T
TFinalshot
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Just curious what you clifornia guys think of Pombo . . .
Richard Pombo: The "Darth Vader" of the Environment
By Sarah Olson
t r u t h o u t | Report
Friday 13 October 2006
Candidates battle for political and ideological leadership in California's contested 11th district.
Peter Petroski is a life-long Republican. He's currently campaigning in California's 11th district on behalf of Jerry McNerney - the Democratic challenger to 14-year incumbent Richard Pombo. Petroski says he's motivated strictly by an "anybody but Pombo" sentiment; he's grown weary of what he sees as a massive culture of corruption in Washington, and is astounded by Richard Pombo's brazen thwarting of ethics and of the law.
Petroski says the final straw was when Congressman Pombo proposed to sell off or privatize 15 National Parks. The proposal sparked outrage around the country, but for Petroski the proposal had a local flair. One of the parks was near Danville, California: 13 acres surrounding Tao House, where Eugene O'Neill lived in the later years of his life and wrote some of his most famous plays, including Long Day's Journey into Night, The Iceman Cometh, and A Moon for the Misbegotten. It's a historic literary place, Petroski says, and one he couldn't fathom destroying.
Petroski is joined by an unlikely cast of characters, from retired general Wesley Clark to Republican politicians Pete McCloskey and Tom Benigno, and from veterans' organizations to the Sierra Club to Planned Parenthood.
These endorsements, coupled with a motivated grass-roots campaign to oust Richard Pombo, make the Pombo/McNerney contest one of the tightest and most closely watched races in the country.
The district stretches from the development-happy eastern outpost of Silicon Valley in Dublin/Pleasanton, into the agricultural Central Valley, north to Lodi and south to Gilroy. This is gorgeous Steinbeckian country, with rolling hills and grass burnt golden brown under the California sun. It's home to two federal prisons and a state institution. On a quiet day, as you drive over the wind-mill dotted Altamont Pass, you can make out artillery fire from the military base in Dublin. The district houses the Laurence Livermore National Laboratory, practitioners of "science in the national interest." California's booming agriculture and ranching businesses are located in the fecund Central Valley.
The 11th district re-election race didn't start off as a tight race. It's a famously conservative, even iconoclastic area, proudly distinguishing itself from the liberal Bay Area. During an earlier election contest, Pombo supporters handed out bags of granola to his challenger's supporters, suggesting they hailed from Berkeley and San Francisco and were unwanted outsiders.
Congressman Pombo has held the seat since 1992. Back in the day, he ran as a hometown boy who didn't like politicians. He's a conservative's conservative, who won on a platform of private property rights, small government, and no-nonsense taking care of business in Washington, DC. He's currently the chair of the powerful House Resources Committee.
But many in California have begun to believe Pombo is too entwined with powerful business interests, reaping enormous benefits for himself and his family, but leaving the rest of California's 11th district out in the cold. Pombo has close ties to the Jack Abramoff scandal. He doggedly supports an increasingly unpopular Iraq war. He has enraged environmental groups around the nation, and offends progressives on a whole host of social issues.
Enter Jerry McNerney. He's a wind energy consulted who lives in Dublin, California. He's soft-spoken, perhaps kind of shy. He ran against Pombo in the last election cycle, and lost. Since then, he's been walking precincts, developing a grass-roots support base, and generally making friends. He advocates for an end to the Iraq war sooner rather than later, and his son is in the military. He promises to bring an end to the corruption scandals plaguing the nation. He is an environmentalist. He's well spoken and erudite.
By nearly all accounts, McNerney's campaign is generating unprecedented, impressive grass-roots support. People in the district are fired up and motivated in ways political veterans have never seen before. McNerney supporters say they hear passion and conviction from constituents determined to vote Richard Pombo out of office.
Richard Pombo and Jerry McNerney are now neck and neck in the race for the Congressional seat. Most polls show figures well within the margin of error placing Pombo and McNerney in a statistical dead heat. It's an exciting race, and supporters on both sides say it has national implications.
