They say that all politics are local . . .

I live in the 46th Congressional District in California, home to one of the worst Congressman in the country, Republican Dana Rohrbacher. Trust me, I'm not the only who thinks so (even my Republican colleagues don't disagree) . . .

According to randomlengthsnew.com:

"David Brooks, an influential conservative pundit and frequent contributor to the New York Times called him a “blithering idiot.” In 2002, a story in the OC Weekly exposed a pre-9/11 meeting between Congressman Dana Rohrabacher and a delegation from the Taliban, forcing him to respond publicly on television. He supports requiring hospitals to report patients it suspects of being foreign nationals to immigration officials—a policy health-care workers regard
as anathema. And recently, he joined others in Congress who are calling for the government of Iraq to help finance the U.S. military’s occupation of that country. The last request is particularly ironic, since prior to voting to authorize the use of force in Iraq, he claimed, “this job in Iraq will be easier than what happened in Afghanistan.”

"The list of embarrassments goes on and on. And yet, through it all, Rohrabacher as managed to hold onto his seat in Congress for ten terms. But that may all change this year if one Orange
County politician has anything to say about it. Huntington Beach Mayor Debbie Cook
has won the nomination to run as the Democratic candidate challenging the incumbent
of the 46th Congressional district. Should she succeed in November, Cook would be the
first Democrat to do so in the heavily gerrymandered district since it was redrawn in
2001."

According the mailings I get from Rohrbacher, the number one issue that he sees facing not only California, but the country? What is the one issue he's working on full time? It's not the war, the economy or the environment. According to Rohrbacher, the number one injustice in America is that two Border Guards were arrested and are facing trial for shooting and killing three unarmed Mexicans attempting to enter the country. His number one goal is to have them released and acknowledged as the heroes that they are.

So imagine my delight when I noticed a few Debbie Cook for Congress signs around the neighborhood as I was walking my dogs yesterday. I had picked up a sign myself on Monday at the local Democratic Club. The Cook Political Report, an independent non-partisan publication that analyzes political campaigns across the country, today upgraded the 46th Congressional District from a “solid Republican” to a “likely Republican” district.

Can she win? I think it is unlikely, but it's nice to know she has a chance. The last time a long time local GOP representative was defeated was when Loretta Sanchez defeated Bob Dornan in 1996, at least partly on the coattails of Bill Clinton. Here's hoping that Obama's popularity trickles down . . .