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First there was a "Tea Party" whose members said they did not care about party, but principle. They railed against corporate America's tax-funded bailouts, they demanded more transparency at the highest levels of government, and they stuck up for the little guy against the establishment. Though predominately composed of "right-leaning" Americans (whatever that means), their anger at a shady, secretive, corporate establishment should have made even Michael Moore proud. Indeed, they echoed the ve

In a bizarre series of recent events within the political world, Massachusetts citizens elected themselves a moderate Republican senator in a liberal fortress, thus ending the Democratic supermajority in Congress, and spelling trouble for the Democratic agenda. While it is premature to label that particular race a harbinger of this November’s congressional midterms as a whole, political fallout can still rear its ugly head into the upcoming California senate and gubernatorial races. With M

Despite recent electoral events in Massachusetts, California Democrats voted to push forward a highly controversial proposal to establish a single-payer, state-run healthcare system. Governor Schwarzenegger has twice vetoed similar proposals and vows to veto it a third time if a bill hits his desk before his term expires. Proponents argue that Democratic inaction and electoral results in Massachusetts merit a robust state response.  In other words, if the Federal Government won't reform healthc

Having just dealt the national Democratic party a solid blow with the election of Scott Brown, Republican candidates have great reason to feel sizable bits of triumphalism. The incursion of a conservative candidate (albeit a fairly moderate one) into one of the bluest states in the union is easy to read as a message that, to quote Ann Coulter, “no Democrat is safe.” In California especially, such a message could easily provide a great deal of moral support to the Republican candidates currently

Independent voters continue to set the tone across America.  In last night's upset GOP victory in the Massachusetts special election, independents made their presence felt as they shocked the Democratic establishment.  This is a trend that commenced with GOP gubernatorial victories in New Jersey and Virginia last year, and many pundits posit that unless the economy begins a definitive recovery over the next six to eight months, it may produce a powerful anti-Democratic backlash in the November m

I’ve previously written that Schwarzenegger’s state failures on state parks, recycling, funding public education, opposing teachers, nurses and firefighters (not to mention his failures on abortion rights and early pandering to Big Pharma) indicated that he was a hard line Republican despite his periodic zags to the middle. Now, his defense of climate change against neo-crazy-con darling Sarah Palin has me scratching my head again. In the recent conflagration, Schwarzenegger made comments about

While Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued a statement asking proponents of gay marriage to remain peaceful in their reaction to the California Supreme Court's decision to uphold Prop. 8 and the state's ban on gay marriage, Golden State Democratic leaders vowed that the fight to legalize same-sex marriage in California isn't over. Following the court's release of the ruling, many of those leaders quickly issued statements. Here are a sampling: California Democratic Party Chairman John B

AMERICAN CANYON -- Although it's just a few miles from SanFrancisco -- arguably the epicenter of the marriage equality movementin California -- a majority of City Council members in the Napa Countytown of American Canyon voted this week to reject a resolution supporting gay marriage. Calling it an "abuse" of the council's authority, City CouncilmanEd West successfully moved to table the resolution in support ofmarriage equality proposed by colleague Joan Bennett. "It does not belong before us,

Even criticsof President Obama would have to admit that America now has anambitious, smart leader at the helm who is not afraid of takingproblems and issues head-on.  After all,the Obama Administration has acted quickly to resuscitate a gravely illeconomy while at the same time continues to deftly prosecute atwo-front war against terrorism. Obama also fights pirates off Somalia,has begun taking steps to reform our broken healthcare system and, oh,yes, told the CEO's in Detroit to get off their o

Open primary advocates posit that an open primary could produce more moderate candidates. But why would we want that? California's value at least partially lies in its ability to innovate, experiment, and grow from its progressive, extreme heritage. Not political extremism or religious extremism, but California's tendency to be at the edge of issues, for better and worse. California's national role is tied to this edgy state-identity, which would all be mournfully lost if an open primary pushed