But for conservatives, there is no compromise. There are only touchdowns. Vox:  "The counterintuitive truth for conservatives is that principle is the ultimate pragmatism. No sports team has ever won a game by committing to move the ball in the direction of the goal that it is defending. Conservatives cannot win moderates to their cause by becoming moderate, they can only win them over by demonstrating confidence in the superiority of their ideas, principles and ideals."
On at least one thing, Vox agrees with NYT columnist Paul Krugman. They both write that President Bush's "disastrous reign," as Krugman calls it, has lead to the Republican decline. But Krugman embraces his inner Schwarzenegger by writing that "Democratic priorities ... seem to be more or less in line with what the public wants."
Indeed, this is what Schwarzenegger is admitting when he talks about being a governor of "the people" of California rather than of his own Republican Party. People of California = Democrats. Concludes Krugman: "Many Republicans still imagine that what their party needs is a return to the conservative legacy of Ronald Reagan. It will probably take quite a while in the political wilderness before they take on board the message of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s comeback in California — which is that what they really need is a return to the moderate legacy of Dwight Eisenhower."
 Perhaps the Legislature is a good place to learn about unspeakable crimes. (Kidding!)
The new thriller by Allison Brennan, a former consultant for the Assembly Republican Caucus, has made the New York Times bestseller list, Capitol Morning Report notes today. It's the first time one of Brennan's novels has made it into the top 15.
"Speak No Evil" is the first of three crime novels released in rapid order this year by Brennan, the wife of Dan Brennan, the communications director for California Sen. Roy Ashburn (R-Bakersfield). Allison and Dan met at a Young Republicans meeting, and worked together in the Legislature.
Brennan wakes up at 4:30 a.m. every morning in her Elk Grove home to begin writing, before juggling mother duties with their five children. She normally finishes a novel in three months. "I’ve made more cookies since I quit my job than in the first 12 years of my marriage combined," she recently told Sacramento Magazine.
"Speak No Evil" focuses on the murder of 18-year-old Angie Vance. Her death was "exceptionally vile--her mouth was sealed with glue, an obscenity scrawled was across her skin, and she was suffocated in a garbage bag," according to the publishers. Police detective Carina Kincaid and Sheriff Nick Thomas "work together to trap a psychopath, before another unlucky woman faces an unspeakable end."
You can see why conservatives in the California Republican Party won't allow decline-to-state independents to vote in their presidential primary next year. The GOP has effectively closed its Feb. 5, 2008, presidential ballot to party members only, to avoid mischief or undue influence from people who aren't true believers. The Democratic Party is, however, allowing decline-to-state voters inside the tent.
Although independent voters hold a wide variety of political viewpoints, the San Francisco, Marin and Alameda county voting blocs are rather large and could indeed favor moderate GOP candidates. That is, if those independent voters 1) were allowed to participate in the Republican presidential primary and 2) didn't want to vote in the equally exciting Democratic presidential race.
Not a single Top 10 Republican county shows up in the Top 10 list of decline-to-state counties, but three big-and-liberal Bay Area counties are cross-pollinating between Democratic and independent. Here are the newest numbers from Secretary of State Debra Bowen.
Democrats Republicans Declined to State
- Alameda 55.2% ... Placer 51.2% ... San Francisco 29%
- Imperial 55% ... Modoc 49.4% ... Mono 24.3%
- San Francisco 54.3% ... Sutter 49.4% .. Santa Clara 24%
- Santa Cruz 53% ... Shasta 49% ... Alpine 23%
- Marin 52.2% ... Madera 49% ... San Mateo 22%
- Sonoma 50% ... Tulare 48% ... Alameda 22%
- Los Angeles 49.7% ... Orange 47.7% ... San Diego 21.8%
- San Mateo 49.4% ... Kern 47.5% ... Yolo 20.7%
- Solano 48.6% ... Glenn 47% ... Humboldt 20.5%
- Monterey 48.27% ... Mariposa 46.76% ... Marin 20.28%
Meanwhile, the report shows a depressingly low number of
Californians registered to vote. These numbers should increase because
it's a presidential election year. Voter registration tends to drop in
off years, so the numbers don't truly reflect how many people will
participate in the wide-open, super-duper exciting 2008 race.
