California Congressional Races Looking Good For Democrats

California went through a nonpartisan congressional redistricting and it looks like it could work out well for Democrats. Although the Republicans were once hopeful they could make conservative Democratic incumbent Jerry McNerney's race competitive (CA-09), last month a poll, from Celinda Lake, the most consistently accurate pollster in America, showed McNerney with a pretty insurmountable 16 point lead over Ricky Gill, an unemployed 25 year old stalker with a fake resume. The NRCC also had some kind of delusion they sold to the clueless media-- and Colusa County supervisor Kim Vann-- that they could beat John Garamendi (CA-03). Two polls have shown Garamendi leading by 15 points.

The DCCC is backing 7 challengers in Republican-held districts: Ami Bera (CA-07), Jose Hernandez (CA-10), Julia Brownley (CA-26), Raul Ruiz (CA-36), Mark Takano (CA-41), Alan Lowenthal (CA-47), and Scott Peters (CA-52). Bera and Peters have been endorsed by the pro-business, anti-consumer/anti-worker New Dem Coalition. Takano is a progressive. The rest are somewhere in between. The most obvious race the DCCC should be pursuing, CA-25, pitting Dr. Lee Rogers, a progressive, against House Armed Services Committee chairman Buck McKeon, who is drowning in a sea of corruption scandals and a local GOP civil war, is being studiously and aggressively ignored by "ex"-Blue Dog Steve Israel. (You can contribute to helping Rogers replace McKeon here.) The DCCC doesn't take on Republican leaders like Boehner and Cantor and they don't take on Republican committee chairs like Paul Ryan and Buck McKeon. They specialize in faceless, unknown backbenchers. OK, someone's got to. But someone has to go after these galoots as well too... and corrupt hacks Steve Israel, Joe Crowley and Debbie Wasserman Schultz take too much cash from the same nefarious interests that finance your Eric Cantors and Buck McKeons and Paul Ryans to ever go up against them.



On the other hand, the good news is that Ventura County Democratic Assemblywoman Julia Brownley (CA-26) leads Republican extremist Tony Strickland by 4 points (48-44%) according to a recent poll by Tulchin Research. She has a decent record in the state legislature and would probably wind up voting with the Democrats on all important issues. Even better news is that the one real progressive the DCCC is backing in the state, Mark Takano (CA-41), is ahead of Chamber of Commerce candidate, Republican John Tavaglione by 4 points (42-38%), even with ConservaDem Riverside mayor Ron Loveridge campaigning for the Republican. And in the new 47th CD (Long Beach, Westminster, Cypress and Garden Grove), state Senator Alan Lowenthal leads Republican Gary DeLong by 11 points (47-36%), despite a huge fundraising advantage by DeLong.

Dr. Ami Bera, who has come close twice before, is tied with far right Congressman Dan Lungren at 47%, and after positives Bera leads by five points (51-46%). Obama leads Romney 52-44% in this same poll. Similarly, conservative New Dem Scott Peters is tied with shady incumbent Brian Bilbray in two recent polls, one at 45-45% and one at 40-40%. Peters is a total Steve Israel brand of candidate and the DCCC is expected to spend close to $2 million on this race.

And even in the two races where the DCCC candidates are losing, they're not losing badly and could make up some lost ground. Dr. Raul Ruiz (CA-36) trails Mary Bono Mack by only two points (43-45%) with 12 percent of voters undecided, according to a recent PPP poll. Obama leads Romney 49% to 48% in this same poll. And freshman Jeff Denham (CA-10) is under 50% with astronaut Jose Hernandez trailing by just seven points (41-48%) with 12 percent of voters undecided, according to a recent PPP poll. Obama and Romney are tied at 47% in this same poll.

