( Simi Valley Blogger Mike Chandler took this video at Bob Huber's event.)

Simi Valley candidate for Mayor Bob Huber had a strong week starting with the endorsement of the Ventura County Republican Central Committee and ending with a casual townhall event at Ranch Park called Burgers with Bob.

The Republican Central Committee endorsement has the potential to backfire on him but with his strong support from Democrats like Simi Valley School Board Member Rob Collins and former Chair of the Ventura County Democratic Party Hank Lacayo he is able to accurately claim he has bipartisan support.

He also has the endorsements of unions representing firefighters and police officers. The Ventura County Firefighters are among the best organized interest groups in this area. Their ability to mobilize is impressive. I have seen them to great GOTV work. I am not sure how much support either of those unions intend to give beyond their endorsements though. If you are a member of either let me know what you have been seeing.

I didn't go to Bob Huber's event today but from what I am seeing it went great for him. The true test will be to see what sort of media coverage he is able to get from it. I missed his event because a friend of mine that I greatly admire was in town. Rob, I may not have said it to you before but if you didn't know I think you are an awesome man and you have served as a role model to me. Over the years you have said things that have really stuck with me.

For more of Mike Chandler's coverage go to his blog.

Ash Givargis has entered my contest to get the top of my blog on the day of the primary election by sending in a picture of a pet with his campaign sign. Ash is running for a position on the Ventura County Republican Central Committee. Getting attention for a campaign to be a central committee is difficult and a candidate can use all of the earned publicity they can get.

Click here for my past interview with Ash. Here is just one quote that shows why I think he deserves to be on the committee:

If anyone thinks Barack Obama is NOT an American citizen they're just morons. I say, get a life!!! They're just mean spirited people who should re-direct their bad research skills to finding Atlantis, or mermaids, or my damn keys. Where did I put those?

Click on continue reading to see the other animals before voting in the poll. You can vote for as many animals as you want.

Ash Givargis is a brave man. He is running for a seat on the Ventura County Republican Central Committee (VCRCC) and he has agreed to be interviewed by my readers. Ask him any questions you want but let's give him some credit before he starts answering questions.

Ask hardball questions but remember that unlike most people running for central committees ( of either party) he is willing to answer questions from anonymous people in the internet. I will delete abusive posts so that the rest of us can watch him answer our questions.

Here's some of my questions:

Do you think the Central Committee should get involved in nonpartisan races when there are only two Republicans running?

Would you work for a candidate that supports marriage equality if they agree with you on fiscal issues?

Who did you support in the 2008 Republican Presidential Primary?

http://www.ashgivargis.org/

UPDATE:

I am not voting in the Republican Party primary but Ash is really impressing me with his direct answers and wit. Here is my favorite so far:

If anyone thinks Barack Obama is NOT an American citizen they're just morons. I say, get a life!!! They're just mean spirited people who should re-direct their bad research skills to finding Atlantis, or mermaids, or my damn keys. Where did I put those?

Since this will cost him a few votes can I get anyone to pledge to support him?

Looks like The Ventura County Republican Central Committee is basically admitting they were responsible for the push poll attacking Republican Linda Parks. The committee is controlled by many people that are loyal to Tony and Audra Strickland. Some of them are current employees/consultants for them.

Here is Timm Herdt's article.

When the push poll was first reported this was the response from Strickland's office:

Rondi Guthrie, a spokeswoman for Strickland, said the assemblywoman was not aware of the survey and does not know who might have commissioned it. She said Strickland is focused exclusively on her job in the Assembly.

If it is true, as it appears, that the VCRCC was involved with the poll it is wild to think her close political allies, employees, and supporters didn't tell her they were conducting a push poll to support her. But I guess it could have been a surprise present or something.

Rush Limbaugh has been rejected in his attempt to buy a NFL team because of the reactions to some of his racially inflammatory comments. While some of the comments that were attributed to him are either unverifiable or blatantly false, many of the others are true.