Combating a Washington "Culture of Corruption"
Perhaps the single most overwhelming sentiment you'll encounter when chatting with people in the 11th district is disgust for "politics as usual." People have grown tired of what they see as a political "culture of corruption." Republican turned Jerry McNerney advocate Peter Petroski says uncontested power has gone to the heads of Republicans in Congress. He doesn't even think it's fair to describe Pombo as immoral. "In this case, I think he's amoral. He doesn't see a problem with the things he's done."
Richard Pombo denies allegations of corruption, generally expressing exasperation and dismay at what he calls a character assassination. He typically sidesteps the specific allegation. "People are disillusioned by sleazy political campaigns like the ones by our opponents," says Pombo's press secretary Carl Fogliani. "Richard Pombo has focused on these issues, and on what has been done in the 11th district." Fogliani says Pombo has done a fantastic job bringing new resources into the 11th district, and that people are still fired up about their hometown boy.
But Congressman Pombo is accused of a long list of questionable ethical behavior and violations of the law. Increasingly, voters in California's 11th district are insisting on accountability and explanations.
Foremost on the list is his connection to embattled lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Melanie Sloan is the executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. The non-partisan group recently released a report detailing information on a group of what they consider to be the most corrupt members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans alike. According to Sloan, Pombo is a unique case. "With Pombo, it's not just one thing. It's the sheer number of ethics violations. He clearly doesn't recognize that the rules apply to him."
According to the report, Richard Pombo's campaign and political action committee received over $400,000 from Indian tribes between 1999 and 2006. Jack Abramoff represented many of the tribes. Though Pombo has long denied his ties to Abramoff, the Associated Press reported Tuesday that "records show the disgraced lobbyist billed a client for at least two contacts with Pombo a decade ago." The AP announcement opens Pombo to renewed allegations of lying.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington also charge Pombo with abusing power for financial benefit, interference in a pending federal banking investigation, abuse of franking privileges, payments to family members, use of federal funds for campaign expenses, privately funded foreign travel, use of federal funds for personal travel, and inappropriate use and payment of committee staff.
Highlights of his activities include using his power in the House Resources Committee to subpoena confidential Federal Deposit Insurance Company (FDIC) records in an investigation of Houston millionaire Charles Hurwitz. The FDIC was forced to drop its investigation of Hurwitz's role in the 1980s collapse of a Texas savings and loan costing tax payers $1.6 billion dollars. Hurwitz contributed $1,000 to Pombo's 1996 re-election campaign.
In 2004, Pombo used federal franking privileges to mail 175,000 copies of a leaflet praising the Bush administration and his own House Resources Committee for overturning environmental limitations on snowmobiling in national parks. The leaflets were sent to snowmobile owners in swing states Wisconsin and Minnesota in October just before the presidential elections. The mailing cost nearly $70,000, and was authorized as "official business." Pombo also authorized $500,000 of postage to distribute newsletters lauding his own work on the House Resources Committee.
Pombo is also charged with a myriad of instances of using federal dollars for personal and family gain. Allegations include his paying his wife and brother a combined $350,000 out of his political fund, supporting policy benefiting his own financial interests, taking lobbyist-funded trips to New Zealand and Japan, and using over $4,000 of House Resources Committee funds for a family vacation in 2003.
Democratic challenger Jerry McNerney has seized upon the Richard Pombo federal-dollars-for-personal-gain imbroglio. His campaign includes an ethics pledge promising no secret meetings with lobbyists, and a refusal of lobbyist funded travel and gifts. McNerney, who is new to DC politics, presents voters with a viable chance to shake up the status quo, says McNerney press secretary Robert Caughlan.
"As a student of political science, I believe there has never been a Congressional scandal that equals the K Street Project and Abramoff scandals. This is without a doubt the biggest Congressional scandal in history and in three weeks California's 11th district voters have a chance to do something about it," says Caughlan. It's not just partisan politics that inspire this statement. Melanie Sloan agrees corruption in Congress is at unprecedented levels and it may be responsible for shifting control of Congress to the Democrats.
