Opinion

In our many collective decades of covering and engaging in local, state and national politics, we have been frustrated by the failure of city councils, boards of supervisors, state legislatures and Congress to effectively eradicate abusive behavior by the minority of law enforcement officers who are nurtured and protected by a culture of corruption in…

Having been asked to write a piece for CalMatters about the California primary this Tuesday, I first asked myself, what do I really know for sure about the race and the candidate field that would be enlightening or even interesting to share with the readers? After pondering that question, instead of playing a prognosticator with…

Gov. Gavin Newsom set off a blizzard of criticism last week by signing a law requiring that all presidential and gubernatorial candidates provide five years’ of income tax returns in order to appear on California’s primary ballot. Most of the pearl-clutching has plopped into the following three baskets: There surely must be something unconstitutional about…

If the most recent polls are to be believed, Joe Biden has jumped into a commanding lead in the brigade-sized Democratic field, after his long delayed, almost Hamlet-esque entry into the race. The former two-term vice president has zoomed into an impressive double-digit lead not only nationally, but in the key early primary states of New Hampshire…

Ever since Sen. Kamala Harris announced her presidential campaign, there’s been a gush of speculation about the importance of her home state in the nomination process – especially since the California primary has been moved up to March. I’m neither for nor against Harris in the primary, and I will enthusiastically support her if she…

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…