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During Ronald Reagan's 1966 campaign for governor of California, Republicans established the so-called Eleventh Commandment: "Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican."
It was proposed by State Republican Chairman Gaylord Parkinson to help prevent a repeat of the liberal Republican assault on Barry Goldwater that laid the foundation for Goldwater's trouncing in the 1964 presidential election. Just as Nelson Rockefeller and his East Coast cronies had branded Goldwater as an "extremist" who was unfit to hold office, so candidate George Christopher and California's liberal Republicans were leveling similar personal attacks on Reagan. Party liberals eventually followed Parkinson's advice, and the rest is history.
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California Attorney General Jerry Brown leads all Republican challengers in an early look at the state's 2010 governor’s race. But with San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom as the Democratic candidate, the three Republicans are competitive.
The latest Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 statewide telephone survey finds that Brown leads former eBay CEO Meg Whitman 44% to 35%. He holds a 45% to 32% advantage over State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner and a 44% to 34% edge over Tom Campbell, an ex-congressman and former state finance director.
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Carly Fiorina is emerging as a potential GOP challenger for the US Senate seat of Bay Area liberal Barbara Boxer next year, and the prospect has energized the California Republican Party.
Not yet an official candidate, Ms. Fiorina is the former CEO of Hewlett Packard (HP) and was an economic adviser to Sen. John McCain’s presidential bid last year. Like Meg Whitman, who just announced her campaign for governor, Fiorina is a newcomer to politics with very deep pockets. She has registered a campaign committee that reportedly had a strong presence at the state GOP convention this past weekend in Indian Wells, Calif.
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Had a little hang time with Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, R-Orange County, at the GOP confab. Chuck D. from the OC explained something he mentioned in his warmly received, no-notes/no TelePrompter speech Sunday a.m. He was explaining his underdog US Senate run to the faithful when he said:
"We are stealing a copious amount" Chuck told the GOPers, "from Barack Obama."
Whoa, Chuck, D. You are like Obama in…no way at all. At least in terms of policy.
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Say what? -
Trevino said in an interview that it was never the intention to give off the impression that the straw poll was party-sponsored.
"Our assumption was that everyone knew what we assumed they knew, which was that the party these days doesn't run a straw poll," he said.
He said organizers handed out ballots, which had the gubernatorial candidates' names listed first in alphabetical order, to attendees leaving the Saturday night speeches. About 200 ballots were returned to a box outside the DeVore convention suite.
It was not a function of people who already like Chuck," he said of the poll's methodology, though he conceded: "This is not scientific, this is not the height of polling, it's a straw poll it is what it is."
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First and foremost, there was no official California Republican Party straw poll taken of delegates or attendees to the convention. As an elected party officer, I feel comfortable assuring everyone of that. I even called my colleague, CRP Treasurer Keith Carlson, and asked him. "Nope," he said, demonstrating a strategic use of brevity (not often exhibited by attorneys).
Yet a media release went out this morning from the DeVore for U.S. Senate Campaign proclaiming his overwhelming victory in the CRP Convention Straw Poll.
So what gives?
The answer is pretty simple. The DeVore for U.S. Senate campaign conducted their own straw poll.
The questionable part of the process was in releasing the "results" in a way that made it non-obvious to the reader that this entire straw poll was conceived, executed, counted and released by the DeVore for Senate campaign.This severely impeaches the credibility of the results because of the obvious conflict of interest that exists.
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Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate, has finished her memoir just four months after the book deal was announced, and the release date has been moved up from the spring to Nov. 17, her publisher said.
"Governor Palin has been unbelievably conscientious and hands-on at every stage, investing herself deeply and passionately in this project," said Jonathan Burnham, publisher of Harper. "It's her words, her life, and it's all there in full and fascinating detail."
Palin's book, her first, will be 400 pages, said Burnham, who called the fall "the best possible time for a major book of this kind."
The book now has a title, one fitting for a public figure known for the unexpected — "Going Rogue: An American Life."
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Already on the Christmas book list. -
Iran tested its most advanced missiles Monday to cap two days of war games, raising more international concern and stronger pressure to quickly come clean on the newly revealed nuclear site Tehran was secretly constructing.