The "Darth Vader" of the Environment
Jerry McNerney is a wind energy consultant. He promises to bring a sensible environmental and energy policy to Washington. But even if McNerney did not have impeccable environmental credentials, he would win environmentalist support anyway.
Environmental activists around the country and national organizations including Sierra Club, the League of Conservation Voters, and the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund see McNerney as their last best chance to unseat someone they say has wreaked havoc on the environment from the day he set foot in DC. As McNerney press secretary Robert Caughlan puts it, "We all live in Richard Pombo's district."
Congressman Pombo's environmental policies are numerous. "Pombo appears to have set himself on a mission to destroy every major federal conservation law we have on the books," says Rodger Schlickeisen, president of the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund. "Not only did he have a 'zero' on his wildlife conservation report card, but he actively led efforts to: sell national parks for commercial exploitation; create a massive oil industrial complex in the Arctic refuge; remove the 25-year ban on drilling for oil and gas off our fragile coastlines; eliminate the 11-year moratorium on selling federal lands to mining companies; and - worst of all - effectively eliminate the federal government's efforts to save and recover endangered wildlife." One supporter dubbed Pombo the "Darth Vader" of the environment.
"We will do whatever it takes to unseat Pombo," says Ed Yoon, an organizer with the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund. The group has been working furiously in the 11th district, walking precincts, knocking on doors, and turning up at Pombo and McNerney events with a strong pro-McNerney message. They attend all the major election events, heckling Pombo with environmental messages, and cheering McNerney on.
"Pombo's policy of drilling, drilling, drilling for oil in the name of energy autonomy destroys natural ocean habitat, creates significant oil spills, and invests in more oil drilling rather than sensible and sustainable energy alternatives," says Yoon. "His policy strengthens and enriches oil companies, which perpetuates a cycle of environmental degradation."
Veterans in Support of Jerry McNerney
Iraq war politics is a dicey subject for California's 11th district. It's a conservative area, and there are a lot of military families. Many of the 11th district's young men and women are fighting in Iraq. Many living in the district say the overwhelming sentiment is that in order to support the troops, you must support the war. For these voters, Pombo's message of a tough stance on the war on terror has real resonance.
Pombo touts the Republican Party line on the war on terror, while McNerney vehemently insists on a new policy. Many challengers would find themselves facing charges of being soft on terrorism and of not supporting the troops, but McNerney escapes these allegations, in large part thanks to overwhelming veteran support. McNerney's own son joined the military after September 11th, 2001.
At a recent community forum with Pombo and McNerney - the closest this district will get to a debate - McNerney opened his remarks with the following:
The President and Congressional leaders used the tragic attacks of 9/11 to drive us - a trusting and patriotic nation - into an unnecessary war, allowing the vicious people who attacked our country to remain free, while creating a dangerous and volatile situation in the Middle East. My opponent is satisfied with the progress of the war in Iraq despite overwhelming evidence that the war is actually making America less secure.
Pombo drew a thoroughly debunked connection between the September 11th attacks and the war in Iraq. He insists the US must fight the war in on terror overseas, otherwise "we will be fighting it here in the 11th district." Pombo advocates a continuation of the Iraq war policy and securing the US borders. Increasingly, Iraq war veterans are coming out in support of Jerry McNerney. Tim Goodrich is an Air Force veteran and the executive director of Iraq Veterans for Progress, which has endorsed the McNerney campaign. "The first thing I noted about Pombo's platform is that he doesn't list the Iraq war as an issue on his campaign or Congressional Web sites," said Goodrich. "That should tell you where he stands on the issue. The second thing I noticed was that McNerney has a son in the military and so he knows firsthand what the military needs, and the risks to the military in staying in a war in which we don't belong." While talking tough on the war on terror and the need to support troops, Pombo alienated veterans' groups with his voting record. This record includes voting against a pay raise for soldiers, against bonuses for the men and women fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, against paying for prosthetic devices for soldiers who lost limbs in Iraq, and to cut $1.8 billion from veterans' health programs.
