I missed it.. Thanks! dang eyes.
Nothing like pre-positioning 2 moderates as the front runners.. how Ca GOPesque , eh? but being as it is a primary, Go Howard! We'll see who actually shows up and votes.
San Diego Union Tribune, Jan 12, 2006
Bilbray may be the strongest candidate, but he is also the most vulnerable to negative attack.Immigration? News reports at the time indicate that the lobbying was not about immigration, but about regulating sweatshops in the Mariana Islands. The lobbying efforts were successful... the rules were never enacted.If I were a political consultant for one of the candidates – Morrow, let's say, or former Assemblyman Howard Kaloogian, businessmen Alan Uke and Ken King (the latter was widely rumored to be dropping out but saying otherwise), former Del Mar Mayor Richard Earnest or even Democrat Francine Busby – I'd be scouring Washington archives for a palling-around photograph of Bilbray and, say, corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Or how about a warm Kodak moment with Brent Wilkes, a defense contractor who allegedly bribed former Rep. Randall Harold Cunningham?
You know the old saying: A picture is worth a thousands slurs.
As it is, the Internet is already abuzz with reports that Abramoff arranged for Bilbray to take a trip to the Mariana Islands. (Bilbray says it was a legitimate trip to discuss naturalization issues that dovetailed with his legislative work on immigration.)
Bilbray swore during the press conference that he had no memorable contact with the radioactive Abramoff.
"I assume I've run into him during the process," Bilbray said. "He was all over the Hill. But when I see him on TV, it's not someone I recognize."
In the real world, one would tag Bilbray as liberal. His record shows he's for gun-control, abortion, more gay rights, federal funding of stem cell research, and a ganGREEN environmentalist. His family are all staunch democrats, including his cousin James Bilbray, a former congressman from Nevada.