"The most consistent and smartest thinking and writing about progressive politics isn't happening in Sacramento, but being churned out day after day on sites and by organizations like Calitics, Orange County Progressive, and the California Budget Project." - CalBuzz
What happens when you combine a Democratic fundraiser in North San Diego County, a homophobic right-wing neighbor disturbing the peace, and the San Diego County Sheriffs? Apparently, one BIG, nasty mess! Here's the original TPM story:
The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that a fundraiser for Francine Busby, who previously ran for the deeply-Republican Fiftieth District and came close to winning in the 2006 special election and subsequent regular election, was raided by sheriffs after an unnamed neighbor made a noise complaint. Busby now calls it a "phony" noise complaint, and the article says that multiple neighbors said there was no great noise at all.
Here's the twist: The fundraiser was hosted by a lesbian couple, and shortly before the sheriffs came a particular neighbor had shouted anti-gay slurs at the assembled crowd. "It was a quiet home reception, disrupted by a vulgar person shouting obscenities from behind the bushes," Busby says.
As one neighbor told the paper: "We didn't hear anything until the sheriff came, with eight patrol cars and a helicopter."
And yes, the new developments are becoming more sordid by the minute. Details after the flip...
Oh, my! The national Republicans are worrying. Ken Calvert is among the first 10 "Patriots" in NRCC's program to fundraise for vulnerable incumbents.
So what exactly does this mean? They are expecting Calvert to raise about $100,000 just today. Wow. They must really be afraid.
So how can we respond? Bill Hedrick doesn't have the big corporate dollars that Calvert and the NRCC rely upon, but he does have us.
Please give Bill Hedrick whatever you can. He nearly defeated Calvert last year with little money and a few dedicated grassroots supporters. Think of what can happen if we all step up to the plate.
Hey, the Republicans are already running scared to their big corporate "ATM". Let's show them that our people power is more powerful.
OK, he's doing it. Bill Hedrick will definitely be running for Congress again in 2010. And why not? He seemingly came out of nowhere last year to nearly upset long-time incumbent Ken Calvert... Though he was really working the district hard and winning over voters by offering real solutions to their economic concerns.
So are you ready for a real barnburner of a race next year? I'm hopeful the Hedrick Campaign is. Hopefully the DCCC is as well. I certainly know the GOP will try this time not to fall asleep at the wheel again.
I know this isn't OC, but it's close enough. Just a hop, skip, and jump down the 5 from San Clemente, the 50th Congressional District inhabits a simply gorgeous stretch of coastline in North San Diego County. I myself am quite familiar with the 50th District, as I first chomped my political teeth while interning with Francine Busby's 2006 Special Election Congressional Campaign after Duke Cunningham had to resign the seat in scandalicious disgrace. I poured my blood and sweat into the Busby Campaign, but we unfortunately fell short by just 4% in June 2006.
Well, it looks like my old boss may be at it again. I just hope she learned the lessons of what went wrong in 2006. Pretty soon, I'll do a write-up of my experiences from that campaign as a warning to not just Francine Busby, but also a few certain high-profile Congressional candidates running in OC. But for now, check out the release after the flip.