A Grab Bag of Conservative Policies
During Pombo's tenure as congressman, his voting record has endeared him to conservative factions of all stripes. In addition to his array of environmental positions, Pombo has taken traditional conservative positions at nearly every opportunity.
In just the last two Congressional terms, Pombo voted in favor of requiring colleges to give ROTC programs and military recruiters campus access. While he has a tough line on immigration, he did support expediting posthumus citizenship for soldiers killed in combat. He supported bills seeking to help Iran to "establish democracy," allowing the use of force in Iraq, and seeking to assist internal opposition in Cuba. He also co-sponsored a 2003 bill to end United States membership in the United Nations.
Pombo earned the ire of pro-choice organizations when he supported the "fetal pain" bill requiring physicians to notify women seeking abortions of the possibility that a fetus would experience pain during the procedure. He also supported the recent bill to prohibit traveling with minors across state lines for the purpose of seeking abortions, and co-sponsored the so-called "partial-birth abortion" bill.
Pombo supports a conservative religious agenda with his support of the federal marriage amendment that defines marriage as between one man and one woman. Pombo wants to protect the religious speech rights of churches in a bill that would protect churches from losing their tax-exempt status for certain political speech, and he co-sponsored a bill to "defend" the 10 commandments.
And finally, Pombo supports bills protecting gun manufacturers and distributors from liability claims, making English the national language, and ending campaign finance restrictions.
In connecting himself so closely to conservative Bush administration policies, Pombo has garnered some support by the administration and its supporters. On October 4th, President Bush held a fundraiser in Stockton, California, for Pombo's re-election bid. The crowd paid a cool $250 per plate - a record low for a presidential appearance. During the event, President Bush told the crowd: "Democrats are the party of cut and run. Ours is a party that has got a clear vision." It was during this same address that Bush enraged many by calling the civil war, violence and devastation in Iraq a "comma" in history.
Time for a Change
It appears that voters in California's 11th district may be ready for change. Bill Perkins is the president and founder of the Manteca Democrats club. His group has been engaged in voter registration drives, and walks precincts nearly every weekend.
In many areas, Perkins says people are disengaged. Many don't know there's an election this year. Others are non-partisan, inactive, and busy with the rest of their lives. But when it comes to supporting Pombo, Perkins says constituents are angry. Perkins says people have a general sense that Pombo is dishonest, that he's part of the problem in Washington. "Old-timers say that Pombo's a crook, and that he's always been a crook. They say his entire family is corrupt," Perkins says.
But he's been noticing a change in voter engagement. McNerney is setting voters on fire, Perkins says. "I've never seen anything like this. He inspires people."
And it's not just Democrats who are calling for change. Peter Petroski, the Republican backing the McNerney campaign, says the Republicans he's been talking to are equally disenchanted with Pombo's performance. "People looking at Congressman Pombo's record go from embarrassment to outrage," Petroski says.
By all accounts, the test in this election will be a test of McNerney supporters' ability to get out the vote. In the primary, voter turnout was at just above 30 percent. The disengagement and alienation experienced by voters in the district will not necessarily spur them to the polls in November.
This Election Matters
It's understandable that voters may look askance at both major parties. The Republicans - the party that recently eviscerated habeas corpus, justified torture, is mired in a relentless and gruesome war on terror in two separate countries, and is stuck in the middle of perhaps the biggest corruption scandal in Washington history - has again become the party of values. The Democrats - the alleged check to the Republican balances - have sat idly by while the Republicans passed some of the most repressive legislation in history. Many voters are reasonably concerned that electing Democrats to office will create little meaningful change.
Nonetheless, advocates are lobbying hard for voters in the 11th district to engage in the political system. Melanie Sloan, of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington says: "We get the government we deserve. People must demand answers about what Pombo has been doing and why he thinks it's acceptable. If we're not paying attention, it's an endorsement of his activities."
According to Iraq Veterans for Progress's Tim Goodrich, "This may be the most important election in people's lifetimes. The government is supposed to be a system of checks and balances, and right now those checks and balances are not in place." Changing the political regime in Washington, many believe, is an important first step to ending the belligerent assault on civil liberties domestically, and the attack on entire nations abroad.
