Will Dirty Dick Pombo Wind Up Back In Congress?

The least populated part of California's 11th congressional district-- the far eastern part of the district-- borders on the 19th CD, the district George Radanovich announced he would be giving up. Radanovich is old and tired and he didn't want to have to face a political hack playing up to teabaggers, former Fresno Mayor Jim Patterson. So he announced he'd be retiring-- like so many other House Republicans (14 so far) who just don't want the hassle of running against extremist teabaggers (South Carolina right-winger Henry Brown being the latest) in bitter primaries. But before he announced he was retiring, Radanovich stuck it to Patterson by getting termed-out state Senator Jeff Denham to agree to run. Fresno City Council Member Larry Westerlund is also interested in running and yesterday the former 7-term congressman from CA-11, defeated Dirty Dick Pombo announced that he's running and ex-Secretary of State and perennial candidate for one thing or another, Bill Jones, hinted that he would run too.

I don't think any of these people actually live in the 19th CD. Westerlund and Jones live in the wrong half of Fresno, which is split between the 19th and 20th. Pombo lives on his ranch in Tracy, nowhere near the district. Denham's senatorial district is partially in the 19th, but that isn't where Denham lives. And the teabaggers in the district, who are a powerful force inside the GOP there, are wary of all the candidates as being too establishment and too likely to sell them out.

Michael Der Manouel Jr., chairman of the Lincoln Club of Fresno County, promised that every prospective candidate will emerge "bleeding" from their interview session with the conservative Republican organization.

"We're so sick of phony Republicans that the Lincoln Club will be the toughest interview anybody has to go through," Der Manouel said. "If you're not going to go there with a pitchfork in your right hand and strong principles in your left, don't even bother to file."

Der Manouel -- who lost to Radanovich in the 1994 Republican primary-- noted that Denham, Patterson and Westerlund are either current or former elected officials. "There's got to be at least one person that runs that just brings with him a big business background and doesn't need the job," Der Manouel said.

Pombo doesn't need the job, at least not financially. Psychologically, on the other hand, he certainly has that ole craving. Funny he's not running to try to win back his old seat where everyone knows him. I guess that's the point though. Widely considered one of the most corrupt and extreme Republicans from the freewheelin' Bush-Abramoff-DeLay days, Pombo needs to go where he isn't too well known.

a brief refresher on Pombo. Elected to Congress in 1992, he routinely pounded his Dem opponents, often getting around 60 percent of the vote, despite serving in a Democratic-friendly district that was a mishmash of suburban Bay Area and Central Valley. But in 2006, he was the only incumbent Californian to lose his seat.

How? With the joint help of the liberal netroots, tons of volunteers from the Bay Area and enviro activists, Pombo was tossed from his seat in 2006 by newbie Dem Jerry McNerney. He was pilloried for his environmental record-- the League of Conservation Voters named him one of their Dirty Dozen (members of Congress) in 2006-- and the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington named him one of the "Most Corrupt Members of Congress" in 2006.

Looks like there's going to a tough GOP primary in the Valley.

Is there a chance for a Democrat? Not likely. The PVI is R+10. Obama only took 46% of the vote, while Radanovich ran unopposed last year and won with 60% in 2006. The two Democrats in the race now are Les Marsden (who sounds like he'd head right for Blue Dog country) and Loraine Goodwin (who sounds more like an actual Democrat). On paper neither looks like they'd have a chance against any of these GOP heavyweights in this prohibitively Republican district. So... just get out the popcorn and sit back and watch the mean-spirited, hypocritical Republicans rip each other to shreds.