Read this article then read between the lines. It might be a case of Republicans eating their own, allowing the Dems to take a seat at the table.
EDIT: I can't get the link to work, so here's the article:
QUOTE
GOP Candidate Distances Self From Bush By MICHAEL R. BLOOD, Associated Press Writer
Fri Sep 30, 1:56 PM ET
IRVINE, Calif. - Marilyn Brewer, a leading Republican candidate for the nation's only open House seat, stared into the TV camera and proclaimed her support for the president.
She was not talking about George W. Bush.
"I stand side by side with Ronald Reagan on less taxes and less government," Brewer told voters at a candidate forum.
The former state assemblywoman also praised Nancy Reagan for her devotion to stem cell research, an issue that has bedeviled the Bush White House. And she touts as her prize endorsement Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record), the president's sometime rival and critic.
Not a word about Bush.
Later, the self-described loyal Republican who voted for the president in 2004 explained her calculus: "If the election was this year ... he would not be re-elected."
Seventeen candidates from five political parties are on the ballot in a special election Tuesday to fill the Orange County seat that Republican Rep. Christopher Cox (news, bio, voting record) relinquished to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. The wide-open contest has pitted Republican against Republican, highlighting rifts within the GOP over abortion, illegal immigration and President Bush.
Less than a year ago, Bush won nearly 60 percent of the vote in this hilly swath of coastal California where the airport is named for John Wayne and residents tend to be white, affluent and Republican. But these days, the president's job approval ratings nationally are at an all-time low, in part because of the war in Iraq and the administration's sluggish response to Hurricane Katrina.
Brewer is keeping her distance from Bush, and is instead stressing her support for abortion rights and the environment to win the votes of moderate Republicans, Democrats and independents.
She hopes to cobble together enough support to surprise the Republican front-runner, state Sen. John Campbell, a conservative former car dealer endorsed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Campbell, for his part, is not shy about aligning himself with the president, even if they part ways on issues like immigration. "Of the leading candidates, I'm probably with the president on more issues than anyone else," Campbell said.
Campbell has a sterling Republican pedigree. His great-grandfather was elected to the California Assembly in 1860 as part of Abraham Lincoln's Republican ticket. A young Campbell stuffed envelopes for Barry Goldwater's 1964 presidential campaign and revered Orange County native son Richard Nixon.
If no candidate wins a majority next week, the top finishers from each party will advance to a runoff in December.
The race is complicated by the candidacy of Jim Gilchrist, a founder of the Minuteman Project that sponsors citizen patrols along the Mexican border. Running as a candidate for the American Independent Party, he threatens to siphon votes from Campbell, who has advocated building a fence along the border.
The contest is expected to come down to Brewer and Campbell. And Louis DeSipio, a political scientist at the University of California at Irvine, said the race is likely to turn on abortion. Campbell opposes abortion rights.
"There are divisions within the Republicans that reflect divisions in national Republican Party," DeSipio said.
The state Democratic Party has endorsed trial lawyer Steve Young, but he is not given much of a chance. Only 27 percent of the district's voters are Democrats.
"The word on the street is a Democrat will never win this district," lamented Patti Clarkson, 42. A Democrat who supports abortion rights, she added, "I'm looking for the least damaging Republican."
Schwarzenegger's involvement comes at a sensitive time. He is pushing a series of ballot measures in November to overhaul state government, and a stumble by his hand-picked candidate could be viewed as both an embarrassment and a sign of vulnerability.
But Carl Forti of the National Republican Congressional Committee cautioned against reading too much into the contest.
"This is about electing Congressman Chris Cox's successor," he said. "This election is not about President Bush, Arnold Schwarzenegger or anyone else."
Fri Sep 30, 1:56 PM ET
IRVINE, Calif. - Marilyn Brewer, a leading Republican candidate for the nation's only open House seat, stared into the TV camera and proclaimed her support for the president.
She was not talking about George W. Bush.
"I stand side by side with Ronald Reagan on less taxes and less government," Brewer told voters at a candidate forum.
The former state assemblywoman also praised Nancy Reagan for her devotion to stem cell research, an issue that has bedeviled the Bush White House. And she touts as her prize endorsement Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record), the president's sometime rival and critic.
Not a word about Bush.
Later, the self-described loyal Republican who voted for the president in 2004 explained her calculus: "If the election was this year ... he would not be re-elected."
Seventeen candidates from five political parties are on the ballot in a special election Tuesday to fill the Orange County seat that Republican Rep. Christopher Cox (news, bio, voting record) relinquished to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. The wide-open contest has pitted Republican against Republican, highlighting rifts within the GOP over abortion, illegal immigration and President Bush.
Less than a year ago, Bush won nearly 60 percent of the vote in this hilly swath of coastal California where the airport is named for John Wayne and residents tend to be white, affluent and Republican. But these days, the president's job approval ratings nationally are at an all-time low, in part because of the war in Iraq and the administration's sluggish response to Hurricane Katrina.
Brewer is keeping her distance from Bush, and is instead stressing her support for abortion rights and the environment to win the votes of moderate Republicans, Democrats and independents.
She hopes to cobble together enough support to surprise the Republican front-runner, state Sen. John Campbell, a conservative former car dealer endorsed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Campbell, for his part, is not shy about aligning himself with the president, even if they part ways on issues like immigration. "Of the leading candidates, I'm probably with the president on more issues than anyone else," Campbell said.
Campbell has a sterling Republican pedigree. His great-grandfather was elected to the California Assembly in 1860 as part of Abraham Lincoln's Republican ticket. A young Campbell stuffed envelopes for Barry Goldwater's 1964 presidential campaign and revered Orange County native son Richard Nixon.
If no candidate wins a majority next week, the top finishers from each party will advance to a runoff in December.
The race is complicated by the candidacy of Jim Gilchrist, a founder of the Minuteman Project that sponsors citizen patrols along the Mexican border. Running as a candidate for the American Independent Party, he threatens to siphon votes from Campbell, who has advocated building a fence along the border.
The contest is expected to come down to Brewer and Campbell. And Louis DeSipio, a political scientist at the University of California at Irvine, said the race is likely to turn on abortion. Campbell opposes abortion rights.
"There are divisions within the Republicans that reflect divisions in national Republican Party," DeSipio said.
The state Democratic Party has endorsed trial lawyer Steve Young, but he is not given much of a chance. Only 27 percent of the district's voters are Democrats.
"The word on the street is a Democrat will never win this district," lamented Patti Clarkson, 42. A Democrat who supports abortion rights, she added, "I'm looking for the least damaging Republican."
Schwarzenegger's involvement comes at a sensitive time. He is pushing a series of ballot measures in November to overhaul state government, and a stumble by his hand-picked candidate could be viewed as both an embarrassment and a sign of vulnerability.
But Carl Forti of the National Republican Congressional Committee cautioned against reading too much into the contest.
"This is about electing Congressman Chris Cox's successor," he said. "This election is not about President Bush, Arnold Schwarzenegger or anyone else."