The billboard by Republican Rep. Joe Knollenberg of Michigan, who said
he funded the $10,000 advertising campaign because Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is
"a perfect symbol of a bully and because he has become the Republican Al Gore." Knollenberg says Schwarzenegger is tackling global warming the wrong way - at the expense of the auto industry. See post below.
(Photo: Carlos Osorio / AP)
The wide-open presidential primary, now destined for Feb. 5, is forcing Democrats and Republicans in California to reconsider the boundaries of their ideological families. Democrats are allowing registered independents to vote in the presidential primary next year, but Republicans have closed the club to members only.
The Washington Times is reporting that allies of moderate U.S. Sen. John McCain (pictured) want the California GOP to allow decline-to-state voters into the presidential nominating process. This presumably would help McCain and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, because decline-to-state voters tend to be more centrist. Given past history, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (pictured below) looks like a traditional California Republican nominee compared to those two.
(A senior campaign official with McCain responded: "This is something the California Republican Party members
will decide. The McCain campaign is not involved in any effort to change the
current GOP primary system in California.")
There is no doubt that California Republican voters prefer conservative candidates - with the exception of candidates such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Steve Poizner and Assemblywoman Shirley Horton of San Diego. But picking a president is different, and many Republicans could vote for the candidate they view as the best Republican to beat Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama or John Edwards.
At this point, it doesn't look like the Republican Party wants to change its bylaws in time for the primary. "Those rules are set as far as I'm concerned," party chairman Ron Nehring said this morning on FlashReport. "Candidates should focus
their efforts on persuading California Republicans they are the most
qualified to provide the vision and leadership to carry the party's
banner in 2008."
The bottom line is many Republicans don't want to risk a single icky liberal from touching their nomination. Jon Fleischman, a California GOP vice chairman, wrote this morning: "Several people have also talked about the ability for mischief to reign
where more liberal independent voters (surveys show that decline-to-state voters are from all across the political spectrum)
would vote in the GOP primary to influence the selection of the
candidate they feel would least be able to compete in a General
Election."
Several states don't even ask people to register by party. In the primary, voters simply ask for a ballot from the party they prefer at that moment. "The more people who can participate in our primary, the better," Michael King, a spokesman for the Washington Democratic
Party, told the S.F. Chronicle today.
Judging from his lackluster performance at the last California Republican Party convention, Gov. Schwarzenegger seems to have given up on trying to transform his own party into a centrist model. He's on his own. The party, which is now run by conservatives such as Nehring, must decide whether it wants to look inward and protect its hardcore values, or open the doors to the fastest growing segment of the electorate.
(Photo:
Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images; Susan Walsh / AP)
Comparing himself to Edmund Burke and John F. Kennedy, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appeared in Washington, D.C., to promote cooperation among the political parties and offer a warning to Democrats in Congress and President Bush alike: "In the courtyard of the state Capitol, I have a politically incorrect smoking tent. People come by, light up a stogie and schmooze. How come Republicans and Democrats out here don't schmooze with each other? You can't catch a socially transmitted disease by sitting down with people who hold ideas different from yours."
 He ended with a pitch to Bush: "To the president, I say get yourself a smoking tent." To Democrats he said: "Stop running down the president."
This is Schwarzenegger's second major speech as he attempts to transform himself into a national figure on politics. The first was his 2004 address before the Republican National Convention, but this address is different. He wants to be the Realist Governor who tries to find common ground without jeopardizing political principles. He plans to travel around the country making a similar pitch to change the political discourse.
Of course, this is maddening to the die-hard believers in both parties. What is a principle if it can be bent and compromised? To this Schwarzenegger replied through his speech: "What is more principled than giving up some part of your position to advance the greater good of the people? That is how we arrived at a constitution in this country. Our Founding Fathers would still be meeting at the Holiday Inn in Philadelphia if they hadn't compromised."
