Houston doesn't sound like much of a leader. But we need to take out McNerney in '08. We may have no choice but to go with Houston. We'd probably lose an Assembly seat, though, and we need enough Republicans to hold up budgets and sustain vetoes.
There may be other choices. State Assemblyman Alan Nakashini and former state Assemblyman Dean Andal (who also served on the Board of Equalization) are also eyeing candidacies, and I believe they are more conservative than Houston.
However, Richard Pombo blew it and has no business running again.