Free Republic

The Republican National Committee is asking one of its members to return nearly $2,000 that the member was reimbursed for a night out at a lesbian-themed bondage club. Doug Heye, a spokesman for the RNC, issued a statement Monday after two news agencies reported that the organization reimbursed a member $1,946 for a February trip to Voyeur, a bondage-themed nightclub in West Hollywood recently featured in The Los Angeles Times as the new hotspot. "We are investigating the expenditure in question," said Heye. "This was a reimbursement made an individual not on committee staff. ... The committee has requested that...

COSTA MESA – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger kicked off a "Pump up your vote" campaign effort Saturday with a speech before about 150 Republican Party faithful at the Orange County Fairgrounds. "The volunteers are so excited and we like having him in Orange County," said Mary Jean Duran, a public relations consultant and Republican activist from Newport Beach. "He should come here every week." But Alexandria Coronado, a member of the Orange County School Board, said the turnout was small for Orange County, a Schwarzenegger and Republican stronghold. Despite advance publicity online and in e-mails, people stayed away because the campaign...

These aren't your father's Republicans. Paul Makarechian, 31, showed up in jeans to host an event with Assembly GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield. That was at Fashion Island's trendy Ozumo Japanese restaurant. Another of the group's events, this one featuring a congressman, was held at Costa Mesa's hip Sutra Lounge. One of the group's board members, land broker Craig Atkins, is spending much of the year surfing the world's best waves. Makarechian, the chairman, gleefully lists the spiky hair of one favored candidate as an attribute. The group, less Atkins, flew to Vegas this month for its board retreat,...