Apparently John McCain doesn’t want to hang with Brian Bilbray anymore.  He cancelled an appearance with the CA-50 candidate:

Arizona Sen. John McCain on Tuesday canceled an appearance for a Republican congressional candidate who has attacked his opponent for supporting McCain’s immigration bill.

McCain, R-Ariz., was scheduled to speak Wednesday at a breakfast fundraiser for Brian Bilbray, who is locked in a close runoff race with Democrat Francine Busby for the San Diego-area seat left vacant by disgraced former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham. The event was expected to raise at least $65,000.(AP 5/30/06)

Oh, so you mean I shouldn’t attack my opponent for supporting a bill sponsored by somebody who was coming to help me fundraise?  Oh, I didn’t know that.  I’ll get on that next time.  But at least Sen. McCain is still forking over some cash ($5K from his PAC).

The DCCC’s stakeholder has a nice little recap of the story with press releases from Busby and the DCCC.  You know one thing that I can say about Busby’s campaign- they are very good about staying on the lobbyist message.  I swear everytime they use the word “Bilbray” it is proceeded with “lobbyist”.  Now, that’s discipline.

Oh and by the way, who were some of Bilbray’s clients you might ask?  Oh well, some very friendly anti-immigration such as the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).  Yeah, good ol’ FAIR.  What a great bunch of nativists.  They don’t even attempt to hide it on their website.  They have flash stastics to scare the natives.  It’s all quite fun.

So go ahead Sen McCain.  Give Bilbray your five grand.  But is Brian Bilbray really who you want to work with?  I think we all know who the reasonable candidate in this race is.  Let’s help Francine out: ActBlue … her site.

From U.S. News (via [RandyMI at dKos ]http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/5/29/162037/594]):

Staffers from the National Republican Congressional Committee are quietly telling GOP House members to prepare for a possible loss in the June 6 special election to fill the seat of Randy “Duke” Cunningham, now in prison for taking bribes. The Southern California district is heavily Republican, but some GOP insiders believe that Democrat Francine Busby will defeat former GOP Rep. Brian Bilbray and go on to win a full term in November. More alarming some worry that a Bilbray defeat could signal the GOP’s loss of control of the House. The NRCC has already pumped $3.1 million into the race. “It is becoming more and more likely,” says one GOP strategist, “that Bilbray will squeak out a victory.” But another longtime Republican operative isn’t so sure. “This is a district we should never lose,” he says. “It’s the stink of Cunningham, and the Bush problem.”(Usnews.com 6/5/2006 (sic))

As we’ve talked about here recently, Francine Busby has a slight cash lead.  However the NRCC is desparate to keep this seat in GOP hands.  Lobbyist Brian Bilbray is the benificiary of that program.  We need to make sure that Francine can respond to the NRCC attack ads and dishonesty that they are spewing.

This race is not only winnable, it’s a race that, at this point, is our ours to lose.  Complaceny is now our biggest enemy.  The NRCC will go to great lengths to ensure that the lobbyist wins this seat (and furthering the K Street Project).  Check out our ActBlue page to donate to Francine’s campaign.

( – promoted by SFBrianCL)

An AP analysis of campaign finance reports has Cardiff School Board member Francine Busby with a CASH ADVANTAGE over lobbyist Brian Bilbrary. 

Democrat Francine Busby is outraising Republican Brian Bilbray in the high-spending California race to replace disgraced ex-Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham in Congress, campaign finance reports filed Thursday show.

Busby had raised $2.25 million as of May 17, including $755,139 in the most recent fundraising period. She ended the reporting period with about $185,000 in cash on-hand to take her through the June 6 election.

Bilbray had raised just over $1 million in his bid for the San Diego area seat, including $630,055 in the most recent period. He ended up with just over $100,000 on-hand.(SF Chron 5/26/06)

Very rarely does a Dem have a cash advantage for open seats in even districts, let alone districts with a sizable GOP lead.  Busby has become the poster child of the netroots, partly because of the hubub surround the Duke-stir, partly becuase of the timing of the special election, and partly because she is a compelling candidate.  She has reached out to the netroots in a meaningful and substantial way.  Her campaign understands that the Internet is not merely an ATM, but a place to spread information, disseminate ideas, and formulate a vision for the election.

