FLASHREPORT

Although there has been no announcement (and I have no inside information here) the Republicans of the River City endorsed Doug Ose for Congress at their meeting tonight (1-15-2008).

Ose is member of the club, which meets in the Ose room at KVIE (local public TV station) , so it's hardly breaking news that they would endorse him.  But if he was not running, he could probably have stopped it as well.

Word on the street is that Ose has put a team together - headed by McNally Temple Associates - and has lined up his media spokesperson, fundraiser and pollster.

Ose, who was first elected to Congress after a tough race against then-Assemblywoman Barbara Alby, is the former California Chair of the Republican Mainstreet Partnership -- a moderate group headed by Charles Bass (former NH Congressman) that frequently tangles with the Club for Growth - a conservative group headed by Pat Toomey (former PA Congressman). 

CFG has already fired a salvo in the race, taking a whack at Ose.  It's unlikely to go unanswered.

Both Ose and Oller have been vocal in their defence of Doolittle, both are wealthy, both are tough and both have served in public office; but one can hardly call them Fraternity brothers:  A couple of years ago, they went positively Vale Tudo on each other after Ose retired (keeping his pledge to only serve 3 terms) and supported his sister Mary to replace him.  There was rather a lot of blood spilt, muck raked and other such festive activities.  But in the end, Dan Lungren was elected to the seat.

In my previous post, I noted that there are two other candidates (Egland and Holmes) already in the race; and now rumors are flying that another wealthy candidate from the El Dorado Hills area may be joining the fray as well. 

This has all the makings of an "old-fashioned slobberknocker."  If you're in the area, you might want to keep the kids away from the mail box and TV during the "political sweeps" in April and May!