Meanwhile, the big one in California is CA-25, the one Steve Israel, for whatever reason, is adamant on throwing. McKeon has been the epitome of right wing conservatism and his career is characterized as being anti-gay, pro-war, and anti-immigrant, and as a leader in the war against women. As chair of the House Armed Services Committee, he opposes any reduction in defense spending or withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan. He promotes proliferation of nuclear weapons, threatening Iran with war, and the use of military drones domestically. He is the top recipient of campaign cash from the defense industry-- more even than any TWO senators!-- and he founded and chairs the drone caucus, which is giving him money hand over fist.

Several other circumstances make McKeon vulnerable for the first time. Redistricting was not favorable to him. The 25th CD used to be the second largest in California and had a 9 point partisan Republican advantage. Now it is a more compact, a mostly LA County district with a 4 point Republican advantage over Democrats and 18% Decline-To-State voters. The district is now 30% Latino, a group McKeon has alienated with his anti-DREAM Act stance and he’s even been caught trying to help overturn California’s state DREAM act.

What makes the race unique is that several large scandals have surfaced this year surrounding McKeon. The largest is the Countrywide Financial VIP program in which McKeon received a preferential loan at the direct intervention of then-CEO Angelo Mozilo. He lied about his involvement and the Oversight and Government Reform Committee recently released their report implicating McKeon. Issa, the chairman, referred to this loan program as a “bribe” on TV. National and in-district media have covered this story extensively. A newspaper poll even showed McKeon losing to an unnamed challenger over this issue.

McKeon has several FEC violations and failure to report in-kind donations and pays his wife to be his treasurer, in effect, illegally funneling vast amounts of campaign contributions into his personal household accounts. She is the highest paid congressional spouse and has made $600,000 from the campaign in recent years. McKeon also pays other family members for questionable services.

In the district, there is a gaping rift in the Republican party. McKeon former district director, Scott Wilk, is running for State Assembly in AD-38, a district wholly located inside CA-25. McKeon and Wilk separated on bad terms and McKeon ran his wife Patricia against him in the primary. Patricia lost embarrassingly, but not before causing irreparable damage to McKeon. In fact, all of his supported candidates in 2012 have lost local and state elections in the district, including the incumbent mayor of Santa Clarita. Being endorsed by McKeon is known as the kiss of death for any local Republican.

McKeon’s Democratic opponent is Dr. Lee Rogers, a surgeon and former national spokesperson for the American Diabetes Association and first time candidate. I know Lee personally and he's an independent-minded progressive who is articulate, intelligent and committed to public service in the same terms he's been committed to serving his medical patients.

Meanwhile, McKeon’s hometown newspaper, The Signal, refused to endorse him for the first time in 20 years in the primary over the CEMEX mining issue that Lee's been all over and will probably be the most important single issue in the minds of voters when they go into the voting booth. Please help us make sure Lee beats McKeon-- even without any help from Steve Israel, Joe Crowley and the rest of the corrupt DC insiders. You can contribute here.

Republicans And Blue Dogs Lead Another Attack On LGBT Equality

I'm sure it doesn't surprise anyone that virulent homophobe and hatemonger Steve King (R-IA) would attach an amendment to the 2013 defense appropriations bill to prevent same sex couples from marrying on bases. It passed 247-166, only 5 Republicans willing to walk away from the hatred and divisiveness. Mary Bono Mack, who represents one of the gayest districts in America (Palm Springs) and often tries to pass herself off as a friend of the LGBT community, voted along side bigots like King, Virginia Foxx and Bachmann Thursday, hoping that her gay constituents wouldn't notice.

There were 17 Democrats who also voted with the hate-mongers. Here's the list. The ones bolded have been singled out by the DCCC, not for retribution but for special financial support in their reelection bids. The ones bolded are on the DCCC's Frontline list and their faltering reelection campaigns are the #1 priorities for DCCC spending this cycle:

John Barrow (Blue Dog/New Dem-GA)
Sanford Bishop (Blue Dog-GA)
Ben Chandler (Blue Dog-KY)
Jerry Costello (retiring-IL)
Mark Critz (PA)
Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)
Joe Donnelley (Blue Dog/Senate candidate-IN)
Gene Green (TX)
Tim Holden (Blue Dog-PA)- Already defeated in primary
Larry Kissell (Blue Dog-NC)
Lipinksi (IL)
Jim Matheson (Blue Dog-UT)
Mike McIntyre (Blue Dog/New Dem-NC)
Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN)
Nick Rahall (WV)
Mike Ross (Blue Dog/retiring-AR)
Heath Shuler (Blue Dog/retiring-NC)

