McCloskey bucks GOP, backs Democrat

[Judi Lynn]

McCloskey bucks GOP, backs Democrat
23 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Maverick former GOP Rep. Pete McCloskey took on his party's establishment — and lost. But he's not done yet.

McCloskey, 78, failed in his primary challenge to Rep. Richard Pombo (news, bio, voting record), R-Calif., chairman of the powerful House Resources Committee. Now he's planning to urge Northern California voters who backed him to support Pombo's Democratic opponent, wind engineer Jerry McNerney, in November.

In June, McCloskey won 32 percent of the Republican primary vote to 62 percent for Pombo.

McNerney is "an honorable man that has not and will not seek to enrich himself and his family through his office," McCloskey said in an interview.
(snip/...)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060724/ap_on_el_ho/california_gop

[Sequoia]

1. I'M SO THERE!!!!

Pombo is the enemy of everything that creepeth on the earth, swims in the ocean and winged creatures that flyeth in the sky.

[Renew Deal]

2. McNerney is pretty cool too.

Works on Alt. energy projects. :thumbsup:

[karynnj]

3. McCloskey was an anti-war Republican was ran

against against Nixon in the 1972 primary. He wrote a beautiful endorsement of John Kerry, who he knew since the 1970s, in 2004. He was one of the Congressmen who came down to join the vets when the VVAW camped out in DC.

[brentspeak]

4. The Repubs who voted Pombo over McCloskey ought to be ashamed

Pete McCloskey is one of the few decent Republicans still around. The 68 percent who voted against him are bozos.

[Raine]

5. McCloskey's

a good guy going way back. :thumbsup: It's a shame that more repugs aren't like him.

[Cha]

7. As some intelligent person once

said.."There aren't enough bananas in the world to teach that monkey how to say "nuclear"!

[Raine]

8. LOL

:thumbsup:

[ecoalex]

11. Pombo is a dick, but people like him that way

Yer talk'n about the Central Valley of Ca.where ignorance, and recalcitrance is the norm. Hay, the South is a bastion of ignorance too. They like it that way.

[MasonJar]

6. Pombo must go; he is a total nadir of the environment. Come on

N. Calif. How can you elect such a monster?

[robertarctor]

9. Diebold

San Joaquin County has Diebold machines. So does, IIRC, Alameda County. And therein lies most of your CA 5th.

[davidinalameda]

10. Alameda is primarily represented by Pete Stark and Barbara Lee

Pombo represents District 11, not 5

he represents maybe 10-15 percent of the county, if that

[Gormy Cuss]

13. He must have the most gerrymandered district in the Bay Area.

Although his communities in Alameda and Contra Costa tend to be more conservative than the Bay Area as a whole I think voters aren't happy being represented by 'Rancher Rick' from the other side of the Altamount Pass. I suspect that most people in the Contra Costa communities would prefer being back in Tauscher's district.

[samsingh]

12. Good for him!

[krkaufman]

14. "wind engineer Jerry McNerney"

I *LOVE* the sound of that. I'm of the opinion that a big problem with our government is that we have too many lawyers running it. We need more practical leaders at the top, and engineering is a good pool to draw from.

[Judi Lynn]

15. McCloskey and Benigno, Pombo's Republican Opponents, Join Forces to Suppor

McCloskey and Benigno, Pombo's Republican Opponents, Join Forces to Support Democrat McNerney

By: McNerney For Congress
Published: Jul 26, 2006 at 12:38


California 11th Congressional District candidate Jerry McNerney received the endorsements of former Republican Congressman Pete McCloskey and Republican Tom Benigno in McNerney's bid to unseat Richard Pombo today. "McNerney is an honorable man that has not and will not seek to enrich himself and his family through his office," McCloskey said. McCloskey blasted Richard Pombo as being corrupt, tied to big oil and harmful to the environment.

"I have been a Republican all of my life," Benigno said. "But Richard Pombo and his leadership have lost touch with us and it's time for the corruption to end."

Jerry McNerney welcomed their support. "I want to thank both Pete and Tom," McNerney said. "I look forward to working with them to defeat Richard Pombo in the fall."

These endorsements from both of Pombo's primary opponents spell even more trouble for Pombo's slick negative campaign. "When you combine their support, McCloskey and Benigno received almost 40 percent of the Republican vote," said McNerney spokesperson Tor Michaels. "Pombo is in big trouble within his own party and we welcome those Republicans who believe it is time for people to take our government back."
(snip/...)

http://www.yubanet.com/artman/publish/article_39574.shtml