Posted on 01/26/2006 10:33:10 AM PST by NormsRevenge
The irony is acute.
Plus, it makes a cute lead.
In 1993, Howard Kaloogian, a 32-year-old Carlsbad estate attorney, wrote a strongly worded letter to this newspaper correcting a reader's misleading take on the preamble to the Constitution.
The passionate statement of bedrock conservative principle caught the eye of Bill Morrow, then the assemblyman representing the 73rd District, who called Kaloogian and suggested he run for an open Assembly seat in the 74th.
A Reagan-adoring Republican with a razor-keen interest in politics, young Kaloogian took Morrow's advice and, to the shock and chagrin of GOP moderates, outpolled the crowded primary field and then cruised to victory in the general election.
Fast-forward 13 years.
Kaloogian is long gone from the Assembly, termed out in 2000. He spent 2001 nursing his dying mother near Detroit, where he was raised in a tightly knit Armenian community. (His maternal great-grandparents died at the hands of Turks in what Armenians refer to as "The Genocide.")
To pay the bills, Kaloogian, who's divorced, handles donor estate planning for Hillsdale College in Michigan.
To feed his constant craving for political action, he has jumped onto a fleet of bandwagons – the recall of California Gov. Gray Davis; the pro-war protest against Cindy Sheehan's anti-Bush protest in Crawford, Texas; the pro-military Move America Forward; the Defend Reagan Committee that fought the broadcast of a TV movie about the Reagans.
Kaloogian. He's North County's Energizer Bunny of conservative activism.
But here's the adorable rub.
In the April 11 special primary for the 50th Congressional District, Kaloogian will be scrapping for every vote in his hard-core Republican base.
His goal is to finish second to Francine Busby, the virtually unopposed Democrat, and then, as the top Republican vote-getter, square off against Busby in the special June runoff where the GOP advantage in voter registration will work in his favor.
But if he's going to pull off the upset, Kaloogian will have to climb over the burly body of none other than . . . Bill Morrow.
No question, the Republicans – so far, eight candidates have announced for the special primary – are headed for an April 11 shootout in which a few hundred votes one way or the other could decide who gets a shot at beating up Busby and going to Washington to replace former Rep. Randall Harold Cunningham. (Now those are itsy-bitsy shoes to fill.)
Duking it out on the right wing of the stage will be Morrow and Kaloogian. Granted, others will make a case for their conservative credentials. Former South Bay Congressman Brian Bilbray, for example, has a solid GOP track record, but he's not the rational choice for anti-abortion, pro-gun, anti-gay-marriage, red-meat Republicans whom Kaloogian identifies as his and Morrow's natural voters.
Other Republican candidates have their points – businessman Alan Uke is off to a fast (and expensive) start; former Del Mar mayor and high-tech CEO Richard Earnest is hoping for the swing vote – but Kaloogian and Morrow are GOP warhorses who only run to the right.
Sitting in front of a south Carlsbad coffeehouse, Kaloogian told me why he, and not state Sen. Morrow, will win the majority of rock-ribbed Republican votes.
"I appeal to the activist who understands that you have to take a position and advocate for it instead of someone who votes correctly and goes fishing," he said.
(Ouch! Morrow is an avid outdoorsman.)
"I'm known for promoting our position," Kaloogian continued. "I'm known for advancing our agenda, credentialing our candidates, and advancing our ideas whereas others vote correctly – and go home."
But isn't this cutting partisan edge bound to turn some voters off?
"Politics is about confrontation," he shot back. "It's about winning the war of ideas. You have to be engaged to win."
I asked the former assemblyman to describe a Kaloogian voter.
Evoking the Nixon era when the county was torn apart over a distant war, Kaloogian said his natural constituency is the Silent Majority.
"They're the home-schoolers," he said. "They're the folks who go to church and go to work and go home. That's where they go. On the weekends, they go to the soccer practice and the softball, and they go home. They go to grandma's house. They're never going to go to a rally or attend a debate, but they're there – and they vote."
As sports broadcasters like to say, there are games within games. The same goes for politics.
To me, the most fascinating individual matchup in the special primary will be Kaloogian vs. Morrow.
Morrow's persona is dignified, unflappable, even magisterial. Kaloogian, on the other hand, is a mercurial bulldog itching to mix it up with Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Barbara Boxer and all the other "hard-core leftists."
Out on the right, where talk radio, church leaders, the NRA, anti-abortion groups and conservative blogs exert tremendous influence, Morrow and Kaloogian will make their impassioned pitches to voters, many of whom have voted for both of them before.
At this point, it's anyone's guess if the victor in their private battle will win the spoils or if they'll split the arch-conservative vote and thus kill each other's campaigns.
If that were to happen, the irony (at least to them) would be anything but cute.
That endorsement is BS
drgary
He comes across as a more nicer, decent honest man after you have known him closely and personally for 14 years. Bill is the one of only two people in this race with the character and integrity to lead the district. The other person is Scott Turner. I know Scott and like him for the same reasons I like Bill. They are both humble men with the heart of a servant.
drgary
His campaign already has.
drgary
That endorsement, if you read it (or the title), was for the US Senate race and is absolutely accurate.
Maybe he knew that he couldn't get to first base with the legislation for political reasons and didn't want to marginalize himself as a Don Quiote. Maybe he is a realist with wisdom and knows his limitations. I am sure he gave it a good shot as he did for me (successfully) as an Optometrist in the 90's and did my profession a LOT of good.
drgary
I hope you are murdered and you are over 55, you will have died of natural causes!
Three people have asked Howard to remove references to them from HK's website. They are: Tom Tancredo, Tom McClintock, and Bill Morrow. Kaloogian has refused, so you are impressed ?
Here's how to be impressed: Take two things into account: 1.) The recently involved wealthy and the brash characters always do better in polls than they do on election day. 2.) Bill's core support comes from those in the district that have already voted for him 5 times, re-electing him over and over again. These two create a great climate for a Bill Morrow victory.
James
Nice toknow who your friends are.
drgary
but was posted to give the false impression that he is being endorsed for this race. Very disengenious. Why does he refuse to abide by the wishes of the persons in the photos?
drgary
Howard has no principles to compromise. He is one of the sleaziest campaigners I've seen in a very long time.
Thankfully we have in Senator Bill Morrow a choice of a principled man whose integrity has marked his 14 years of service to his constituents throughout what amounts to over 70% of the current 50th Congressional District.
Even when Morrow is maligned by those like Howard and his minions - who still try to claim they are his friend - Morrow takes the high ground and refuses to characterize them... leaving them to God.
Morrow is the focused warrior we need in Congress - whose integrity is without question and his accountability to his God, his family, and his country will never be in question.
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