Richard Pombo: The "Darth Vader" of the Environment
By Sarah Olson
t r u t h o u t | Report
Friday 13 October 2006
Candidates battle for political and ideological leadership in California's contested 11th district.
Peter Petroski is a life-long Republican. He's currently campaigning in California's 11th district on behalf of Jerry McNerney - the Democratic challenger to 14-year incumbent Richard Pombo. Petroski says he's motivated strictly by an "anybody but Pombo" sentiment; he's grown weary of what he sees as a massive culture of corruption in Washington, and is astounded by Richard Pombo's brazen thwarting of ethics and of the law.
Petroski says the final straw was when Congressman Pombo proposed to sell off or privatize 15 National Parks. The proposal sparked outrage around the country, but for Petroski the proposal had a local flair. One of the parks was near Danville, California: 13 acres surrounding Tao House, where Eugene O'Neill lived in the later years of his life and wrote some of his most famous plays, including Long Day's Journey into Night, The Iceman Cometh, and A Moon for the Misbegotten. It's a historic literary place, Petroski says, and one he couldn't fathom destroying.
Petroski is joined by an unlikely cast of characters, from retired general Wesley Clark to Republican politicians Pete McCloskey and Tom Benigno, and from veterans' organizations to the Sierra Club to Planned Parenthood.
These endorsements, coupled with a motivated grass-roots campaign to oust Richard Pombo, make the Pombo/McNerney contest one of the tightest and most closely watched races in the country.
The district stretches from the development-happy eastern outpost of Silicon Valley in Dublin/Pleasanton, into the agricultural Central Valley, north to Lodi and south to Gilroy. This is gorgeous Steinbeckian country, with rolling hills and grass burnt golden brown under the California sun. It's home to two federal prisons and a state institution. On a quiet day, as you drive over the wind-mill dotted Altamont Pass, you can make out artillery fire from the military base in Dublin. The district houses the Laurence Livermore National Laboratory, practitioners of "science in the national interest." California's booming agriculture and ranching businesses are located in the fecund Central Valley.
The 11th district re-election race didn't start off as a tight race. It's a famously conservative, even iconoclastic area, proudly distinguishing itself from the liberal Bay Area. During an earlier election contest, Pombo supporters handed out bags of granola to his challenger's supporters, suggesting they hailed from Berkeley and San Francisco and were unwanted outsiders.
Congressman Pombo has held the seat since 1992. Back in the day, he ran as a hometown boy who didn't like politicians. He's a conservative's conservative, who won on a platform of private property rights, small government, and no-nonsense taking care of business in Washington, DC. He's currently the chair of the powerful House Resources Committee.
But many in California have begun to believe Pombo is too entwined with powerful business interests, reaping enormous benefits for himself and his family, but leaving the rest of California's 11th district out in the cold. Pombo has close ties to the Jack Abramoff scandal. He doggedly supports an increasingly unpopular Iraq war. He has enraged environmental groups around the nation, and offends progressives on a whole host of social issues.
Enter Jerry McNerney. He's a wind energy consulted who lives in Dublin, California. He's soft-spoken, perhaps kind of shy. He ran against Pombo in the last election cycle, and lost. Since then, he's been walking precincts, developing a grass-roots support base, and generally making friends. He advocates for an end to the Iraq war sooner rather than later, and his son is in the military. He promises to bring an end to the corruption scandals plaguing the nation. He is an environmentalist. He's well spoken and erudite.
By nearly all accounts, McNerney's campaign is generating unprecedented, impressive grass-roots support. People in the district are fired up and motivated in ways political veterans have never seen before. McNerney supporters say they hear passion and conviction from constituents determined to vote Richard Pombo out of office.
Richard Pombo and Jerry McNerney are now neck and neck in the race for the Congressional seat. Most polls show figures well within the margin of error placing Pombo and McNerney in a statistical dead heat. It's an exciting race, and supporters on both sides say it has national implications.
