CA-11: DC Republicans Displeased About The Efforts Of Their "Golden Boy"

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

It's hard to overstate how pathetic national Republicans have been so far this cycle.  Some of their top challengers can't get on the ballot, and the leader of their campaign efforts in the Senate said recently that keeping the Democrats to a gain of eight seats would be a moral victory.

Now there's news about Dean Andal, one of the few challengers Republicans are counting on nationwide, the guy who's supposedly working hard to take down Rep. Jerry McNerney.  Only he raised a paltry $11,000 in the pre-primary filing period, and now Congressional Republicans are worried that their golden boy is made of iron pyrite.

Dean Andal, recruited by the GOP with great fanfare to challenge freshman Rep. Jerry McNerney (D) in California's 11th district, is now coming under attack from Republicans in Washington, D.C., for running what they contend is a flawed campaign.

Andal, a former state Assemblyman, is facing increasing criticism for his fundraising and general campaign strategy, with the grumbling emanating from Republicans in the consulting and lobbying communities. Privately, Republicans on Capitol Hill are also expressing concern.

The handful of sources interviewed for this story on Tuesday declined to discuss their concerns on the record. But all are Washington, D.C.-based Republican strategists who had until recently been singing Andal's praises and are intimately familiar with the GOP-leaning 11th district.

"I think the fundamentals are there to pull this off," said one GOP operative. "But Andal still has to run a fundamentally sound race. He hasn't done that so far."

At least he's making all the right hires.  Andal's top campaign strategist is Richard Temple.  He was last seen as the top strategist to Doug "I Don't Know How To Use A Ballot" Ose, who got smoked in the 4th District primary by Tom McClintock after spending millions of his own personal fortune.  Andal won't even have that kind of scratch to work with when he gets pounded in the fall.

This is my favorite quote:

Andal's critics insist that he is not doing enough to win, particularly in the current political environment.

"He's dialing it in," said a native Californian and Republican operative who is now based in D.C. "He's got the attitude of a Member of Congress. He doesn't have the attitude of a challenger fighting to get elected in his district."

Hilarious.