Campbell’s Gut; APU’s Cheek; Hawkeye’s Ride

Tom Campbell is nowhere near Washington—he’s busy packing his office as dean of the Dale Fowler School of Law at Chapman University in Orange, and seems to be looking quite forward to taking a faculty post early next year with more time for writing. Don’t let the professorial profile fool you, though—Campbell’s academic credentials come with a political gut developed over five terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. The combination gives him keener insights than the typical cable yakker when it comes to the latest intrigue in our nation’s capital—and the view Campbell sketched out for a recent gathering of the Dreier Roundtable at Claremont McKenna College was certainly more interesting than any recent TV talk. He suggested the possibility that Speaker John Boehner could reverse his recent decision to give up the gavel, turning to Nancy Pelosi and the Dems for help on changing the parliamentary math needed to retain his post for awhile. Some Dems would sit out the contest for a new speaker by voting merely “present”—lowering the number of votes Boehner would need from his own party to keep the job. The lower threshold would effectively neutralize the 40 or so members of the GOP’s Freedom Caucus as an intraparty swing block, clearing Boehner to raise the debt ceiling and put through 12 of 13 appropriations bills to keep the federal government running, giving Dems more than half a loaf on that matter. The exception would give Boehner a calling card with his own party by holding off on funding for the part of the government that works with Planned Parenthood, a lightning rod for the Freedom Caucus … Credit Azusa Pacific University with cheek for its promotional banner a block south of the Orange Circle on Glassell Street—the main thoroughfare into Chapman’s campus … Extra credit to Chapman for the better billing on its banner, directly over the southern entrance to the Circle … Anyone else notice the Irvine Co.’s plans to add cutting-edge batteries by Tesla at some of its office buildings offered perhaps the first inkling of how Southern California Edison plans to replace capacity lost with the shutdown of the San Onofre nuclear power plant? … Add Irvine Co.: The Insider first reported on rumblings of the move toward the energy-storage capacity a couple of weeks ago with a suggestion that the developer might generate power via solar panels as part of the package. A follow-up story reported that plans would be confined to storing power as a way to spare the grid during peak hours. Further word suggests with emphasis that there are no plans to include solar panels on any of Donald Bren’s buildings … Expect another high-level lineup and some Hollywood style to boot at the Team Kids Innovative Thinkers Forum at Oakley’s HQ in Foothill Ranch on Oct. 22, including Jeanne Holm, chief knowledge architect of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Nathan Harding, co-founder of Ekso Bionics. They’ll be part of a discussion on “empowering the next generation to become responsible and philanthropic leaders who will be prepared to enter the workforce.” Jeremy Renner, who the youngsters in the crowd will no doubt recognize as Hawkeye in various Marvel movies, is expected to arrive with police escort. … Not enough room in this column when it comes to Nick Yocca, dean of the corporate bar in OC, who died last week. The Insider yields to Yocca’s colleagues, who pay tribute on page 18.