Nunes Foe, Andrew Janz Is On The Warpath-- Against The DCCC

Andrew Janz hasn't exactly been one of my favorite candidates this cycle. I spoke with him early in the cycle and he admitted to me that he's really conservative. Some DC consultants have since polished him up a bit and taught him how to talk to Democrats-- and not to talk to people like me. But not amount of polishing is going to change the fact that he told me he wants to be just like Jim Costa, the worst Blue Dog Democrat in Congress, with an "F" voting record for ProgressivePunch. I have no doubt that Janz will also sport an "F" if he ever makes it to Congress. And that's a big "if." The PVI is R+8 and Trump beat Hillary there 52.1% to 42.6%, one of her worst showings in California.

That said, Janz is running against Trumpist arch-villain, Devin Nunes. How could you not be rooting for Janz? And by the way, Janz has raised $2,847,975, probably more than all of Nunes' previous opponents combined-- just guessing. Still, Nunes his a far right favorite and he's amassed $7,379,314. This race, though, unlike so many others across the country, gets plenty of earned media-- so lots of local attention. A new Ipsos poll of likely California voters show Trump far less popular in California than nationally. Only 35% of voters approve of him, while 61% disapprove (49% of them "strongly"). Among independents, 29% approve and 62% disapprove (42% strongly).

Devin Nunes-- A Basketball Fan by Chip Proser

When asked the generic congressional preference question, 54% of likely voters said Democratic and just 35% said Republican. More importantly, 32% of independent voters said they would vote for a Democrat as opposed to just 21% for a Republican.That's important in CA-22, because there aren't enough Democrats to win without big independent support.

Democratic (and Hispanic) turnout has been bad in CA-22. Can Janz give them a reason to vote? This week, Janz is getting some attention by "going after" the DCCC. I'm sure he hates them for not supporting him financially--even though their public support would be a kiss of death in a district like him. This "attack" on them, though, rings hollow, even if all the specifics are true. David Siders at Politico, of course, fell for it, even if it was pre-approved by the DCCC. He claims Janz can't get his calls returned. Maybe not. But DCCC West Coast vice-chair has been raising massive amounts of money for all the DCCC Red-to-Blue candidates PLUS Andrew Janz. At an event recently, Lieu brought in half a million dollars in one night and had it distributed equally to all the candidates, including the one the DCCC is ignoring. It's public information but Politico isn't exactly known for digging behind Establishment press releases, are they?

Napa Nunes by Chip Proser

The 34-year-old prosecutor contends that the Democratic Party’s House campaign arm has cut him out of promised fundraising money and frozen him out in his bid to unseat Nunes, a top ally of President Donald Trump who has worked tirelessly to delegitimize the probe into Russian inteference in the 2016 presidential election.

In an interview with Politico, Janz and his campaign manager, Heather Greven, said the DCCC misled Janz about the support he could expect from the DCCC in the Central Valley-based district. And Janz said he has asked DCCC staff and members of Congress for a five-minute call with DCCC Chairman Ben Ray Luján, but “he won’t return my calls.”

“I can’t even get him on the phone, and I’m raising more money than any one of their targeted races here in California,” Janz said.

Following the June primary, he said, “A DCCC spokesperson basically told me to my face, ‘Janz, you’re on your own.’” [Probably that asshole staffer Kyle Layman.]

Rifts between candidates and party committees such as the DCCC are not uncommon. The committees have limited resources and must focus attention on the nation’s most competitive House contests. That often requires a form of political triage-- making tough decisions about sidelining races that are deemed too far out of reach.

Yet it’s rare for those disputes to spill into public view. And Janz’s candidacy is unique-- both for his fundraising prowess and the high-profile opponent he faces, a top target of Democrats’ vitriol nationwide.

Janz raked in more than $1 million in July alone through ActBlue, the online Democratic fundraising platform. That’s more than two of the party’s biggest online fundraisers-- Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)-- collected on the platform during the same month.

Janz declined to name the DCCC spokesperson he said told him he was “on your own.” But Greven said DCCC staffers and congressional members assured the campaign last year that if Janz demonstrated an ability to raise money, the DCCC would be helpful.

“If our national party can’t get up and get excited about taking down Devin Nunes, the person that stands closest to Trump, I don’t know who they can get excited to take down,” said Greven. “I’m sure [the DCCC] thought this kid’s never going to raise any money, and this is going to go away.”