The article continues with a summary of the finance reports in other notable districts in California, CA-4 (Doolittle), CA-11 (Pombo), and CA-36 (Harman).  A quick table of that data is on the flip.

A dark cloud descended on San Diego today. And yes, it is true, the dark cloud always travels with an ambulance.

Fresh from fundraising for Doolittle (CA-04) and Pombo (CA-11), two of the worst and most corrupt representatives in congress, Dick Cheney flew down to San Diego to fundraise for former congressman-now-lobbyist Brian Bilbray. He chose the Harbor Island Sheraton, which is about 100ft from the airport (google satellite map), for maximum lack of exposure to the unwashed masses. Because the unwashed masses (all but the backwash 18% of them) have a message to send him that he doesn’t want to hear. We hate your war, we hate your incompetence and we hate your corruption. We hate what you’ve done to this country. We hate what you’ve done to this world. And by the way, if Brian Bilbray is a friend of Dick Cheney, Brian Bilbray is no friend of the citizens of CA-50. Ray Nanninga of the Coast News summed it up perfectly:

Dick Cheney is a lying piece of corporatist flesh.

Dick Cheney is all about oil and war, and wars for oil. Cheney wants to expand oil drilling along the California coast. …Dick Cheney represents the politics of oil extraction, partisan posturing and poisonous patriotism. Dick Cheney does not represent the best interests of California’s 50th District.

Dick Cheney represents Halliburton …

Dick Cheney wants you to vote for Brian Bilbray.

Cost of a photo w/Cheney at the luncheon fundraiser: $2100

Bilbray showing his true (anti-moderate) colors: priceless

Here are the pics (click to enlarge):

Hiding behind “The War is a Lie” is a great one “[STOP sign] the Lying / Spying / Dying”–that pretty much sums up this administration.




The “Illegal?” sign was quite a message. She held the sign over her tiny baby (in a snugli, you can just see his head). Bilbray has been one of the loudest voices in favor of elimintaing citizenship for babies born in the United States, if their parents are not here legally. Would just minutes-old infants be felons as well, under the new House bill? Sad.

That’s me and the mini-mes. The text on their shirt are the names of Iraqi children killed in airstrikes, that are roughly the same age and gender. I don’t blame the military–maybe I’m gulible but I do think they’ve been doing their darndest to prevent civilian casualties. No, the fault is with Bush, Cheney, Rumsfled, Wolfowitz, et al. There is no such thing as a war without civilian casualties. When you CHOOSE to go to war, you choose to kill children that somebody loves just as much as I love these cuties. Someone at the protest commented on their cuteness, saying “you have an embarrassment of riches.” It is true. But there are mothers in Iraq, and mothers here in the US, who are poor beyond words at the loss of their richest blessings.
 

Thanks to Iraq Body Count and their database of recorded civillian casualties in Iraq for the information.

Here is one of the T-shirt images:

The birth year is approximate based on the age given (2 yr old).

(cross-posted at dailykos)

(Busby is taking a stand against the ethical violations of both parties. – promoted by SFBrianCL)

(cross-posted on daily kos)

I love this and it damn well better get some play in the press.  This is a great example of Busby continuing to stand up for ethics, no matter which party the accused politician is a member of.

Hotline has the goods:

CA 50 Dem candidate Francine Busby (D) today endorsed an ethical standard that Beltway Dems have so far found unpalatable.

Busby, in a statement, “called on Representative William Jefferson (D-LA) to resign immediately from Congress.”

Busby:

    “Americans deserve the highest standard of ethical conduct from our members of Congress. We must fight corruption in both parties to make Congress work for the people of this country. Mr. Jefferson should do what is in the best interest of the people of his district and resign from Congress immediately.”

Busby, of course, is a candidate in the June 6 special election to replace ex-Rep. Duke Cunningham (R). VP Cheney today hosted a fundraiser for ex-Rep. Brian Bilbray (R), who is running neck-and-neck with Busby (if polls and the NRCC’s IE expenditures are to be tea-leaved) in this SoCal Republican district.

The press release is not up on Busby’s website yet.  Other than calling in talk radio in the area and spreading this in the blogs I am not sure what all else we can do to play this up.

As always, don’t forget to send some turkee to Busby, let’s help Francine make up for Cheney’s fundraiser.  Volunteer here.

