In Stockton, McNerney works the 'roots

U.S. Rep. Jerry McNerneyWASHINGTON - In the face of a fierce Republican push, Democrat Jerry McNerney is pursuing a grassroots-driven strategy in his bid to keep the District 11 U.S. House seat.

“That’s the big thing,” says McNerney spokesman Andy Stone. “Getting out and talking to voters.”

McNerney, a first term Congressman who unseated U.S. Rep. Richard Pombo in 2006, has been attending public events in an effort to solidify his support, while volunteers have been going door-to-door in cities across the Stockton-area district.

The McNerney campaign has also been at work refilling the fundraising coffers. Newly-released first quarter fundraising reports show McNerney raising $330,000 and having $1,600,000 in cash on hand, trumping Republican opponent Dean Andal, who raised $104,000 and has $532,000 in the bank.

If McNerney is running hard for re-election, it is for a reason. The district has traditionally leaned Republican – President Bush won 53 percent and 54 percent of the votes in 2000 and 2004 – and Republicans have placed McNerney their list of targeted incumbents this year.

On Monday, National Republican Congressional Committee chair Tom Cole told reporters he believed first term Democratic incumbents in conservative-leaning districts were in many cases running as Republicans – and would be called out on it.

“They’re running for cover,” said Cole. “I don’t think you can sustain that kind of intellectual dishonesty indefinitely.”

But Democrats brushed off Cole’s remarks, with one Democratic strategist with ties to McNerney saying that “what Tom Cole says is not surprising,” and that the level of McNerney’s support from across the political spectrum has not changed from where it was in 2006.