(The DCCC announced that they were pleased with McNerney, is this what they have been pushing him to do? - promoted by Julia Rosen)
Back in 2006, when Jerry McNerney was running for Congress in CA-11, he would appear at forums, meetings and fundraisers where he would often be called upon to speak. One of the lines he used often, usually to thundering applause, was "I am a Barbara Boxer Democrat!" Never once did he say, "I am a Dennis Cardoza Democrat!" I suspect his audiences might have reacted a little more coolly if he had.
And yet his stance on the issues to date has more closely mirrored that of Rep. Dennis Cardoza (CA-18), who is well known for his conservative Blue Dog associations. Why is McNerney making this rightward shift?
Well, I've given McNerney the benefit of the doubt over the last seven months, preferring to think that he was getting bad advice from his Chief of Staff, Angela Kouters. I figured that Kouters, who is young, ambitious, inexperienced and thoroughly under the influence of Inside-the-Beltway conventional wisdom, was urging him to take so-called "moderate" positions in an attempt to pander to the DC perception of conservative CA-11 residents.
But it appears that I may have been mistaken. Unfortunately, the news today has brought two separate stories which have led me to the difficult conclusion that Jerry McNerney is not the man he appeared to be. That is to say, it sure seems like he duped many of his strongest supporters.
See why on the flip...
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