Members of the LGBT community should remember that when they contribute to the DCCC, most of the money they give will go to support the reelection of virulent homophobes who feel exactly the same way about the gay community as Steve King, Michele Bachmann and other Republican bottom-feeders. Blue America has a page dedicated to replacing homophobes like King with pro-LGBT candidates. Please take a look-- and take action.

Congress' best-dressed hate-mongers-- now that her husband is running for the Senate, Mary Bono Mack has taken a more stridently anti-gay posture

DCCC Starting To Target California Republican Incumbents

Lifestyles of the rich and Republican, representing 2 of the hardest hit districts in the country

Maybe you remember a big buzz early last month about how the Democratic Party was planning to target as many as eight Republican-held congressional seats in 2010. Roll Call covered it with a 3-page feature by Josh Kurtz, Democrats See Golden Pickup Opportunities in California. Normally national Democrats look at California as a political ATM, a place to go for campaign contributions, but not a place for serious targeting, primarily because the two very corrupt political parties conspired on an incumbent protection plan that has left the state hopelessly gerrymandered and next to impervious to change. And then came the 2006 earthquake when a grassroots Democrat, Jerry McNerney-- with nothing from the DCCC but sabotage and antipathy-- ousted one of the most powerful and entrenched Republican incumbents, Dirty Dick Pombo.

With that in mind, even the DCCC couldn't help but notice that Obama beat McCain in 8 California congressional districts with Republican incumbents. Although conventional wisdom has Dan Lungren, Ken Calvert and Mary Bono Mack looking the most vulnerable, the other 5 shouldn't be looking for a free ride. The fact that voter registration and demographic trends are all looking bad for the GOP makes it likely that most of them will have vigorous challenges in 2010.

Without any help from the national party, a few no-name Democrats came very close to ousting well-entrenched House Republicans last year, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is poised to do all it can to win those seats this cycle. Picking up seats in her home state will also be a priority of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

“California’s unemployment rate is in double digits and the state has been hit hard by the housing crisis, yet out of touch Republican Members have repeatedly voted against measures to help save and create jobs and restore the economy,” said DCCC spokesman Andrew Stone, previewing a line of attack that will be used against Golden State GOP incumbents in the months to come.

Today the DCCC fired a shot across the bows of 8 Republicans, Brian Bilbray (CA-50), Mary Bono Mack (CA-45), Ken Calvert (CA-44), Tom McClintock (CA-04), Dana Rohrabacher (CA-46), Gary Miller (CA-42 ), Kevin McCarthy (CA-22) and Dan Lungren (CA-03). Some of these districts went for Obama and some didn't, but all of them have significant Hispanic populations that are not happy with the way the first Hispanic nominee for the Supreme Court is being treated by the Republican Party.

Sonia Sotomayor has captured the imagination of Hispanics in California but instead of joining them in their happiness, the GOP and their vicious media surrogates are unfairly targeting her and smearing her. And none of these Republican incumbents have come to her defense. Let's take one of the most likely to be defeated in 2010, Mary Bono-Mack, an inconsequential backbencher who inherited the seat when her husband, Sonny Bono, skied into a tree and died. Many in the district thought they were somehow voting for Cher. Like most members of Congress, she lives in Washington, of course, and has lost touch with her constituents, who have drastically changed in a demographic sense since she was first elected. But Riverside County isn't even her secondary home! She recently married far right Florida extremist Connie Mack (no not a gay wedding; Connie is a male) and when they're not in DC, they're in their home in Fort Meyers, Florida. Look at this tweet from yesterday:


