Free Republic

It was 6 p.m. when the call arrived, an hour after actor Arnold Schwarzenegger had stunned California's political establishment by announcing on "The Tonight Show" that he would run to replace Gov. Gray Davis in the Oct. 7 recall election. Schwarzenegger was on the line, calling potential supporters at the New Majority, the Orange County-based group of more than 100 wealthy, moderate Republicans who'd backed Richard Riordan for governor last year and encouraged the actor to take a stab at public office. Schwarzenegger, the star attraction at a New Majority gala last year, arranged for a speaker phone to be...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A group of wealthy Republicans in Orange County has created the state's largest GOP political action committee in an attempt to broaden the party's appeal. The New Majority was formed in early 2000 in Orange County, the historic center of the state's Republican Party. Membership has more than doubled since its inception, from 44 to 110, and 14 members have joined Team 100, which requires a donation of $100,000 or more to the national Republican party. The group has riled some established Republicans who contend that its wealthy members are out of touch with working-class Republicans. ...

<p>SACRAMENTO (AP) - A Republican political action committee voted Friday to give $100,000 to Rescue California, one of several groups working on a recall campaign of Gov. Gray Davis.</p> <p>The donation from the Lincoln Club of Orange County matches a contribution made last week by U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, who is interested in replacing Davis should the recall effort succeed.</p>

The Lincoln Club is the largest and most active political club in the United States. Its has shaped California and national politics for almost forty years. Many of southern California's most successful business leaders are among its members. Like many good stories, The Lincoln Club of Orange County's begins with bloodshed. In 1962, Richard Nixon returned to California to run for Governor. He was considered a heavy favorite to beat Governor Pat Brown, but he had to get by the primary challenge of Orange County native Joe Shell in order to win the nomination. The primary campaign was nasty. Many...

Religious Message Prohibited in Senior Photo IRONIA VALLEY – To prepare for their class picture on the bleachers, 13 Ironia Valley High School seniors made T-shirts, arrived early and staked out the front row. But when Vice Principal Ted Reid saw the shirts spelling out "Allah is the way" and "Allah (heart) U" flanked by crescent, he asked the students to rearrange themselves or turn the shirts around. After five minutes of negotiations with Reid, 11 of the students walked out of the picture. "We weren't telling people to love Allah," senior Hammed Hussein, 17, said. "We weren't telling people,...

<p>FOUNTAIN VALLEY – To prepare for their class picture on the bleachers, 13 Fountain Valley High School seniors made T-shirts, arrived early and staked out the front row.</p> <p>But when Vice Principal Ted Reid saw the shirts spelling out "Jesus is the way" and "Jesus (heart) U" flanked by crosses, he asked the students to rearrange themselves or turn the shirts around.</p>

<p>Longtime Orange County Republican Party boss Tom Fuentes is fending off a growing cry for his resignation, with even some once-staunch defenders now saying he has alienated too many key Republicans and is no longer an effective leader.</p> <p>Fuentes, chairman of the county GOP for the past 19 years, has been at the center of building the organization into one of the country's Republican powerhouses, reliable both for its ability to raise money and to guarantee broad margins of victory for GOP candidates.</p>