Bilbray anounces for Cunningham's vacant seat

San Diego Union-Tribune ^ | 12/1/05 | Debbi Farr Baker

[AuH2ORepublican]

"I met Bilbray before he was a Congresscritter, and while he was a congresscritter.

I don't see him as a RINO. He ain't a tree hugger, and he's conservative enough to fill the Duke's seat."

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Well, Bilbray's voting record was rather liberal on environmental issues, and he is strongly pro-abortion and anti-gun (with the voting record to prove it), so I don't think he's conservative enough to be elected to a conservative Republican seat. His lifetime ACU rating (computed in his 6 years in the House) was 71, which was fine for his old seat, but in a district in which President Bush got 55% in 2004 we should not settle for a liberal-to-moderate Republican. Kaloogian appears to be our best choice.

[SD-DC Guy]

"I doubt that Hastert will offer anything to Bilbray".

I happen to doubt you are correct. Hastert gave Lungren his seniority back, just one year ago. Lungren was also in an even more heavily republican district than Bilbray is running in. It is a tradition that the speaker grants seniority to returning members and there is frankly abosolutely no reason to believe the Speaker would grant it to Lungren and not Bilbray. It is pretty much a given he will get it back.