Quick Question…

Is there a name for the post-election phenomenon in which the posters and bumper-stickers of losing candidates swiftly vanish while those of the winner linger for weeks, sometimes months?

If not, there should be.

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A Point Well Taken

(Editor’s Note: This e-mail has been making the rounds.)  

I'm against the $85,000,000,000.00 bailout of AIG.   Instead, I'm in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to all Americans as a 'Dividend'.   To make the math simple, let's assume there are 200,000,000 bonafide U.S. Citizens 18+   Our population is about 301,000,000 ± counting every man, woman and child.    Read more »

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Enough Whimpering Already

There is much garment rending and teeth gnashing in the state Capitol over California’s fiscal condition. 

This fiscal year alone, which is nearly half over, there is at least an $11 billion gap between revenue and spending commitments. The governor predicts another $13 billion gap for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2009.     Read more »

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More From the Campaign Mail Bag…

Digging back into the campaign mailbag: 

Supporters of Proposition 8, which would prevent same sex couples from marrying, show a grainy photo of California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell from a television ad in which O’Connell says that Proposition 8 has nothing to do with schools or children. 

“He’s Lying,” the mailer says in large red letters.    Read more »

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Digging Through the Dross of the Campaign Mail Bag

This time of year they are more common than a foreclosure in Sacramento, Stockton or the Inland Empire.

They purport to educate voters and “guide” them to the correct ballot choices.

What they actually do is attack, exaggerate, inflame and obfuscate. 

They are the pieces of mail sent to voters by candidates, ballot measures and interest groups.    Read more »

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At Least They’re Good at Something

One would think after their abysmal performance this year that California’s lawmakers would slink away in shame, spend long hours in self-flagellation, donate generously to a domestic violence center, hand out groceries at a food bank or scour bedpans with Mother Teresa’s nuns in Calcutta – some repentant act to atone for their 2008 sins against the People of California.     Read more »

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Confessions of a Women’s Conference Escort

I was a Governor and First Lady’s Women’s Conference escort. 

Like Las Vegas, some conference sights, sounds and experiences stay at the Long Beach Convention Center. 

But there are some wonderful moments that can be shared. One would be standing within easy earshot of Gloria Steinem and Billie Jean King discussing Sarah Pallin’s vice presidential candidacy.     Read more »

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A Couple Things Senators McCain and Obama Have In Common

One recent Wednesday morning, Sen. John Sidney McCain III of Arizona wrote a one-page letter. It arrived in an envelope that said in red: “EMERGENCY NOTICE.” 

Sen. McCain begins: 

“We’ve reached a critical juncture in the campaign. The Obama Democrats and their left-wing special interest allies have come together in a united front, combining their enormous fund-raising arsenal.    Read more »

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California’s Real Budget Victims

It is common in the world of politics, for attention to be focused on the absolutely dead wrong thing. 

Sometimes that is done by intent – “Look over there, say isn’t that Elvis?” – to low-ball some greasy piece of legislation or fly some unpopular regulatory or policy change under the public’s radar.     Read more »

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I’ve Bought Mail!

I received a nice piece of mail this week from Dan Lungren, my representative in Congress. 

It was odd that his missive was addressed to me since among the things my Congressman and I don’t share is party affiliation. 

Indeed, a savvy political operative might suggest that the less I know about Dolph, as we like to call him in the Lucas home, and what he’s doing in our nation’s capitol is probably good for both of us.     Read more »

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