Posted on 10/02/2006 12:50:48 PM PDT by SmithL
In television ads, Democrat Jerry Brown, the former governor and now mayor of Oakland, portrays Republican Chuck Poochigian as an "extremist" who would end abortion rights in California and legalize cop-killing assault weapons.
Poochigian, a state senator from Fresno, returns the favor by describing Brown as "a flaky liberal" who cares little about crime victims and who would work to spare convicted first-degree murderers from executions.
Both candidates reject their opponent's jibes. But amid the charges and countercharges five weeks before Election Day, political analysts say the contest's fundamental equation has changed little: In a down-ballot race that has yet to attract widespread attention, the familiar Brown enjoys big advantages over the little-known Poochigian.
"More people know him," Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, a senior scholar at the University of Southern California and longtime observer of state politics, said of Brown, the former two-term governor and three-time presidential candidate.
"People have made their decisions about him. I don't think anybody knows who Poochigian is," she added. "So it's easier for Brown to paint Poochigian as an extremist because there's more canvas there to work with."
Brown's political consultant, Ace Smith, quibbles with the notion that voters' familiarity with Brown is the campaign's major weapon. Rather, Smith contends that voters are attracted by Brown's law enforcement endorsements and turned off by Poochigian's conservative views.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
Charles "Chuck" Poochigian
That's for sure. More people know him as a leftist looney loser lord-of-the-medflies whacko. I wouldn't vote for Jerry Brown for ANYTHING if you held a gun to my head. Poochigian is a good conservative and was the sponsor of the workers compensation reform legislation. Good guy.
I, for one, would have a hard time forgetting a name like Poochigan.
My thoughts exactly...I mean Jerry is so...well, BROWN...ya know...? But Poochigian? Yeah, that's got a ring to it...
Brown's ads are filled with some of the worst distortions and outright lies I've ever heard, and THAT is saying something. For example (closely paraphrasing one Brown radio ad I heard recently):
"Poochigian even opposed Prop ___ for stem-cell research bonds. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? Poochigian opposes stem-cell research?!"
Another Brown ad I heard this morning labels Poochigian as a "career legislator." Gasp. As if Brown -- scion of Pat Brown -- isn't the consummate career (and congenital) politician himself. Cripes.
Jerry Brown: Fictional Crime Fighter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IMEwYIx74U&NR
---Nope, haven't seen a TV poltical ad yet, I don't watch much TV and what I see is cable.
At least we know Poochigian is right about one issue.
And, who among us could fail to support someone with 'Ace Smith' as a political consultant?
Oh! It's that Jerry Brown. Didn't know he was still alive.
Jerry Brown is a lifetime self-promoter politician. If he wins the voters deserve him and considering the locale, I feel sorry for the solid citizens.
Excerpt:
The race between Democrat Jerry Brown and Republican Chuck Poochigian for attorney general is becoming nastier and nastier.Today, Poochigian unearthed an old skeleton in Brown's closet Jacques Barzaghi, the former governor's friend and factotum. Actually, Poochigian appears to have used his Nexis account to uncover every available article written about Barzaghi and allegations that he sexually harassed women. From a Poochigian press release today:
"The City of Oakland paid out $50,000 in taxpayer money to settle a sexual harassment claim filed against Barzaghi, Brown's confidant and senior aide of more than 30 years, by Nereyda Lopez-Bowden, a married 32-year-old mother of three school-age children. The City Manager suspended Barzaghi for three weeks without pay, but Brown refused to fire his 'closest adviser' from his six-figure salary. It wasn't until almost three and a half years later when the attorney general candidate was forced to fire the 66-year-old Barzaghi."Brown campaign consultant Ace Smith said bringing up Barzaghi, the tattooed former French commando who was fired by Brown in 2004 and now lives overseas, is a "hail Mary pass." Polls show Poochigian 15 to 17 percentage points behind Brown. "This is totally unrelated to anything and they are trying to smear Jerry with something that he handled very professionally.... This is a sign of a campaign sinking rapidly."
Meanwhile, Brown's campaign is promoting a YouTube "documentary" by environmentalists called "Poochigian's Toxic Legacy." Bill Magavern of the Sierra Club says in the video that Poochigian has gone against even his own party by opposing "many of very same environmental protection bills that Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, has signed or otherwise supported."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.