Combating a Washington "Culture of Corruption"
Perhaps the single most overwhelming sentiment you'll encounter when chatting with people in the 11th district is disgust for "politics as usual." People have grown tired of what they see as a political "culture of corruption." Republican turned Jerry McNerney advocate Peter Petroski says uncontested power has gone to the heads of Republicans in Congress. He doesn't even think it's fair to describe Pombo as immoral. "In this case, I think he's amoral. He doesn't see a problem with the things he's done."
Richard Pombo denies allegations of corruption, generally expressing exasperation and dismay at what he calls a character assassination. He typically sidesteps the specific allegation. "People are disillusioned by sleazy political campaigns like the ones by our opponents," says Pombo's press secretary Carl Fogliani. "Richard Pombo has focused on these issues, and on what has been done in the 11th district." Fogliani says Pombo has done a fantastic job bringing new resources into the 11th district, and that people are still fired up about their hometown boy.
But Congressman Pombo is accused of a long list of questionable ethical behavior and violations of the law. Increasingly, voters in California's 11th district are insisting on accountability and explanations.
Foremost on the list is his connection to embattled lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Melanie Sloan is the executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. The non-partisan group recently released a report detailing information on a group of what they consider to be the most corrupt members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans alike. According to Sloan, Pombo is a unique case. "With Pombo, it's not just one thing. It's the sheer number of ethics violations. He clearly doesn't recognize that the rules apply to him."
According to the report, Richard Pombo's campaign and political action committee received over $400,000 from Indian tribes between 1999 and 2006. Jack Abramoff represented many of the tribes. Though Pombo has long denied his ties to Abramoff, the Associated Press reported Tuesday that "records show the disgraced lobbyist billed a client for at least two contacts with Pombo a decade ago." The AP announcement opens Pombo to renewed allegations of lying.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington also charge Pombo with abusing power for financial benefit, interference in a pending federal banking investigation, abuse of franking privileges, payments to family members, use of federal funds for campaign expenses, privately funded foreign travel, use of federal funds for personal travel, and inappropriate use and payment of committee staff.
Highlights of his activities include using his power in the House Resources Committee to subpoena confidential Federal Deposit Insurance Company (FDIC) records in an investigation of Houston millionaire Charles Hurwitz. The FDIC was forced to drop its investigation of Hurwitz's role in the 1980s collapse of a Texas savings and loan costing tax payers $1.6 billion dollars. Hurwitz contributed $1,000 to Pombo's 1996 re-election campaign.
In 2004, Pombo used federal franking privileges to mail 175,000 copies of a leaflet praising the Bush administration and his own House Resources Committee for overturning environmental limitations on snowmobiling in national parks. The leaflets were sent to snowmobile owners in swing states Wisconsin and Minnesota in October just before the presidential elections. The mailing cost nearly $70,000, and was authorized as "official business." Pombo also authorized $500,000 of postage to distribute newsletters lauding his own work on the House Resources Committee.
Pombo is also charged with a myriad of instances of using federal dollars for personal and family gain. Allegations include his paying his wife and brother a combined $350,000 out of his political fund, supporting policy benefiting his own financial interests, taking lobbyist-funded trips to New Zealand and Japan, and using over $4,000 of House Resources Committee funds for a family vacation in 2003.
Democratic challenger Jerry McNerney has seized upon the Richard Pombo federal-dollars-for-personal-gain imbroglio. His campaign includes an ethics pledge promising no secret meetings with lobbyists, and a refusal of lobbyist funded travel and gifts. McNerney, who is new to DC politics, presents voters with a viable chance to shake up the status quo, says McNerney press secretary Robert Caughlan.
"As a student of political science, I believe there has never been a Congressional scandal that equals the K Street Project and Abramoff scandals. This is without a doubt the biggest Congressional scandal in history and in three weeks California's 11th district voters have a chance to do something about it," says Caughlan. It's not just partisan politics that inspire this statement. Melanie Sloan agrees corruption in Congress is at unprecedented levels and it may be responsible for shifting control of Congress to the Democrats.