When he was in the news before the Huffingtonpost had an article that repeated some urban myths that were not said by him. I sent in a correction and blogged about it at the time. They ran the correction. Here is a screenshot:

http://blogs.venturacountystar.com/dennert/archives/2009/03/

Rush Limbaugh has a long history of making racially inflammatory comments. But when attacking him people should be accurate. I don't support him and I know he is purposefully divisive and inflammatory to provoke a response. That's great for his ratings but bad if we want a thoughtful and elevated debate.

He doesn't represent the best ideals of the Republican Party and they would be best served by not wasting their time defending his record.

Democrats have tried to make him the spokesperson for the Republican Party because his approval ratings are so low.

There are many more conservative or right leaning pundits who are worthy of attention and accolade.

I am sure many of my conservative readers will read this as an attack on a leader of theirs and ignore my opinion. That's fine. But I am telling you that the conservatives I know are much better representatives of your values than him.

I have listened to Rush Limbaugh for years, especially when my old line of work had me drive during the day. He is a skilled broadcaster and has many talents. But why he commands the loyalty of so many is beyond me.

Recently a reader challenged me to read a Glenn Beck book they gave me and then share my thoughts. I am taking you up on the challenge. Let me know when to pick it up. I would prefer his latest book with all of the pictures.

In other news we have a new blogger here at The Ventura County Star. Eric Ingemunson , a conservative Republican activist, has posted his first few blog entries. So far I have found him to be a well reasoned and interesting writer. Let's see if his blog lives up to my hype.

Check it out and leave him a comment:

http://blogs.venturacountystar.com/ingemusings/

Eric,

I just defended a right wing pundit from some inaccurate attacks. I challenge you to post a defense of a progressive that has been unfairly maligned by the right wing. Deal?

Now that State Assembly candidate Jeff Gorell has consolidated Republican support for the nomination of his party he can focus on his next rival: The Avocado.

You should join Jeff Gorell on Facebook to see his updates. He answers questions on policy, shares photos from events, and posts his upcoming events.

Click here to join him on Facebook. There is a debate going on between his friends over the budget Democrats passed today. Facebook is the new way to directly communicate with politicians and to ask them questions.

Here is a short video of Jeff Gorell playing a Linkin Park song on the piano:

For many years Ventura County was a Republican or Red county. But last year with combination of enthusiasm for change and the disappointment that was George W. Bush total voter registrations for Democrats surpassed Republicans. Click here for the news story from Ventura County Star reporter Timm Herdt.

Last week while looking at the Ventura County Republican Central Committee website I saw that they scheduled an event in an English pub the night before the Tea Parties.

This week I was looking at the Ventura County Republican Central Committee website when I noticed that their logo of Ventura County is blue!

Anyways, here is the link to the new VCRCC website which new features including links to follow them on Twitter, join them on Facebook, and check out their schedule of events.

They have phonebanks set up to urge people to vote no on 1A, even thought the State Republican Party gave money to the governor to support it, but that's of course before the State Republican Party voted to endorse a no vote on all of that ballot propositions.

They state and local Republican committees even endorsed a NO vote on the ballot propositions that their own party urged as a way of balancing the budget without raising taxes or borrowing more money.

Click here to register to vote in time for the May elections.

The Ventura County Young Republicans have been hosting frequent events to energize their base and bring new people into their party. They have been blogging, updating the central committee website, using social networks like Facebook and Twitter, and going out for drinks to connect young Republicans to each other.

Here is a photo from their website of a recent mixer they hosted with guests Ventura County Supervisor Peter Foy and Ventura County Republican Central Committee chair Mike Osbourn.

Go the Ventura County Young Republican website for more pictures from their last mixer. Do you recognize the blogger in the photo above? Click here for the answer. BTW, you owe me some comments for linking to your blog.

Click on continue reading for a photo of Peter Foy from their website. Try to caption the picture in a humorous, but classy way. The best submission will be posted on the front page.

In my ongoing poll Peter Foy and Tom Campbell are the top candidates. I don't think Peter Foy will run for governor. Do any of you?

