Free Republic

<p>As they prepare for their pre-election statewide convention, California Republicans have gone into battle mode over plans to squelch a gubernatorial straw poll potentially embarrassing to Richard Riordan.</p> <p>The move, critics charge, was orchestrated by Riordan's campaign -- with help from the White House.</p>

This is GREAT!!! I just got this in an email. I can't believe that Jack Kemp came out to California to endorse and then campaign for Bill Simon. First Giuliani, then Kemp. Who's next??? :) YEEEEEEHHAAWWWWWW!!! ======================================================== FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 7, 2002 JACK KEMP ENDORSES SIMON TAX-CUTTERS JOIN TOGETHER AT EVENTS IN SACRAMENTO AND SAN FRANCISCO Sacramento contact: James Fisfis (916) 441-3734 San Francisco contact: Bob Taylor (916) 397-1497 cell SACRAMENTO - 1996 GOP Vice Presidential nominee and Empower America co-founder Jack Kemp today formally endorsed GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill Simon at a press conference in Sacramento. After the ...

<p>Thanks to a big run of campaign ads by Gov. Gray Davis, Californians are fast learning that former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, front-runner in the Republican primary for governor, has been of two minds about abortion. In other words, thanks to Davis, voters are finding out that Riordan is a lot like most of us.</p>

----- Original Message ----- From: WISH wish@thewishlist.org Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2002 11:58 AM Subject: RIORDAN ON CHOICE February 5, 2002 Dear WISH List Friend: I am writing to you on behalf of Mayor Richard Riordan, the man I believe should be the next Governor of California. As I'm sure you know, Gray Davis is airing an attack advertisement on the Mayor's position on a woman's right to choose. Let me be very clear. Mayor Riordan is and has always been PRO CHOICE. He was a PRO CHOICE Mayor of Los Angeles. He will be a PRO CHOICE Governor of ...

I am the CEO of a bio-information company, husband/father, and a practicing Druid Unitarian. Capitalism is taking dreams and ideas and turning them into reality. I’m running for Governor for my childrens’ futures and the future of California. I want to rally individuals to secure liberty and happiness. The only proper realm of government is the protection of our lives, liberty and property from criminals and foreign invaders. Other functions violate our rights and make us dependent on government. Libertarians trust individuals to make decisions about their lives. Let’s support the vision of our founding fathers. Gary Copeland 5 Moccasin ...

We have been told for years by ?conservative? immigration enthusiasts that Hispanics are natural cultural conservatives who will-Real Soon Now-flock to the electoral aid of the Republican Party in its culture war with liberals. The current gubernatorial primary campaign in California is providing more evidence that this is w-r-o-n-g. Click here to continue

- Simon Draws Conservative Line in Sand - Article Here - Bill Simon makes stop in Santa Maria Simon spoke to a group of about 50 Tuesday night at California Grill. /// Scott de Freitas-Draper/Times By Jasmine Marshall / Times Staff Writer SANTA MARIA -- Declaring himself "a real Republican" before a small crowd of Santa Marians Tuesday, GOP gubernatorial hopeful Bill Simon promised to restore a balanced state budget and promote conservative values if elected.The most recent poll by the Los Angeles Times shows Simon gaining ground on Republican front-runner Richard Riordan. In a primary with low voter ...

Brit Hume just had a report on "Special Report" about Gray Davis (California governor) taking over $119,000 from Enron, more than anyone in Congress! He showed a clip of Dim-bulb getting grilled by reporters on the State Capitol steps, and he was losing his temper as he stated that he has stopped taking contributions from energy companies since he became governor. He refuses to return the money.

Gray Davis is attempting to deceive Republican primary voters by running commercials depicting Riordan as pro-life. In his commercials, he calls Riordan an "anti-choice extremist" and quotes Riordan saying that "abortion is murder." Richard Riordan has said over and over that he is pro-choice, that he is "personally opposed" to abortion, but defends "a woman's right to choose abortion" and that poor women should receive taxpayer funded abortions so that they have a "real choice". He has said that if Republicans don't remove the pro-life plank in our platform, our party will become extinct. Why would Gray Davis do this? ...

