Hugo Chavez defeated, may now run for mayor of Vallejo.

(From the answering machine of Sup.Tom Ammiano, on the day Venezuelans voted to defeat proposed policy that would grant Chavez more unchecked power, Monday, Dec. 03, 2007.)

Mayor lowers expectations on Muni. Says it's safe to jump in front of them because they never come.

(From the answering machine of Sup. Tom Ammiano on Dec. 5, 2007.)

Personal note to Tom: your enunciation is getting better. Keep it up. ) B3

Stop the FCC's Quiet Holiday Giveaway to the Big Media

By Bruce B. Brugmann

Since the Big Media are blacking out the story, let me pass along the news and the action plan to mobilize the message and the troops to stop the latest media giveaway by the Bush Administration. It's payback time for their support of the Iraq war and occupation.

People across the country are building a wall to stop the FCC's plan to let Big Media swallow up more local stations.

Dear Media Reformer,

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin refuses to listen to the public, but Congress is starting to pay attention. This week, the House announced a formal investigation into the way the FCC conducts business. And yesterday, during a House oversight hearing, Congress scolded the FCC for a "short-circuited decision-making process" and "abuse of power."

Our campaign is gaining momentum, but we need you to join us in our stand against Big Media.

Stop FCC Chairman Martin & Big Media

In response to a growing public outcry, the Senate Commerce Committee this week passed the Media Ownership Act of 2007 (S. 2332). This crucial legislation would force Martin to slow down, give the public more time to comment, and address the negative impact of media consolidation on minority and female ownership.

Senators Boxer and Feinstein are already a co-sponsors. Thank your senators being leaders on this important effort.

Thank Your Senators for Co-Sponsoring the Media Ownership Act

Chairman Martin hopes you aren't paying attention. He wants to vote on his proposal to let Big Media get even bigger on Dec. 18. If you think we need more local, diverse, and democratic media, now is the time to act.

Congress is taking action, but we need to show that this isn't just another inside-the-Beltway issue. Too much is at stake, and they need to see the faces of the millions of Americans who are fed up with another massive giveaway to Big Media.

Build the Wall: Ask Your Senators to Co-sponsor the Media Ownership Act

In 2003, nearly 3 million citizens like you stood up to the FCC and put a stop to media consolidation. We can do it again. But we need to put a public face on the resistance to media consolidation.

Write Your Senators. Add Your Picture to the Wall. Stop Big Media.

Onward,

Alexandra Russell
Program Director
Free Press
www.freepress.net
www.stopbigmedia.com

P.S. To fully understand what Chairman Martin doesn't want you to know about his new ownership rules, read our new report: Devil the Details

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Mitt "Big Love" Romney denies he proposed to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Donnie and Marie? That was just a fling.

(From the answer machine of Sup. Tom Ammiano on Thursday, Dec. 06, 2007).

By Bruce B. Brugmann

Did you know that you, as a member of the public that owns the airwaves, have five days left to top the FCC's plan to allow the Big Media to "open the floodgates of more media consolidation across America?"

Did you know this quiet move by Bush's FCC helps further enrich media conglomerates like Murdoch, the Tribune Company, and Gannett? Did you know that this holiday giveaway helps reward media companies that helped Bush go to war in Iraq and helps keep us there? Did you know there is an important media reform group that is fighting this move and is calling in action alerts for citizens to sign up and build a wall against the Big Media?

You see, those simple questions make the point: the Big Media and the Galloping Conglomerati (as I call them) routinely black out or marginalize coverage of the monopolizing of the media and FCC concentration stories. And so I am passing along this key action alert from the Free Press media reform group. Sign up. B3

Below is the press release.

Dear Charles,

In just five days, the Federal Communications Commission plans to open the floodgates of further media consolidation across America.

If FCC Chairman Kevin Martin gets his way, your community will be inundated with even more mass-produced celebrity gossip and infotainment, and less local reporting and quality journalism: more of the the junk news that is making us sick.

Together we can stop them. We blocked them in 2003, and today we need you to show Washington that you don't want more media consolidation. To do it, we're building a "Wall" of opposition: your photo next to thousands of others, standing shoulder to shoulder against Big Media. We're going to deliver this Wall to the FCC. Add your name now.

