The 50th Congressional District is solidly Republican, but it is also solidly evangelical Christian in its church attending constituency. The district is the home to numerous mega-churches and a large number of ultra-conservative start-up congregations, many with extreme Pentecostal leaning.

A key characteristic of evangelic congregations is their belief in the infallibility of the Bible. To these congregations, the Bible is the word of God and it is the cornerstone of their faith. This faith based constituency followed “born again” Randy “Duke” Cunningham for years. Cunningham frequently spoke at Christian schools and was very open about his evangelic, conservative Christianity. Of course, bribery and whoring don’t fit directly with that faith, but Cunningham took the right positions on abortion and other hot button issues and the faithful stuck with him.

A key question in the 50th District today is whether fundamental Christians will be able to stick with Eric Roach. Roach is a devout Mormon. His only claim to public service in the district is through his church. So, will fundamental Christians, who believe that the Latter Day Saints are a devil inspired cult, be able to support Roach with the ardor that gave to the extremely flawed, but born again, Duke Cunningham? Is it easier to vote for a Republican, despite their association with an apostasy, than an honest Democrat? Or is it easier to stay at home? That is an important consideration in the faith based community.

Check out this article from the Washington Monthly. The subject is Republican Mitt Romney, but the key factor is still the capacity of fundamental Christians to support a Mormon. Here is the money quote from the article:

Evangelical Christians consider Mormonism a threat in a way that Catholicism and even Judaism are not. The LDS Church, they charge, has perverted Christian teachings to create a false religion. As John L. Smith, a Southern Baptist who runs Utah Mission�an organization that tries to convert Mormons�told Christianity Today: “Mormonism is either totally true or totally false. If it’s true, every other religion in America is false.” To be tolerant of Mormonism is to put evangelical Christianity at risk.

Will Roach’s conservatism overcome his religion or will fundamental Christian voters stay at home?

According to the Wall Street Journal, Mitchell Wade and Brent Wilkes were providing prostitutes and secure location in which he could indulge their services to convicted Republican felon Randy “Duke” Cunningham as a part of their full service bribery scheme.

Federal investigators are also working to determine which additional members of congress received similar services from Wade and Wilkes. I suspect that they started with the members who got the most in contributions from Wade and Wilkes. That would include a stable of prominent California Republicans.

Just when you thought that Cunningham couldn’t sink any lower, he shows you that he has the capacity to dive deeper.

Apparently, when he is not avoiding the media or asking his fellow church members for support, Representative John Doolittle (CA-4) does a little blogging on the side. Of course, being a solid conservative Republican, Representative Doolittle chooses a upstanding right wing blog for his comments. Doolittle is pissed that the federal government is subsidizing the cost of erectile dysfunction drugs for convicted sex offenders.

14 states allowed 800 sex offenders to acquire ED medications. Outraged, I offered an amendment to the Labor, Education and Health and Human Services Appropriations bill last year to prohibit this practice. The amendment was accepted by the Committee and progressed through much of the legislative maze before it was struck due to procedural objections in the House-Senate Conference on the bill. Fortunately, Congress acted in a subsequent bill, HR 3971, to prohibit the subsidized distribution of ED medications to all participants, not just sex offenders, in Medicare and Medicaid.

According to Doolittle the Republic is saved. But wait, here’s the good part. The conservative audience over at the big time blog where Doolittle posted don’t think much of Doolittle’s efforts. Some comments regarding his post:

Instead of wasting our time trying to get us all excited over ED medications, why don’t you do something about the $749 Billion Medicare Part D that you voted for which is almost twice the $395 Billion that you, Bush, and Frist told us it was going to cost?

Quit posturing by trying to push our buttons and try doing something substantive for a change.

While Congress fiddle f*rts around with ED medication there are actual things that need to be done. And even when they deal with something as  as ED meds they screw it up. You’ll note that rather than just restict it from sex offenders its now prohibited to Medicare recipients even the ones who don’t prey on little children.

Every time the Congress makes a law its a joke and every time the make a joke its a law. But you can’t say they aren’t doing something — even if it is a waste of time. Didn’t Marie Antoinette have something to say about this? Or maybe it was the Romans and their circuses to amuse the masses.

[…]

While It’s Great to see elected officials posting here, I don’t see how this adds much to the discussion.  Congressman Doolittle seems to post these random thoughts that pop into his head on any given day. What we are looking for is a demonstration of leadership and vision, and an expression of where he stands on big issues and where he wants to take the GOP and the country.

