Northern California's 4th Congressional District ordinarily wouldn't be anything other than an easy vote generator for Republicans in one of the stoutest GOP regions in the state.

But in this anything-but-ordinary political year, the stretch run of the race between Republican Tom McClintock, a renowned conservative lion, and Democrat Charlie Brown, a decorated Air Force veteran, is emerging as one of the country's most closely watched congressional contests.

The national Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is taking aim at the sprawling district – extending from the Sacramento suburbs to the Oregon border – as a prime target in its national "Red to Blue" strategy to turn Republican seats Democratic. And the Republican National Congressional Committee is running ads to defend its turf.

So McClintock, a state lawmaker from Thousand Oaks, fires up supporters to work voter precincts in Placer County by warning about the dire consequences of "both an Obama presidency and a Pelosi Congress."

"This election in the 4th District may decide whether we will return to our traditional founding freedoms or whether the nation will move to European socialism," he declares.

Brown, a district resident from Roseville, stirs an outdoor gathering under the ponderosa pines of Nevada County for a campaign "to open up this district so that good people can run for office no matter what political party they're from."

He tells supporters he can win in a district where Republicans hold a 17 percentage-point voter registration advantage. He implores them not to take "anything for granted" and warns that he expects to be targeted by a blitz of last-minute GOP mailers.

In this district where a powerful Republican incumbent, Rep. John Doolittle, routinely won re-election by 20 points or more, few are taking anything for granted. Two years after Doolittle narrowly defeated Brown, 49 percent to 46 percent, the congressman is now retiring amid a long-running FBI investigation into his ties to disgraced Washington, D.C., lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

McClintock, now viewed as the Republican savior for the red district, is facing a tough challenge due to Brown's unexpectedly high name recognition – and an infusion of last-minute campaign cash from the national Democratic Party.

'It's the nature of the year'

"This race is a dogfight," said Republican political consultant Kevin Spillane. "Who would have predicted years ago that a district this Republican would be in serious jeopardy from the Democrats? It's the nature of the year – with Bush so unpopular, with the economy in turmoil and with Republicans being badly outspent by Democrats."

McClintock to date has outraised Brown in the 4th District race by $2.7 million to $2 million. But McClintock had only $66,000 in cash left on Oct. 15 – vs. $125,000 in debt – while Brown had $225,000 in cash and $54,000 in debt.

Since Oct. 17, the Democratic committee has spent more than $776,000 to boost Brown.

The committee is running TV commercials that depict McClintock as a career politician who has failed in multiple runs for statewide office and assail him for collecting $300,000 in tax-free per diem living expenses while, the ads say, voting against veterans.

"Charlie Brown is a battle-tested veteran who has served his country and his community and has generated a tremendous amount of community enthusiasm," Democratic committee spokesman Yoni Cohen said of Brown, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who flew combat rescue helicopters in the Vietnam War and tracked aerial no-fly zones in Iraq after the Persian Gulf war.

Cohen, who isn't directly involved in the advertising campaign, said the party is pumping cash into the Republican district due to Brown's profile and the fact that "the times are favorable" for an upset.

The Republican National Congressional Committee responded to the Democratic committee effort with a commercial portraying Brown as a "liberal yes ma'am" to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Call Peter Hecht, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 326-5539.