If she spent any time in her district it wouldn't come as something so out of the ordinary for her. And this year she has a major problem, Palm Springs' popular mayor, Steve Pougnet. CA-45 is one of the most Hispanic districts in the country represented by a Republican-- just under 40%. So the message the DCCC sent out today is sure to reverberate:

Representative Mary Bono Mack Refuses to Denounce Radical Right’s Offensive Remarks Against Judge Sonia Sotomayor

Last week, former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich joined the fringe voices of the radical right in making the outrageous claim that President Obama’s Supreme Court Nominee, Judge Sonia Sotomayor, is a “racist.” Judge Sotomayor would be the first Hispanic member of the U.S. Supreme Court in American history. For a week, Representative Mary Bono-Mack refused to denounce Gingrich’s shameful rhetoric and now, even with the former GOP Speaker himself acknowledging that he shouldn't have called Judge Sotomayor a racist, Bono Mack remains silent. 

Gingrich is headlining a lucrative fundraising dinner to benefit House Republicans on June 8th.
“For five days, Representative Mary Bono Mack had a simple choice to make: She could strongly denounce Newt Gingrich’s shameful rhetoric or stay silent and just take his money,” said Ryan Rudominer, National Press Secretary for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “With five days to go until the fundraising dinner with Gingrich, will Representative Mary Bono Mack finally speak out against the radical right or continue to remain silent and take their campaign cash”

Ken Calvert's neighboring district is 35% Hispanic; Gary Miller's is 24%; Kevin McCarthy's is 21%; Brian Bilbray's is 19%; Dana Rohrabacher's is 17% and Lungren's is 11%.

Of course it isn't only among Californians or among Hispanics that the Republican instinct to smear is getting it in trouble with voters. A new survey from Democracy Corps shows that most voters (56%) approve of the nomination while only 27% have been taken in by the ceaseless vituperation from Fox, Hate Talk Radio and extremist Republicans like Jim DeMint (R-SC) and Pat Roberts (R-KS).

Once again the base of the Republican Party finds itself at odds with the rest of the electorate. While conservative Republicans strongly disapprove of her nomination, Sotomayor earns at least plurality support from moderate Republicans, independents and Democrats. If Republicans give in to the right-wing activists calling for a bare-knuckled fight against Sotomayor, they run the risk of alienating not only Hispanics and women (about 65 percent of whom approve of the nomination), but the entire electorate outside of their base as well.

Mary Bono-Mack Draws A Challenge: Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet

Democrats have long felt that the first of the Inland Empire congressional districts that would elect a Democrat to Congress would be CA-45, most of Riverside County and mostly desert. Aside from desert, it also includes Palm Springs-- and the desert itself has bloomed. It has been turning bluer and bluer and in November the district voted for Obama over McCain, 52-47% (after giving Bush 51% in 2000 and 56% in 2004). You may recall that in 2006, progressive Democrat Dave Roth wound up with 41% of the vote and that last year Democrat Julie Bornstein garnered 43%. In fact, every single year since first being elected in 1998, incumbent Republican Mary Bono-Mack has seen her margin of victory shrink. Democrats feel that 2010 will see the end of her political career and her retirement to her husband's Florida district; she's married to extreme right wing lunatic Connie Mack.

This year, Steve Pougnet has decided to take on Bono-Mack-- and from the same perch from which her husband, Sonny Bono, originally won the seat-- the Palm Springs mayor's office. Steve was elected to the City Council in 2003 and last year be was elected mayor. Steve is not just gay, but the father of two young twins who he and his partner of 15 years adopted.

Bono-Mack is an elusive target for the energetic can-do mayor. She tends to be a rubber stamp for the GOP leadership but always manages to pick out two or three controversial issues each year on which she loudly crosses the aisle so that she can tell the moderates and independents that dominate Riverside County politics that she's one of them. And yet full-blown GOP reactionaries like Brian Bilbray, Dana Rohrabacher and even Ed Royce have been voting more frequently to support elements of Obama's programs than Bono-Mack has. She's very, very frightened to rile up the off-the-rails fringe of the GOP who are quick to turn against any Republican that takes even a baby-step towards the mainstream.

