George Radanovich’s retirement announcement has sent the Central Valley into a feeding frenzy on news of candidates looking to run to replace him. A solid Republican seat, all of the action for this one will be in the June primary.
So far I have heard from all of the campaigns of the major candidates. There are two potential candidates from the Fresno area, former Secretary of State Bill Jones, and former Fresno Mayor Jim Patterson. To the North, there are former Congressman Richard Pombo, and State Senator Jeff Denham. Truth be known, any of them would be a fine Member of Congress. Having four of them in the race will make it a real barnburner.
In this election, however, my sense is that old paradigms don’t matter. I don’t think fundraising is going to matter as much, and some of the issues that should really matter a lot won’t matter at all.
As everyone knows, the Central Valley here is the victim of a man made drought, fueled by outrageous Endangered Species laws, and the resulting unemployment is staggering. Hundreds of thousands of acres of fertile ag land remain fallow, threatening and endangering our nation’s food supplies.
This should be the biggest issue in the campaign – but it won’t be. As serious as the water situation is – it won’t move people to the polls.
2010 will be the "anger" election. Whichever candidate can tap into voter concerns about debt and deficits, taxes, unemployment and government intrusion into our personal freedoms through use of hostile legislation such as healthcare reform will likely win the election.
The winner will be the one that has fire, passion, a commitment to defeat the Obama / Pelosi / Reid agenda, and a strong communicator. As of right now, that candidate is Jim Patterson. He’s been out of politics long enough to have some advantages, and he’s tapped into the Tea Party movements – the most activie political group in the country right now. The knock on Patterson right now is his fundraising ability versus the other three major potential candidates and that could be his undoing unless he relentlessly works the phones.
I have not endorsed anyone, nor will I until I meet with all the candidates personally. An earful is coming – I want to know if they understand how pissed off we all are and if they don’t get it, really get it, I won’t support anyone.
There are many twists and turns left in this race. There could be a big time business candidate enter the race yet – who knows? Right now, anyone could win this thing. Anyone.