 In the question-and-answer session, Schwarzenegger said compromise can be found with "extremists" on immigration who want to ship every illegal immigrant back to Mexico. Offering an example of the pressure he faces from both sides, Schwarzenegger said California farmers complained about a 26% reduction in their workforce after he shipped National Guard troops to more closely patrol the border. This caused unpicked crops to rot on the vine, they told him.
This morning, Schwarzenegger met privately with Bush in the Oval Office to discuss health care, and attended a meeting with other governors in the State Dining Room in the White House. The guests included Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell and Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner (pictured).
(Photo: File; Charles Dharapak / AP)
Read on »
 Struggling along with other Republican presidential candidates to attract conservatives, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has brought on California's Bill Simon--the financier who ran unsuccessfully against Gov. Gray Davis in 2002--as his new policy director. Simon has been helping Giuliani raise money in California and elsewhere.
In addition, U.S. Sen. John McCain announced today that a variety of California Republican lawmakers have endorsed his campaign: Senator Jeff Denham, former Assembly GOP leader George Plescia, Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia and Assemblyman Van Tran. Plescia said: “John McCain’s common sense conservative principles have anchored his decision-making process throughout his public service career."
As they like to tell the story, Giuliani and Simon were having breakfast on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, when the terrorist attacks occurred. Giuliani helped campaign for Simon in 2002 (pictured), and they have been friends for years. Simon had a fairly uneventful stint working for Giuliani when the former New York mayor was the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
The Giuliani campaign made sure to include this note about Simon today: "He has given speeches to numerous conservative organizations including the Heritage Foundation, Manhattan Institute, Conservative Political Action Conference and the Pacific Research Institute. In addition, he has appeared regularly on Fox News and written articles for the American Spectator and NewsMax.com."
Giuliani: Fair and balanced.
(Photo: Damian Dovarganes / AP)
Jimmy Camp is the tattooed, hard-charging Republican political consultant from Orange County who has worked for Steve Poizner and is expected to help out Rudy Giuliani. As mentioned yesterday, Camp has a psychedelic history that includes a story about dirty hippies getting thrown down stairs. (Read that story after the jump.)
Camp just released the first CD recorded solely on an iPod. He bought a Belkin microphone for his video iPod, hooked up a basic mixer and recorded "Captain America" with no editing. But Camp isn't getting much love from the mainstream media about this technological feat. He writes this week on his blog: "I'm like Neil Freakin' Armstrong! The Wright Brothers! Thomas Freakin' Edison! GIVE ME SOME LOVE!"
Camp's folk-rock album includes "White Trash Weekend" and "Crazy Little Thing Called Hate," which has these lyrics: "Well there's lots of Jews and Mexicans.
You got Japanese and lesbians,
people rolling around without no legs.
"There's candidates who won't shut up,
rich girls that drink from silver cups,
people with 12 items in a line that's meant for nine.
"Well, there's hippies smokin' pot all day,
children gettin' in the way,
somebody on my telephone.
Well, he's got a deal for me."
It's a song about facing demons, and ultimately compassion, if I heard it correctly. Listen here for yourself.
People surprise you. Ultra-conservative blogger Steve Frank likes the new Camp album. He calls him a poet. "Though Jimmy told me about his song 'Captain America,' it was the words to 'Crazy Little Thing Called Hate' that struck me as a realistic approach to the double standard of today's mainstream society."
(Photo: JimmyCamp.com)
Read on »
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declined to formally endorse his "great friend" U.S. Sen. John McCain during a press conference at the Port of Los Angeles this morning, but the Republican governor certainly added a political boost to the Arizona senator if he decides to run for president.
When a reporter asked if today's event - with a dramatic backdrop of ships unloading and an environmental theme - was an edge toward endorsing McCain, the senator jumped in and joked: "I think it's the endorsement, yes."
Schwarzenegger responded: "We are not doing presidential politics here. We are here to talk about the environment." He also said McCain was a good friend and "a man who has been fighting many, many years to protect our
environment." He later called McCain a "great Republican fighting for the environment."
Endorsements of presidential candidates are virtually meaningless to the final outcome. Still, Schwarzenegger's active campaigning helped re-elect President George W. Bush in the 2004 campaign, when Schwarzenegger appeared at an Ohio rally just before the election. Bush won the critical state by about 118,000 votes.