The "Darth Vader" of the Environment
Jerry McNerney is a wind energy consultant. He promises to bring a sensible environmental and energy policy to Washington. But even if McNerney did not have impeccable environmental credentials, he would win environmentalist support anyway.
Environmental activists around the country and national organizations including Sierra Club, the League of Conservation Voters, and the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund see McNerney as their last best chance to unseat someone they say has wreaked havoc on the environment from the day he set foot in DC. As McNerney press secretary Robert Caughlan puts it, "We all live in Richard Pombo's district."
Congressman Pombo's environmental policies are numerous. "Pombo appears to have set himself on a mission to destroy every major federal conservation law we have on the books," says Rodger Schlickeisen, president of the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund. "Not only did he have a 'zero' on his wildlife conservation report card, but he actively led efforts to: sell national parks for commercial exploitation; create a massive oil industrial complex in the Arctic refuge; remove the 25-year ban on drilling for oil and gas off our fragile coastlines; eliminate the 11-year moratorium on selling federal lands to mining companies; and - worst of all - effectively eliminate the federal government's efforts to save and recover endangered wildlife." One supporter dubbed Pombo the "Darth Vader" of the environment.
"We will do whatever it takes to unseat Pombo," says Ed Yoon, an organizer with the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund. The group has been working furiously in the 11th district, walking precincts, knocking on doors, and turning up at Pombo and McNerney events with a strong pro-McNerney message. They attend all the major election events, heckling Pombo with environmental messages, and cheering McNerney on.
"Pombo's policy of drilling, drilling, drilling for oil in the name of energy autonomy destroys natural ocean habitat, creates significant oil spills, and invests in more oil drilling rather than sensible and sustainable energy alternatives," says Yoon. "His policy strengthens and enriches oil companies, which perpetuates a cycle of environmental degradation."
Veterans in Support of Jerry McNerney
Iraq war politics is a dicey subject for California's 11th district. It's a conservative area, and there are a lot of military families. Many of the 11th district's young men and women are fighting in Iraq. Many living in the district say the overwhelming sentiment is that in order to support the troops, you must support the war. For these voters, Pombo's message of a tough stance on the war on terror has real resonance.
Pombo touts the Republican Party line on the war on terror, while McNerney vehemently insists on a new policy. Many challengers would find themselves facing charges of being soft on terrorism and of not supporting the troops, but McNerney escapes these allegations, in large part thanks to overwhelming veteran support. McNerney's own son joined the military after September 11th, 2001.
At a recent community forum with Pombo and McNerney - the closest this district will get to a debate - McNerney opened his remarks with the following:
The President and Congressional leaders used the tragic attacks of 9/11 to drive us - a trusting and patriotic nation - into an unnecessary war, allowing the vicious people who attacked our country to remain free, while creating a dangerous and volatile situation in the Middle East. My opponent is satisfied with the progress of the war in Iraq despite overwhelming evidence that the war is actually making America less secure.
Pombo drew a thoroughly debunked connection between the September 11th attacks and the war in Iraq. He insists the US must fight the war in on terror overseas, otherwise "we will be fighting it here in the 11th district." Pombo advocates a continuation of the Iraq war policy and securing the US borders. Increasingly, Iraq war veterans are coming out in support of Jerry McNerney. Tim Goodrich is an Air Force veteran and the executive director of Iraq Veterans for Progress, which has endorsed the McNerney campaign. "The first thing I noted about Pombo's platform is that he doesn't list the Iraq war as an issue on his campaign or Congressional Web sites," said Goodrich. "That should tell you where he stands on the issue. The second thing I noticed was that McNerney has a son in the military and so he knows firsthand what the military needs, and the risks to the military in staying in a war in which we don't belong." While talking tough on the war on terror and the need to support troops, Pombo alienated veterans' groups with his voting record. This record includes voting against a pay raise for soldiers, against bonuses for the men and women fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, against paying for prosthetic devices for soldiers who lost limbs in Iraq, and to cut $1.8 billion from veterans' health programs.
A Grab Bag of Conservative Policies
During Pombo's tenure as congressman, his voting record has endeared him to conservative factions of all stripes. In addition to his array of environmental positions, Pombo has taken traditional conservative positions at nearly every opportunity.
