• Arnold Schwarzenegger,  John McCain,  President 2008

    John McCain Watch: The Santa Barabara Energy Efficiency and Conservation Discussion Part 1

    McCain Event June 24 2008 095

    The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History
    All Photos by Flap

    Earlier today (9 AM PDT) Senator and presumptive GOP nominee for President John McCain was joined by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for a discussion of energy efficiency and conservation at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.

    Other participants were:

    • James Woolsey, former CIA Director
    • Mike Feeney, Executive Director of the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County
    • Matt Tirrell, University of California at Santa Barbara Professor and Founder of the Institute of Energy Efficiency

    The check-in for the event was early. The drive up the coast to Santa Barbara from Thousand Oaks was surprisingly easy and traffic free.

    The McCain campaign staff made check-in easy and accommodated the press unlike any GOP event Flap has ever attended.

    The following is my narrative in photos ( and I will break it down into a number of parts/posts). I promise to get my video up on You Tube as soon as possible.

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    The wooded Santa Barbara neighborhood behind the California Historic Santa Barbara Mission

    McCain Event June 24 2008 005

    Down the street from the museum which is straight ahead

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    McCain Event June 24 2008 013

    McCain Event June 24 2008 012

    The protesters were already set up on the corner across from the museum

    McCain Event June 24 2008 007

    McCain Event June 24 2008 009

    At 7:30 AM the line was already several hundred folks deep to attend the event

    McCain Event June 24 2008 019

    Getting ready to check-in as working press

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    Check-in and credential table

    Next Post: Security and Inside to the conference. Arnold and Mac…..


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  • Arnold Schwarzenegger,  John McCain,  President 2008

    California Governor Schwarzenegger to Join Senator John McCain for Energy Efficiency and Conservation Discussion

    From the press release:

    9 AM: Governor Schwarzenegger To Join Senator McCain for Energy Efficiency and Conservation Discussion

    Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History
    2559 Puesta Del Sol
    Santa Barbara, CA 93105

    Governor Schwarzenegger will join Senator and Republican Presidential Presumptive Nominee John McCain and other national leaders in national energy alternatives for a discussion on energy efficiency and conservation.

    The following panelists will be joining Governor Schwarzenegger and Senator McCain for this event:

    • James Woolsey, former CIA Director
    • Mike Feeney, Executive Director of the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County
    • Matt Tirrell, University of California at Santa Barbara Professor and Founder of the Institute of Energy Efficiency

    Flap will try to make it out to the event in the morning.

    Update:

    Flap has been credentialed and will make the trip to Santa Barbara tomorrow morning. The conference/discussion will begin at 9 AM PDT.

    Flap will LIVE Twitter the event and of course take plenty of photos. Follow Flap on Twitter (also on the right sidebar of FlapsBlog) and watch his Flickr Photostream.


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  • Arnold Schwarzenegger,  John McCain,  President 2008

    John McCain in California Today

    McCain in Miami

    Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., gives a thumbs up as he drinks a coffee at Cafe Versailles on Tuesday, May 20, 2008, in Miami.

    Senator John McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee for President has a one day swing through California which began last night with a fundraising event in Orange County.

    Today there are stops planned in Union City and Stockton in Northern California.

    While in the Bay area, McCain will attend a fundraising luncheon sponsored by ex-e-Bay CEO, Meg Whitman, a former Mitt Romney national fundriaisng chairwoman and aspiring 2012 California Governor candidate.

    As McCain moves on to Stockton, he picks up the campaign dollars by attending an event at the home of GOP donor Alex Spanos.

    McCain arrives in California today a definite underdog to presumptive Democrat nominee Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. The latest PPIC poll (page 10 here) has :

    If the general election were held today, likely voters would favor Obama over McCain by 17 points (54% to 37%), an improvement for Obama since March (49% to 40%). Likely voters favor Clinton over McCain by 12 points (51% to 39%), an improvement for her also since March (46% to 43%).

    Flap has seen little excitement among California conservatives for the McCain campaign. McCain is a buddy of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger who has mismanaged California’s budget, is proposing a disfavored lottery redistribution plan/tax increase and has talked about rebranding the GOP.

    Team McCain will come to California to raise the big bucks from the high tech companies and defense contractors who have an interest in preserving good relations with the GOP in the federal government. But, don’t look for McCain to put ANY effort into winning California in the fall. California is a blue state and will not be in play for McCain.


  • Arnold Schwarzenegger,  California,  John McCain,  President 2008

    McCain and Schwarzenegger Host California CEO’s

    From the press release:

    Team Cal
    For Planning Purposes Only:
    Wednesday, May 21, 2008
    Contact: Julie Soderlund
    916-806-1409

    Updated: Governor Schwarzenegger To Join Senator McCain and California CEOs For Global Competitiveness Roundtable

    Note: Updated phone number for McCain campaign press contact

    Thursday, May 22

    10:30 a.m. Governor Schwarzenegger To Join Senator McCain and California CEOs for Global Competitiveness Roundtable
    Finelite
    30500 Whipple Road
    Union City, CA.

    Governor Schwarzenegger will join Senator and Presumptive Republican Presidential Nominee John McCain and CEOs of innovative California-based companies for a roundtable discussion on global competitiveness hosted by Meg Whitman, former president & CEO of eBay and John Chambers, president and CEO of Cisco Systems.

    During the roundtable, panelists will discuss the importance of supporting and promoting innovation and address the steps that need to be taken to keep America leading the globe in innovation.