Help Build the Wall Against Big Media

Martin wants to "Super Size" Big Media (watch our new video), allowing companies like Gannett, News Corp. and Tribune to swallow up even more local TV, newspaper and radio outlets. Martin wants to let one company own both the major newspaper and a TV station in your hometown, drowning out the few remaining independent voices, so that media moguls like Rupert Murdoch can expand their empires.

We've made a new video that shows just how bad news is for us -- and our democracy -- and what we can do to put more diverse media back on the menu.

Watch Our New Video and Tell Your Friends

If you're fed up with junk news -- please stand shoulder to shoulder with us against the FCC's Big Media giveaway.

Onward,

Alexandra Russell
Program Director
Free Press
www.freepress.net
www.stopbigmedia.com

P.S. We can't do this alone. Please tell your friends and family about this important campaign.

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Huckabee and the Klu Klux Klan claim they're not homophobic. (Gasp!) Love that sheet and that thread count. Fabulous!

(From the answering machine of Sup. Tom Ammiano on Thursday, Dec. 13.) B3

By Bruce B. Brugmann

As things get tougher and tougher in the newspaper business, there are two jobs that are the toughest of all. One is writing the obituary for your own paper and your own job. The other is writing the story that tries to explain why the daily paper you work on keeps getting peddled about like the stakes in a Las Vegas poker game.

The latest example of the second story appeared in today's Stockton Record by an unlucky soul by the name of Mike Klocke. He starts out as these stories usually do, citing the honor that came once upon a time to the paper when it was owned by a local family.

"The Irving Martin Assembly Room at the Record is named for the newspaper's founder, whose family owned the business for its first 74 years," Klock wrote. "Ironically, if the day comes when The Record once again is sold, employees will get the news in the upstairs room that honors one of Stockton's historic figures.

"I bring this up because of last week's $5 billion offer by publishing magnate Rupert Murdoch to purchase Dow Jones @ Co. The community newspaper division of Dow Jones, Ottaway Newspapers Inc., owns the Record."

Wait a moment. There is a telling detail: the date on the story is May 6, 2007, the date of Murdoch's offer to buy Dow Jones, and the Record is running the exact same story six months later on the day that the sale is finalized back on Wall Street.

Bravely, Klocke goes through the Record history of five owners since Loretta Martin ended the family's association with the Record in l969. The Record, he says, "has been somewhat akin to a baton in a track meet relay.
The Martin family sold to Speidel Newspapers Inc. (l969: which merged with Gannett Newspapers Inc (l977), which sold the Record to the Omaha World-Herald (l994), which sold to Ottaway (2003).

Still more bravely, Klocke writes that "uncertainty can be draining on employees at all levels. If you're not careful, it can make you lose your focus. I'Ive always believed working in the newspaper business is a mission. We cover news aggressively, help you decide where to shop with advertisements and put the newspaper on your driveway each morning.

"We also now put news and advertising at your fingertips online throughout the day. We also have a bit of the chameleon in our DNA. We embrace challenges and adapt to new environments. The future? Who knows?

"The Record could be sold again, or Ottaway (Dow Jones) still could own the company for decades. Our business model, news-gathering approach and company makeup likely will continue to change.

"Our commitment to the mission and the communities we serve will not falter."

Idle question: Why can't reporters who think like this, and editors who allow this kind of story to run when their papers are in play, end up running our valuable community daily papers?

Well, the word from my sources out in the valley is that there are only two real possible buyers: Singleton or McClatchy newspapers, both of whom already own a dangerously huge chunk of the California newspaper business.

They are members in what I call the Galloping Conglomerati. And they are poised to pounce at the very same time that the Big Media are blacking out or marginalizing the major Big Media story that the FCC is about to open the floodgates to even more local media consolidation and even more junk news. (See my blow below.)

Where it all will end knows only God. B3

Owners might change -- but not the mission

The Irving Martin Assembly Room at The Record is named for the newspaper's founder, whose family owned the business for its first 74 years.

Ironically, if the day comes when The Record once again is sold, employees will get the news in the upstairs room that honors one of Stockton's historic figures.

I bring this up because of last week's $5 billion offer by publishing magnate Rupert Murdoch to purchase Dow Jones & Co. The community newspaper division of Dow Jones, Ottaway Newspapers Inc., owns The Record.

Murdoch's eyes, of course, are on The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones' myriad successful online ventures. For now, he's been rebuffed by Dow Jones' controlling shareholders.

