Gop

Last Memorial Day weekend, I thought about why we were memorializing our warriors. Like many others who have asked this question, it came down to men and women fighting, and many dying, to protect our democracy, our right to vote and to select our government representatives, and our unalienable rights as individuals. However, I also considered why these values and rights are being changed and, in my opinion, it is due to an anti-American element that has infiltrated the Republican Party.

State Senate candidate Diane Harkey is not afraid of a fight, and in this round, nearly every GOP heavyweight in Orange County is in her corner. Harkey, a Dana Point City Councilwoman, is one of three candidates ? and two Republicans ? running for the 35th District Senate seat, which represents Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach and all or part of 12 other cities in Orange County. Demo- crat Larry Caballero and Republican Tom Harman will vie for the seat in a special election Tuesday.

U.S. presidential candidate Mike Huckabee will pay a visit the home of a Newport Beach businessman and big GOP donor Monday. “Huckabee is going to be the Republican nominee for president, and it’s going to happen in Newport Beach,” said local Republican volunteer Richard Dunn, who is helping organize Huckabee’s visit. “This guy is going to come out of nowhere and win. He’s going to go head-to-head with Hillary [Clinton] and win.” Former Arkansas Gov. Huckabee will deliver an address Monday evening from the Newport Beach home of Buck Johns, president of Inland Energy Inc. Johns counts Huckabee as one of his personal friends.

State Sen. John Campbell's congressional campaign coffers might swell now that he's sewn up an endorsement from the New Majority, a major Orange County Republican fundraising group. Campbell is one of 10 Republicans running for the 48th Congressional District seat left open when Rep. Chris Cox became chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. A special primary is set for Oct. 4. Thursday, Campbell added the New Majority's backing to a list that already included an endorsement from the more conservative Lincoln Club.

Shawn Fago of the Orange County Young Republicans and George Andrews, executive director of the county’s GOP, got to talking one day about how they could attract more young Republicans to the party. Half-joking, Andrews suggested a swimsuit calendar. Republicans gone wild? Not exactly. Instead, the Young Republicans have created a “Women of the Orange County Young Republicans” calendar that isn’t as racy as, say, Sports Illustrated, but is definitely designed to disabuse the stereotype that the GOP is dominated by stuffy, old, white men. The calendar, available for $15 at RedCounty.

I’m just back from Rudy Giuliani’s talk to a packed ballroom at the Island Hotel in Newport Beach, where people laughed, cried, and kissed campaign donations goodbye — OK, nobody cried. But they did applaud and laugh a lot. Out of the “big three” GOP presidential contenders, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has Newport Beach Rep. John Campbell backing him, and Arizona Sen. John McCain has O.C. bigwigs Don Bren and George Argyros, but Giuliani appears to have support from Lincoln Club and New Majority folks, which will be significant for fundraising — and as that always-desired cue to voters.

What did you think of Orange County GOP Chairman Scott Baugh’s decision to cut his ties with Newport Beach drug and alcohol rehabilitation home operators?    I appreciate his decision. Our local government is non-partisan, and we don’t need party politics to guide us. Don Webb District 3 Councilman    Lesson: If you’re a Republican politico in a Republican community, don’t aggravate a significant portion of the residents.

Joseph Bell's column ("GOP's 'compassionate conservatism' should extend to gays,"' (Aug. 10) reflected gross misconceptions regarding Republican's stance on homosexuals. The problem is not with individual homosexuals but instead with an agenda perpetrated by homosexual activists and supported by liberal Democrats. One that gives homosexuals special rights and promotes their lifestyle in our public schools. A plan that silences all who disagree with them.

The Orange County Republican Party on Wednesday censured 48th District Congressional candidate Marilyn Brewer for making several false claims about GOP opponent John Campbell, including that he day-traded energy stocks during the state's energy crisis, said Orange County GOP chairman Scott Baugh. He said the party's ethics committee also found that Brewer violated ethics rules with campaign mailers about Campbell's position on stem cell research and his record on illegal immigration and a mailer that mentions the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers' Assn.

Considering his profession, Sen. John McCain seems a decent man. Most people in charge can and will display a temper from time to time. There are too many built-in safeguards and therefore a minimal chance McCain will push the nuclear button and obliterate everything. More important is his seeming lack of concern about the fact that the cost of gas has doubled and that more than 13,000 American kids have been killed or maimed over the course of the last seven years. Since securing the GOP nomination, he has talked extensively about our economy, which is definitely in the tank, and about people who need to get a second or third job, if necessary, to pay for the home they shouldn’t have purchased in the first place.

