Carl Pope on CA 11
Yeah, that Carl Pope, from the Sierra Club (that's for you, Rocky), mentioned the CA 11 race on his blog today. He warns about counting too much on the ethics issues to carry the day.
But voters don't care about the ethics as much as they are repulsed by the politics. Here is a man who not only proposes to sell national parks, but also wants to gut the Endangered Species Act, resume commercial whaling and open the California coast to offshore drilling. Pombo, in short, is the perfect symbol of both the substance and the sleaze of this Congress.Might there not be a hint here for the way that campaigns are carried out? Pope contines...
So, get ready for a really bloody, nasty election season. They are already working hard to distract and divide us -- witness the "flap" around the national anthem in Spanish. We mustn't fall for it.
The only other candidate he mentioned was McCloskey. Wierd, don't you think?
Tags:
posted by Wes @ 4:23 PM
7 Comments:
The only other candidate he mentioned was McCloskey. Wierd [sic], don't you think?
Not at all. The Sierra Club has every reason to try to help McCloskey be as damaging to Pombo as possible. Furthermore, there's no real reason for the Sierra Club to get involved in the Dem primary. It's almost over and provided McCloskey loses, the Sierra Club will enthusiastically support whichever Dem wins the primary by virtue of that Dem being not-Pombo.
You are right, it was just like the League of Conservation Voters endorsement, which some though weird.
However, the Mercury News today said...
Environmental groups step up involvement in Pombo race
ERICA WERNER
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The League of Conservation Voters announced Wednesday it is endorsing former Rep. Pete McCloskey in his GOP primary challenge to Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, chairman of the House Resources Committee.
League officials said they would aim to contact about 50,000 Republican primary voters by phone and mail on McCloskey's behalf. McCloskey, a moderate, is running against Pombo in the 11th congressional district that straddles the San Francisco Bay area and the Central Valley.
"We're going to be going into the district and letting the folks know that as opposed to Rep. Pombo, McCloskey will be a reliable advocate for the environment," said League of Conservation Voters spokesman Chuck Porcari.
"It doesn't surprise us that extreme liberal groups are supporting Pete McCloskey," said Pombo campaign manager Carl Fogliani. "People outside of the district are trying to tell the people of this district who their congressman can be, and we're confident that U.S. Rep. Pombo's stellar record and performance for the district are going to resonate with voters of the district."
The campaign by the League of Conservation Voters, the main lobbying arm for environmental groups, comes after Defenders of Wildlife has already spent about $400,000 trying to defeat Pombo, including running three radio ads attacking him and raising ethical questions. One that is playing now accuses Pombo of taking campaign cash from oilmen while voting their way.
Pombo, a strong conservative seeking an eighth congressional term, has repeatedly denied that his votes are influenced by contributions. However, his actions as chairman of the Resources Committee - including pushing more oil drilling and a landowner-friendly rewrite of the Endangered Species Act - have drawn him his toughest re-election campaign to date in his Republican-leaning district.
In addition to environmentalists and a moderate Republican, he's being targeted by Democrats. Engineer Jerry McNerney and airline pilot Steve Filson are competing for the chance to challenge him in November; Filson is getting money and help from the national Democratic Party.
Mr. 2% of a buck again (seems like I'm getting more air time here than I would have expected)
1) Matt, you've got to accept the real possibility that YOUR MAN McNERNEY might be up against DA MAN McCLOSKEY in the fall, and we both know how that will go for CA-11 (pink, maybe, mauve, maybe, but blue? nah...) -- your naive snark "provided McCloskey loses" tells much more about you than you wanted it to.
2) That Carl Pope should actually comment on this race, and NOT mention any Democrats is VERY telling about what ol' Carl (a wiser man than you, Matt...) thinks about the race and the chances of each horse, speaking of which
3) He, like me (as I've stated in several unchallenged and unanswered posts) thinks the world of Charlie Cook as "the gold standard of insider Congressional analysis" when it comes to handicapping races, and Chuck's still got CA-11 as not even competitive with regard to a "takeaway from red to blue" as of April 28th, so
4) Like me with my updated McCloskey 45% chance of beating Pombo in the June primary, Carl sez It's even possible he [Pombo] won't make it past June since, as he [Carl] has sensed (as have I) the fact that Pombo finally agreed to debate him [McCloskey] next Monday. He's still ducking a second, League of Women Voters debate later in May, but if he doesn't fare well against McCloskey on Monday, can he afford to wimp out against this ex-Marine who took on Richard Nixon over Vietnam? It seems doubtful is REAL MEANINGFUL DATA if you know what to look for, AND accept what you see...
