Can Republican candidate John Dennis pull off a Scott Brown Massachusetts type miracle in California's 8th congressional district race resulting in the un-seating of Nancy Pelosi?
He has, at first glance, the appeal of a major challenger to any incumbent as well as the ability to rouse the California GOP from its long nap. But truly what are his chances realistically? Dennis' coast to coast campaign is exciting to say the least and provides entertaining fodder for talk radio all over the country. This effort may bring in much needed funding from out of the district, but will this be enough? He certainly seems to have the national conservative support, but only residents of the 8th will be making the chose. And voters of the 8th have been overwhelmingly choosing the Democratic candidate for sixty years.
Though the 8th has changed boundaries quite a bit over the years the area's last Republican was Zack Anderson in 1950. As matter of fact, voters of the 8th love their liberal Congresswoman so much that even in her worst outing over nine terms, she held 71% of the vote. Her closest challenger was the popular Elsa Cheung who was only able to swing 18%.
If Dennis' strategy is to simply bring Pelosi's abuse of taxpayer funds to light he will gain no ground in the 8th. Apparently this is not an issue for the district since a Congressman across the Bay, Ron Dellums, held office for nine terms and also and has been under scrutiny for abusive spending his whole career.
Best wishes to candidate John Dennis whose success in the 8th district would probably be celebrated by conservatives all across our great country. Unfortunately, to suggest that the 8th is a Democratic strong hold would be an understatement. The hard numbers aren't allowing much hope for ousting the Speaker.
Danny M. Simmons
Print