Their next event is tomorrow night. The Ventura County Young Republicans are gathering the night before the Tea Bag protests at a British pub for a mixer. Here are the event details:

This Month's Mixer:
Date: Tuesday April 14th, 2009
Time: 7pm
The Crown and Anchor
2891 E Thousand Oaks Blvd
Thousand Oaks, CA 91362
(805) 497-0070
Dress: The Crown and Anchor is a British Pub. No Coat and Tie Required.

According to their Facebook RSVP list State Assembly candidate Jeff Gorell will be there. Somebody should ask him where he stands on the May ballot propositions.

The Ventura County Young Republicans will be holding a mixer Tuesday night with County Supervisor Peter Foy and Thousand Oaks Planning Commissioner Mark Lunn.

Click on continue reading for details.

In related news voting remains open in the poll for who you would like to see as the nominee of the Republican Party for governor in 2010. Supervisor Peter Foy is behind Tom Campbell by just a few votes. Do you want Peter Foy to run? Vote for him and encourage him to run.

( Ronald Reagan for all of his jokes regarding age brought a generation of young people into the Republican Party. Who on the horizon has the same ability?)

Ventura County is getting much more politically active. There are young Democratic groups, more frequent meetings, and active central committees that are looking to be more bold in the future. Now, a new Teenage Republican group is forming.

Regardless of our politics we should be happy more young people are getting involved in the future of our nation. A leader of this new effort emailed me and asked if I could post an entry on their group. Not only will I post their announcement, but I will post their updates just as often as they send them in.

Here is their description ( links added by me):

Tired of being criticized for agreeing with the Right? Keep getting chastised for not being caught up in Obama Mania? Need a place to express your opinions on politics without being hassled?

RECLAIM understands the need for young Republicans to express their political views without the fear of retribution. RECLAIM is an organization geared toward teenage Republicans. We were founded by Claira Guerra and Steven Page, two young Republicans actively engaged in the county and state Republican Party. The purpose of RECLAIM is to continuously encourage teenage Republicans to became active in local, state and federal politics through the means and resources of technology and the media. Our current goal is to build a base of active teenage Republicans with similar views to RECLAIM Ventura County, back from the liberal Democrats. With your help we can turn our county and state back to red. If you are interested in this glorious revolution please contact Claira and Steven at reclaim@rocketmail.com with your name and contact information.

Our first meeting will be held on April 4th at the Ventura County Republican Headquarters in Thousand Oaks, from 10am-12pm.
The county Chairman, Executive Director and RECLAIM's founders will be in attendance. There will be a special guest speaker to talk about the Republican ideology and its place in modern politics. Two workshops will be set up to allow attendees to voice their opinions and introduce them to activism on all levels.

The Ventura County Republican Central Committee has selected their new leaders. Click on continue reading for the list.

I don't recognize all of the names but it looks like Tony Strickland and his allies have the most members on the board. Tony Strickland is clearly the leader of the local Republican Party.

Click here for the VCRCC website. Looks like in the largest city in the district they could only find one Republican to serve. Maybe they should ask a high school student to help out.

( The campaign explains some of their online tools to contact voters.)

Local Barack Obama supporters are using the innovative tools that the campaign used to organize phonebanks to help a Democratic candidate in the Georgia US senate contest.

Click on continue reading for details.

I am sure that Republicans will claim they are doing similar things for their candidate, but the truth is clear. If you aren't being public about it, you aren't inviting more people to participate in your party. Let me know if you do have any phonebanks going on and I will of course post them too. The Democratic Party will likely be listing this event too and a quick look at their website will show they are planning for the future. I look forward to watching the candidate recruitment process unfold next year. Keep sending me in information in regards to candidates thinking about running.

I supported Barack Obama early on because I recognized that they were running an innovative campaign with a strategy to put states into play that weren't considered competitive by his opponents and the traditional media. In the general election he won Indiana, North Carolina, and an electoral vote in Nebraska! Barack Obama helped to build a campaign infrastructure in Ventura County outside of the official party that has lasted beyond the election and will be called upon in future contests. How is that for community organizing?