Yesterday the DCCC sent a press release to media outlets in Riverside County entitled "Mary Bono Mack Could Have Stopped AIG Bonuses" that started like this:

Americans’ outrage over AIG and Congressional Republicans’ reaction to it doesn’t match the reality of what Representative Mary Bono Mack and Republican leaders have done in Washington to block limits on outrageous pay and bonuses.
 
“For years, President Bush and Washington Republicans led the charge to block any effort to limit the outrageous salaries and bonuses of corporate executives,” said Jennifer Crider, Communications Director at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.  “When Representative Bono Mack had the chance, she voted to allow outrageous pay and bonuses, like those for AIG executives, to continue.
 
“It’s easy for Republicans to play to angry Americans and say they’re offended by bonuses during a firestorm, but the reality is that Representative Bono Mack's indignation rings hollow when she is part of the Republican ‘just say no’ policies that led to outrageous executive pay and bonuses.”

And it's certainly true that Bono-Mack joined every single Republican member of Congress in opposing legislation that sought to eliminate all future golden parachutes for TARP senior executives and put a stop to incentives for top executives to take unnecessary risks, as well as to crack down on future bonuses, retention awards, and incentive compensation for all TARP executives. 

If you're wondering if being gay has made a difference in how progressive or reactionary members of Congress have been, the answer is no. There are gay members, like Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), David Dreier (D-CA) and Patty McHenry (R-NC) who are arch-conservatives way on the far right of the political spectrum, and there are gay members like Barney Frank (D-MA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Jared Polis (D-CO) who spend every day fighting for working families and are genuine progressive leaders. The difference isn't sexuality; it's honesty. Polis, Baldwin and Frank accept themselves and are honest about who they are with their constituents. Graham, Dreier, McConnell, and McHenry loathe themselves, hide in dark closets, and live in shame and fear that one day they will be discovered like Larry Craig (R-ID), Mark Foley (R-FL) or Ed Schrock (R-VA) and their worlds will collapse around their ears. No wonder they are such terrible legislators and so screwed up as people. Steve Pougnet fits in with the upfront, self-accepting, family-oriented members. Judging by his work on the Palm Springs City Council he'll be a grassroots-oriented congressman, working for his community, unlike Bono-Mack who is completely in the pockets of the special interests that support his career. She's taken in $544,283 from the finance/insurance/real estate sector, the very folks who have brought on the economic crisis.

Someone asked me how Bono-Mack's district has been effected by the mortgage crisis and the unwillingness of the Republicans to do anything about it except call the victims of the banksters "losers." Interestingly, the hardest hit district, in terms of foreclosures, in the entire nation, is Bono-Mack's adopted home in Florida's 14th CD (which is represented by her newest husband Connie Mack). The overwhelmingly Republican district (PVI is R+10) has had 35,134 foreclosures, highest, by far, of any congressional district in the entire country. The California district suffering the most from Republican policy failure in the mortgage crisis is Dan Lungren's (CA-03) with 17,765 foreclosures so far, making it the 15th worst in the country. CA-45, represented by Bono-Mack has had 15,328 foreclosures, 4th worst in California (after Lungren's, Calvert's and McClintock's) and 25th worst in America. Her's, though, is the only one that isn't overwhelmingly Republican. Bono-Mack followed her husband's lead on voting against the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009, regardless of how devastating that is for thousands of families in both states. So let's not hear any talk about Mary Bono-Mack being a moderate or having any real independent thoughts in her head.


UPDATE: THEY'RE EVEN TURNING OFF HATE TALK RADIO IN RIVERSIDE COUNTY

Long, long commutes for the exurban pioneers from the Inland Empire-- long and through ugly, boring terrain. So they've turned to a plethora of hate talk radio stations and between the drive to work and the drive home, they were always ready to vote for Republicans no matter how deeply in the hole GOP policies put them. I got a clue about how severely that's been shaken lately. In what will be extremely good news for Mayor Pougnet, a woman in Indian Wells, whose license plate was "Rush," has removed the offensive plates and broken her addiction to the drug-addled Republican Party propagandist. Except for fans of Neil, Alex and Geddy, the Rush license plate fad looks like its going the way of the hula hoop, at least outside of the old slave holding states.