It could very well be over by June 7th.
$.02 out.
Mr 2% of a buck one more time (I saw a story just now and loved one quote that I just must share)
1) The tension between the DNC (Dean) and the D-Trip (Emanuel) is clearly coming to a head as seen here, and
2) In that article is a delicious send-up of Rahmbo: Emanuel, a recreational ballet dancer with the vocabulary of a longshoreman
3) I agree with Dean -- this quote (by Rahmbo) is NOT good strategy, but merely self-serving: "The way you build long-term is to succeed short-term," Emanuel countered.
4) Note the following funds raised and funds spent pattern:
Dean (DNC): raised $74MM, spent 86%
RCCC: raised $83MM, spent 71%
RNC: raised $143MM, spent 70%
Emanuel (DCCC): raised $58MM, spent 60%
Didn't the victorious John Kerry have a great deal of unspent cash on hand after the 2004 election, too? Just a thought.
$.02 out.
I put this comment on Carl Pope's blog today:
One thing Carl left off as a factor in the 11th District race is that the opposition is highly energized and organized to oppose Pombo.
I started the Vote Pombo Out Website right after the 2002 election when Elaine Shaw lost to Pombo (It needs updating, I know!). I could not believe there was not more opposition to him. At the time, I was one of only a few voices in the wilderness. Everyone just assumed the district was gerrymandered for perpetual Pombo dominance and that he would be too hard to beat.
Then came 2004. No one was running against Pombo. I could not believe that the Dem party would not or could not field a candidate against this wretched Congressman. People told me they were scared by the millions of dollars it would take to win. Finally, Jerry McNerney very bravely stepped up at the last minute as a write-in candidate in the primary and ran against Pombo.
However, he did this entirely on his own, with the help of volunteers. The Dem party, both state and national, was not interested. And, yes Carl, the Sierra Club, did not take a stand either, fearing that it would divert their members money to a losing campaign.
That was 2004, and of course Jerry lost. But he did bring together the opposition in ways I had not seen before. These were local citizens outraged about Pombo and he had given them a place to focus their energy. We lost, but the groundswell of opposition to Pombo was building.
After getting over the election, we started to regroup in early 2005 for the next election. I started getting many emails from all over, as my site came up when people googled Pombo. A group of us started doing more thorough investigations and trying to get the media involved.
I think we made good progress, but what really got the opposition energized is when Pombo went crazy last fall trying to ramrod all this outrageous legislation through. The opposition grew like crazy after that.
From the summer of 2005 until now, we have seen the growth of blogs, websites, email lists and a lot of other activism, both on and off line, against Pombo.
It is not just that "the district has changed", it is that we are working to change it. I don't mean we have to change a lot of people's minds. I mean making more people aware of what their "representative" is actually doing; organizing and communicating and supporting each other in opposing him; spreading the work to other groups and getting their support, such as the Latinos, labor, seniors, and veterans; talking to the media and reporters and explaining to them our positions; investigating questionable Pombo's activities and exposing them to the light; and being willing to say "this guy is corrupt, unethical, a corporate shil, a disaster for the environment, and a disaster for the district", so that Pombo loses his semblance of invincibility and he can be seen for the corrupt, venal character that he is.
In these ways, through very active effort, "the district is changing" and the opposition is becoming a very potent force.
Just one more example -- Pombo sent out a flyer recently about some bogus, trumped-up story that Elderberry bushes and the ESA had delayed levee repair, resulting in a flood that killed three people. Such a tear-jerker! But with this energized, effective, and on-the-ball opposition, we were able to counter that almost immediately and show that Pombo was just flat out lying and shamelessly exploiting a tragedy to push through his radical agenda.
You would not have seen this quick and accurate response three years ago! Pombo for 14 years has been able to BS the district, but now he faces an opposition armed with facts, truth, and the moral courage and imperative that desperately wants to see him out of office.
The Sierra Club endorsed Jerry McNerney in October 2004.
if you want to preserve the environment, do it on your own. it is not the governments job to make sure you dont screw up your future air. if the nation ( well in this case 11th district) really wants a clean environment, they will act on it and stop treating the environment like a 2 dollar whore. but it is a right that the government cannot enfringe upon to drive a 5 mile to the gallon hummer, and smoke cigarettes, and use trees for houses. its called volountary action, people, not governmental interjection.
pombo is not corupt or radicle, you are.
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