Posted on 05/11/2008 2:33:40 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued
He denounced it as a political stunt and power play, but was the recall campaign against state Sen. Jeff Denham the best thing to ever happen to his political career? The upside for the Atwater Republican grew immensely this week when Senate leader Don Perata, D-Oakland, called off the campaign.
Denham, who has raised considerable funds to fight the effort, vowed Thursday to continue his defense because his name will still be on the ballot June 3.
Indeed, some local Democrats intend to keep campaigning against the senator on a grass-roots level.
Ads against him have already run. But Denham has run his own TV spots and gained support from newspaper editorials.
"It's certainly raised my profile around the state," Denham said, adding that he is now recognized by strangers in airports.
Not bad for a guy who until a few months ago was a little-known state senator representing an oddly shaped rural district.
It's the kind of exposure that could give him a boost as he eyes a possible run for lieutenant governor in 2010, said GOP strategist Dan Schnur.
"Don Perata has essentially given Denham a statewide fundraising and political network that is going to be very valuable for the lieutenant governor's race," said Schnur, a political communications instructor at University of California at Berkeley and the University of Southern California.
(Excerpt) Read more at modbee.com ...
This could indeed backfire on the Democrats.
Yeah... but maybe Denham has learned a lesson, too.
Don’t reach over the aisle so much—they are *not* your friends.
Good. When I first heard of this I burst a blood vessel. This is some Adolph Hitler stuff from the CA rats.
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