Kicking off the 2012 California Republican Conference, CRP Chairman Thomas Del Beccaro spoke of his vision of the state party this election cycle.

"I don't think it's going to be a particularly good Democratic year," Chairman Del Beccaro declared at Friday's press conference.

IVN LIVE: We will be live-tweeting and live-blogging the California Republican Spring Convention starting TODAY at 12pm PST, 2pm CST, and 3pm EST. You can follow our tweets at @IVNetwork and use the hashtag #CAGOP12 to join in!

Republican voters may have negative sentiments toward the current field of GOP presidential hopefuls, but the latest Gallup polling data shows that a majority of these voters prefer the final nominee to come from the current pack and would prefer not to head into a brokered GOP convention in August.

The presence and influence of California’s Decline to State voters will be felt more this election cycle than ever before. Newly drawn California State Assembly and Senate lines, in combination with this year’s open primary process, will dictate that candidates seeking to win in a competitive district must engage and win over a sizable chunk of Independent voters.

Last night's Republican Presidential Debate in Arizona marked the 20th, and as some speculate, the last debate in the 2012 GOP primary race. Here's how the debate was received in the social media world:

Leading up to the debate, there were high expectations for the candidates' performances:

Congress failed to renew wind power tax credits last week. The effects on the fast-growing wind energy industry are expected to be devastating, including major layoffs and delayed or cancelled projects.  The current income tax credit of 2.2 cents per kilowatt hour of wind power will now expire at the end of 2012. Wind power proponents tried to get an extension added to the payroll tax cut bill but failed. They could try again but another attempt probably won’t happen until after the November elections (when perhaps they hope Congress will be friendlier to renewable energy).

People who are upset about the Supreme Court often have a remedy in mind: appointing judges who will follow the original understanding of the Constitution. But reliance on original intent would be no cure-all.