These hit-and-run posts are annoying and condescending. Just because you make a post here doesn’t mean you are engaging in any meaningful dialogue.

We know how bad the Dems are, stop posting about them. As a leader of the GOP, tell us why you are any better.

Well, you get the idea. Doolittle complains that all the media wants to do is talk about his ties to corruption so he goes onto a conservative web site and instead of talking about any substantative issue, brags about cutting off unnecessary drugs to 800 people. And, instead of getting praise, he gets cut down to size and held accountable for the financial disaster that he and his fellow Republicans have loosed on our country. Must be a bunch of liberals hiding out at RedState.

Hat tip to Dump Doolittle.

Over at MYDD, Chris Bowers takes a look at the first public poll in the CA-50 race since the April 11 special election. The polls shows Democrat Francine Busby and Republican lobbyist Brian Bilbray in a statistical dead heat, with about 8% of likely voters undecided.

It is important to note that this poll was taken before the NRCC’s latest attack ad aimed at Busby and, more significantly, before the media and public backlash about the ad put Bilbray on the defensive.

Chris also thinks that conservative Republican Eric Roach will mount a primary challenge to Bilbray. This will force Bilbray to fight Busby in the run-off election, while defending himself against Roach in the Republican primary. Roach’s campaign says a decision on his candidacy is likely this week.

Democrats have lots of work to do in the CA-50 and the importance of the district to the 2006 grows as the Republican Party dumps more resources into the campaign.

Representative John Doolittle (CA-4) has been steadfast in his refusal to explain himself to his constituents in his district.  Earlier this year, in a fund raising letter directed to his major campaign contributors, Doolittle asked them for financial help in fighting against “the same Beltway powerbrokers who have targeted me in the past – the labor union bosses, radical feminists and extreme environmentalists.”

Now Doolittle has turned to his fellow Mormons in the 4th District.  According to the Sacramento Bee, in early April Doolittle emailed a document that tells his side of the story, but only to members of his church. If you’re not member of the Latter Day Saints, you don’t get to hear what Doolittle thinks.

 

“I take attacks on my honor very seriously, particularly because of my well-known membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints,” the congressman said in his letter. “I am very conscious that my actions reflect on the Church and have tried to live my public and private lives in a way that is consistent with my faith.”

 

With the e-mail was a four-page attachment titled “Doolittle Attack Facts,” in which claims pulled from newspaper stories are matched with Doolittle’s perspective.

 

In one “attack,” for example, it’s been reported that Doolittle refuses to return campaign contributions from Abramoff, his associates or clients. The attachment said that’s true because “John refuses to give even the slightest appearance that he may have done something wrong by returning money that was accepted legally and ethically.”

 

Another “attack” based on the Las Vegas fundraiser makes Doolittle “look like a hypocrite considering his strong faith and opposition to gambling,” the attachment said.

 

But “Las Vegas is one of the top destination spots in the world,” said the response. “While Rep. Doolittle doesn’t personally gamble and doesn’t believe it is a morally permissible activity, he does enjoy Las Vegas as it has some of the finest hotels, restaurants and entertainment in the world. For these same reasons, others enjoy it as well which helps make a fundraiser there a success.”

Apparently, Doolittle doesn’t think his fellow Mormons would be interested in his explanation about his 15% cut of all campaign and PAC contributions.

When he needs to explain himself, Doolittle first goes to those who have money and second he plays the religion card.

This guy makes me sick.

Since the 50th District has a big election coming up in June, voters might want to ask Republican candidate and lobbyist, Brian Bilbray questions about his various issues and occasional allegations that come up during the course of the campaign.

Here is the direct email link to Bilbray’s campaign.

If you don’t get a response from Mr. Bilbray, you might want to ask him the question via the newspaper. Here are the letters to the editor addresses for the North County Times and the Union Tribune.

Here are a couple of questions you might want to ask Brian Bilbray:

1. As a lobbyist for anti-immigrant groups did you have the opportunity to work closely with the Border Guardians and the National Socialist Movement? As these are two actives anti-immigration groups, it would be interesting to know your relationship to them?

2. Brian, when you were a member of congress, you took a Jack Abramoff sponsored trip to the Marianas  Island. When you came back you worked hard in congress to insure that workers in this U.S. Trust Territory were not covered by even the most basic U.S. labor laws. What happened on that trip to convince you to keep the garment workers in the Marianas in a state of virtual slavery?

Drop the Bilbray campaign a note or ask them through the newspaper. You deserve to know what makes Brian Bilbray tick.