It’s one thing for Democrats to call Brian Bilbray, Republican lobbyist and 50th CD congressional candidate, a carpetbagger. Considering that Bilbray has never lived in the 50th District and considering that for the last 5 years his residence has been in Virginia, the Democrat’s claim that Bilbray was an carpetbagging opportunist may have been valid, but until now it didn’t resonate.

Things seem to have changed. Yesterday, Democrats claimed that Bilbray has made fraudulent claims regarding his place of residence and that he may have actually claimed three legal residences for different legal purposes. The Union Tribune soft sells the story today, keeping the political aspect up front, but local ABC affiliate, KGTV, has taken a far more aggressive stance and is actually investigating the story.

In a story first run last night and repeated today, KGTV asks, “Where Does Brian Bilbray Really Live?“

It’s not going to help the floundering Bilbray campaign to have television news following him around to see where he sleeps at night.

(I’m forming a Poll Page that will be featured on the FP. For now, enjoy this! – promoted by SFBrianCL)

The latest poll from Busby’s campaign shows that she now leads Republican Brian Bilbray by 7 percentage points! This is wonderful news coming from a congressional district with a R to D registration advantage of 50% to 32%.

From the Lake Research Partners:

“With three weeks to go before Election Day, Francine Busby has opened up a lead over Brian Bilbray, with 47% for Busby and 40% for Bilbray, with 1% for minor candidates Libertarian Paul King and Independent William Griffith and 12% undecided.”

This poll was conducted May 12-15 and is the most recent poll of CA-50.

More from the LRP poll, under the fold…

The latest poll from Busby’s campaign shows that she now leads Republican Brian Bilbray by 7 percentage points! This is wonderful news coming from a congressional district with a R to D registration advantage of 50% to 32%.

From the Lake Research Partners:

“With three weeks to go before Election Day, Francine Busby has opened up a lead over Brian Bilbray, with 47% for Busby and 40% for Bilbray, with 1% for minor candidates Libertarian Paul King and Independent William Griffith and 12% undecided.”

This poll was conducted May 12-15 and is the most recent poll of CA-50.

*

Findings from LRP’s poll, which show Busby’s strength in this race:

  1.  Busby’s favorability has increased to 53% while Bilbray’s has remained  stagnant at 48%. There are nearly twice as many voters with a strongly favorable opinion of Busby (33%) than Bilbray (18%). Both candidates are universally known.

  2.  Busby leads despite the significant Republican registration advantage reflected in our sample of 50% Republican to 32% Democrat. 

  3.  A clear and expanding majority of independent voters supports Busby over Bilbray, and Bilbray’s share of Republican votes has continued to deteriorate since our early polls.

  4.  Busby holds an even wider edge among those voters deemed most likely to vote based on their past voting record.

  5.  Attacks on the moderate Busby as being “too liberal” have failed and have limited credibility coming from a lobbyist.

  6.  Although Republicans will clearly outnumber Democrats in the 50th CD, Democrats could form a disproportionate share of the electorate in June, as the run-off election is scheduled to be on the same ballot as the heavily contested Democratic primary for Governor.

  The bottom line is that even in the face of attacks, Busby has continued to have strong support in this Republican-leaning district, and now leads Bilbray. Nonetheless, Busby has not yet reached the critical 50% mark, and we expect the race to narrow.  To hold her strength with voters other than Democrats, and to win her share of the undecideds over the remaining three weeks, Busby will need the financial resources to match the Republican expenditures.

This race is an excellent opportunity to begin retaking the House even earlier than expected.  If Busby wins on 6/6/06, we’ll only need to flip 14 seats in the House to regain Democratic control in November.

The NRCC has dumped $2.5 million into this race on the Republican’s behalf–they are obviously scared to death of Busby as that represents 10% of their total cash on hand!

Give now, or forever hold your peace!

http://actblue.com/list/netrootscandidates

and check out Busby’s site here:

http://www.busbyforcongress.org

A SurveyUSA poll released today finds the race for the CA-50 congressional seat tied, with Democrat Francine Busby and Republican Brian Bilbray each the preference of 45% of likely voters.

The poll represents 442 likely voters sampled May 7-9. By party affiliation 50% of the respondents considered themselves Republican, 32% Democrats and 18% independents. Bilbray is the preference of 82% of the self-described Republicans, while Busby is the preference of 95% of Democrats and 54% of independents.

More details below.