“The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.”  –Abraham Lincoln

As many of you know, I’m a political junkie at heart.  This past year I have been able to rekindle some of this passion in local politics, which has also led to a renewed interest in statewide politics.  To that end, this afternoon, I took an hour-long drive to Grass Valley to confirm my suspicion that there is still integrity left in the Republican Party.  Not only was my suspicion confirmed, I was inspired.  Tom Campbell is the only Republican candidate for governor of California willing to accept the inevitable: that higher taxes, as a temporary fix, are necessary for long term reform.  The other Republicans seem to think that by saying they’re against new taxes, somehow that will make the problem go away.  They fail to offer any solutions to make up the deficit.  Tom Campbell accepts the inevitable, and actually says it out loud, even though it isn’t popular.  He is a pragmatist and a realist. He is also the only candidate to actually put forth a plan and ideas about how to fix California going forward.  He’s the only candidate to have balanced the California budget.  He recognizes that running a state is not the same as running a company because, well, there are 120 people in the building that can put a stop to your mandates.  He knows “my way or the highway” doesn’t work in state government.  Tom Campbell has the experience required to guide California through the tumultuous years ahead.  I want a leader who will tell me the truth, even if it is something I don’t want to hear.  That, in essence, is what makes great leaders.

Tom is taking a “new” approach: he’s relying on word of mouth in the early stages to get his campaign going.  Heaven forbid a candidate actually sit with people and listen to ideas, but that’s exactly what he’s doing.  (In golden times, I think this was called a “grassroots campaign,” but it’s been so long since a Republican for statewide office tried it, it might not be recognized as such.)  It is what he does on his website.  If you scroll through some of the comments, you can see his actual responses to people who have posted there.

As a disclaimer, I have been a big fan of Tom Campbell since I was in college and he ran for Senate in 1992.  I’ve followed his career since then, and have continued to be impressed with his integrity and ability to get things done.  After the past few years, it is time for responsible leadership in Sacramento.  I believe Tom Campbell is the man to do it.  To get more information about what I’m rambling about, go to www.campbell.org.  Post a question or a comment.  He’ll probably answer it.

Assuming the Court of Appeal doesn’t issue a stay while the case is on appeal, it looks like I’m going to have the 1st and 3rd Fridays off each month until August 2010, with a corresponding 10% pay cut.  Here’s the silver lining: I get three day weekends twice a month.  Maybe I’ll start taking Chatterer and ToaM to various sites around the area.  Or maybe I’ll take the time to get the house into some semblance of order.  The possibilities are endless.  At least I’ll save money on gas since I won’t be commuting one day a week.  It might not be that big a deal to some people, but when I fill up my tank every 5th day, one day of not driving is a big benefit.

Some of you may be wondering where I was over the course of the last couple of weeks.  I’ve been to Colorado to make sure the elections happened legally and everyone who wanted to vote and was entitled to vote actually voted.  I was there on behalf of the losing team, which happens in presidential politics about 50% of the time.  I have voted for President of the United States five times.  My party has won twice and lost thrice.  Here are my parting thoughts as we enter, in my not-so-humble opinion, the beginning of a very long four years.

The Republicans cannot win until they move back to the center a bit.  My party needs to stop preaching morality while soliciting in mens rooms, e-mailing pages with lewd and lascivious messages and cheating on their wives.  I am categorizing these incidents as “mens” issues because a) the ones that were caught were all men and b) there are many many more men in the Republican party elected offices than there are women.  The Republican Party needs to recognize that fiscal responsibility is more important than legislating morality, which is impossible to accomplish in any event. 

By the way, this was not a “landslide,” no matter what the press says.  Losing by 6% of the votes cast is not a landslide.  It may be an Electoral College landslide, but not a voting one.  Mondale lost in a landslide (18.2%).  McCain did not.