News industry speculation is intensifying about whether this is a first foray by Murdoch and whether other potential buyers will materialize.

As for The Record? Editor and Publisher magazine's online site reports that New England-based GateHouse Media Inc., a very active recent buyer of newspapers, would be a likely bidder for Ottaway.

GateHouse doesn't have a West Coast presence, so The Record could in turn be sold to a company with successful California "clustering" of newspapers such as McClatchy (Sacramento, Modesto, Merced and Fresno) or MediaNews (Bay Area papers).

McClatchy and MediaNews both have pursued buying The Record in the past.

Sure, it's speculation at this point. It's difficult not to ponder the future when there's the potential for a fifth different owner since Loretta Martin decided to end the family's association with The Record in 1969.

In the past 38 years, The Record has been somewhat akin to a baton in a track-meet relay.

The Martin family sold to Speidel Newspapers Inc. (1969), which merged with Gannett Newspapers Inc. (1977), which sold The Record to the Omaha World-Herald (1994), which sold it to Ottaway (2003).

I've worked for three of the owners, and they've all contributed in positive ways to the company and community.

Ottaway - with excellent guidance and financial support from Dow Jones - made the dream of a new press facility a reality.

Company executives didn't waste any time, telling us within 30 days of their ownership to get moving on the long-overdue project. The new press became a reality less than two years later.

Ottaway has given us - and Record readers - something we've needed for decades. Our Web site development also has been an Ottaway initiative.

The Omaha company proved to be a very good newspaper steward in its nine years of ownership. Omaha executives invested in The Record, and I believe the newspaper truly reconnected with the community during that time.

The Gannett years were, at times, tumultuous. Some excellent longtime employees were hired in various departments back then, and The Record benefited from the opportunities presented by a large, national chain.

Speidel was before my time.

Business uncertainty can be draining on employees at all levels. If you're not careful, it can make you lose your focus.

I've always believed working in the newspaper business is a mission. We cover news aggressively, help you decide where to shop with advertisements and put the newspaper on your driveway each morning.

We also now put news and advertising at your fingertips online throughout the day.

We also have a bit of the chameleon in our DNA. We embrace challenges and adapt to new environments.

The future? Who knows?

The Record could be sold again, or Ottaway (Dow Jones) still could own the company for decades.

Our business model, news-gathering approach and company makeup likely will continue to change.

Our commitment to the mission and the communities we serve will not falter.

Contact Klocke at (209) 546-8250 or mklocke@recordnet.com.

Click here for article.

This is President George W. Bush. I am outraged by the baseball hemorrhoid scandal. Uh. Steroid. Whatever.

(From the home answering machine of Sup. Tom Ammiano on Dec. 14, 2007)

Tom was spotted at the annual SFT Holiday party on Wednesday night, working the crowd, doing informal Ammianoliners (his enunciation is better in person), and letting people know he is running for Assemblyman Leno's seat. Sacramento can use some Ammiano and some Amminanoliners on a regular basis. B3

By Bruce B. Brugmann

As an Iowan, I am fascinated by all the reports by all the hotshot out of state reporters who paratroop into the state and start filing stories from Rock Rapids, Clear Lake, Storm Lake, and Cedar Rapids and little places all over the state.

Iowans like to see their candidates up close and there is a feeling back there that they may end up voting for the candidate they would most like to invite into their living room for a chat or meet down at the local cafe for breakfast.

Here's a dispatch sent to me from the grassroots by Carolyn Schmidt, retired associate director of public relations at Coe College in Cedar Rapids. Carolyn is a political activist, Iowa style, calling Congress members, writing letters to the editor, emailing Congress and doing so, in the past two weeks, in the teeth of the onslaught of ice and snow.

Carolyn writes from Cedar Rapids,

"As the dems are so close. I'm betting on Obama, but Hillary and Edwards campaigns have been ringing our phone several times a week with "surveys" asking if it's "concerning to us that Obama voted 'present' on a choice issue in Congress" or that he's a community organizer while Edwards is a trial lawyer who went to bat for poor people. THEY must think Obama is going to win too. Hillary has been running some very appealing ads, with her mother and daughter in tow. She may surprise us. Edwards is on the preferred side of the domestic issues, particularly the bad deal existing for poor and low-income families, but his personality is too laid back.

