Celebrating the victory

S.J. Cahn

Republican leaders had much to crow about Monday night at their first

party meeting since the recall election.

Orange County voted heavily for the recall and Gov.-elect Arnold

Schwarzenegger, signaling that the county -- for so long a reliable

source of GOP votes -- may be heading back toward firm Republican

roots.

Those numbers and those results were the theme of County Chairman

Tom Fuentes’ remarks at the meeting, which is held each month in

Costa Mesa.

“For years, we have been saying that the tasks of this county

party are threefold: to register Republican Voters; to get out the

vote on Election Day; and, to raise the funds to support these

efforts,” he said. “The results of the recall election of Oct. 7,

2003, are proof positive -- in hard numbers -- that this county party

does its job well.”

And that was just the beginning.

“Today, our margin of more registered Republicans than Democrats

in Orange County has grown to over 235,000,” he said. “‘Yes’ on the

recall passed with 55% statewide. In Orange County, it passed with

73%.

“Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger won 48% of the vote statewide,”

Fuentes said. “He won 63% of the vote in Orange County.

“The top two Republican candidates for governor of California

garnered 79% of the vote in Orange County on Oct. 7,” he said.

These numbers, Fuentes said, prove that the party has become

successful in the county.

“We are a county party in which one and all are welcome to

participate,” he said. “We are a county party in which every

volunteer and donor is somebody.

“We are a county party committed to giving our neighbors a role in

democracy and a voice in choosing the elected leaders of our state

and nation,” he said.

Campbell gets Newport Beach mayor’s approval

Assemblyman John Campbell has earned the endorsement of Newport

Beach Mayor Steve Bromberg -- only the second endorsement Bromberg

has made in his three years on the council.

The other? Schwarzenegger.

Bromberg announced the endorsement during a meeting of the Corona

del Mar Chamber of Commerce this week, and Campbell’s campaign sent

out a release on it on Wednesday. The release noted that Campbell

also got the backing of Seal Beach Mayor Patricia Campbell.

“I am tremendously pleased with the progress my campaign is

making, and I am honored to have earned the trust and support of two

excellent local mayors like Patricia Campbell and Steven Bromberg,”

the assemblyman said.

Rohrabacher, Cox all about family

Reps. Dana Rohrabacher and Chris Cox were honored Tuesday by the

Family Research Council with a “True Blue” award for consistent

“pro-life and pro-family” votes.

The socially conservative group noted in particular votes on

banning partial-birth abortion; funding abstinence and marriage

promotion programs; preventing abortions in military hospitals;

encouraging faith-based initiatives; calling for votes on President

Bush’s judicial nominees; banning human cloning; repealing the estate

tax; prohibiting U.S. funding of international abortions; and

promoting abstinence as part of global AIDS relief.

“The members of the 108th Congress who received this award have

been consistent, stalwart allies of American families,” said the

group’s president, Tony Perkins. “They are to be commended for their

adherence to the belief that strong marriages and families are

essential aspects of a resilient society.”

First it was the car tax, now it’s the drivers

The “car tax” may have sealed Gov. Gray Davis’ recall fate, but

another piece to his late legislative landscape looks a sure bet to

be the next big thing: the driver’s licenses for immigrants law.

At a meeting of the Corona del Mar Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday,

the quick mention of it brought audible angry reactions, a general

bad vibe to the room.

It also brought out the pens and pencils when Assemblyman John

Campbell mentioned that there is a Web site,

http//:saveourlicense.com, devoted to a petition drive to overturn

the law.

“It is about safety and national security,” Campbell said, adding

that reversing the law “will be a major initiative of the

Schwarzenegger administration.”

If the petition drive gets a ballot measure in the works, Campbell

said the law will be held up until the legislative air is cleared.