LIVE VLOGGING FROM THE DESERT TONIGHT

See that lifeguard station on the right side of the page-- the DWT World Headquarters? If you click that you'll find a picture of me riding a camel. I'm bringing this up because Irwing and I are driving out into the desert today-- sans camel-- to work with the Democrats of the Desert on how to start winning some elections out in the red, red hinterlands. I wrote a story about it last week. And tonight's the night. At around 5:30pm PT or so (8:30 if you're staked out in front of Lieberman's house watching Rove and Cheney coming in and out) Irwing will turn on some camera Adam sent him (which, no doubt, fell off the back of a truck) and you can watch live. Give it a shot. It's the future of blogging I'm told.


UPDATE: A GREAT TIME WAS HAD BY ALL


Well, I hope "by all." Irwing and I sure had a great time with the Democrats of the Desert, an aware and feisty group of men and women who have it in them to start rebuilding the Democratic Party in the fastest growing county in California. One member had an account up today about our visit with the club yesterday. And the same member, soyinkafan, posted today about the Assembly race in the area, the 80th, where a termed-out Republican, Bonnie Garcia, is likely to be replaced by a progressive Democrat.

HOWIE'S HEADING OFF TO THE DESERT-- TO THE DEMOCRATS OF THE DESERT

Same Howie, different desert (same shoes though)

A week from today, on Wednesday, May 16, I'm driving out into the heart of Red America. No, not Utah or Alabama; I'm going to visit Riverside County, California, the fastest-growing part of the Golden State. The entire state (including the rapidly developing Inland Empire) has a growth rate of 6.7%. Riverside County has a growth rate of 26%... per year! The folks in the oldest Democratic Club out there, Democrats of the Desert, invited me to come talk with them about netroots activism in regard to the 2008 races. If you're in the area, please come by and say hello. The meeting is from 5:30 'til 8pm in Cathedral City. The address is 68-727 East Palm Canyon Dr.

If you can't make it out, Irwing is going to try to live vlog the event. More about that on Tuesday. I'll also be on the radio out there on Monday morning at 7:30am, PT. They have me on the AM powerhouse, KPSI, Newstalk 920, home of Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Lielly, Laura Ingraham! Fortunately I'm being interviewed by local talent, Steve Kelly, a reasonable moderate who hosts the popular morning-drive show. Perhaps you've read my theories about why people in exurban areas like the Inland Empire go crazy and vote for Republicans. KPSI is where they go crazy. I hope I can straighten them out.

You may recall that DWT and then Blue America got involved with the congressional race between Bush Regime rubber stamp Mary Bono and progressive Democrat David Roth. Bono, who has been getting more and more reactionary dropped over 6% from her 2004 win. David and Democrats still have a long way to go, but it's just a matter of time before that congressional seat, the 45th, goes blue.

Today Mary Bono is still voting to support every disastrous move the Bush Regime makes in Iraq. She votes against each and every proposal Democrats make to end the war. Remember this oldie-but-goodie from last year:




UPDATE: SOMEONE NOTICED!

Yeah, Howard Dean and Barbara Boxer and Harry Reid and... me?

BLUE AMERICA: DAVID ROTH v MARY BONO

Mary Bono was appointed to her congressional seat (CA-45) in 1998 after her husband Sonny, Cher's sidekick, died in a skiing accident. She has never had any serious opposition. Until now. She's an airhead and a rubber stamp with not a lick of sense. She is petrified to be seen in the same vicinity of David Roth, the progressive Democrat challenger her re-election bid, and she absolutely refuses to debate him. It would be like a slow 4 year old debating a brilliant professor. She has had the sense to try to cultivate a moderate image. Unfortunately, a quarter inch of scratching under the image is a stepford supporter of the most outrageous and hideous of the entire Bush/Big Business agenda. A member of the Scientology cult, she is quite used to having authority figures make decisions for her.

