(I hate to interrupt Brian’s roll, but ONE hour left — go vote for McNerney. – promoted by jsw)

Democracy for America‘s Grassroots All-Star competition is coming to a close in just 2 and a half hours, at 2 PM PST. The top spot has been flipping between Jerry McNerney and Nancy Skinner, both deserving candidates possessed of unquestionable true-blue credentials. The endorsement, however, can only go to one. Of course, my natural tendency is to support McNerney as the home team competitor, but even failing that McNerney would be the best national candidate to receive the endorsement, for two big reasons explained below the fold.

1. The Incumbent Nancy Skinner is running in the MI-9 against, as Skinner champion and Kos diarist GOTV put it yesterday, “Mr. Inertia” Joe Knollenberg. Joe Knollenberg doesn’t do anything. Ever. When was the last time you were outraged over “the Knollenberg Bill”? I can’t think of one. He’s also 72. So basically, while we want to get rid of him, he’s more or less harmless, and close to retirement besides. Rick Pombo in the CA-11, on the other hand, undoubtedly has a place among the congressional pantheon of villains. He’s ambitious, conniving, corrupt as a bastard, and universally acclaimed as the most environmentally rapacious member of the United States Congress (which of course explains why he’s chairman of the house Natural Resources Committee. On top of all that, he’s young (just 45) and already broke his term limits pledge. He’ll be there for a long time, and is already slated to take over the Agriculture Committee in 2008. If we have a choice between hastening the departure of a doddering fool by a few years or nipping the arsenic-tainted bud of a “conservative” mastermind, doesn’t the latter seem the wiser course of action?

2. Positioning The CA-11 is 53/47 Republican, but Jerry McNerney is up by 4 points in the latest poll, despite still lacking name recognition. He’s fighting from a position of strength. Pombo, however, has the corporate backing to launch a counterattack that would overawe Marshal Pétain. Fleets of sewage-laden bombers will soon be plastering Stockton and Pleasanton with every sort of libelous charge you can imagine. When this happens, one of two things will happen. Either McNerney will have the resources to beat back Pombo’s bull charge, or he won’t. Skinner, on the other hand, despite coming from a somewhat more Democratic district (50/50), has not yet seen fit to release any of her internal polling, which suggests to me she hasn’t yet seen any numbers she likes. Skinner is fighting an uphill battle. She may be able to parley additional support into concrete results – or she may not. Name recognition isn’t her problem – she’s a radio host in the district, for Pete’s sake! With McNerney, we know exactly how the money’s going to help him. With Skinner, the race may never get close enough for the money to do anything.

No matter what kind of netroots Dem you are, McNerney’s your man. If all you want is to take back Congress, he’s better positioned to take your support and do just that. If you want to take out one of the most odious men ever to hold a Congressional seat in the bargain, electing Jerry McNerney is a twofer. I wish Nancy Skinner all the best, but not at the expense of Jerry McNerney. Come on, he’s our man!

As the A-1 Commercials say, “It’s just that important.” Vote now. You can’t hear them, but the spotted owls are thanking you.