As readers know, a night with The Barkeep is always pleasurable (he’s insightful from decades in local politics) and painful (the next morning). I got up at 10am this morning. I usually get up at 6am. Enough said.

The Barkeep on redistricting:

I had a few with The Barkeep tonight. Downtown. The normal place. If I ramble you can figure out why. I took notes though. He went to the Republican Convention this week at the Capitol. Here’s my version of what he said:

The big fight was about whether or not the GOP would endorse. That’s all anyone flapped their gums about all damn weekend. Everyone supported an open way of endorsing in congressional and state races. So they got behind their closed doors and decided how to do it (har har har). Seems we have to endorse now because they passed a law that says the top two in those races get to go to November no matter if it’s two Republicans, two Democrats, or two Peace and Freedom hippies…

Another night with The Barkeep. Only now can I put pen to ink, or the computer equivalent. Getting to it, The Barkeep:

So you’ve got how many Republicans in the Mayor’s race? Faulconer, DeMaio, Fletcher, and Francis? Maybe Dumanis, but I’m guessing that deals been made. That’s the word anyway. OK I’d love to see four Republicans as the only four candidates in the race but I just don’t think that’s gonna happen. Any credible Democrat who gets in gets a free ride at this point, given this crowd. Politician. Self funder. Labor activist. Don’t matter. It’s straight to the run off. Nature don’t like a vacuum…

Well I’ll be the first to admit you should not (repeat not) drink during the workday. But my old friend “The Barkeep” called from Dobsons and I felt the obligation to join him. Several stiff ones later I felt the obligation to take a cab home. So now that I’ve taken a nap, what did I learn? To paraphrase, and I want to go to bed so I’m not going to expand much:

“Word is with the labor guys there could be a shakeup over there.”

Just home from a trip, a tipsy trip at that, with my good friend. The new, or semi-new, Grant Hotel this time for too many delicious glasses of scotch. That aside, I need to reprint his paraphrased comments or I fear I will forget:

On Donna Frye Endorsing Roberts: Does this woman not realize the heights she could attain as a Decline to State or as a Republican? It’s the Democratic Party holding her back!

On the 77th Assembly race: I just shake my head when I look at those campaign finance reports. What is more important though is what this means is Sacramento interests can buy this race if they want, for cheap.

Went out to dinner with my political friend last night, and managed to lock myself out of the house for the past few hours. Broken glass and a hangover. What luck. Here’s the lowdown on what I found most interesting that he said, in his words as much as possible (different parts of a conversation that lasted several hours):

I’ll admit it… to write these posts I have to get my older friend a little snookered. Worse, his tolerance for scotch is stronger than mine. I’m dragging today, but I want to publish before I lose my breakfast. Of note from this conversation with ‘The Barkeep’:

At drinks with my older, wiser politico last night I brought up the ongoing ‘Advisory Council’ issue that Councilmember Emerald is embroiled in and he laughed. His thoughts, paraphrased:

“Emerald really stepped in it this time, in her district and in the public eye generally. She’s stuck – if she doesn’t come clean with the names, she’s going to take heat from the newspaper and from real local community leaders who think this is a screwjob. If she does reveal the names and they are anything but legitimate community leaders she’s going to take as much heat from legit community leaders and the press. Either way this is another in a chain of actions which damages her ‘troubleshooter’ moniker — the ethics issue, the ethics committee appointment, the tapings the first time around. You can fool some of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time. She’s going to have to wipe pretty hard to get this one off her shoe.”

I’ve got a friend, well not really a friend, but an acquaintance , who always seems to know what is going on in local politics, at least by my lax standards. He is old, he is surly, and he drinks too much. I like to call him ‘The Barkeep’, but not to his face.

My posts on this blog are not really going to be about my own opinions, but rather I’m just going to buy the Barkeep some drinks, ask him some questions, and report what he says, to the best of my memory, until he figures out the internet, reads my posts, and kicks my ass.