Activists are flooding into the districts of Reps. Pombo and Doolittle on behalf of Democratic challengers, making the races more competitive.
The focus of attention: two candidates vying for seats in bedrock conservative districts to the east, currently occupied by Republicans John T. Doolittle of Granite Bay and Richard W. Pombo of Tracy.
Their Northern California races are considered the most competitive in the state. President Bush demonstrated his concern by showing up at fundraisers for the duo last week, garnering more than $1 million for their campaigns.
But the prospect of upset victories contributing to a Democratic takeover of Congress - potentially installing San Francisco's Nancy Pelosi as speaker - has added another dimension to the Doolittle and Pombo races. Hundreds of volunteers and activists in Berkeley and other Bay Area communities have mobilized on the Democratic side, raising money, manning phone banks and carpooling into the districts to canvass neighborhoods for votes.
Imagine that! Carloads of Berserkeley commie pinkos doing GOTV drive-bys! I love it!
Doolittle, whose 4th District stretches from the Sierra foothills east of Sacramento to the Oregon border, is opposed by retired Air Force Lt. Col. Charlie Brown, 56, of Roseville. Brown, a soft-spoken Air Force Academy graduate, is counting on his military background to help him in what is arguably California's most conservative district, based on Republican registration.
Pombo, whose 11th District includes Bay Area suburbs and San Joaquin Valley ranch lands, is challenged by wind energy scientist Jerry McNerney, 55, of Pleasanton. McNerney's intellectual and environmental credentials are an asset in some of the high-tech corners of the district, which includes the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
On the heels of the Abramoff matter came the congressional page scandal that led to the resignation of Rep. Mark Foley, a Florida Republican. With the environment for Republicans deteriorating, the independent Cook Political Report last week downgraded both the Pombo and Doolittle races from likely GOP victories to merely leaning Republican.
Both the Brown and McNerney candidacies, however, have been bolstered by activists from the Bay Area, the most Democratic chunk of the state.
The volunteer efforts for Brown and McNerney have impressed veteran political observers.
"They see this national Democratic tsunami in which they are on the verge of taking over the House for the first time since 1994," Hoffenblum said. "The best they can do to participate is work in these two congressional districts within driving distance of the Bay Area."
Doolittle and Pombo have characterized the Bay Area activists as carpetbaggers who want to implant liberal ideas in the largely conservative districts.
"Brown has become the ultimate chameleon candidate," Doolittle said on his campaign website. "By day, he pretends to be a conservative. By night, his true colors come out as he raises money and recruits volunteers from the most liberal activists in the Bay Area."
Pombo has played up the Bay Area liberal invasion theme in his political mailers. Doolittle is expected to make it the theme of his television ads. But the volunteers say they have met with little hostility from potential voters. Political analyst Hoffenblum says the effect of the political activists is still uncertain.
I guess raising money and recruiting volunteers from all of 50 - 100 miles away is somehow un-American, but getting corporate money and turning a blind eye to corporate-forced abortion and sex slavery is just fine? Typical Repug hypocrite.
I'm damn glad that the Bay Area folks have noticed what's going on out here in the hinterlands (That's a joke. Both districts have their largest number of voters in the Sacramento-Stockton area) and have come to help.
What Doolittle fails to mention are his campaign's machine phone calls that negatively depict Col. Brown. We've gotten two of them.
As a point of local color, "Brown for Congress" signs and bumper stickers are everywhere in my town. I have yet to see either in favor of Doolittle, although his name appears on the "Dump Doolittle" stickers. Truckee and North Lake Tahoe are Blue spots in a Red district because we have lots of old hippie granola bars and Bay Area transplants, who are sometimes one and the same.
Charlie Brown appeared in my town yesterday, but I didn't go see him. I got to thinking about it, and realized that I've done all I can for him by way of support by displaying his bumper stickers and a yard sign, passing out same to friends, and by donating to his campaign. He has a real go-getter in this area named Jen, "Espresso", who is really doing a great job for him. I figured I really had nothing to gain by going to meet him other than getting a picture of myself with him for the Brain. It would have just been an ego thing for me, and I don't much care about stuff like that. Besides, we had been traipsing all through the mountains all day on our bi-weekly shopping trip and my feet hurt.
Fixer did that with Dave Mejias in his district, and that was a good thing, but our situations are different. I don't give a shit what Brown does once he gets in. He's a Veteran and a good man, and it's enough for me that he beats the Repug Doolittle.
It's looking more and more like he's got a good shot at it.
Charlie Brown for Congress
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