The DCCC’s lack of investment in Nunes’ conservative-leaning district was not unexpected. In an agricultural region where “Vote to Make California Great Again” signs are strapped to cotton trailers on the roadsides, Nunes never figured to face a stiff challenge. Trump carried Nunes’ district by nearly 10 percentage points in 2016, and even Democratic polling puts Janz behind.

“There is nothing in the primary that pointed to a sudden Democratic takeover… [of] one of the most challenging districts for Democrats in the state,” said Rob Pyers of the California Target Book, which handicaps races in the state.

...[L]ocal Democrats have long complained that the party’s inability to make inroads in the Central Valley owes, in part, to national Democrats’ lack of attention here. The party has failed in previous elections to flip two nearby Valley districts that Hillary Clinton carried in 2016.

“The DCCC’s behavior is apathetic,” said Humberto Gomez Jr., the California Democratic Party’s regional director in the area. “Here we have a candidate in [California’s 22nd District] who’s the most viable, who’s raised the most, and who has the most attention. … What does the DCCC do? Screw everything up.”

Greven said the DCCC has given Janz access to a generic database used by Democratic candidates nationally and compiled an opposition research book on Nunes worth $9,000. But she said the DCCC has not provided any substantial assistance, including with voter registration, turnout or other field operations.

The DCCC has not included Janz in its “Red to Blue” program, designed for top-tier candidates in the nation’s most competitive House races. And Janz was not invited to appear with former President Barack Obama at a DCCC event in Anaheim this month. The DCCC said the event was limited to Democrats running in seven Republican-held House districts in California that Clinton carried in 2016.

Following the June primary, Greven said Janz appeared at a DCCC event in Washington with other candidates and was promised a share of the fundraising proceeds, but that “the check never came.” Ever since, Janz said he has been telling donors not to give to the DCCC, but rather to contribute directly to his campaign.

“We don’t need their help… We are fine without them at this point,” said Janz. “I just question sometimes their motives, and I question their competency.”

“Historically, Democrats have not targeted the Central Valley, they have not targeted districts like mine, and have really given up,” Janz said. “And this has allowed people like Devin Nunes to return to Congress year after year after year.”

Janz has drawn some measure of support from Democrats outside the DCCC. Rep. Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat who has helped Janz raise money, said Janz has never complained about the DCCC to him and that Janz has “raised the money to tell his story.”

“[It’s a district] where we have no business being as close as we are,” said Swalwell. But with Janz, he said, “We’ve got a hell of a shot.”

Janz has done little to ingratiate himself to the DCCC. A gun owner with a moderate [NOTE: when Politico says "moderate" they're routinely describing a right-wing Democrat] profile, he has said publicly that he would not support House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi for speaker if Democrats retake the House in November.

“Look, we’re one of the few races here in California where the DCCC isn’t pulling the strings behind the scenes, and I think that allows me to go out there and be myself,” Janz said. “I’m not using DCCC talking points, I’m not using their consultants. I’m really being my own person.”

Describing the campaign as an “arms race,” Greven said, “This is the only time we’re ever going to get a hit at this guy. This is our one shot.”

The DCCC, she said, is “blowing it.”

They are blowing. They always blow it. But this is pretty manufactured. I wonder if the DCCC will also give Janz the script for a TV ad saying he won't vote for Pelosi as speaker. Meanwhile, Janz is gaining on Nunes and if the anti-red wave is strong enough, it will sweep detritus like him into office (oh, boy! but at least the next time we hear about Nunes will be in connection to his role in Putin-Gate, hopefully as a defendant.)

And from the Fresno Bee yesterday, this almost reads like a late night comedy skit: Mystery Nunes event requires guests to submit to personal search, no cell phone photos. Nunes, they wrote, "is expected to appear at an invitation-only event at a private residence in the Sanger area on Tuesday." OK, that's pretty mysterious-- cloak-and-daggery. Is he afraid that one of Mueller's prosecutors will serve him with a subpoena if they can pin down his whereabouts? Or that the FBI will arrest him as a Russian operative?

An online RSVP form was apparently sent out to those on the Republican’s mailing lists.

It describes several enhanced security measures, including: “All persons and property entering the facility are subject to search,” and “Photos with personal cell phones will not be allowed. An official photographer will be present and will take photos as requested.”

As with other recent Nunes events, those wishing to RSVP must first supply their name, address, phone number and email before they can find out the exact time and location. The form also requires guests to indicate who exactly invited them to the event.

Other rules include bans on “behavior that ‘materially prevents’ people from hearing speakers or from being heard” and signs, noise makers and amplification devices.

Janz and other Nunes critics have routinely called out the congressman’s secrecy and failure to appear at a public forum during this election cycle.

What a clown!