Opinion

Could the burgeoning number of independent voters in California constitute the basis for a third party, to compete with the Democrats and the Republicans? I regularly get calls from national political reporters asking for reaction to this prospect, and now some state-based pundits are suggesting California’s penchant for innovation will change the political-party equation. There’s…

There’s a hoary, but self-evident, saying in retail, “You can’t sell cat food if cats don’t like it.” The California Republican Party on life-support should take that maxim to heart, but it probably won’t. In 2013, when former state Sen. Jim Brulte took over the chairmanship of the state Republican Party, he asked me to…

We’ve barely recovered from the 2018 mid-terms, but the air is already thick with speculation about whether a candidate from California will enter the 2020 race for president. And some potential candidates are making moves that encourage that speculation. Freshman U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris is writing a book and crisscrossed the country on behalf of…

The office of California’s lieutenant governor is often referred to by the unflattering diminutive “lite gov.” But it can get even worse. When I was chief of staff to Lt. Gov. Gray Davis two decades ago, a group of fourth-graders came by our office in the state Capitol, across the hall from the governor’s office.…

In the 2018 election for governor of California, surprised voters might well find only two Democrats to choose from in the general election – which would be a historical first in a governor’s race. Why? Because the sorely depleted California Republican Party may not be able to come up with a candidate who can make…

Some Republicans, horrified by Donald Trump’s slap-dash campaign, personal sleaziness and lack of fealty to bedrock GOP conservatism, seem to think Mike Pence would be a dandy candidate for president in 2020. Many suspect he took on the thankless task of being The Great One’s running mate precisely to position himself for that election. If…

California Republicans who are clinging to the notion of winning at least one statewide race in 2014 — that of Controller — are about to have their hopes cruelly dashed in the ruthless analysis of Garry South, the take-no-prisoners Democratic strategist. South, the type of strategist who…

Let’s face it, we already know who the next governor of California is going to be. Come 2015, it will still be Jerry Brown. New boss, same as the old boss. He won his 2010 race by a solid 13 percentage points against a national-record $180 million spent against him by Republican Meg Whitman. Now,…

With no presidential race or U.S. Senate contest on California’s ballot next year, the 2014 elections mostly will be a moment of truth for downtrodden California Republicans. The state GOP and its new chairman, well-regarded former state Sen. Jim Brulte (also a personal friend, in the interests…

THERE are two things we know for sure about the Filipino-American community in our nation’s largest state. And what we know tells us that the community is a sort of tale of two cities, at least politically speaking. The first fact is that Filipino-Americans, as of the 2010 census, are now the biggest Asian American…