Can OC Cash Carry Kashkari? LT’s High-Low Split

The so-called smart money says Jerry Brown is unbeatable—and you don’t have to be a genius to know he’s won five out of six statewide runs over five decades. Or that California is deep blue these days, with Dems in every statewide office. Some smart individuals around OC are nonetheless growing fond of Neel Kashkari, the Laguna Beach resident, recent Pimco exec and U.S. Treasury vet who is one of several Republicans vying for the chance to run headlong into the vaunted Brown buzzsaw in the governor’s race. The all-in air of Kashkari’s campaign is turning heads on his home turf. Auction.com cofounder Rob Friedman will host a fundraiser in Laguna Hills this week, and at least one high-level OC exec is said to be planning a similar gathering … Irvine Company vet Larry Thomas also did some time in high places in the administrations of a couple of California governors—George Deukmejian and Pete Wilson—as well as on the federal level with George H.W. Bush. Thomas recently traveled to Texas A&M, site of Bush 41’s presidential library, for an alumni reunion to mark the 25th anniversary of his presidential inaugural. Thomas says a series of discussions indicated that a reassessment of the first Bush is under way, and he predicts history will look more favorably on his old boss with the benefit of time. He also reports that Garth Brooks made a surprise appearance and crooned, “I’ve Got Friends in Low Places” during a Texas barbecue dinner. “He looked at me when he belted it out,” says Thomas … Interesting reference to Arlington, Texas—host of the recent NCAA Final Four—as “Anaheim East” in a piece on Grantland, a section of ESPN’s website where writers can go on awhile about sports and other things. Also interesting: Anaheim/OC Visitor and Convention Bureau boss Jay Burress pulled the same duty for Experience Arlington before coming west a year ago … Consider one torch passed along down on Rancho Mission Viejo, where Moiso daughters and sons-in-laws—Frandy and Jeremy Laster and Trina and Marc Lamkin—did a fine job with last week’s Gentlemen’s Haberdashery fundraiser for the Heart of Jesus Retreat Center in Santa Ana. … A handshake gives the clear impression that Tony Moiso is still working the ranch, by the way … Double kudos: to Boeing, which announced plans to bring 1,000 engineering positions to Seal Beach and Long Beach last week (see Addendum item, page 12), about the same time it awarded one of its Global Corporate Citizenship Grants to Science@OC in Santa Ana. …Frank Mickadeit was funny, Lucy Dunn sang like a bird, and the hors d’oeuvres were delicious at the first anniversary bash for Greenberg Gross at the Center Club. Then came the cookies (see photo, below), which gave hundreds of guests a chance to do something they could normally only dream about: take a bite out of a couple of lawyers.