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Green groups target California lawmaker (Pombo)

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#1 · (Edited)
Congressman Pombo is without a doubt our biggest ally in Congress when it comes to reforming the ESA. We need to all get behind him during this election season, because ESA reform has no chance of success without him in Washington DC. Please consider making a donation to his campaign. Make sure you send a quick note with a check stating that you are an off-roader and support his efforts to reform the ESA.

http://www.richardpombo.com/
Richard Pombo for Congress
P.O. Box 1070
Tracy, CA 95378

Or you can send your donation to the Off-Road Business Association's Political Action Committee. The ORBA PAC will funnel donations to races which can use help from off-roaders:

ORBA Political Action Committee
PO Box 1339
Lakeside, CA 92040-0909

The ORBA PAC is an off-shoot of www.orba.biz


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http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/news/nation/14528322.htm

Green groups target California lawmaker
14-year veteran tagged as ‘Villain of the Year’
By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post


PLEASANTON, Calif. – The 30-foot-long RV stood parked on Main Street in this sunny, small town, taking up much of a city block. The Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund had festooned the vehicle with colorful caricatures of House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo, R-Calif., along with catchy slogans such as “Honk if you’re tired of Richard Pombo wasting your money.”

In a state where nearly all 53 House members are assured re-election, Pombo is facing a GOP primary challenge and a serious general election contest. Although he enjoys the advantages of incumbency, a Republican-leaning district and sizable campaign coffers, the 14-year congressional veteran is engaged in his first genuine race in years because of a concerted assault by national environmental groups.

It remains unclear whether the groups will succeed. The district has a 7 percent Republican edge. And with more than $1 million, Pombo’s war chest dwarfs those of his opponents. Many voters care about the environment, but they rarely consider it the deciding issue when picking a candidate.

Environmentalists contend that they have a chance to win, mainly by tying Pombo’s legislative actions to the broader theme of a corrupt Republican-led Congress. A slew of organizations, including Clean Water Action and the Sierra Club, have joined Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund in attacking Pombo’s record on endangered species, timber logging and stewardship of national parks. They have knocked on thousands of doors, sponsored radio ads and called voters in Pombo’s district in an effort to torpedo his political career.

“Clearly, he is our number one priority, in terms of letting his constituents know exactly how aggressive he’s being here,” said Rodger Schlickeisen, chief executive of Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund.

The group, the political arm of the Defenders of Wildlife non-profit organization, recently named Pombo its first “Wildlife Villain of the Year.” It has a Web site called “Pombo’s in Their Pocket” linking the congressman to the corporate interests that he oversees.

Pombo, who has championed an overhaul of the Endangered Species Act as well as offshore oil drilling and gas exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, said he is not surprised that he has become such a target of environmentalists.

“I don’t think any one of them would honestly say they can beat me,” he said in a recent interview at his cattle ranch in his home town of Tracy. “They will raise a ton of money by trying to make me the boogeyman.”

Pombo acknowledged that this year will be tougher than 2004, when he faced a write-in Democratic candidate who garnered less than 40 percent of the vote. Since 2003, 75,000 new voters have moved into his district, many of them more liberal-leaning voters who left the San Francisco area in search of cheaper real estate.

“They’re used to a different kind of Republican than they’re getting from Pombo,” said Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope, whose group has knocked on 15,000 front doors in the district and has gathered thousands of names on a petition criticizing Pombo’s record.

Pombo’s district covers the more rural area around Tracy and part of the East Bay where San Francisco and Silicon Valley commuters reside.

Although environmentalists are targeting both areas, they are more optimistic about winning over East Bay voters.

“This is a district that’s clearly in the realm of a Democrat,” said Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund Political Director Mark Longabaugh, who noted that liberal Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., won the district by three points in her last election. “There’s a big difference between a Republican-leaning district and an overwhelmingly Republican district.”

Longabaugh and his allies – who are waging a “voter education campaign” but will likely issue endorsements later in the campaign – are highlighting several controversies surrounding Pombo. They could end up spending a few million dollars on the race.

These activists question why Pombo spent $4,935 in taxpayer dollars to tour seven national parks with his family during the summer of 2003. He counters that he paid for his family’s meals and would have spent more if he had toured the areas by plane. Longabaugh’s group is running a radio ad assailing the congressman for suggesting that the United States should sell off 15 national parks; Pombo says that was a staff proposal that he never seriously considered.

Pombo’s Republican and Democratic opponents echo the themes of the national environmentalists. Former GOP congressman Pete McCloskey, 78, who helped found Earth Day in 1970, said he came out of retirement to challenge Pombo in the June 6 primary because Republicans “have been corrupted more than the Democrats ever were. ... We’re not just taking on Pombo, we’re taking on the whole Republican Party.”
 
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