I don't think you will find a bigger contrast between candidates anywhere in America than the one between Mary Bono and David Roth. When I spoke to David for the first time a couple weeks ago, the very first thing he said to me was, "I am convinced that politics is noble. I have believed for my entire life that politics is about empowering people, empowering communities." David is a take charge kind of can-do person. But he's apprehensive that our very democracy is teetering on the brink-- not just because of the excesses of the Bush Regime, but because people seem to have lost faith in our government.

Like many people in the Southern California district, David doesn't hold Bono in high regard. "I haven't met anyone who is pleased with the direction our nation has been taken nor with the results or the actions of my opponent... She wasn't prepared for this job when she was selected for it and she hasn't been able to rise to the challenge any day since. You have to care and you have to lead and you have to stand up. If you want to read about a leader who has a record of caring and of standing up and who accomplishes things, let me point you to David's inspiring biography.

Talk to David and everything about him reads "winner." And he isn't taking any chances. He's put together the largest and most robust field campaign in the history of Riverside County. He's the first Democrat who has ever raised enough money to compete effectively in this district. "My campaign is about winning," he told me, "and about change and about substance and what I can bring to the people who I will be serving... Her campaign is just a big ad buy. She's raised a great deal of money. She'll never walk a precinct or go to a house party or attend a town hall meeting. And she'll never debate me. She's refused every opportunity to debate, not just from my campaign but from community organizations like AARP and the local media."

When I asked David what the most crucial issues he's hearing about from people in the district he reels 'em right off: gas prices and energy, health care, the war in Iraq and the educational infrastructure (his specialty). "My message resonates with the majority of the people in the district-- a very diverse district; they just haven't voted in the past. My campaign has been geared to change those patterns. We've been organizing-- from voter registration right up through energizing thousands of people who have never been part of the political process before."

David's campaign defines a grassroots effort, albeit a relatively well-financed one. But he has had a great deal of help from progressive luminaries, campaigning with Barbara Boxer, Barney Frank, Maxine Waters, Linda Sanchez, Henry Waxman, etc. Of course, he's too progressive and anti-war to expect any assistance from Rahm Emanuel but real Democrats like Frank and Boxer see a winner in David and they're helping him get his message out. If you'd like to lend a hand, we've added David to the Blue America ActBlue page and the first 25 contributors for his campaign there today will be mailed an exciting CD called What Is Hip?, a compilation of contemporary remixes of classic songs by Rod Stewart, the Doobie Brothers, America, DEVO, Todd Rundgren, George Benson, Gary Wright, and many others. If you just want to help David's campaign and don't want the CD, please add a penny to your donation so we'll know not to send one.


UPDATE; MSM IS PAYING ATTENTION TO YOUTUBE AND IN PALM SPRINGS, THAT'S BAD NEWS FOR RUBBER STAMP BONO

I guess everyone wants to know why YouTube sold for $1.6 billion. The biggest local paper in CA-45, Palm Springs' Desert Sun, poked around a little and figured out something else: it's time to throw Mary Bono out.

THERE IS ANOTHER CALIFORNIA SEAT THAT THE GOP MIGHT BE GIVING UP THIS YEAR-- MARY BONO'S

Next Wednesday our Blue America featured guest will be David Roth, the first Democrat to give entrenched rubber stamp Republican Mary Bono a run for her Big Business' money since she was first appointed. Bono is a complete dolt and a pathetic cardboard cut-out, the quintessential Stepford candidate. Roth's as smart as a whip and very quick on his feet. Bono wouldn't stand a chance against him in a debate, so she won't. She's on the run but in a district filled with retirees, her vapid and unblinking support of the Doughnut Hole will probably cost her the election. David will join us live next Wednesday at 2:30 PM (PT) at Firedoglake. If you want to get a feel for what Mary's all about before that, let me recommend this powerful 30 second video clip that shows you exactly what David is fighting.