State television said the powerful Revolutionary Guard, which controls Iran's missile program, successfully tested upgraded versions of the medium-range Shahab-3 and Sajjil missiles. Both can carry warheads and reach up to 1,200 miles (2,000 kilometers), putting Israel, U.S. military bases in the Middle East, and parts of Europe within striking distance.
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California has already begun working to empty its prisons in response to its massive budget gap, so at least they’ll have some room for a few al-Qaeda terrorists, if Senator Dianne Feinstein gets her way. Not only did Feinstein volunteer California, she also volunteered Missouri as well. Senator Kit Bond (R-MO) was not eager to accept, as he said to Fox News Sunday’s Chris Wallace:
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Carlyfornia? Sen. Barbara Boxer might have a race on her hands next year when she comes up for re-election.
Sacramento pollster Jim Moore just did a statewide matchup between Democrat Boxer and her possible GOP rival, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina.
The results: Boxer, 46 percent – Fiorina, 40 percent.
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Note: Senator Boxer is now below 50 per cent and Fiorina has not run one ad yet. -
One problem: There was no official straw poll at the California Republican Party Convention.
"We did not conduct a straw poll at this convention whatsoever," California GOP chairman Ron Nehring said in an e-mail.
So who did? An aide to DeVore — a state Assemblyman who has actively courted the party's conservative wing as he prepares to battle Fiorina for the Republican Senate nomination — acknowledged that Sunday's poll was engineered by the DeVore campaign, even though it was described as a "CRP straw poll" in an e-mail to supporters.
Fiorina spokeswoman Beth Miller was even more dismissive."Let me get this straight, you want me to comment on a Chuck DeVore straw poll that was conducted in the DeVore hospitality suite on Saturday night with a bunch of college Republicans and a lot of free beer flowing?," Miller asked.
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OOOPS -
The Eleventh Commandment was a phrase used by former President of the United States Ronald Reagan during his 1966 campaign for Governor of California. The Commandment reads:
"Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican."
[edit] History
The 11th commandment was created by then California Republican Party Chairman Gaylord Parkinson to help prevent a repeat of the liberal Republican assault on Barry Goldwater that contributed to Goldwater's defeat in the 1964 presidential election. East Coast Republicans like Nelson Rockefeller labeled Goldwater an "extremist" for his conservative positions and declared him unfit to hold office. Fellow Republican candidate for Governor George Christopher and California's liberal Republicans were leveling similar personal attacks on Reagan. Hoping to prevent a split in the Republican Party, Parkinson used the phrase as common ground. Party liberals eventually followed Parkinson's advice.
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And, Reagan went on to beat Pat Brown. -
A new poll shows appointed Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) could indeed have a difficult primary on his hands in 2010.
The Tarrance Group (R) poll for the Colorado Policy Institute appears to be the first public polling on Bennet’s primary with former state House Speaker Andrew Romanoff. It shows Bennet leading Romanoff 41-27.
Bennet, like other appointees to the Senate, has not posted the strongest approval ratings and could be vulnerable in both the primary and the general election.
In the GOP primary, recently declared candidate and former Lt. Gov. Jane Norton leads Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck 45-15. For some reason, Aurora City Councilman Ryan Frazier was not included in the GOP primary polling.
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Fearful that they're losing ground on immigration and health care, a group of House Democrats is pushing back and arguing that any health care bill should extend to all legal immigrants and allow illegal immigrants some access.
The Democrats, trying to stiffen their party's spines on the contentious issue, say it's unfair to bar illegal immigrants from paying their own way in a government-sponsored exchange. Legal immigrants, they say, regardless of how long they've been in the United States, should be able to get government-subsidized health care if they meet the other eligibility requirements.
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The so-called 11th Commandment has served the Republican Party well over the years. Ronald Reagan is often given credit for coming up with the rule, but in fact, it was someone else’s idea — someone named Gaylord Parkinson, who years ago was chairman of the Republican Party in California. In September 1965, as California Republicans (including Reagan) prepared to compete for the GOP nomination for governor, Parkinson decreed that the candidates should refrain from attacking each other. He called it the 11th Commandment: “Thou shalt not speak ill of another Republican.†The idea was to foster party unity and avoid the acrimony of the year before, when moderate and conservative Republicans were bitterly divided over their presidential nominee, Barry Goldwater.
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