There is no doubt the Busby will receive a score in the "F: range from the National Taxpayers Union. Brian Bilbray was in the "D" range. If you are picking your school academic decathlon team maybe the "D’ student may be better than the one the flunks. But if you have a chance to take an A or even a B+ student or someone with that potential, why wouldn’t you?
Some in the Washington establishment probably wouldn’t because it means dumping a friend or a BYOC. Maybe they know the "D" student better than the high achiever. Maybe he gives everyone candy.
Who cares? This is about winning. Bilbray is a pro- big government Republican that has cast bad votes on taxes, guns , life etc…
The excuse is he had to vote that way to keep his old seat. While pointing out that didn’t seem to work out well, we know from this spin that Bilbray will sacrifice principle to stay in power.
We have enough of those types in our party already. We also have enough "D" students that have betrayed their mandate.
Time for a challenge to set things right. Lets get better players on our team. Starting in the 50th CD June primary,
April 17th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Just when you thought CRA hadn’t done enough to get Busby elected…I guess these guys won’t be satisfied until there are 50 Dems in the House Delegation and 70 Dems in the Assembly! “Who caresm, this is about winning” is an interesting sentiment coming from the guy who wants to take out the Rep the voters chose as their nominee…
April 17th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Instead of freakiing out Nate that you grow the government Republicans will have to fight to actually get Bilbray elected, why don’t you look at the reasons that conservatives are dissatisfied with Bilbray’s positions. Just address them in the coming campaign so conservatives might actually have a reason to vote for Bilbray. I’m with Jon on this one. Talk is cheap.
April 17th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Nate, I think there is a disconnect here. The California Republican Assembly, Mike Spence and Jon Fleischman all urge a YES vote for Brian Bilbray in the special eleection run-off against Busby.
The question is whether in the GOP primary for the full two year term whether conservatives should now unify behind a candidate who will go to Washington pumped up to make a difference within the Republican caucus. If you look at Bilbray’s supporters, many of them (such as the “King of Pork” himself Bill Thomas) are the ones who are at the root of our problem.
Again, the problem is that under a GOP majority, the House of Representatives has been unable or unwilling to put across to the U.S. Senate a real spending reduction bill. Instead, they have approved budgets that have increased the size and scope of the federal government considerably.
April 17th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I looked up these numbers Mike refers to in his post. According to the NTU in 1998 the AVERAGE of all members of Congress was in the 30’s. So if Bilbray got in the “D” range. That still made him 30 points better than the average. Not bad. And given the NTU’s strict guidelines for “good grades” it is absurd to make the assumption that a blank slate like Roach is going to miraculously be an A or a B in these arbitrary ratings. You can talk about the spending all you want. Bilbray will be able to run on the fact that he left Congress when there was a surplus. And if CRA wants to run more trite hit-pieces to try and prove the contrary, all they will succeed in doing is supressing turnout. That’s what negative campaigning does.
April 17th, 2006 at 12:00 am
For the Record, here are Brian Bilbray’s vote ratings in the House,
taken from the 2000 edition of the Almanac of American Politics:
Americans for Dem. Action… 17%
ACLU … 20%
Nat’l Taxpayers Union…. 52%
Nat’l Fed. of Independent Biz…. 79%
Chamber of Commerce…. 70%
American Conserv. Union…. 70%
Nat’l Tax Limit. Comm…. 63%
Christian Coalition…. 75%
I grew up in that mid-county District, and saw it move to the Left over a few decades.
By steering a moderate-conservative path, Brian Bilbray won this
seat from incumbent Lynn Schenk in 1994 (49% – 46%) and just did hold on
vs. then-Councilwoman Chris Kehoe in 1998 (48% – 46%).
I backed another candidate in the 2006 special primary, but have no problem with
closing ranks behind
Brian Bilbray now. I believe he has HEARD our voices, and won’t forget
what we are saying. You don’t rise from Lifeguard to U.S. Congressman
if you are tone deaf. Just my 2 cents.
April 17th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I don’t think its necessarily the voters of the 50th that they want him to listen to, james. I think its Jon Fleischman and Mike Spence that they want him taking direction from. Just my two cents.
April 17th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Nate:
Let’s assume that all of us have good intentions and want to
promote the conservative cause.
Mr. Fleischman has kindly provided this forum to allow us to exchange
our thoughts on how best to accomplish this objective.
April 17th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Nate. When did you move into the 50th? I can’t find anyone registered by that name in the voterfile. There was only one teague registered to vote that had the middle initial “N”. And she is a Dem with the first name of Cher. (not making that up).
April 17th, 2006 at 12:00 am
If Nate is right. We should be happy at average.
April 17th, 2006 at 12:00 am
You caught me. I don’t live in the 50th. So you were looking me up in the voter-file? How conservative of you. I was represented by Bilbray in his old district, and miss having him. He was a good representative, truly cares about, and knows the issues, and you guys should give him a shot.
April 17th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I was represented by Bilbray back in the old 49th and I was disappointed that he won…although John Steele would not have been much better. Unfortunately there were no serious conservatives on the ballot in 94′.
IMHO, Brian won in 1994 because of the Republican Revolution and the Contract With America…not because he was a moderate. He won in 98′ because Kehoe was gay and definitely was just too liberal enough for the district. Davis ran as a moderate Democrat although she is anything but. Moderate Dem vs. Moderate Rep, I suspect most in the district felt they could not distinguish between the two.
This is a conservative district. It deserves conservative representation.
April 17th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I think this whole debate should come down to one simple question: Does Francine Busby have any chance of pulling off an upset and winning the runoff?
If the answer is yes, then we should all unify behind Bibray in both elections, becuase you could not attack Bilbray on one part of the ballot and expect it to have no impact on the other.
But if the answer is no, I would say conservatives should go for it and have a real primary.
I haven’t seen enough polling nor been involved in the race enough to know what the answer to my question is, but that is my take.
April 17th, 2006 at 12:00 am
If you look at the votes, this district went 60% conservative and 40% liberal in the votes for Republican candidates. Even if you assume NO cross-over votes from Dems hoping to get Biblray for the run-off, it still looks like a pretty conservative district to me!
April 18th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Nate:
Is there really a difference between 70 Dems in the Assembly and a combination of 70 Dems and Republicans who act like Dems?
I am beyond sick and tired when it comes to sell out GOPers who make LBJ look like an amateur when it comes to government spending, make me yearn for the days of Hillary-care and are more concerned with securing Iraq’s borders than our own.