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| 7/8 |
| 2006/6/7-9 [Politics/Domestic/California, Politics/Domestic/Immigration] UID:43299 Activity:nil |
6/7 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13165121 This is a sad precursor to November. Despite all the complaints and problems within the GOP, the number of Republican voters is still much greater than the number of Democrat voters. \_ yes ... much greater ... in a Republican district ... Busby is a weak candidate. I'm surprised she did as well as she did against a telegenic GOP person pushing an anti-immigration plank. \_ She was also taped encouraging illegal aliens to vote for her. "You don't need papers to vote.. we'll show you how.." http://csua.org/u/g2g (Not all in the link, i'll try to find the audio file) |
| 7/8 |
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| www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13165121 Politics Electoral earthquake could begin in California Special House election in San Diego may be harbinger for November Brian Bilbray and Francine Busby Denis Poroy / AP Republican Brian Bilbray is facing off against Democrat Francine Busby in a high-stakes special election in California's 50th congressional district. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, who was convicted of accepting millions of dollars in bribes. Profile E-mail If you live in Atlanta or Denver, why should you care about a special election Tuesday in a congressional district in southern California? Answer: because the outcome tonight in California's 50^th congressional district will be the most significant indicator we've yet had as to whether Republicans can keep control of the House of Representatives this November. Put aside those generic poll questions that ask "which party would you prefer to control the House?" But today real live voters will decide the fates of Republican Brian Bilbray and Democrat Francine Busby. This is a Republican district: Cunningham carried it in 2004 with 58 percent and President Bush carried it with 55 percent. Bilbray is a former House member who represented a neighboring and less Republican district from 1995 to 2001, but was defeated in November 2000, mostly due to his vote to impeach President Clinton. "One of the most unexpectedly competitive races in congressional history," Bill Burton, spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, called the Busby-Bilbray race. Busby "has shown that a strong 'change' message can make even a former member of Congress vulnerable in a safe Republican district," Burton said. Busby "can more or less competently offer herself as a vehicle for protest," said Gary Jacobson, professor of political science at the University of California, San Diego, and an expert on congressional elections. "She's not particularly dynamic or charismatic, but maybe that's not what people are looking for." National ripple effect Burton made the larger national point: "If the Republicans have to spend $5 million in such a district, how much will they have to spend to help Gerlach, Pryce and Shaw?" Burton was referring to three endangered Republican House members: Jim Gerlach of Pennsylvania, Deborah Pryce of Ohio and Clay Shaw of Florida. Referring to reports that more than 150 House Republican staffers had been dispatched to the district to help turn out the vote for Bilbray, Burton said, "They won't be able to do that in 40 or 50 races this fall." Burton said the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee had spent $2 million to help Busby. "You've got Busby attacking 'the culture of corruption' and attacking Bilbray as a lobbyist; Bilbray has tried to make illegal immigration the pivotal issue," said veteran California Republican political consultant Allan Hoffenblum, who is not working for either candidate. But Bilbray may not be tough enough on illegal immigration for some voters. An independent candidate, William Griffith, is also on the ballot and has won the support of the Minutemen, a citizen-run, anti-illegal immigration group that patrols the Mexican border. |
| csua.org/u/g2g -> www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/50thdistrict/20060603-9999-1mi3busby.html By Dani Dodge UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER June 3, 2006 If an election can turn on a sentence, this could be the one: "You don't need papers for voting." On Thursday night, Francine Busby, the Democratic candidate for the 50th Congressional District, was speaking before a largely Latino crowd in Escondido when she uttered those words. But someone taped it and a recording began circulating yesterday. After she made that statement at the meeting, Busby immediately said: "You don't need to be a registered voter to help (the campaign)." She said that subsequent statement was to clarify what she meant. The recording, which was played yesterday on Roger Hedgecock's radio talk show, jolted the campaign. Busby, a Cardiff school board member, is in a tight race with Republican Brian Bilbray, a congressman-turned-lobbyist, who has based his campaign on a tough anti-illegal-immigration stance. The two are vying to replace Randy "Duke" Cunningham, who was jailed after pleading guilty to taking bribes. Busby said she was invited to the forum at the Jocelyn Senior Center in Escondido by the leader of a local soccer league. Many of the 50 or so people there were Spanish speakers. Toward the end, a man in the audience asked in Spanish: "I want to help, but I don't have papers." It was translated and Busby replied: "Everybody can help, yeah, absolutely, you can all help. You don't need papers for voting, you don't need to be a registered voter to help." Bilbray said at worst, Busby was encouraging someone to vote illegally. At best, she was encouraging someone who is illegally in the country to work on her campaign. "She's soliciting illegal aliens to campaign for her and it's on tape - this isn't exactly what you call the pinnacle of ethical campaign strategy," Bilbray said. Earlier, San Diego Minutemen volunteer Anthony Porrello said he got the tape from an an anonymous Minuteman and passed it on to the news media and talk radio. News of the gathering had circulated among local Minutemen before the meeting, according to William Griffith, the independent candidate in the race who has been endorsed by the San Diego Minutemen. "I heard what I expected to hear from a Democrat who supports amnesty," he said. Busby says she doesn't support amnesty, but backs the comprehensive plan pushed by US Sen. She does not in any way support or advocate that illegal immigrants vote, she said. "I was clarifying the question that was being asked in Spanish and then stated that you do not have to be a registered voter to help the campaign because there were many people who appeared to be to be under 18 in the group who wanted to volunteer," she said in a statement. "I'm not surprised that the Republican Party is making this last-minute, desperate ploy and it is absolutely false." |