"On the Republican side, I'd just say that Romney--who has spent a ton of money saturating the airwaves with ads since summer--is fading. People see him as artificial and opportunistic. Des Moines high school students on Friday characterized him as "completely fabricated." I think they are right on! Huckabee took some hits this week for actions he's taken as governor in Arkansas, but he still appeals to conservatives more than any other Republican, I think. McCain's support is rising, however. Most Iowans aren't fooled by Guiliani, but he IS charming.

"Many Iowans attend rallies for a number of candidates to see how the personalities compare. Obama comes across as fresh, articulate, straightforward, and impassioned. He's been able to deflect criticisms, and he has a superb organization. His staff is training first-time caucus-goers on procedures and strategies. (The Democratic caucus procedures are more complicated than the Republicans who just conduct a straw poll, as you probably know.) Biden and Hillary and Richardson are impressive because of the accomplishments they can point to, saying these aren't campaign promises, they are proof I can deliver.

"A lot can happen in the next three weeks, of course."

I hope to get more reports from Carolyn and others. Stay tuned. B3

New Jersey bans the death penalty. Bada Bing!

(From the answering machine of Sup. Tom Ammiano on Dec. l7, 2007.)

Full disclosure: Ammiano is from Mountclair, New Jersey, and a fan of the Sopranos.) B3

And now we need l00,000 people to get Congress to reverse the FCC of George W. Bush to reverse the commission's sellout to the Big Media who supported us going into Iraq and are now helping keep us there

By Bruce B. Brugmann

(Scroll down to sign a protest letter to Congress and the New York Times story)

As expected, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and his two Republican colleagues approved new rules that will unleash yet another flood oer media consolidation across the country. As expected, the Big Media is either blacking out or minimalizing the story, with the notable exception of the New York Times which ran an opposing editorial in Monday's edition and a strong story online today. (See below).

As Robert McChesney, the president of Free Press, a valiant media reform group puts it in an action alert,
"This is about whether we will have access to the information that democracy requires. it is about whether or not we'll have real news and local voices on radio, trelevision, and in the newspaper in your town. It's about whether the public airwaves will represent our nation's diversity."

Or, let me add, a city's diversity, such as San Francsico. Remember the Will and Willie show on the Quake on Clear Channel, a highly valuable show that was killed brutally with no explanation because it didn't have high enough ratings and wasn't able to go national? That's but one local example of this dreadful phenomenon. There are some good people on the liberal Quake on Clear Channel (Thom Hartman, Big Ed Schulz, Randi Rhodes, Rachel Matteo, et al), but none of them bring a San Francisco perspective to the show, even though the city is one of the most liberal and civilized cities in tthe world and has the Speaker of the House and two California Senators (Diane Feinstein in the city, Barbara Boxer in Marin).

McChesney rolls the drums and points out that in 2003 the FCC tried to do the same thing, but millions of people demanded that Congress reject the FCC's rules. And they did, thanks in large part to McChesney's group. And it's ttime to do it again. Sign the open letter to Congress, as suggested in the alert below. B3

Read the New York Times article here.

Dear Charles,

It happened. A few minutes ago, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and his two fellow GOP commissioners approved new rules that will unleash a flood of media consolidation across America. The rules will further consolidate local media markets -- taking away independent voices in cities already woefully short on local news and investigative journalism.

In 2003, the FCC tried to do the same thing, but millions of people demanded that Congress reject the FCC's rules. And they did. It's time to do it again.

We need 100,000 people to get Congress to reverse the FCC's rules right now.

Sign Our Open Letter to Congress
Then get three of your friends to do the same.

This is about whether we will have access to the information that democracy requires. It is about whether or not we'll have real news and local voices on radio, television and in the newspaper in your town. It's about whether the public airwaves will represent our nation's diversity.

Just yesterday -- spurred by your calls and letters -- 26 senators from both parties sent a letter to the FCC Chairman promising "to revoke and nullify the proposed rule" if the FCC voted to lift the longstanding ban on "newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership." But Chairman Martin did it anyway.

Congress has the power to throw out these rules -- and if 100,000 people demand it, they'll have to listen.

Take action now and spread the word.

Some say that nobody listens to letters like this. Well they definitely do, and it's a way you can truly help the cause with just a few clicks. Sign on now -- and get your friends to do the same.

Your actions are making a difference. Let's keep up the pressure. And stay tuned -- this fight is far from over.

