Can he re-retire Gallegly?

Ventura County Star ^ | 3/29/06

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Can he re-retire Gallegly?

Challenger seeks to engage reluctant incumbent

By Timm Herdt March 29, 2006

pictureWhen Rep. Elton Gallegly earlier this month announced his intent to retire, then discovered it was too late for him to get out or for others to get in, and then unretired, did that awkward sequence of events create a political opportunity for someone else?

It's a question only voters can answer, but the conventional wisdom among political pros is that the answer is no. Absent a scandal or a hostile redistricting, 10-term congressmen just don't lose at the polls.

Still, some of Gallegly's longtime supporters are counseling that the congressman ought to take seriously a challenge in the Republican primary from attorney Michael Tenenbaum, who is in position to potentially exploit any adverse public reaction to the bizarre chain of events that made Gallegly front-page news for several days.

March 10, Gallegly said concerns about his health were such that he had decided not to seek re-election. By March 15, he said his concerns had been sufficiently resolved.

Might some voters question the seriousness of his original concerns, and others question whether he will, in fact, be able to vigorously perform his duties for another two years?

Early in the afternoon of March 10, Gallegly said he believed he would legally be able to withdraw as a candidate and that the law would allow a few more days for other candidates to come forward. It turned out he was wrong on both counts.

But at least three men with close ties to the congressman have since said they were approached either that morning or the night before and asked to consider running.

Might some voters suspect Gallegly was trying to manipulate the process in order to hand-pick a successor?

Judging from some letters published on this page of late and from traffic on various political blogs, those questions do exist.

Does Gallegly need to aggressively address those questions, or at least to actively campaign in order to demonstrate both his personal vigor and his political desire for the job? Or can he take the traditional Rose Garden strategy of incumbents and just ignore his opponent?

Friday in Thousand Oaks offered the first chance to find an answer. The Republican Federated Women of Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village sponsored a well-attended forum for Republican candidates.

Tenenbaum was there; Gallegly wasn't.

The challenger, of course, made note of that. "If he were still retired, as he was last week, I think we'd give him a pass," Tenenbaum said.

The Tenenbaum campaign issued a press release on the event with a headline that read in part, "Retiring incumbent Elton Gallegly is no-show."

The notion that Gallegly is retiring — at least figuratively — is the core message of Tenenbaum's campaign. He says that Gallegly, like many in the Republican-controlled Congress, has become too entrenched in Washington and has lost his way.

Tenenbaum points to runaway federal spending and criticizes a record number of "earmarks" placed in federal spending bills. These are special projects in the various home districts of members.

One such earmark set aside $2 million in federal transportation funds for landscaping along the Ronald Reagan Freeway in Gallegly's district. "If this was coming from a Democrat," Tenenbaum said, "we'd be holding it up to ridicule."

Gallegly was in Santa Maria that Friday night, attending a reception hosted by Santa Barbara County Supervisor Joni Gray. There were 138 people there, Gallegly reports, including a variety of local elected officials. He notes that constituents in that area often complain they are neglected.

"There were a lot of folks up there I had never met," he said. "It's a juggling act, dividing your time in the district."

Gallegly said he informed the Thousand Oaks group that he would not be able to attend weeks ago — well before Tenenbaum unleashed his surprise challenge.

Would the congressman be willing at some point to appear at the same event with Tenenbaum and engage in, if not a debate, at least an exchange of opposing viewpoints?

"I never say no to anything," Gallegly said, indicating that if the timing and circumstances were right he would consider it.

What's unknown now is just how serious a candidate Tenenbaum will be — and in politics, "seriousness" is measured in dollars. Since he announced his candidacy and formed a campaign committee so late in the game, Tenenbaum has not yet been required to file a report on his finances with the Federal Elections Commission.

But Tenenbaum, 37, appears to be a very serious young man — not just earnest in his political views, but also determined to wage a credible campaign.

There is a very short window for him to make the case that voters should reinstate Gallegly's brief retirement.

— Timm Herdt is chief of The Star state bureau. Read his blog on state and local politics at www.timmherdt.com.

[calcowgirl]

[heleny]

if not a debate, at least an exchange of opposing viewpoints?

Maybe the Star or Acorn should ask the candidates to write responses to a series of questions, perhaps one question/topic per week. For instance, they could state their opinions on the immigration bills in Congress and what to do about the illegal aliens invading the streets, and the readers could decide what to think about these candidates.