BUSBY'S GONNA TAKE CUNNINGHAM'S OLD SAN DIEGO SEAT, ACCORDING TO A REPUBLICAN POLL

Jon Fleischman was the Executive Director of the California Republican Party from 1999 'til 2001. Today his blog, The Flashpoint has some bad news-- for Republicans. Former GOP candidate Bill Hauf, who was with far right Republican Eric Roach in DC opposing GOP backing for the corrupt Bilbray, put up the dough for a poll of CA-50 voters. The poll found that the Republican candidate, former congressman and lobbyist Brian Bilbray, will be defeated next month by reformer and Democrat Francine Busby.

According to Fleischman, "Bilbray, the Republican, is LOSING to liberal school teacher Francine Busby, the Democrat in a 'safe' GOP seat as conservatives nationally, and in this coastal San Diego County district are fed up with 'big government' Republicanism."

The poll, by Bob Moore of Moore Information, whom Fleischman calls a "reputable pollster," bodes poorly for the GOP. "In the race to fill the vacancy, Francine Busby leads Brian Bilbray 43-37% among all voters, with each of the minor party candidates getting 1%, 5% voting for none of the candidates and 13% undecided."

Hauf told Fleischman that Bilbray is going to lose in June and that Francine Busby will be the next congressperson from northern San Diego County, a great improvement for the area, for California and for America. (Hauf didn't put in that last part.)

Fleischman then goes on to say that Roach, who lost second place (and the right to go head to head against Busby) to Bilbray by just a small handful of votes-- both of whom were FAR, FAR BEHIND Busby-- will probably run. He claims there is a need for conservatives to have a choice because Bilbray, who has a long record as a rubber-stamp Republican who does whatever he is told paid to do.

And Hauf isn't the only extremist endorsing Roach over Bilbray. Neo-fascist lunatic Howard Kaloogian, who managed to find around 10,000 poor pathetic racists to vote for him in the Special Election, has also come out for ideological kinsman Roach. And last week in Washington, Roach met with discredited right-wing gurus Grover Norquist and Paul Weyrich to get their blessing. A total unknown three months ago, Roach has already spent over $2 million on the race and has aired radio ads and sent direct mail-- even after losing the special election.


Meanwhile, it's important to remember that when Bilbray was in Congress he represented a different district and often worked against the interests of CA-50, something many voters there remember bitterly. But if Bilbray's revolting career has shown one thing it is certainly that he never gave a damn about his constituents-- regardless of district-- but, like Cunningham, always represented the interests of those who pay the bills. He steadfastly supported Bush's Big Business-friendly agendas for Social Security, Medicare and Iraq. But it's a mistake to label Bilbray as just another rubber-stamp Republican. I mean he is that-- and much worse.

Between 2000, when his former constituents handed him a stunning defeat, and 2005 when he announced he would run for Cunningham's seat, Bilbray raked in more than $750,000 lobbying the federal government, including former colleagues. He is as clear a case of egregious influence peddling has been seen by any ex-member of Congress in a very long time, especially in regard to the despised, polluting Bajagua Project, a wastewater plant he was lobbying for in Tijuana. "This is a case of the private sector ramrodding a project through with lavish campaign contributions and no regard for community participation,” explained state Assemblywoman Lori Saldana (D-San Diego). “It's been a pure power play: Money trumping the public and good science.”

If you're wondering about Bilbray's relations with crooks like Abramoff and DeLay while he was in Congress, you won't be disappointed. Bilbray was one of the chosen congressional shills DeLay and Abramoff flew to the Northern Marianas experimental sex slave colony the far right was touting as a model for America, although when it comes to Abramoff, Bilbray now says he doesn't remember anything! He can't say he doesn't remember DeLay since there are canceled checks from DeLay to Bilbray for the highly suspicious figure of $9,999-- not counting the $100,000 DeLay gave him for his losing 2000 campaign. Bilbray was also a recipient of Cunningham's generosity, to the tune of $7,000. And anyone who has looked into Cunningham's criminal indictments knows very well that he never gave away a dime without getting something in return. And the guys who were bribing Cunningham? They had Bilbray on their payrolls too! No wonder Republicans Inside the Beltway think he'd be the perfect replacement for Cunningham; he practically is Cunningham!

The election is 4 weeks away. You can donate to Francine Busby via ACT BLUE right here (<--- there).