Thanks for bringing us this far,

Robert McChesney
President
Free Press
www.freepress.net

P.S. Spread the word: Recruit three new friends to sign on to this letter and send the message to Congress.

P.P.S. Read Senator John Kerry's blog post on today's decision on the Free Press Action Network.

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C.W. Nevius blames homeless for Susan Leal's accident, the upcoming drought, and for not sending the children to the Gap sweatshop.

(From the answering machine of Sup. Tom Ammiano on Tuesday, Dec. l8, 2007). Nevius is the ace Chronicle columnist in a long line of Chronicle editorial staffers who operate on a key Hearst principle: attack the homeless but don;t attack PG@E. And don't attack PG@E and its illegal private power monopoly alone and unmolested. Note David R. Baker's ad for PG@E, masquerading as a front page story with color and diagrams, about how PG@E is going to support a commercial wave power plant off the Northern California coast. Big deal. No matter how this pie-in-the-ocean project will turn out, the result will still be expensive private power which PG@E will send to the rubes in San Francisco in violation of the federal Raker Act that mandates cheap public power in San Francisco. (See Guardian stories back to l969). B3

The bad news?

Grandma got run over by a reindeer.

The good news?

She got $500,000 severance pay. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.

(From the inspired voicemail of Sup. Tom Ammiano on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2007.) B3

Laid off sugar plum fairies seeking work. Rule out the zoo.

(From the answering machine of Sup. Tom Ammiano on Dec. 27, 2007).

Impertinent question: Tom, is the issue that the troubles at the zoo are yet another example of what happens when the city allows a public resource to go private? B3

Here is a report from Carolyn Schmidt, a grassroots observer in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She filed this report late Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2007.


Cedar Rapids, Iowa--We don't know a whole lot since the candidates had no public appearances on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, but they've kept their faces in front of us. Chris Dodd, of course, as you may know moved his whole family to Iowa for the caucus campaigning, so he and the family were pictured in the CR Gazette wrapping gifts for Iowa soldiers overseas. Hillary cleverly showed herself putting tags on gifts to go under the tree. The tags read "Health Care," "Pre-K education," "Iraq Exit Strategy," etc.

Every poll seems to show Hillary and Obama neck and neck, although Obama came out slightly ahead on a survey of people agreeing with candidates on specific issues.

I asked Carolyn Schmidt, our citizen reporter in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, if Iowans this time around would be trying to make up for the fact that they chose Kerry over Dean four years ago and thus did not pick a presidential winner. Here is her response and report on Friday (Dec. 28):



By Carolyn Schmidt

Cedar Rapids, Iowa-- Iowans do want to make a winnable choice this time, although frankly it wasn't the Iowans who took Dean out of contention last time. It was the media feeding frenzy over Dean's rallying of his supporters after the caucus results were announced. He was yelling above the crowd noise at the time, and the broadcasters took out the background noise and just ran Dean's over-the-top yelling. It was all pretty unfair--and of course was repeated ad infinitum, which just buried him.

I can report that foreign policy expertise is now expected to influence caucus-goers more than was the case before the Bhutto assassination. McCain, who hasn't been campaigning heavily in Iowa but concentrating on New Hampshire, made an appearance at a Cedar Rapids restaurant yesterday.

Here's the latest report Friday afternoon (Dec. 28, 2007) from our citizen reporter Carolyn Schmidt in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

By Carolyn Schmidt

Cedar Rapids, Iowa-- Seems that in small towns like Indianola, two campaign staffs may be working out of the same building, since there are more requests for office space than there are available buildings in some of these towns. The Clinton and Edwards campaigns are both working out of the same building in Indianola, according to the Des Moines Register. Driving into Indianola, you'll see a billboard-sized Edwards sign right next to a billboard-sized Clinton sign.

Sweeney Todd, spokesperson for the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, said, "We can't afford health care. It costs an arm and a leg." mmmmmmmmand a chomping sound.

(From the answering machine of Sup. Tom Ammiano on Friday, Dec. 28, 2007.) B3

B3: Here's a dispatch filed Satuday afternoon by Carolyn Schmidt, our citizen journalist, operating out of Cedar Rapids, Falls, Iowa, an election hot spot

As always, Iowans take the snow, Pakistan assassination, and all in stride

By Carolyn Schmidt

Cedar Rapids, Iowa--We had a 4-5 inch snow fall Friday on top of what's already on the ground (19 inches for the month of December). Richardson cancelled his appearances, but the others soldiered on--evidently not expecting much of a turnout for their rallies. Iowans take this all in stride, of course, so when Obama noted that the 900 people who showed up to hear him at Northwest Junior High School in Coralville (a growing city just outside of Iowa City) was "an unbelievable crowd," one woman said, "I went to see him in Cedar Rapids in an ice storm that was 10 times worse than this."

