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Jeff Pelline
ROCKLIN — We traded our mountain britches for sports coats, loaded up the truck and headed to the flatlands this week for a debate between Republicans Doug Ose, 52, and Tom McClintock, 51, for the 4th District Congressional seat being vacated by John T. Doolittle.
If the first Ose-McClintock faceoff is an indication, this is going to be one of the most interesting races in the June primary. The winner is expected to run against Democrat Charlie Brown in November. Wednesday night’s debate turned into a mudslinger, surprising some of the sedate loafer-wearing crowd. For a moment, I thought we were back home in the foothills in our muck boots.
McClintock is a leading conservative Republican in the California legislature. He authored the state's lethal injection death penalty law, a procedure that was upheld this week by the U.S. Supreme Court, as McClintock brought up in the debate. He also spearheaded a campaign to rebate tax over-collections to Californians.
Former 3rd District U.S. Congressman Ose is a moderate Republican, part of a group once called the Main Street Partnership. He has been endorsed by former Gov. Pete Wilson, among others. Ose has contributed $2,000 to Doolittle's legal defense fund, though Doolittle has endorsed neither candidate.
Voters who are registered as “decline to state” also can vote in this race by requesting a Republican ballot, as well as registered Republicans. “Decline to state” voters are the area’s third-largest group of voters behind registered Republicans and Democrats. The county has 25,037 registered Republicans, 19,993 Democrats and 10,886 “decline to state” voters.
Besides being contentious, the election also could be one of the most costly, as the GOP fights to hold onto Doolittle’s seat in a tumultuous election year.
Ose raised $1.5 million in the first three months of this year, much of it self-financed, compared with $316,000 for McClintock, according to the Associated Press. Ose also spent $729,648 in the past three months, almost four times what McClintock spent.
Ose’s personal giving has tripped a clause that allows McClintock to solicit contributions of $6,900, triple the normal per-donor limit.
Bottom line: In the coming months, area Republicans will be asked to open their checkbooks as the June 3 primary election nears. Others who are running for Doolittle’s congressional seat include Republicans Ted Terbolizard and Suzanne Jones and Democrat John Wolfgram. (Terbolizard’s band is performing tomorrow at the Crazy Horse in Nevada City.)
Meanwhile, McClintock and Ose are the front-runner’s for the Republicans in the upcoming Congressional race. Based on longtime experience in California politics and staunch conservative stance in a solidly red District, Sen. McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks) would seem to be the front-runner.
On the other hand, he’s lost four races for a bigger job — lieutenant governor (2006), governor (2003), state controller (1994 and 2002) and U.S. House (1992).
I follow thoroughbred racing, and in McClintock’s case, you’d look at “past performance” and put him in a horse race like this: one such as the 4th District that favors staunch conservatives, such as Doolittle. Both McClintock and Doolittle are career politicians too. At some point, the odds shift in your favor and you win a race.
On the other hand, you should never bet on a horse until you see it in the paddock — or in this instance, at a debate. In McClintock’s case, at least Wednesday night, I was disappointed.
Before the debate, McClintock appeared standoffish. More people came up to him to shake his hand than the other way around. One man asked for an autograph and two women asked for a photo shoot — no doubt confirming a celebrity status among conservative GOP members. He was cordial but not as engaging as I’d expected.
You need to press some more flesh, even more so when you’re from out of the area and not as familiar with the issues as the locals. Otherwise, this can be an unforgiving place. Supervisor John Spencer and Nevada City GOP stalwart Lowell Robinson — influential Republicans around here — support Ose. Though he has not made a formal endorsement, Robinson contributed $4,300 to Ose’s campaign, according to his campaign spokesman.
When you consider that McClintock won’t even rent a pied a terre in the district before the election, you wonder if he’s a wee bit out of touch. McClintock sticks to his guns, however: “Voters care more about where he stands on the issues than were he lives.”
It’s hard to get a clear idea of where he stands on the specific issues in our district, however. When asked what he thought were the district’s most pressing issues, McClintock spoke in generalities, choosing to focus on relieving traffic congestion on I-80, a project that meant more to his audience than the voters district-wide. Dorsey Drive and widening Highway 49 didn’t come up. Ose spoke in generalities, too, but rattled off a much longer list of priorities, including tackling the meth problem.
