Posted on 01/11/2006 3:56:16 PM PST by NormsRevenge
CARLSBAD – Rep. Darrell Issa said Wednesday morning that he was endorsing former Republican congressman Brian Bilbray and will serve as his campaign chairman in the race to replace disgraced Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham in the 50th District. Pointing out that his district, the 49th, is touched on all sides by the 50th, Issa, R-Vista, said he needs a partner in Washington D.C. who has the experience and integrity to get work done on behalf of the North County.
"When you are looking for someone who is trusted and proven and who has been in the arena and has been bloodied a bit you could not find a better person than Brian Bilbray," Issa said in a news conference at Maxton Brown Park on Laguna Drive, with the Buena Vista Lagoon as a backdrop.
Issa said Bilbray is a proven leader who has been at the forefront of on issues important to North County, such as illegal immigration.
Bilbray, who represented Imperial Beach in Congress from 1994-2000, authored the "birth-right" legislation that is part of the immigration reform package now being considered in Washington, Issa said
Bilbray said he was honored by Issa's endorsement and looked forward to his active participation in his campaign.
"Darrell Issa is a man who knows what need to be done in North County and San Diego and he knows what need to be done in Washington D.C," Bilbray said.
Bilbray also announced that Roxana Foxx, former chairwoman of the San Diego County Republican Party, would serve as a co-campaign finance chair.
Bilbray also picked up the endorsement of the Deputy Sheriff's Association of San Diego County from President Jim Duffy, who said that Bilbray would work on homeland security issues important to law enforcement.
Issa said Bilbray, if elected, will have more senority than he does in Washington and will be "first in line" for key personal, committees and even his choice of offices.
But that's Ok with Issa. "He will take the best he can, but he will do what is right for this district," Issa said.
Among the others in the race are two Democrats – Francine Busby and Chris Young – and six Republicans. The GOP candidates are state Sen. Bill Morrow, R-Oceanside; former Assemblyman Howard Kaloogian of San Marcos; former Del Mar mayor Richard Earnest; businessman Alan Uke of Del Mar and Ken King of Rancho Santa Fe.
Cunningham resigned in November after pleading guilty to conspiracy and tax-evasion charges stemming from his dealings with defense contractors. He is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 27.
The 50th Congressional District runs along the North County Coast from Carlsbad south to Del Mar and also includes the cities of San Marcos and Escondido as well as the neighborhoods of Rancho Santa Fe, University City, La Jolla and Rancho Bernardo.
The general in this race is going to be close. I really don't know who has the best chance to win among the Pubbies, because other than Bilbray I don't know them well enough. Bilbray is a bit of a beta type. It is a mistake to always assume the most moderate Pubbie will be the strongest candidate (as I am sure you will agree :) ), even in a somewhat moderate district, which it is now, like this one. Presentation counts.
You don't think DOUBLING the minimum wage in one swoop will have a substantial deleterious impact on employment? What is your empirical and theoretical economic evidence for that? Even the Dems don't advocate that.
I see my name has popped up. :)
Post 45. You can tell which post by looking at the bottom of my post.
The heavy burden that our local and state governments carry must be shifted to the federal government.
Isn't this usually the sign that if the Federal Government pays for it, the problem is solved? Not good enough in my book. Time to start enforcing the laws against those are here illegally, particularly through enforcement action against employers. Increasing enforcement will act as a strong deterrent and an incentive for those here illegally to flee to their homeland and avoid prosecution.
Not that is evident, but I'm not well connected. I'm only reading news articles and such.
We still have liberallarry on this site, and is murrymom still around? And then we have Churchillbuff, a fundamentalist isolationist antiwar Christian. And then there is Willy Green, a hard core protectionist, state control of the economy, advocate. Am I more "liberal" than those folks? Obviously, it depends in part on how you weight the issues. Cheers.
I'd have no problem with Bilbray if he wanted a rematch with Susan Davis, I just think he is a poor fit for this seat. I prefer Kaloogian over Morrow, but both are good men. I don't know what is the deal with Roach, and I tend to be very wary of rich guys coming in trying to buy a seat in a seat that doesn't require buying (if he wants to do it with a Dem-held seat, again, be my guest). The two Republicans that come to mind that did that were no gems, Darrell Issa being one, and Michael Huffington being the other (and his little stunt ended up turning a safe GOP seat into a Democrat one).
Ick. Don't ping the trolls. ;-)
The Davis seat is now a gerrymandered Dem bastion. This seat in the bad GOP climate right now is marginal however, the most marginal in San Diego county. Bush carried it by about 10%, and it is slowly trending Dem. It is too close to San Diego, and not exurban enough. The big GOP precincts in San Diego County are in Issa's and that House check kiting guy's districts, whose name escapes me for the moment. I think it is Hunter, no?
Well when I mention someone, I ping them. It is a hard wired rule of mine.
Actually, having checked, the Davis seat is Kerry plus 7.5%, and the Cunningham seat is Bush plus 11% on checking. So the Davis seat is more marginal on paper, but not right now, no way, Jose, given the climate and the Dem incumbency factor.
Of course, aren't all the seats in CA gerrymandered ? I'm not totally buying into the claims of this being a bad climate for the GOP (if only because the Democrats can't present any positive counter-agenda other than to say "we're not Republicans." When the GOP tried that in '98 with the "we're not Clinton" schtick, it blew up in our faces). That's rather disheartening to hear that the seat is trending Democrat, we can ill-afford to slip any further in California, especially in these strongholds. Of course, the CA GOP as of late aren't exactly the brightest crayons in the box. Yes, Hunter was the one caught up in the check-kiting scandal (which I had to go to an older Almanac of American Politics to reconfirm, as the newer editions no longer mention it).
I'm under no illusions of us taking back the Davis seat at the current time, only that I would support Bilbray if he attempted to challenge Davis. As I said, in Dem-leaning districts, the Republicans ought to recruit wealthy candidates who can self-fund (after all, buying Senate seats in more competitive areas is the Dems M.O.).
Is Bilbray a trust fund baby or something?
Well yes, as a matter of fact, by deliberately mischaracterizing my economic views, you've demonstrated Klintonian "honesty" countless times.
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