The fightin' 25th!

My thoughts on a great post-mortem election piece on SCV Talk. Too long for a comment, heck, probably too long for a post...

It seems that, like almost anywhere else in California, the districts are rigged from the outset. Even this year, you had to be an Abramoff All-Star to be in danger of loosing your California congressional seat. The party ID differential may be too much to overcome, at least against an incumbent. But on the bright side, Buck had less support this year than at any point since his initial election in 1992.

It was refreshing to see an energetic and organized opposition candidate in Rodriguez, but he was doomed from the outset, by virtue of the numbers. The shift in power in the House is an important point of reflection on the McKeon era. His most influential period may have passed. He's had six terms, five in the majority and ascended to a chairmanship previously held by the now, but not for long, majority leader. I can't speak for the rest of his district, but the view from SCV is that he's delivered little for our community. The Elsmere bill was significant, but we've seen little since then. I'm no fan of pork, but we are a large city, by national standards, now and, as compared to much of the country, in greater need for roads- big roads, many of them facilitating interstate traffic, because we are not yet "settled". Our infrastructure hasn't caught up yet. Yet our take of the massive transportation bill was disproportionally low.

But more importantly, the TMC issue is, despite the noble efforts of the City, a federal issue. We've been denied any sort of recourse at every level because this mining is allowed by the federal government. The only way this can be remedied, it would seem, is by some executive action by the Dept. of Interior or an act of Congress. Buck's bill, which was years too late, seems to have been an empty gesture. 5471 has seen no movement since the spring and is likely to die a miserable death. McKeon seemed to distance himself from his own bill during the debate.

With the Democrats taking the House, McKeon will have less of an incentive to jockey for position, since the positions available to him are far less attractive, one would think. I've had the sincere feeling that he's been a faithful representative of his party, but his constituents are of secondary concern. Some may feel differently- local businesspeople haven't been shy about donating to his campaigns, and his role in the Education and Workforce Committee has been a good thing for institutions like COC and locally he put considerable weight behind Measure M. But on the issue of the day he's come up short. It's worth noting that Tom Delay's brother has been Cemex's lobbyist in Washington, and such arrangements are never by accident. Tom Delay had a history of speaking on behalf of Cemex interests at odd, but opportune times. Buck was a DeLay apologist to the bitter end, so that may give you some idea of where his loyalties have rested.