The state attorney general has been asked to handle a drunk driving case against former California GOP Chairman Michael J. Schroeder, who was pulled over by a CHP officer who saw his black Porsche swerving on the 55 Freeway in Orange County. Schroeder, a powerful figure in Orange County politics, was arrested earlier this month, authorities said. His wife is chief of staff for the Orange County district attorney's office. Schroeder, 56, was pulled over at 3:20 a.m. on Nov. 1 after an officer observed a black 2004 Porsche that failed to stay in its lane on the 55 Freeway, said CHP Officer Devon Boatman.

Demonstrators on Saturday gathered in front of the Costa Mesa Police Department to support Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer, who they contend was falsely accused of driving drunk by a private investigator who works for a law firm that represents police unions. A motorist tailing Righeimer called 911 Wednesday, saying the councilman was swerving and appeared drunk. Righeimer, who said he only drank a Diet Coke, was given a sobriety test by police at his home and passed. The man who made the call is a fired Riverside police officer who works with a law firm that until recently was retained by the Costa Mesa Police Assn.

Mitt Romney criticized President Obama's health-care reforms and other regulations that some small businesses find burdensome during a campaign stop Monday at a Costa Mesa manufacturing plant. The presumptive Republican nominee, who met with business owners and executives at the Endural LLC plastic container plant, said health-care reform and other regulations are stifling businesses and, in turn, slowing job growth. "It's not just about getting the bad guys, of which there are a few, but also helping the good guys, encouraging entrepreneurs, understanding how hard it is to start a business, grow a business, help it live and thrive," he said.

Editor's note: The Daily Pilot was not granted access to Mitt Romney's visit to the Balboa Bay Club & Resort on Friday night and instead covered the protests outside. This story from pool reports was made available later. * A confident-sounding Mitt Romney in Newport Beach mocked his rival's campaign Friday, hours after the release of disappointing jobs numbers put Democrats on the defensive. At his private fundraiser at the Balboa Bay Club & Resort — where four tickets fetched as much as $25,000 — Romney joked about a visit former President George W. Bush made to the White House a day earlier for the unveiling of his official portrait.

Thomas Jefferson supposedly said, "Democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where 51% of the people may take away the rights of the other 49%. " I am writing this to remind all the people in Costa Mesa, from all of the comments I see posted on the Daily Pilot website, that they live in a democracy and that the Republican Party of Orange County plays no direct part in governing the city. I am tired of seeing people blame all the ills of Costa Mesa on the OCGOP and the City Council majority.

Last Memorial Day weekend, I thought about why we were memorializing our warriors. Like many others who have asked this question, it came down to men and women fighting, and many dying, to protect our democracy, our right to vote and to select our government representatives, and our unalienable rights as individuals. However, I also considered why these values and rights are being changed and, in my opinion, it is due to an anti-American element that has infiltrated the Republican Party.

Stratfor, a private U.S. intelligence company with high-power clients around the globe, disclosed that Sen. John McCain was aware of significant voter fraud during the 2008 presidential campaign. Despite having had evidence that the Democrats had allegedly stuffed ballot boxes in Ohio and Pennsylvania on election night, McCain chose not to pursue charges against the Obama campaign. In essence, he handed the presidency to his opponent without putting up a fight. McCain's behavior seems in stark contrast to his impressive record of heroism as a Naval aviator.

Rep. John Campbell (R-Irvine) failed to get the endorsement of the Orange County GOP this week when a tea party faction refused to vote for him because he supported federal stimulus spending during the recession. "For many people, it was a protest vote," said O.C. GOP Chairman Scott Baugh, who supports Campbell. "It wasn't a vote against John Campbell. It was a vote against TARP. " Campbell supported the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) in 2008. "John has a track record of voting what he believes is right, even if it causes him some political damage," Baugh said.

Assemblyman Allan Mansoor (R-Costa Mesa) raised more money in 2011 than his chief challenger, Newport Beach Councilwoman Leslie Daigle, but has less money on hand, campaign filings show. Mansoor raised about $200,000 in 2011, much of which went to pay off debt from his 2010 Assembly run. The former Costa Mesa mayor for the primary currently sits on about $42,000; it's a combination of funding from his reelection campaign committee and his 2010 campaign. He has already accumulated more than $13,000 for the November General Election, which he can use if he is one of the top two vote-getters in June's open primary.

Orange County Republican Party Chairman Scott Baugh plans to ask the party on Monday to endorse state Assemblyman Allan Mansoor in the upcoming state Assembly race. Mansoor (R-Costa Mesa) faces two Republicans: Newport Beach Councilwoman Leslie Daigle and Keith Carlson, the former treasurer of the California Republican Party. While the party often endorses incumbents, this election is unusual because the district lines were recently redrawn, and the new 74th District is substantially different from Mansoor's existing territory.