There is a growing consensus in California's Second Congressional District that Democratic candidate Jeff Morris has a good chance of taking out long-time incumbent and party-line Bush supporter Wally Herger. Jeff, who has received endorsements from elected officials statewide and others including former presidential candidate Pete McCloskey, recently received the endorsement of Take Back Red California, "a grassroots coalition that connects northern California Democrats in urban counties with northern California Democratic activists working in rural counties." Here's what they had to say about Jeff:
In Jeff Morris, Democrats have found a grassroots-based candidate, with a wealth of policy experience at the local level, who will mount a serious effort to unseat entrenched Republican Wally Herger and strengthen and reenergize Democratic organizations in this district.
Doesn't this sound like someone who should be an Orange to Blue candidate? I think so. The Take Back Red California folks would seem to think so. And we're not alone.
According to Kos, the reason Orange to Blue exists is "to take races that seem safely Republican and push them into contention." California's Second District has seemed safely Republican for decades, in part because the Democratic Party has been unable to find a serious candidate to run against Herger -- until this year. District 2 is a primarily rural area, with registered voters running about 115,000 Democratic, 153,000 Republican, and 70,000 or so independents and decline-to-states. These numbers have been changing recently, as they are nationally, and conventional wisdom about the safety of this traditionally Republican House seat is being turned upside down.
This week, an editorial in one of the district's major local papers quoted Wally Herger's views about the current economic crisis at some length. But rather than agree with Herger's assessment, the editorial basically smacked him upside the head:
Herger called subprime mortgages and their repackaging into exotic securities the root of the crisis. He said Congress, along with any bailout, must review and modernize regulations to ensure they can cope with today's high finance. "None of this existed 50 years ago, even 20 years," he said.
He volunteered that many of the lending problems were visible not just in hindsight but "even in foresight," which makes us wonder what he's been doing in Congress all this time.
(emphasis added)
Before I tell you what Wally has been doing in Congress for the last 22 years, it will help if you know the following facts:
The District 2 poverty level in 2005 was 15%, higher than the 2004 national rate of 12.7%, and today it is higher than it was 25 years ago. The 2007 median household income in District 2 was $41,000, lower than the national median income of $50,233 and, in 2007 dollars, lower than the national median income 27 years ago. Based on their financial well-being (or lack thereof), it's hard to see how the folks in this district have benefited from Wally's interminable tenure.
Herger's net worth in 2006 was estimated at $12.2 million, which made him the 43rd wealthiest member of Congress and eighth among California's Congressional delegation. Herger's largest campaign contributors are wealthy farming interests and those representing the insurance, timber, pharmaceutical, and construction industries. True to form, his voting record favors the upper income brackets.
Wally voted against the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (now law), which helps people in danger of losing their homes refinance into more affordable government-insured mortgages. He sponsored a bill that would have imposed a permanent 0% capital gains tax rate for corporations and certain individuals. He voted against 4 separate bills in 2008 that provided tax incentives for alternate energy sources, extended renewable energy tax credits, and increased taxes to oil companies. (All of which became law.) He voted against a bill to extend unemployment benefits for states with an unemployment rate exceeding 6% -- which would have included the people in his own district. (This bill also became law.) He voted against the College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2007 (now law) and all versions of the Children's Health Insurance Reauthorization Act. Even poor kids can't catch a break from Wally, despite the fact that in some counties of his district, 26% of the children live in poverty (22% district-wide).
In fact, most of District 2's residents do not come anywhere near the upper income brackets, and by consistently re-electing someone who doesn't recognize this fact, the population has been voting against their own interests.
Jeff Morris knows that the people in District 2 have been getting a raw deal.
"Regardless of whether [residents] voted for Herger or not, they are still the customers ... And he's forgotten who the customers are."
Helping customers means making sure their needs are addressed, and in rural Northern California, this means reaching out to others who, by virtue of their urban wealth and concentrated political representation, have effective control over the purse strings. Jeff realizes that Wally is "too polarizing a Republican to reach outside his party," and has "emphasized the need for a local congressman to appeal not only to Democrats but urban lawmakers in order to bring funds to the counties north of Sacramento."
"The challenge is getting representatives of the urban areas to understand how important that is, because rural areas don't have the votes — which makes relationships all the more important."
"We think this race is winnable. We believe there are enough independents and Republicans who have had it so they'll come along with us."
Jeff Morris, as some of you may know, is my brother. I doubt that our entire extended family has $12.2 million between them. In fact, our grandfather came to District 2 in 1912 as a penniless orphan, and was adopted by a local family.
"He spent the rest of his life giving back. That is the idea. We need the opportunity to do good things."
"If I get this job, I will be working for you, not Wall Street or the big insurance companies ... Somebody needs to be working for you. You deserve that."
In a radio interview a few weeks ago, Jeff Morris hammered home the point that District 2 is doubly under-represented in Congress.
"We have had a need for leadership here in Northern California for a long time. As far as political power is concerned, you know we're a rural area ... Most people don't realize this who live outside of the state, but it's quite rural, and since it's rural, we don't have the population to have many members of Congress ... we've only got 3 north of Sacramento out of 53 in the state out of 435 in the whole House. So if we don't have somebody who is effective in their role as a member of Congress, we're already under-represented based on numbers.
Jeff Morris recognizes that the people of CA-02 need his help. But he's going to need OUR help to get there. Here, at the national level, we need to recognize that conventional wisdom can change, and that this year, the conventional wisdom about CA-02 is flat-out wrong. This is a seat that can be turned blue this year -- with the help of people like you, who have the power, with the click of a button, to turn red to orange to blue.
"Everyone in this district is interested in solid good-paying jobs. Everyone in this district wants access to affordable health care. Everyone in this district wants to make sure that veterans are taken care of. All these issues that are out there now for folks transcend political parties. Especially since, again, from a political power standpoint, we've been under-represented not only by our population numbers but also by our member of Congress. So I think the feeling out there right now is ... party loyalty be damned. We need somebody, regardless of party affiliation, who's going to be effective for the citizens of the district."
(cross-posted at Calitics)