Later in the debate, while Ose fired some audio daggers and verbal harpoons, McClintock broke out in a sweat. (I hope he wasn’t forced to stand under a brighter light than Ose.)
To his credit, McClintock was adept at deflecting Ose’s personal attacks. "I thought I have already answered that three other times,” McClintock said, when asked about his “carpetbagging” and accepting $300,000 in per-diem payments while living only miles from state Capital.
Besides, Ose is a carpetbagger himself and drew some laughter when he said his residency was in “transition.” He’s rented a place in Granate Bay. The guy’s a multimillionaire, too, so I wished he’d shined his shoes for the debate, as McClintock did.
On the other hand, if McClintock was the prized thoroughbred War Admiral, Ose was more like Seabiscuit — at least when it comes to politicking. Ose was much more engaged with the audience, working row-by-row to shake most everyone’s hand. He cracked jokes and laughed. He seemed to be enjoying himself.
Ose took his own licks. McClintock blasted him for accepting farm subsidy dollars for agricultural land he rented while serving on an agriculture subcommittee.
Later, Ose said he voted for the subsidies only for farmers, not non-farmers such as himself.
What does Brown think? “These guys are fighting over who is the biggest carpetbagger,” said his campaign manager. Brown likely will face a tougher race than he did with Doolittle.
I’ll be interested to see how the two Republican candidates are received around here. Ose has been making the rounds; McClintock has been up once. The results will help us gauge if our demographics and voting patterns are changing, as some people think, or not.
Ose, McClintock, Brown, Jones, Terbolizard and Wolfgram are set to debate on May 7 at the Nevada City Veteran’s Building in Nevada City.
It’s worth watching the Ose, McClintock campaigns unfold in coming weeks — the mud-slinging television and radio ads and mailers are rolling out.
Hopefully some more details about where both candidates stand on our area’s issues will come out. At any rate, with the national GOP leadership watching as well, this Republican dual is shaping up to become the match race of the primary season.
Jeff Pelline is the editor of The Union. His column appears on Saturdays. Contact him at 477-4235, jeffp@theunion.com, or 464 Sutton Way, Grass Valley 95945.
If the first Ose-McClintock faceoff is an indication, this is going to be one of the most interesting races in the June primary. The winner is expected to run against Democrat Charlie Brown in November. Wednesday night’s debate turned into a mudslinger, surprising some of the sedate loafer-wearing crowd. For a moment, I thought we were back home in the foothills in our muck boots.
McClintock is a leading conservative Republican in the California legislature. He authored the state's lethal injection death penalty law, a procedure that was upheld this week by the U.S. Supreme Court, as McClintock brought up in the debate. He also spearheaded a campaign to rebate tax over-collections to Californians.
Former 3rd District U.S. Congressman Ose is a moderate Republican, part of a group once called the Main Street Partnership. He has been endorsed by former Gov. Pete Wilson, among others. Ose has contributed $2,000 to Doolittle's legal defense fund, though Doolittle has endorsed neither candidate.
Voters who are registered as “decline to state” also can vote in this race by requesting a Republican ballot, as well as registered Republicans. “Decline to state” voters are the area’s third-largest group of voters behind registered Republicans and Democrats. The county has 25,037 registered Republicans, 19,993 Democrats and 10,886 “decline to state” voters.
Besides being contentious, the election also could be one of the most costly, as the GOP fights to hold onto Doolittle’s seat in a tumultuous election year.
Ose raised $1.5 million in the first three months of this year, much of it self-financed, compared with $316,000 for McClintock, according to the Associated Press. Ose also spent $729,648 in the past three months, almost four times what McClintock spent.
Ose’s personal giving has tripped a clause that allows McClintock to solicit contributions of $6,900, triple the normal per-donor limit.
Bottom line: In the coming months, area Republicans will be asked to open their checkbooks as the June 3 primary election nears. Others who are running for Doolittle’s congressional seat include Republicans Ted Terbolizard and Suzanne Jones and Democrat John Wolfgram. (Terbolizard’s band is performing tomorrow at the Crazy Horse in Nevada City.)
