FR publisher Jon Fleischman conducted and posted this interview with former state Sen. John Lewis (for whom I worked from 1991 to 1994), about his successful quarterbacking of the Norby for Assembly campaign:

Flash: Congratulations John on the big win on Tuesday. By any measure that was a huge win for your client, Supervisor Chris Norby. What would you say made the difference?

John Lewis: Of course everything starts with the candidate and Chris Norby has been an outstanding public servant for North Orange County for many years and has built up a huge reservoir of good will and positive name ID which gave him a huge advantage. Another huge factor not to be underestimated is his life long residency in the City of Fullerton coupled with his over 20 years of teaching in the cities of Brea and Placentia. You just can’t believe the stories phoners and precinct walkers would hear. Everything from he swam in my parent pool when he was a little kid to he taught my son history at Brea-Olinda High School. We heard those stories over and over again.

Flash: What else accounted for your surprisingly large win over you main Republican opponent Linda Ackerman?

Lewis: For openers having Congressman Tom McClintock’s endorsement was enormous. Nearly all of the partisan office holders endorsed Linda Ackerman, but they were all trumped by Tom’s endorsement. In this political environment of tea parties and health care protests the Tom McClintock name resonates better than any of the Republican names across the state. Especially in a low turnout election, a McClintock endorsement is the political gold standard. We were fortunate that Chris and Tom had a long history of collaborating on private property issues and Tom was willing to endorse out of the gate and be active in communicating with voters on behalf of Chris. He was very much involved in voter outreach…not just a name on a list. Tom was gracious enough to participate in a telephone town hall meeting, he recorded several GOTV calls for us and he was featured on all of our mail.

Secondly, Lewis Consulting provides polling services for our clients. Immediately after Mike Duvall’s resignation a Lewis poll went into the field and the results gave Chris Norby the confidence to proceed with his candidacy. Our initial poll anticipated that 75% of the votes cast would be by absentee voters and that 59% of the votes would come from Republican voters. It also gave Chris Norby a 16% lead over Linda Ackerman. These numbers were eerily predictive. Because of financial constraints we never polled again, yet this one poll, prior to the completion of the filing process was our blueprint for victory.

Click here to read the rest of the interview.

A friend of mine who lives in north Orange County called me this morning with an interesting tale.

He subscribes to both the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register. As readers know, the two dailies struck a deal this summer under which the LA Times would take over delivery of the OC Register, beginning in September.

My friend tells me that while he receives the Register early each morning, recently the LA Times either arrives several hours later, or the next day, or not at all. He called the Times and reported the problem, and a supervisor was sent out to his house to deliver the missing LAT in person.

When my friend asked why he was receiving the OC Register regularly, but not the LAT, the employee said it was the OC Register delivery people, saying they were trying to "sabotage" the LAT.

I thought I'd relay this anecdote for a couple of reasons: 1) according to the two companies, it the LAT delivering the OC, not the other way around, and 2) the partnership can't be going too well if OCR delivery contractors our sabotaging their "partner."

Source Document

I was forwarded a document for a recent California Federation of Republican Women's Southern Division meeting.

It is apparent that Steve Poizner and Meg Whitman are on completely different tracks.

In the wake of the discovery that Whitman is an elitist NIMBY and a fringe-left environmentalist (evidenced by her donations to protect the delta smelt)... we have further evidence that her campaign is attempting to veer to the left of Arnold.

Take a look at these quotes from their bios and decide for yourself:

"On September 15,2008 Poizner announced his candidacy for Governor of California. Poizner's campaign is based on strong in-state grassroots suppoer. The election will take place November of 2010. Poizner has worked for government reform, education reform, women's rights, and restoring California's position as a family-friendly, business friendly state."

and Whitman:

"On February 9,2009 Whitman announced her candidacy for Governor of California. Senator John McCain endorsed Meg Whitman for Governor of California. The election will take place November of 2010. Whitman supports Abortion Rights, same-sex civil unions and adoption rights for same-sex couples, but not same-sex marriage. Her views on same sex rights have created controversy related to her political aspirations."

Is it possible that Whitman thinks Republican women are obsessed with Abortion rights? Or is it quite simply that she is reaching out to Maria Schriver Republicans?

Poizner - Government Reform, Education Reform...

Whitman - Abortion Rights, Same Sex (insert issue here)... (Omitted: anti-gun, open borders, taxing the rich, donations to left-wing enviros, her huge fan list, etc etc etc)

I do believe that Republicans for Boxer (Clinton, Kerry, Gore, Obama) will enthusiastically endorse Whitman.