(Photo: Nick Ut / AP)
Frank Mickadeit has a fascinating profile over two days of Republican political consultant Jimmy Camp, California's punk rockin' political "gym rat" who drank to excess, took a lot of drugs, was stabbed in hotel room and would disappear for days.
Now, Camp is working for Janet Nguyen, monitoring the recount of her race for Orange County supervisor, and expects to work for Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign. The saga during the Steve Poizner campaign: "Camp's well-known penchant to pull campaign
all-nighters is not just borne of a desire to win. He has chronic
insomnia. This led to near-disastrous results last fall while he was
running Steve Poizner's campaign for state insurance
commissioner. I would go to political events and would hear people ask
each other, 'Have you seen Jimmy Camp?' Nobody did. For weeks.
"As
Camp explained it over breakfast Monday, he hadn't slept for five days
when he found himself watching a TV newscast in which the reporter was
saying Camp was being sought by police for theft. Camp immediately
packed his guitars, put them in storage and fled into the Sierra,
telling no one. 'I ended up in Yosemite, hiding out for three days,' he
says."
OC Blog has a pix of Camp here. He sounds like a legend in the making. Check out Mickadeit's story. Part One. Part Two.
A little-noticed rule change several years ago by the California Republican Party could alter how GOP presidential candidates campaign in the Golden State.
In past elections, Republican candidates who received the most votes in the primary would capture every delegate and "win" California. It was winner-take-all statewide. The GOP rule change, however, apportions delegates based on the winner in each of 53 congressional districts. It's a subtle but important shift for the party, and only relevant in a highly competitive race - like now.
If U.S. Sen. John McCain wins the Alameda County congressional district, for example, he would get those three Republican delegates to the national convention in St. Paul. If former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani wins a congressional district in the Central Valley, where he campaigned this week, he would received those three delegates.
With the change, campaigns must figure out the best way to get the majority of the 159 delegates on a district-by-district basis, rather than one statewide blitz. A 
candidate could, for example, run hard in multiple districts
where Republican registration is small (like San Francisco or Alameda County), saving some money but
garnering the same number of delegates as those focused on
major Republican areas.
Here's how blogger Jon Fleischman, a new vice chairman of the party, put it: "Presidential candidates will also have to devise grassroots campaigns
into traditionally non-GOP areas, such as Maxine Waters’ 35th
Congressional District, where around 10,000 Republicans regularly
vote. Yet, whoever wins the plurality of those 10,000 votes will gain
3 Congressional District delegates to the 2008 convention – equivalent
to Deleware, Wyoming, or four other states with only one Congressional
District (though these states comes with at-large delegates, too)."
It may not radically alter campaigns here, but it's a new, unknown factor for Republicans. Ron Nehring, the incoming chairman of the California Republican Party, said Wednesday that the rule change could lead to a "very, very exciting presidential primary. ... The benefit is all the candidates have a reason to compete in California. It makes it more competitive." (The Democratic Party in California has been apportioning delegates by congressional district since 1976.)
There is one unlikely scenario: If the Republican presidential campaign remains competitive -
say, if Giuliani and McCain are neck-and-neck as the Feb. 5,
2008, primary approaches - one candidate could end up with the majority
of Republican votes statewide, because lots of Republicans in big GOP counties voted for him. But he could fail to get the majority of California delegates at the national convention, if the other candidate captured lots of small GOP districts. The delegate vote would be split.
Another twist: Nehring said independent voters would be allowed to chose a Republican ballot in the primary, just like with the Democratic Party. There will be lots of competition for those decline-to-state voters as well.
(Photos of Mitt Romney, McCain, Giuliani:
Perry Baker / AP;
Jonathan Ernst / EPA;
Gary Kazanjian / AP)
It's always fun to check in with California's blog-savvy arch-conservative, Assemblyman Chuck DeVore. He loves the Internets as much as George W. Bush. He's all over it. He has a blog.
Over at Red County, DeVore has a crush on a man, and he's not afraid to tell people. "Perfection, thy name is Huff," Chuck gushes.
