Posted on 05/31/2006 1:26:41 PM PDT by venturaconservative
Michael Tenenbaum says most people he meets while campaigning in local communities don't know who their congressman is.
"It's not your fault you don't know," Tenenbaum tells them. "If he'd done something you'd know him."
Tenenbaum, 37, is speaking of his June 6 primary election opponent, Elton Gallegly of Simi Valley, the 20-year congressman for the 24th District, which covers parts of Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, including Thousand Oaks. Voters will choose one of the two Republicans for the November election ballot.
What many people do know about Gallegly, 62, adds Tenenbaum, is that Gallegly unexpectedly announced his retirement March 10 for undisclosed health reasons, and said he wouldn't seek an 11th term. It was too late for anyone else to file candidacy papers or for Gallegly to remove his name from the ballot. Five days later, Gallegly recanted the decision. Since then Tenenbaum says he has been frustrated by Gallegly's refusal to participate in a debate or a forum. The Democratic challenger is the Rev. Jill M. Martinez.
"We are having a ruckus over the race...but we're real confident because of the registration in that district that we will prevail in the fall," said Ventura County Republican Party Chairman Leslie Cornejo.
Tenenbaum, a law professor, is a self-employed lawyer and businessman. In a meeting at the Thousand Oaks Acorn office last week, Tenenbaum spoke quickly as if to fit in everything he wanted to say.
"I looked at my opponent's record and thought, 'I can do better than that,'" Tenenbaum said. "On fiscal issues he has lost his way like the rest of Congress, voting for pork projects. It's unhealthy to hold office as long as Gallegly has."
Tenenbaum's public service background includes his election by fellow lawyers as a director of the California Young Lawyers Association; volunteer prosecutor for the Ventura County District Attorney's office; Thousand Oaks Performing Arts Center Board of Governors president, and Civic Arts Plaza Foundation Board of Directors chairman.
"If you haven't been elected to public office people say you don't have experience. If you've held office they say you're a career politician," Tenenbaum said. "People say it's an uphill battle to take on an incumbent, but at the same time they say we need a change."
Tenenbaum cites a long list of criticisms of his opponent, including that Gallegly hasn't done enough to address national security or fiscal restraint, two of Tenenbaum's chief concerns.
Tenenbaum wants the country's borders secured and threats from abroad addressed through improved intelligence.
"We've set up a system that doesn't allow enough people to come legally through the front door so they're sneaking across borders," Tenenbaum said.
Another goal is to limit government's role in everyday life, something he says has "expanded well beyond its constitutional authority." Local education decisions shouldn't come from Washington and wasteful spending by the government must end.
"We're spending over $10,000 per student per year," Tenenbaum said. "If there are 30 kids in a classroom, that's $300,000."
If a teacher earns $100,000, where's the rest of the money going, Tenenbaum asks. The school building is paid for; the money can't all be going toward books.
"I think there's plenty of money. The answer to education is not to throw more money at it," Tenenbaum said.
On abortion, Tenenbaum is both "pro-choice and pro-life."
"I think abortion is a terrible thing and unfortunately, the consequence of a lot of things that could have been avoided, except incest and rape," Tenenbaum said.
He rails against a rule that bans American female soldiers from having abortions on military bases abroad--something Tenenbaum says Gallegly voted for.
"The government shouldn't interfere," Tenenbaum said. "It's a personal choice."
He's supportive of efforts to bring democracy to Iraq but wants clear objectives defined.
"We can't ignore the hornet's nest in the Middle East," Tenenbaum said. "A conversation needs to be had on what we're trying to accomplish."
Tenenbaum is the first person in his family born in the United States. His mother is from Morocco. A Holocaust survivor of the Dachau concentration camp in Germany, his Polish-born father died a year after the family moved from Detroit to Thousand Oaks. Tenenbaum was 8 years old, with two younger brothers.
The family, including his mother, still lives in Thousand Oaks.
The 1987 Thousand Oaks High School valedictorian, Tenenbaum earned an economics degree from the University of California at Los Angeles in three years, and a law degree from Harvard University.
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Thanks,
"It's not your fault you don't know," Tenenbaum tells them. "If he'd done something you'd know him."
That's pure BS. Rather than pandering to people who are ignorant, he should have told them if they don't know who their congressman is, then they shouldn't be voting in the first place.
Welcome to Free Republic.
What a load of bµllshit, everyone know Gallegly is our representative and damn proud of it. He is a resolute conservative, and a staunch oponent of illegal immigration. Best of all, he voted to impeach clintoon.
My initial quibble is with the headline's characterization of Gallegly as "aging."
Perhaps that might be apt for, say, a Marine D.I. who's expected to lead recruits in basic training, matching them pushup for pushup, pullup for pullup and mile for mile. At 62 you'd really be one of the eldest D.I.'s; you'd be "aging."
But 62 is a pretty middle-of-the-road age for a Congresscritter.
Anyhoo, the improper use of that adjective is a pretty good hint at the biased puff-piece to follow.
Get the old fahrts out, imho (age 63). Look for Jewish Republicans like this one. Our county chair is now a Jewish Republican. That's good, because this county is mentally part of Israel.
gallegly is socially conservative but when it comes to fiscal issues, hes probably one of the most liberal republicans there is. he lifted the federal debt ceiling to $7 billion and has pretty much voted for every one of bush's spending projects
Most of the spending is due to automatic escalations in entitlements.
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