A CLASSIC BATTLE FOR THE SOUL OF AMERICA IS JOINED IN ORANGE COUNTY-- DEBBIE COOK vs DANA ROHRABACHER

Not a fancy dress ball-- the idiot on the right is Rohrabacher supporting the Mujahideen in Afghanistan

What does a sleazy Republican mired in ethical problems do when he faces a strong challenger who truly represents the values of his moderate suburban district?

He brings in the king of the ratfuckers, Mike Schroeder, the Dark Lord of the Orange County Republican party to sue the candidate, call her a scofflaw attorney, and tie up time, resources, and money with bogus charges.

Debbie Cook is the Mayor of Huntington Beach, and a formidable grassroots progressive who has the ability to challenge one of the vilest Congressmen in a Republican district (PVI: R+6). Debbie's been winning battles against the local slimeballs since 1989, when she started a grassroots battle against corrupt out-of-touch developers intent on developing public beaches and parks for profit. With a group of activists meeting in her living room, Debbie gathered 18,000 signatures to put an initiative on the ballot, then beat big money and slimy politics to get 75% of the vote. Only 29% of the voters in Huntington Beach are registered Democrats but Debbie wins by wide margins and is respected across partisan boundaries, recognized as a champion for energy conservation and environmental protection, a big deal in the district where Rohrabacher, an aggressive Global Warming denier, has consistently failed to lend a hand to popular local causes from groundwater replenishment (saving the local underground water supply from saltwater intrusion) and preserving the Bolsa Chica Wetlands to the dredging of Huntington Harbor and saving the bluffs on Pacific Coast Highway from erosion.

Battle after battle, election after election, Debbie has beaten the Republicans in Huntington Beach, the heart of the 46th congressional district, including victories in court to protect the coast and wetlands, and elections to the City Council in 2000 and 2004, when she won by a 10,500 vote margin over the nearest competitor.

Read her entire bio to get a feel for how impressive a challenger Debbie is, and how her history as a college athlete, PTO President, Neighborhood Watch volunteer, and small business owner led her into community activism, where she has developed and emerged as the type of local leader we need representing us in Congress.

This year she’s running for Congress, a late entry, below the national radar, but with a strong base of activists, a proven electoral base in the largest city in the district, and an opponent who reeks of corruption.

Congressman Dana Rohrabacher is an embarrassment to his district, a sad and pathetic exemplar of everything that’s wrong with the Republican party. He started out in the 70’s as a slacker, doper, and ideologue on the payroll of libertarian sugar-daddies, first as a troubadour to campus Republicans, then as an editorial writer for the Orange County Register.

When he wasn’t "smoking everything but the bong water," he worked on Reagan election campaigns, then moved to the White House as a third-string speechwriter of toasts and drop-by remarks.

His Congressional primary victory in 1988 with a little more than a third of the vote was a fluke, as the front-runner collapsed with a bogus college degree, moderates split their vote, and Rohrabacher flew in indicted Iran-Contra plotter Ollie North to rally the crazies. And the crazies have loved him ever since-- at least the crazies in the district. In Washington... not so much.

Rated as the third least effective Congressman in California, Rohrabacher has never been noted for any achievements, and Republicans have considered him so goofy that he never developed any clout even with Republicans in power.

He has consistently distinguished himself by his friends and associates.

After his election in 1988, instead of attending Congressional training, he went to Afghanistan to dress up in mujahadeen outfits, which led to years of support and clandestine foreign policy to support the Taliban. He met Osama Bin Laden, and was instrumental in helping to create the groups that eventually blew back into the September 11th terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.

Rohrabacher wasn’t just connected to Jack Abramoff. With Delay, Ney, and Doolittle, he was one of the Four Congressmen Freemeals, violating Congressional ethics rules by accepting thousands of dollars worth of expensive meals at Signatures. Rohrabacher served as a character reference for Abramoff in the purchase of the SunCruz casinos, had Abramoff host a baby shower where lobbyists gave cash gifts, and wrote a letter to the judge pleading for clemency before his pal and benefactor Abramoff was sent to prison.

Rohrabacher's wife, who pleaded guilty to felony campaign violations, works full-time as his "campaign manager" while also caring for triplet toddlers, paid by campaign contributions from wealthy Republicans and lobbyists. (The terms of her plea bargain forbid her from working in any campaigns except her husband's.)

Erik Prince of Blackwater once interned in Rohrabacher’s office, and you'll find no stauncher defender of Blackwater.

Convicted child molester Jeff Nielsen was abusing a very young boy in Virginia while serving as a Rohrabacher staffer.

Then there's Dana as scriptwriter and influence peddler.

When OC Sheriff Mike Carona couldn’t get the Republican nomination because the stink of his corruption was beginning to make locals gag, Congressman Rohrabacher showed up to give a stirring endorsement and carry the day at the Central Committee meeting , so America’s Sheriff could be re-elected. (Corrupt local politicians need to have a corrupt sheriff.)

The stories go on and on about Rohrabacher-- lazy, crazy, arrogant, corrupt, some say degenerate, but always protected by a compliant local press and a gerrymandered district. Best of all, his arrogance has always led to contempt for the needs of his district, where he not only doesn’t help secure legitimate federal funds, but goes out of his way to sabotage local cities and their needs.

If you want to help a great progressive beat this Bush-Cheney rubber stamp, and you want to tell the ratfuckers and their attorneys that we are sick and tired of their shenanigans, please consider donating to Debbie Cook's campaign.