    The following CEOs will be joining Governor Schwarzenegger, Senator McCain, Meg Whitman and John Chambers for this event:

    • Shellye Archambeau, CEO, MetricStream
    • Conrad Burke, President and CEO, Innovalight
    • Terry Clarke, CEO, Finelite
    • Carly Fiorina, Former CEO, Hewlett-Packard
    • Vivek Ranadivé, Chairman and CEO, TIBCO
    • Lance Tokuda, CEO and Founder, Rock You!
    • Maynard Webb, President and CEO, LiveOps

    For additional logistics and credentialing information please contact Mark Eisen with the McCain campaign at 818-458-9912.

    -30-

    Forward this email

    Paid for by the California Republican Party, 1903 W. Magnolia Blvd, Burbank, CA 91506.
    Not authorized by any federal candidate or committee

    John McCain is in Orange County, California tonight at a fundraising event. And, will have a few more tomorrow before heading to his Sedona, Arizona home to talk with Crist, Jindal and Romney.


  • Arnold Schwarzenegger,  Gay Marriage

    Schwarzenegger Wants California Gay Marriages to Bail Out State Budget

    Summaries of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s revised state budget proposal for the 2008-09 fiscal year lay on a table in Sacramento, California, May 14, 2008. Schwarzenegger unveiled on Wednesday a revised $144.35 billion budget plan for the state’s next fiscal year that proposes using state lottery revenues to back bonds whose proceeds would help close a $17.2 billion shortfall and build a rainy-day reserve.

    Arnold is desperate to balance a budget he has mismanaged.

    Will gay marriage help boost California’s economy? Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger hopes so.

    In the wake of the state Supreme Court’s legalization of gay marriage, the Republican governor said Tuesday in San Francisco he hopes gay couples come to California for wedded bliss.

    “You know, I’m wishing everyone good luck with their marriages and I hope that California’s economy is booming because everyone is going to come here and get married,” said Schwarzenegger, prompting laughs and applause, according to a recording.

    But, is he REALLY serious?

    Probably not. But making light of a major societal change and his budgetary problems may leave the Governator as the only one laughing in California.


  • Arnold Schwarzenegger,  California Election 2008,  John McCain,  President 2008

    John McCain Watch: California in Play? Part Two

    mccainarnoldandrudy

    California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, center, endorses Republican presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., right, as former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani looks on at left, after a tour of Solar Integrated Technologies in Los Angeles, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008.

    Can John McCain place Blue State California in play this November? Perhaps.

    1. If McCain wins California in November, he almost certainly will become the next president of the United States.

    2. Winning California is going to be very tough for McCain.

    3. Candidates who oppose abortion rights do not win California.

    4. Obama favors giving driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants. McCain opposes it, and this could give McCain the state.

    McCain seems to think so in this interview with Chris Wallace.

    [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoaiI7Q6ApI[/youtube]

    John McCain on Fox News Sunday, April 6, 2008

    Should Barack Obama win the Democrat nomination, California MIGHT be in play. Flap’s Hispanic friends (Democrats and Republicans alike) will NOT vote for Obama. They mistrust him.

    The drivers’ licenses for illegal aliens flap will not ingratiate Obama with independents and will assure no GOP cross-over voters.

    If anyone can help swing California it will be California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice who would be a plus for McCain in California whether she is on the ticket (and she is polling well) or on the stump.

    Stay tuned……..

    Previous:

    John McCain Watch: California in Play?


  • Arnold Schwarzenegger,  California,  California Term Limits

    California Term Limits Proposition 93 Support Plummets in the Polls

    [youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=OI1-BISK8_g[/youtube]

    Save Term Limits, No On 93 Television ad

    Support for California’s Proposition 93 is falling precipitously according to the latest polls. The measure which would change the California term limits law will be voted upon February 5.

    Flap said many months ago that he was not worried about this measure and it would not pass.

    It won’t.

    The kiss of death: California GOP Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s FLIP-FLOP endorsement.

    [youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=xSQaY6a88pU&feature=user[/youtube]


  • Arnold Schwarzenegger,  California

    Schwarzenegger’s California Budget Deficit Reduction Plan is a SHAM

    California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger uses a chart to help explain his state budget plan during a news conference in Sacramento, Calif., on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2007.

    The California State Budget for this next year is running $14 billion in the red and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed a budget deficit reduction plan. This plan involves borrowing money, deferring debt payments and the counting future tax revenue, according to a report released today by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office.

    The Governator’s plan is a sham. He defers hard budget choices as he has done every year while in office. Remember when California voters were asked to approve borrowing to bail out Democrat Governor Gray Davis’s budget?

    How many different times does Flap have to spell it out that Arnold Schwarzenegger has been a disastrous Governor for California – on the order of Gray Davis.

    Now, Arnold who has failed to balance the budget in every fiscal year he has been California governor has proposed new draconian cuts and new borrowing and accounting gimmicks. But, does Schwarzenegger REALLY want such draconian cuts or is this theater?

    Time for Arnold to make legitimate budget decisions.


  • Arnold Schwarzenegger,  California,  California Republican Party,  John McCain,  President 2008

    Will Arnold Schwarzenegger Endorse John McCain?

    Senator John McCain with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in October 2005 supporting Arnold’s reform initiatives which later failed at a November 2005 special election.

    With John McCain’s resurgence in the polls, there are rumors that the Governator will endorse John McCain for President.

    With the massive California budget problem and Arnold’s recent dust-up with the California GOP, post-partisanship et. al. Flap doesn’t know if it will help McCain that much.

    But, Arnold is popular for now and there is that global warming thing…….