« BEC Photos | Main | Welcome »
April 20, 2007
Bad to Worse
I've previously written about Congressman John Doolittle, who represents the Oroville are and the counties of El Dorado, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, and Sierra.
The FBI recently raided his home as part of its investigation into his and/or his wife's possibly corrupt connection with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
While the Doolittles are certainly innocent until proven guilty, this is not a good sign when the FBI takes the serious step of searching your home.
Doolittle has already taken a "leave" from his seat on the powerful House Appropriations Committee.
Since the House Appropriations Committee deals with federal spending bills, committee members typically receive significant campaign contributions from various parties, lobbyists, or "special interests."
If things go from bad to worse, we may see a special election for Doolittle's 4th Congressional seat sooner than the November 2008 general election.
At the very least, a decent Republican needs to wage a strong primary challenge to Doolittle.
It's expected that Democrat Charlie Brown will run again, but Republican leaders need to assess whether standing firmly behind Doolittle is the best way to retain this vulnerable seat.
For all you history buffs, several people have pointed out that this April 18, 2007 raid on Doolittle's home coincides exactly 65 years from the date of the infamous April 18, 1942 Doolittle Raid during WWII.
Does someone at the FBI just have an impeccable sense of history and irony?
Today's Scrabble word is kef, or hemp smoked to produce euphoria.
Posted by dan_nt at April 20, 2007 12:00 AM
Comments
Doolittle's latest response to the investigation as reported in the Sacramento Bee.
Not surprisingly, I don't see much reference to the investigations on his "John in the News" section of his House website.
Posted by: dan_nt at April 20, 2007 02:11 PM
good god.
I think I'll watch this video every afternoon as part of my weight loss regime. It certainly makes you lose your appetite.
How do people like this get elected?
Posted by: Tasker at April 20, 2007 02:13 PM
Hey, Dan. My perfect scenario calls for Dolittle remaining in office, perhaps being weakened by but not losing to a Republican challenger in the primary and then going down to defeat against Charlie Brown in November '08.
It's impossible to imagine a more qualified candidate for that district than Brown.I gave Charlie Brown $50 last year and have already given him $50 for '08. If anyone else wants to do so please take a look at Brown's website: http://www.charliebrownforcongress.org/index.php
The ogre Pombo lost to McNerney in '06 - Doolittle is next!
Posted by: Greg Fischer at April 21, 2007 12:51 PM