Whaddya know...
Yet another
staged Pombo campaign event featuring a Bush Administration appointee. This time it was Commerce Secretaty Carlos Gutierrez campaigning for Pombo. I thought I heard from
someone that Pombo is so strong he probably doesn't need to stage these events. Hmmm...
Pombo suggested to the Stockton Record that he is a champion of small alternative fuel companies. Perhaps his cognitive dissonance is flaring up again?
"The biggest hurdle that little companies like this face is the initial investment to get started."
In one short sentence Richard Pombo redefined the phrase "up is downism". Of course, the biggest hurdle these small companies face is Richard Pombo's policies themselves.
CA-11 Narrative
One sentence from a ContraContra Times article from Lisa Vorderbrueggen really smacked me between the eyes. From an 8.18.2006
article about Pombo running around pretending that after 14 years of traffic congestion he is now committed to solving the problem by a staging a campaign event with a former "top Republican Party executive"...
From a campaign perspective, it doesn't hurt Pombo to appear at the helm of Bay Area leaders in a collaborative discussion with a high-ranking federal official about how to fix congestion on I-580.
On the other hand, Pombo probably doesn't need to stage such an event to win.
While political experts say Republicans are vulnerable in the wake of public ire over the Iraq War and President Bush, few predict Pombo will lose.
Umm Lisa?
From your own reporting on
8.13.2006...
The Cook Political Report's analysis last week lists 10 GOP-held seats as toss ups but Pombo's is not one of them. It ranks the district as "leaning Republican," which is more competitive than "likely Republican."
And most recently from the Cook political report...
GOP INCUMBENTS IN DANGER: Rep. Barbara Cubin’s weak showing in yesterday’s Republican primary for Wyoming’s At-large seat highlights a significant weak spot for House Republicans: the considerable number of incumbents in safe Republican districts who are struggling. Other seats in danger include Reps. Richard Pombo (CA-11), Jean Schmidt (OH-02), Don Sherwood (PA-10), Randy Kuhl (NY-29) and Marilyn Musgrave (CO-04).
Sorry but the phrases "leaning Republican" and "in danger" mean that Pombo does, in fact, have to "stage such events". Not to mention Pombo's name included with incumbents like Don Sherwood (he was accused of choking his mistress) and Jean Schmidt (she called John Murtha a coward on the House floor).
Also, Pombo has to "stage such events" because he has nothing else to run on other than staged events. (You know, kinda similar to what some call the "
Photo Op Presidency".)
I take no issue with Lisa V doing her best to handicap this race but lines like the one she invoked above quickly change the CA-11 narrative from "it's an uphill battle for McNerney" to "McNerney cannot win". The latter narrative simply has no basis in reality.
Pombo needs a CHiP escort on I-580
Since Pombo has
not lifted a finger to alleviate CA-11 district highway congestion, he needed a California Highway Patrol escort when travelling with the Secretary of Transportation on Interstate 580.
[Secretary Cino] and Pombo, escorted by a California Highway Patrol car, also fought late-morning traffic to meet with transportation planners and elected officials in Pleasanton.
I wonder if the average district commuter can call in the CHP for an escort to their business meetings in Pleasanton?