More than 200 people turned out to hear John Edwards at a restaurant in the smaller town of Independence, and Edwards admitted he'd anticipated about 50.

B3 note: I asked Carolyn Schmidt, our ace citizen journalist in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to check out the column of Peggy Noonan, the former Republican speech writer, in the weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal.
I enjoy Noonan, a rock-ribbed Republican, but an intelligent and witty one, who is covering the race from afar.
She is looking for a "reasonable" candidate, finds Joe Biden and Tom Dodd "reasonable," finds John Edwards"unreasonable," finds Obama is not "on fire," and doesn't like Hillary Clinton much at all on much of anything. Here is Carolyn's response, filed Sunday, Dec. 30, from the heart of the Iowa campaign. Much more to come, stay tuned.

By Carolyn Schmidt

Cedar Rapids, Iowa--I checked out Peggy Noonan's column. I think she's picking the candidates the Republicans would like to compete with. Of course I disagree with her choice of Romney as "reasonable" and Hillary as "unreasonable" and having a "command and control" mentality. To me, Romney comes across a controller and an opportunist, who will say what he thinks voters will go for but will do as he pleases in the White House. Hillary, as a U.S. Senator and as a former first lady, has had considerably more exposure to foreign policy issues than Romney, as a former state governor and businessman. It's clear that Noonan just doesn't like Hillary personally, in fact I think Hillary is the candidate the Republicans fear most as an opponent in this race. Maybe that's as good a reason as any to nominate her.

And Noonan's comment about Obama not being "on fire" is of course dead wrong--though I agree that he's not likely to go for the theatrics she's afraid of. At least in person, Obama is the most energized of the bunch. That's why he's so appealing to young people as well as to us older folks. She seems to like much about Obama in spite of her remarks about his age and experience. His good judgment, intelligence, skills as a speaker, and his demonstrated concern for the powerless and the abused or ignored are compelling.

San Francisco 2007:

Ed Jew. The zoo. The mayor.

Liars and tigers and affairs. Oh, my.

Liars and tigers and affairs. Oh, my

(From the answering machine of Sup. Tom Ammiano on Dec. 3l, 2007).

Personal note to Tom: Keep up the Ammianoliners. And go back and collect them and think about publishing them in 2008. B3

B3: Here is the Christmas Eve report from Carolyn Schmidt, our citizen journalist in Cedar Falls, Iowa. She will be reporting regularly up through and after the Thursday election. The key question remains: Will Iowans pick the president this time around?

By Carolyn Schmidt

Cedar Rapids, Iowa--The papers are so full of good stuff, I'll give you some choices. It's way more than you probably want to know.

Candidates are bringing in special guests to campaign with them these last few days. "West Wing" star Richard Schiff has been stumping with Joe Biden since Friday, and Martin Sheen, from the same show, is appearing with Bill Richardson. Hillary had the governor of Ohio with her for a few days.

Although his attack ads against Huckabee and McCain are still running on television, Romney has let up on his criticism of the other GOP candidates in person. Reminiscent of Howard Dean, for years ago, he's saying, "I'm going to fight in Missouri, and Michigan, and South Carolina, and Florida, and California. I'm going to be all around the country making sure that if I get this nomination I'm not just a one-hit wonder." Huckabee, on the other hand, is now hitting back at Romney, saying Romney is dishonest in his depiction of Huckabee and his policies. "If you get a job by being dishonest...how can you be trusted once you're in that job?" Huckabee asks. (His audiences evidently haven't reminded him that it's been done before:)

Leaving the Guardian building about 4 p.m. and heading out for an early dinner at Pompei's Grotto in the heart of Fisherman's Wharf.

This is the comfortable place where Jean and I have started out our New Year's Eves for more than 20 years. A gem with San Francisco soul. Red checkered table cloths. Candles on each table. Splendid martinis. Oysters and crab served with a flourish. A warm glow all round. The kind of restaurant you can tell has been in the family for a long long time.

This year's New Year's resolution: no resolutions. See you next year. B3