Meanwhile, McClintock and Ose are the front-runner’s for the Republicans in the upcoming Congressional race. Based on longtime experience in California politics and staunch conservative stance in a solidly red District, Sen. McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks) would seem to be the front-runner.
On the other hand, he’s lost four races for a bigger job — lieutenant governor (2006), governor (2003), state controller (1994 and 2002) and U.S. House (1992).
I follow thoroughbred racing, and in McClintock’s case, you’d look at “past performance” and put him in a horse race like this: one such as the 4th District that favors staunch conservatives, such as Doolittle. Both McClintock and Doolittle are career politicians too. At some point, the odds shift in your favor and you win a race.
On the other hand, you should never bet on a horse until you see it in the paddock — or in this instance, at a debate. In McClintock’s case, at least Wednesday night, I was disappointed.
Before the debate, McClintock appeared standoffish. More people came up to him to shake his hand than the other way around. One man asked for an autograph and two women asked for a photo shoot — no doubt confirming a celebrity status among conservative GOP members. He was cordial but not as engaging as I’d expected.
You need to press some more flesh, even more so when you’re from out of the area and not as familiar with the issues as the locals. Otherwise, this can be an unforgiving place. Supervisor John Spencer and Nevada City GOP stalwart Lowell Robinson — influential Republicans around here — support Ose. Though he has not made a formal endorsement, Robinson contributed $4,300 to Ose’s campaign, according to his campaign spokesman.
When you consider that McClintock won’t even rent a pied a terre in the district before the election, you wonder if he’s a wee bit out of touch. McClintock sticks to his guns, however: “Voters care more about where he stands on the issues than were he lives.”
It’s hard to get a clear idea of where he stands on the specific issues in our district, however. When asked what he thought were the district’s most pressing issues, McClintock spoke in generalities, choosing to focus on relieving traffic congestion on I-80, a project that meant more to his audience than the voters district-wide. Dorsey Drive and widening Highway 49 didn’t come up. Ose spoke in generalities, too, but rattled off a much longer list of priorities, including tackling the meth problem.
Later in the debate, while Ose fired some audio daggers and verbal harpoons, McClintock broke out in a sweat. (I hope he wasn’t forced to stand under a brighter light than Ose.)
To his credit, McClintock was adept at deflecting Ose’s personal attacks. "I thought I have already answered that three other times,” McClintock said, when asked about his “carpetbagging” and accepting $300,000 in per-diem payments while living only miles from state Capital.
Besides, Ose is a carpetbagger himself and drew some laughter when he said his residency was in “transition.” He’s rented a place in Granate Bay. The guy’s a multimillionaire, too, so I wished he’d shined his shoes for the debate, as McClintock did.
On the other hand, if McClintock was the prized thoroughbred War Admiral, Ose was more like Seabiscuit — at least when it comes to politicking. Ose was much more engaged with the audience, working row-by-row to shake most everyone’s hand. He cracked jokes and laughed. He seemed to be enjoying himself.
Ose took his own licks. McClintock blasted him for accepting farm subsidy dollars for agricultural land he rented while serving on an agriculture subcommittee.
Later, Ose said he voted for the subsidies only for farmers, not non-farmers such as himself.
What does Brown think? “These guys are fighting over who is the biggest carpetbagger,” said his campaign manager. Brown likely will face a tougher race than he did with Doolittle.
I’ll be interested to see how the two Republican candidates are received around here. Ose has been making the rounds; McClintock has been up once. The results will help us gauge if our demographics and voting patterns are changing, as some people think, or not.
Ose, McClintock, Brown, Jones, Terbolizard and Wolfgram are set to debate on May 7 at the Nevada City Veteran’s Building in Nevada City.
It’s worth watching the Ose, McClintock campaigns unfold in coming weeks — the mud-slinging television and radio ads and mailers are rolling out.
Hopefully some more details about where both candidates stand on our area’s issues will come out. At any rate, with the national GOP leadership watching as well, this Republican dual is shaping up to become the match race of the primary season.
Jeff Pelline is the editor of The Union. His column appears on Saturdays. Contact him at 477-4235, jeffp@theunion.com, or 464 Sutton Way, Grass Valley 95945.