<p>Democratic political strategist Bob Mulholland speculated last year that GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill Simon would bow out before the primary, even wagering the candidate $100 that he wouldn't last.</p> <p>"About three to four months ago at another Capitol event, he and I were talking, and I said, 'I'll bet you'll get out of your race,' " Mulholland said. "But I told him, 'Look pal, I'm not in your league, so I'm not doing a $10,000 bet, only $100.' "</p>

Remember the old conflict between Lucy and Charlie Brown on the football field? She would always promise to properly hold the football for Charlie Brown to kick and then just as he put all he had into a running kick she would pull the ball away sending poor Charlie Brown flying into the air and landing embarrassingly on his back. No matter how many times Lucy reneged on her promises, Charlie Brown would always believe her sincerity and take one more run at the ball. This story clearly illustrates the relationship between the Republican Party and much of the establishment ...

Having lost decisively in three statewide elections since 1996, California Republicans feel increasingly confident they can retake the governorship this year in the state Ronald Reagan dubbed “the big casino” of American politics. Plagued by the state’s energy crunch and a $12-billion budget shortfall, Democratic Gov. Gray Davis has fallen into a virtual dead heat—44% to 43%—in a Los Angeles Times poll with front-running Republican Richard Riordan, the former L.A. mayor. That Davis—his $28-million re-election kitty notwithstanding—is vulnerable to a GOP challenge is not surprising. The same Times survey showed that 52% of the state’s electorate believe the governor’s handling ...

<p>"Governor," I asked Gray Davis at The Chronicle's editorial board meeting last week, "I've heard from readers who are very angry about the (University of California) Board of Regents' vote to let undocumented students pay in-state tuition and the passage of AB540. They wonder what citizenship means if you give a break to people who are here illegally. Could you answer that?"</p>

<p>Sacramento -- Long before Enron Corp.'s plunge from riches to rags, the Houston energy maverick's aggressive campaign to push government regulators out of the electricity industry found its best business opportunity in California.</p> <p>No company preached free-market electricity with the same fervor. No company purported to know more about how to open energy markets to competition.</p>

<p>Gov. Gray Davis during a television interview Friday acknowledged meeting with then-Enron CEO Kenneth Lay last year during the state's energy crisis, but said that he ignored his advice.</p> <p>During a broadcast of the PBS show "Now With Bill Moyers," Davis said he met with Lay over several months at the request of the Clinton and Bush administrations.</p>

EMERYVILLE, Calif. (AP) - Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante used a racial slur during a Black History Month speech in what he called an embarrassing slip of the tongue. Bustamante, a Hispanic Democrat who has focused on improving race relations, said he meant to use the word "Negro" but slipped and said another n-word during his speech about the black union movement. About one-fourth of the 400 people at the event Friday left in protest, said Marshall Walker, master of ceremonies. "I was appalled he would even say it as a slip. You don't make a slip like that unless it ...

<p>Sacramento -- Gov. Gray Davis yesterday appointed one of his most generous campaign contributors, Haim Saban, who produced the "Mighty Morphin Power Ranger" children's show, to the University of California Board of Regents.</p> <p>Since 1998, Saban, 57, has given nearly $400,000 to Davis, including almost $60,000 in nonmonetary contributions for fund-raisers he's hosted for the Democratic governor.</p>

A Fading GrayThe governor’s uphill charge for another term by Bill Bradley As we enter the election year, we have a major paradox. Although there are promising new developments on the energy front, Gray Davis is shockingly weak in popularity compared to other major elected officials since the terrorist attacks of September 11 — he’s among the few in the country who haven’t gone up in public estimation. Yet despite this weakness — or perhaps because of it — he is arrogating powers to himself that are unprecedented. Gray Davis is seeking almost dictatorial authority in several areas — trying ...

California GOP Remains Gray Davis' Best Friend "California Gov. Gray Davis (D) apparently has survived the state's energy crunch only to find himself facing an even more threatening political problem: an expected $12.4 billion state budget shortfall over the next two years. But California's Republican Party is only now starting to recover from years of ineptness and financial inadequacy, and it finds itself facing another potentially divisive primary that could help Davis win a second term. The race for the GOP nomination pits a trio of hopefuls - former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, California Secretary of State Bill Jones ...

Stretching the Limits of Bi-Partisanship: The Case of Dick Riordan Arthur Bruzzone RightTurns.com February 1, 2002 President Bush learned his bi-partisanship in Texas out of necessity. In the West, partisan politics is serious business. If you want be a partisan lawmaker or governor, you can expect political stalemate, or politically taxing win-loss contests on almost every issue or bill. Worse, in the West, if you use ideology to fight battles in statehouses or at city hall, you can exhaust valuable political capital winning arguments and not solving problems. President George W. Bush has successfully transplanted his Texas bi-partisanship to Washington. ...