Ose, McClintock host dueling fundraisers at same D.C. venue

WASHINGTON – Former Rep. Doug Ose and state Sen. Tom McClintock brought their campaigns for the Republican nomination for the 4th Congressional District to Washington this week, and they quickly became a sideshow for the 350 participants in town for the Sacramento Metro Chamber's annual cap-to-cap lobbying trip.

The two dueled over well-placed reception venues, bid for the support of important Californians in D.C. and welcomed outgoing Rep. John Doolittle to their fundraisers.

The contest was most apparent Tuesday evening at the Capitol Hill Club, a Republican haunt just a block from the legislative hubbub and a popular venue for receptions and fundraisers. Ose was holding forth at a packed reception for chamber delegates on the third floor while McClintock was simultaneously huddled with a smaller group at a lower-level reception.

"Oh, no," said one of McClintock's guests, Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., when asked if he would endorse McClintock after emerging from the meet-and-greet. Pearce said Congress needed more conservatives, but the party is remaining neutral in the primary battle.

That rule did not apply for California Republicans, however. Twelve of the 19 Republican members of the state's delegation signed a letter of support they gave Ose at the reception.

Among those not signing the letter was Doolittle, the nine-term Republican whose retirement has opened up the increasingly bitter fight to replace him. Doolittle appeared at a noon fundraiser for McClintock and then the evening Ose event, professing neutrality wherever he went.

"Either would be a good member of Congress," said Doolittle, who is retiring at the end of the year under the cloud of a federal investigation into his relationship with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

How receptions for competing candidates came to be scheduled at a Washington watering hole filled with Sacramento chamber members became a subject of traded barbs.

The Ose campaign had been working on the trip for a couple of weeks.

McClintock decided to fly back late last week. McClintock said it was pure happenstance that the chamber also was in town, but Ose said he felt as though his campaign was being stalked, even accusing McClintock of trying to arrange for a reception room next door to the Ose event.

While many chamber delegates joked about the two events, McClintock was not their go-to guy.

The chamber voted to endorse Ose, a member, soon after he announced for the seat.

"It took maybe 10 minutes to decide to support Doug," said chamber President Matt Mahood. "He's from Sacramento, he's been in Congress before and he understands our issues. McClintock is from Southern California and doesn't understand our issues."

Still, McClintock, whose official residence is his mother's house in Thousand Oaks, was ceding no ground to Ose.

"We're looking at two worlds – conservatives out in the district and insiders here," said McClintock aide John Feliz. "The chamber (delegates) are the Sacramento insiders, but they are not 4th District insiders."

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