CA-04

U.S. Rep. John DoolittleU.S. Rep. John Doolittle’s final six months in office provide something of a sad bookend to a career of a man who was once considered a hero among California conservatives and a rising star within the Republican Party.

In a state that is largely dominated by the Democratic Party, Doolittle rose from the state senate to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he would eventually become House Conference secretary, the sixth-highest ranking position in the chamber.

“He was the golden boy for so long in a state that was Democratic,” said Barbara O’ Connor, a professor of political communications at California State University at Sacramento. “He was able to beat the odds.”

John Doolittle, the retiring congressman who is under investigation for his ties to jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff, appears likely to campaign for state Sen. Tom McClintock, the Republican nominee for Doolittle’s Roseville-area seat.

“We’re talking about doing a couple of events and we’re putting them together,” said Doolittle spokesman Dan Blankeburg. Blankeburg declined to provide any further details, adding that the two sides had only talked in what he called “conceptual terms.”

McClintock is fresh off a victory in the June 3 Republican primary against Doug Ose, a former U.S. congressman. Doolittle declined to endorse in the race, saying he liked both candidates. Doolittle had supported Rico Oller, a former member of the state senate and state assembly, before Oller withdrew from the race in March.

Stan Devereux, a spokesman for McClintock, confirmed that the campaign had set up a meeting to discuss Doolittle’s support for McClintock.

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Republican U.S. House candidate Doug Ose has contributed $475,000 of his own money in his campaign for the seat of retiring U.S. Rep. John Doolittle.

Richard Temple, an adviser to Ose, confirmed the contribution and said the campaign would be using the money for direct mail, television and radio advertisements, and get-out the vote efforts in the days leading up the June 3 primary.

Ose, a developer and former U.S. Congressman whose wealth has been said to hover around $50 million, has now contributed over $2 million in the campaign.

The McClintock campaign was quick to target Ose for the contribution, saying he was trying to buy the seat. “There is no limit to the amount of money Doug Ose will spend against Tom McClintock to buy a seat in Congress,” said McClintock spokesman Stan Devereux.

After weeks of slamming Republican primary opponent Tom McClintock, U.S. House candidate Doug Ose is out with a positive-oriented television advertisement.

In the 30-second ad, “Who I am,” hitting the airwaves in the Roseville-area district this week, Ose says, “This is who I am: Businessman and lifelong Republican, born and raised in Northern California. In Congress, I voted to cut taxes 80 times. I uncovered $30 billion in federal waste. And I never voted to give Social Security benefits or amnesty to illegal aliens and I never will. I stood with our troops and gave every pay raise I got to charity. This is what I did and what I’ll do again to put America back on track. This is Doug Ose, and I love this country. And I approve this ad.”

With the primary fast approaching, Doug Ose’s campaign is pushing the idea that his Republican opponent Tom McClintock has character flaws making him unfit to serve in office.

The allegations were made in a letter signed by Republicans Madge Schaffer, a former Thousand Oaks mayor, Greg Stratton, a former Simi Valley mayor, and Judy Mikels, a former Simi Valley councilmember, and distributed by the Ose campaign. (Read the letter here.)

It seeks to paint McClintock, a former Assemblyman who has represented the Thousand Oaks area in the state Senate for the last eight years, as an ineffective public official who is arrogant, self-centered, and frustrating to work with. 

Republican U.S. House candidate Doug Ose has deposited $500,000 of his own personal fortune into his campaign coffers, just one day after making a personal contribution of $200,000 to his campaign, while a spokesman for Ose’s primary rival said today that a highly-funded offensive on Ose’s part would only succeed in damaging the Republican Party’s prospects for holding the seat in November’s general election.

Ose spokesman Doug Elmets confirmed the contribution and reaffirmed that Ose, a land developer whose wealth has been said to hover around $50 million range, is willing to spend heavily to fund his primary campaign against state Senator Tom McClintock.

“This contribution is another indication that Doug Ose is intent on making absolutely certain that the voters understand the clear choice in the Fourth Congressional District,” said Elmets.

Democratic U.S. House candidate Charlie Brown is announcing the support of an organization that represents independent or “Decline to State” voters.

“Independents know Washington is broken and partisan politics is the reason,” said Jim Mangia, co-chair of IndependentMovement.org.  “That’s why we’re proud to stand with Retired Lt. Col. Charlie Brown--a battle tested, independent minded leader who has dedicated his life to serving our country, and putting patriotism before partisanship.”

As he runs for the Roseville-area District 4 seat he narrowly lost to retiring U.S. Rep. John Doolittle in 2006, Brown, a retired Air Force officer, is casting himself as a fierce independent who puts partisanship aside in favor of getting results.

Congressional candidate Tom McClintockWith less than a month before the June 3 primary, Republican U.S. House candidate Tom McClintock is out with two new television advertisements that hammer home the central theme of his campaign: that he is a consistent and reliable conservative.

“For two decades, Tom McClintock has led the conservative fight in California. He’s fought to cut taxes and spending, secure our border and defend our rights as citizens,” an announcer says in “The Real Conservative,” a 30-second spot.

The Club for Growth Monday launched its first television advertisement targeting Republican Congressional candidate Doug Ose, who is locked in a primary battle with Tom McClintock.

The 30-second advertisement, which is airing on broadcast and cable television in the Roseville-area district, takes Ose to task for his record on spending issues.