Today's top stories from behind the Orange Curtain:

Mickadeit: Anaheim Deputy Chief In Sheriff's Race (OCR)
The race for Orange County sheriff got significantly more interesting this week with the entry of Anaheim Deputy Police Chief Craig Hunter.

Fair Board Complaint Could Die (OCR)
Allegations that the Orange County Fair Board violated open meeting and conflict of interest laws may not ever be officially resolved.

Many Oppose Seal Beach Homeless Shelter (OCR)
Some residents voiced strong opposition to a proposal by a Long Beach pastor who wants to found a $1.1 million homeless shelter in Seal Beach

Tustin Adopts Water Efficiency Rules (OCR)
Homeowners redoing their landscaping will now need to get a permit from the city, since a Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance was adopted this week.

8 OC Cities Want To Recycle Uneaten Food (OCR)
Think of all the trash in south Orange County's Prima Deshecha Landfill that began as food that people left on their plates at area restaurants.

$100,000-plus Pension Club In Mesa Consolidated, Mission Viejo, Moulton Niguel (OCR)
The continuing saga...

Fullerton Council: Here's $57 Each To Balance Books (OCR)
The 7.6 percent of their stipend is the same percentage as the 12-member executive management team agreed to donate earlier this month.

Huntington Beach Employees Volunteer To Take Furloughs (OCR)
Two city employee groups have volunteered to take furloughs over the holidays, which could save the city about $500,000, city officials said.

Lowering New NB City Hall Expenses (DP)
Plans for new civic center, to be built at 1100 Avocado Ave., undergo some changes in an effort to minimize costs, Newport officials say.

Former Anaheim Councilman Tom Tait's campaign for Mayor is metastasizing into a freight train of momentum.

Current Mayor Curt Pringle, who is close friends with Tom (whose last two years on the council overlapped with Curt's first two as mayor) organized a kick-off Tait fundraiser at The White House in Anaheim that was monstrously successfully, raising $190,000 for Tom's campaign.

You heard that right: $190,000.

There are candidates who have been running for legislative offices for more than a year who haven't raised that much money. For a city council candidate to raise that much is practically unheard of. Curt Pringle raised more than $300,000 at a single event for his 2006 re-election drive.

In this case, the candidate has ben out of elected office for almost six years. The massive haul is testament not only to Curt Pringle fundraising prowess, but to Tom Tait's popularity, which cuts across party lines, and the esteem and affection in which he is held.

The only other person looking at this race is Anaheim Councilwoman Lucille Kring. Lucille faced a similar situation in 2002, at the end of her first term -- seek a virtually-guaranteed second term, or gamble on a run for mayor against well-funded opponents with strong bases of support. Back then, she rolled the dice and finished second to Curt Pringle. Time will tell what decision she'll make this time around.

The fundraiser itself was emceed by Curt Pringle and attended by almost 100 supporters, including former GOP gubernatorial nominee Bill Simon and Assemblyman Jeff Miller. Here are some photos of the event:

The Orange County Committee on School District Organization -- the LAFCO of the OC public school system -- last night stuck to it's ill-considered decision to force the Capistrano Unified School District hold a special election in June 2010 on a ballot measure to elect school trustees by district, instead of scheduling the vote a few months later on the regular November 2010 ballot.

The CUSD trustees want it on the November ballot because that would cost only $8,500 -- as opposed to $450,000 for a June vote. Given that Capo Unified is almost literally broke, that's a pretty major consideration.

Not that proponents of a June vote -- who call themselves CUSD Children First -- care about that, despite their crocodile tears about district budget cuts. The Capo teachers union, along with the PTA parents that teachers unions have historically co-opted with relative ease, have a political agenda: they want a June vote in hopes of having the November elections held on a district basis -- which they believe will make it easier to pick off targeted trustees.

This is from the OC Register article: 

"The parents' group lambasted Capistrano's school board for spending money to hire an election-law attorney to try to postpone the election until November 2010. Greer is working on a $25,000 retainer."

If that criticism weren't so hypocritical, it would be laughable. The teachers union and its allies cannot, with any credibility, criticize the hiring of Greer when they refuse to agree to save nearly half-a-million dollars by scheduling their ballot initiative for November. From this point forward, any complaint they make about budget cuts will be completely hollow.

The only silver lining is we, once again, get to witness the teachers union placing its political interests ahead of every other consideration.