Sometimes I am amazed reading this blog as I am left wondering who is the opposition? Is the enemy Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Obama, Barney Frank and the rest of the big government tax and spenders trying to take our freedom away, or is the enemy Meg Whitman and Doug LaMalfa.

Meg Whitman has no legislative record, but both Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa and Assemblyman Rick Keene have an extensive legislative record. That being the case I thought it would be interesting to contrast and compare voting records of Doug LaMalfa (who seems to be the enemy) and Rick Keene (who seems to be the hero)… and what better place to do that than on the California Republican Assembly (CRA) website.

According to the CRA 2004 Legislative Scorecard (link here) both Rick Keene and Doug LaMalfa received a 95% rating that year… not bad. They both incorrectly voted for SB 1113, the budget.

In 2005 CRA gave Keene a 94% rating and LaMalfa a 89% rating (link here). They both incorrectly voted for SB 77, the budget, and LaMalfa voted for SB 861 to make dog spay and neutering a local issue and species-specific. 

In 2006 CRA gave LaMalfa a 100% rating and Keene a 71% rating (link here). Keene voted for Democrat Fabian Nunez’s AB 140, and for Democrat Carol Liu’s AB 2360 making it a crime to sell or lease non-invasive ultrasound machines to anyone without a license (such as crisis pregnancy centers).

In 2007 CRA gave LaMalfa a 95% rating and Keene received a 80% rating (link here). Keene voted for Democrat Denise Ducheny’s SB 77 which irresponsibly increased spending and created a Gray Davis-sized fiscal crisis. As a point of reference CRA gave Ted Gaines a 95% rating that year.

In 2008 CRA gave LaMalfa a 100% rating while Keene received a 94% rating (link here). Keene voted for Democrat Mike Feuer’s AB 1879 which cedes Legislative authority to power-hungry bureaucrats to regulate a laundry list of common chemicals in everyday products, with no accountability to voters or consumers. Again, by contrast, Ted Gaines received a 100% rating, the same as LaMalfa.

The bottom line is both LaMalfa and Keene have comparable voting records according to the CRA Legislative Scorecard… with LaMalfa penciling out to be slightly more conservative (average CRA rating for LaMalfa, 97% vs. 88% for Keene).  From a conservative point of view it is difficult to understand why either of these two would be considered an enemy.

With conservatives being in short supply in California, it would seem to be both a prudent and wise strategy for conservatives to stick together treating friends like friends… while saving the fire for ideological opponents. Unfortunately wisdom and prudence is often in short supply when dealing with politics.