The object of his Huffection is Assemblyman Bob Huff from Diamond Bar, who scored 100% on the conservative California Republican Assembly rankings for 2006. (Be warned: they are keeping an eye on Republican slackers such as Assemblywoman Shirley Horton, who scored the lowest. And what is happening to Todd Spitzer? He's slipped half the way to Carole Migden status.)
Anyway, Congrats to Huff (pictured below). He is a conservative's conservative: rejecting global warming, toilets that flush only 1.3 gallons, and a ban on selling ultrasound machines to Tom Cruise.
DeVore also spends time posting TV stories that feature himself. He talks about his bill to root out terrorists at the EDD. He says the early primary is a scam. He thinks the Legislature is passing too many laws. Or, as he says: "I call it a nanny government trend."
His friends in the blogosphere pounced on this one: 
"Some would suggest that the US invasion and occupation of Iraq is the nanny state on crystal meth. How would you respond to that, Chuck?"
"Sorry Chuck, as long as you support bans on Gay Marriage you deny
liberty and freedom to a whole class of people simply because they are
Gay. You support a nanny state on issues of morality. It is perfectly
OK for religion to define marriage as between a man and a woman, but
constitutionally speaking, it denys liberty and freedom to people
simply on the basis of sexual orientation."
Chuck doesn't respond to the war comment. But he says about gay marriage: "Open it up and we will soon see a devout Muslim seeking to
have the state recognize his marriage to four women. ... Ironically (or not) the Republican Party's founding platform was in "opposition to those twin pillars of barbarism, slavery and polygamy."
DeVore posted comments at 5:19 p.m., 6:06 p.m. and 10:02 p.m.
Below are results from an American Research Group poll in mid-January about Republican and Democratic presidential candidates in California. This early in the campaign, simple name I.D. may have a lot to do with the results. Many of the candidates are expected in California over the coming weeks for fundraisers. Giuliani is in California today.
Among California GOP voters:
Rudy Giuliani 33%- Newt Gingrich 19%
- John McCain 18%
- Chuck Hagel 5%
- Mitt Romney 3%
- Duncan Hunter 1%
- Undecided 22%
Among California Democratic voters:
- Hillary Clinton 36%
Barack Obama 33%- John Edwards 6%
- John Kerry 4%
- Westly Clark 2%
- Joe Biden 1%
- Dennis Kucinich 1%
- Bill Richardson 1%
- Undecided 16%
(Photos: Paul Sakuma / AP;
Darren McCollester / Getty Images)
Ron Nehring of San Diego County has been elected chairman of the California Republican Party. Nehring replaces the affable and frenetic Duf Sundheim, who was chummy and helpful to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger even when his party was balking at his Democratic agenda. Nehring is considered more conservative than Sundheim and likely to challenge the governor, who rushed through a bland speech to convention delegates Friday night.
Michael Der Manouel Jr., chairman of the Lincoln Club of Fresno, thinks Sundheim has been in a tough spot with Schwarzenegger:
"When the Governor decided to hire Susan Kennedy has his Chief of Staff
in late 2005, and then began his "march to the left," Duf was placed in
a position many Chairman have found themselves in over the years -
having to defend the indefensible. Furthermore, with the Governor on
the record mocking several California legislative leaders, and then
completely rolling the Republican caucuses on the budget and bond
package, Duf again had to defend the indefensible."
Nehring's election Sunday was overshadowed during the GOP convention this weekend by a nasty fight for the position of vice chairman. One candidate, state party secretary Jalene Forbis, quit the race just before the election "fearing details of her contentious divorce and custody battle" would be released to the public unless she dropped, Lisa Vorderbrueggen at the Contra Costa Times reported. Forbis has custody of two teenage sons.
Her supporters blamed Tom Del Becarro, the chairman of the Contra Costa County GOP, whose own drunken driving arrest report from 2002 was handed out to delegates and reporters and posted on a new Internet site run by college Republicans. Del Becarro's campaign | |
Jimmy Camp sent an email out over the weekend: He's found himself a job.
