(See also Progressive 11th’s roundup here – promoted by SFBrianCL)

The DCCC apparenlty likes some numbers that it has seen on the CA-11 race.  Hank Shaw of the Stockton Record is reporting that the DCCC will place a $100K bet on Jerry McNerney for this race:

National Democrats are finally recognizing that Pleasanton wind energy consultant Jerry McNerney’s campaign against Tracy Rep. Ricard Pombo is for real: They are polling in the district right now, and this survey will determine whether they’re in for a penny, or in for a pound.
They’re reportedly in for at least $100,000, however, according to several sources both here and in Washington DC. Should the D-Trip’s polling show something similar to McNerney’s survey (41% Pombo, 40% McNerney) you can bet they’ll start slinging the cash the way the National Republican Campaign Committee already has been doing since late August. (Stockton Record Blog 10/06/06)

Well, I say about damn time! All the internal and other Dem-leaning polling has shown Jerry with a small lead or within the margin of error.  I don’t know if the DCCC will release their new polling, but we’ll probably get at least some antecdotal data based upon whether more than the original $100K is put into the district.  I’m glad that at least Rahm can recognize his mistakes (i.e. getting involved in the primary without asking anybody in the district).  Jerry will make a great Congressman.

The “Debate”

The Tracy Press Candidate forum went well, or so I am told.  I of course couldn’t muster the time to haul my butt to Tracy during Rush Hour.  For that, I apologize.  I would have really liked to get some video of the Forum up on the Internets.  As of right now, I haven’t been able to find any coverage on YouTube or anything.  If you have any video, let me know!  So there’s a bunch of coverage.  A quick roundup on the flip. Of course, if you have anything else, feel free to write your own diary or add a comment to this one.

SayNoToPombo:

There was a large audience – standing room only. I would estimate that McNerney supporters outnumbered Pombo supporters by about two to one. Jerry McNerney spoke very strongly and very passionately, while Pombo seemed pretty defensive the whole evening.

Stockton Record:

McNerney, who was unusually aggressive in the forum, said attacking Iraq was a “mafioso” act of vengeance and a distraction from the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

“Iraq was a failed state in 2001, and Iraq is a failed state today,” McNerney said. “And wanting to kill them over there instead of here is Tony Soprano morality.
{snip}
But McNerney’s reference to the mafia irked Pombo’s wife, Annette, who is Italian.

“She wasn’t thrilled with that,” Pombo said. “I don’t know why he said that. Maybe he thinks I’m Italian.”

Wow, Pombo thinks everything is about him, huh? Pombo, Pombo, Pombo.  Don’t you think that the mafioso quote describes Bush.  You know, HW was a target of an assasination attempt by Saddam Hussein, so mafioso style revenge by his son.  Pombo just misses that, huh?  Either he doesn’t understand the situation and the backstory (a reasonable possibility with Pombo, he’s never been one to get too cozy with reality) or he’s just trying to play some games with nationality.  How funny would it be if Pombo started crying racism.  What a joke.

Tracy Press:

Terrorism, the Iraq war and energy dwarfed local issues during the only scheduled debate between Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, and Democrat Jerry McNerney on Thursday, with Iraq sharply dividing an already-partisan crowd.
{snip}
Pombo’s campaign manager, Carl Fogliani, later told the Tracy Press that the loud show of support for McNerney’s Iraq war position came from liberals that live outside the 11th Congressional District. The six people from the crowd of about 400 who were interviewed by the Tracy Press said they lived within the district, which stretches west to include Dublin, Pleasanton and San Ramon.

Does Pombo have any support for this assertion? Umm…well, not so much.  He jsut likes to blame everything on “outsiders”.  Well, Tricky Ricky, you have some good ol’ fashioned home-grown grassroots enemies now. 

As you may have read in various posts here on Calitics (for example, here and here), Jerry McNerney was not the choice of DCCC and its leader (?) Rahm Emmanuel.  But, in recent days, McNerney has picked up the support of Russ Feingold’s Progressive Patriots PAC and he’s in the DFA’s run off for its grassroots all-star online vote.  But according to Roll Call (Subscription required)

InRoll Call(6/15, Drucker): “Jerry McNerney s (D) victory in California s 11th district primary last week means the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee will mostly stay out of the race going forward, though Rep. Richard Pombo [CA-11] still faces the well-funded opposition of the environmental community. McNerney hasn t written off help from the DCCC in the general election even though he handily dispatched Steve Filson, the committee s endorsed candidate, in the June 6 primary. McNerney, a wind turbine manufacturer, is trying to schedule a meeting with DCCC Chairman Rahm Emanuel (Ill.) for next week when he s in Washington, D.C. But a Democratic strategist close to the DCCC doesn t expect those meetings to lead to the committee getting heavily involved in the campaign. That s not surprising considering the DCCC, believing that the liberal McNerney is unelectable in the GOP district by virtue of his shellacking by Pombo in 2004, took the unusual step of endorsing in a primary even naming Filson to its ‘Red to Blue’ fundraising program. … DCCC leaders originally tried to recruit moderate Democratic state Sen. Michael Machado into the race but were rebuffed, leading them to Filson, an airline pilot and military veteran.” (Roll Call 6/15/06) (Subscription required)

Nope, the DCCC wouldn’t want to support a solid progressive candidate that would dare to actually stand up for what he believes in, and is comfortable talking abou the situation in Iraq.  That’s because Jerry McNerney hasn’t shown the kind of electability that Steve Filson did.  Oh right, Filson has never won any elections.  But that being said, Defenders of Wildlife did a poll showing Pombo trailing both candidates; McNerney’s lead was 46%-42%.  And while that is within the survey’s MoE of 4.9%, isn’t this race a worthwhile investment?

I think this is a winnable election. Given that a large chunk of money that the DCCC raises is from Northern California, perhaps it would be a good idea to invest some of that back in the region.