In just the last two Congressional terms, Pombo voted in favor of requiring colleges to give ROTC programs and military recruiters campus access. While he has a tough line on immigration, he did support expediting posthumus citizenship for soldiers killed in combat. He supported bills seeking to help Iran to "establish democracy," allowing the use of force in Iraq, and seeking to assist internal opposition in Cuba. He also co-sponsored a 2003 bill to end United States membership in the United Nations.
Pombo earned the ire of pro-choice organizations when he supported the "fetal pain" bill requiring physicians to notify women seeking abortions of the possibility that a fetus would experience pain during the procedure. He also supported the recent bill to prohibit traveling with minors across state lines for the purpose of seeking abortions, and co-sponsored the so-called "partial-birth abortion" bill.
Pombo supports a conservative religious agenda with his support of the federal marriage amendment that defines marriage as between one man and one woman. Pombo wants to protect the religious speech rights of churches in a bill that would protect churches from losing their tax-exempt status for certain political speech, and he co-sponsored a bill to "defend" the 10 commandments.
And finally, Pombo supports bills protecting gun manufacturers and distributors from liability claims, making English the national language, and ending campaign finance restrictions.
In connecting himself so closely to conservative Bush administration policies, Pombo has garnered some support by the administration and its supporters. On October 4th, President Bush held a fundraiser in Stockton, California, for Pombo's re-election bid. The crowd paid a cool $250 per plate - a record low for a presidential appearance. During the event, President Bush told the crowd: "Democrats are the party of cut and run. Ours is a party that has got a clear vision." It was during this same address that Bush enraged many by calling the civil war, violence and devastation in Iraq a "comma" in history.
Time for a Change
It appears that voters in California's 11th district may be ready for change. Bill Perkins is the president and founder of the Manteca Democrats club. His group has been engaged in voter registration drives, and walks precincts nearly every weekend.
In many areas, Perkins says people are disengaged. Many don't know there's an election this year. Others are non-partisan, inactive, and busy with the rest of their lives. But when it comes to supporting Pombo, Perkins says constituents are angry. Perkins says people have a general sense that Pombo is dishonest, that he's part of the problem in Washington. "Old-timers say that Pombo's a crook, and that he's always been a crook. They say his entire family is corrupt," Perkins says.
But he's been noticing a change in voter engagement. McNerney is setting voters on fire, Perkins says. "I've never seen anything like this. He inspires people."
And it's not just Democrats who are calling for change. Peter Petroski, the Republican backing the McNerney campaign, says the Republicans he's been talking to are equally disenchanted with Pombo's performance. "People looking at Congressman Pombo's record go from embarrassment to outrage," Petroski says.
By all accounts, the test in this election will be a test of McNerney supporters' ability to get out the vote. In the primary, voter turnout was at just above 30 percent. The disengagement and alienation experienced by voters in the district will not necessarily spur them to the polls in November.
This Election Matters
It's understandable that voters may look askance at both major parties. The Republicans - the party that recently eviscerated habeas corpus, justified torture, is mired in a relentless and gruesome war on terror in two separate countries, and is stuck in the middle of perhaps the biggest corruption scandal in Washington history - has again become the party of values. The Democrats - the alleged check to the Republican balances - have sat idly by while the Republicans passed some of the most repressive legislation in history. Many voters are reasonably concerned that electing Democrats to office will create little meaningful change.
Nonetheless, advocates are lobbying hard for voters in the 11th district to engage in the political system. Melanie Sloan, of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington says: "We get the government we deserve. People must demand answers about what Pombo has been doing and why he thinks it's acceptable. If we're not paying attention, it's an endorsement of his activities."
According to Iraq Veterans for Progress's Tim Goodrich, "This may be the most important election in people's lifetimes. The government is supposed to be a system of checks and balances, and right now those checks and balances are not in place." Changing the political regime in Washington, many believe, is an important first step to ending the belligerent assault on civil liberties domestically, and the attack on entire nations abroad.
