July 22, 2008

Not a good day for Dean Andal

Dean Andal, the former Assembly and Board of Equalization member, is trying to knock off freshman Democratic Rep. Jerry McNerney. But today's news isn't going to help the GOP challenger.

First, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the national arm of the party dedicated to a majority in Congress, announced that it was buying up $2 million in TV ad time in California.

The $2 million buy will be split between the McNerney-Andal race and the campaign between Sen. Tom McClintock and Charlie Brown to replace Rep. John Doolittle.

Here's a complete list of the DCCC's ad buys.

Then, Politico.com, the Washington D.C. insider Web site, published a story saying that Andal is "turning out to be one of the party's weakest fundraisers" this election cycle.

"National Republicans wondering whether a prime opportunity to pick off a vulnerable Democratic freshman is slipping away," reports Politico.

Such is (negative) exposure is significant because as Andal tries to unseat an incumbent congressman, he'll likely need to pry open the wallets of D.C. interests. But if his campaign is tagged as a financial loser months in advance, that job becomes all the harder.

In fairness, Andal has a history of beating the financial odds, as Politico reports:

In 1991, during his first Assembly campaign, he was outspent 5-to-1 but still defeated his better-known Democratic rival. In his next election, then-California House Speaker Willie Brown poured money into defeating the first-term legislator, but Andal again prevailed despite the long odds.

He managed to raise $3.5 million in an unsuccessful primary bid for state controller in 2002 but acknowledges that was "not much in California," where a successful candidate needs to spend considerably more to gain statewide traction.

And, in a bit of trivia, Andal lost that 2002 GOP primary to none-other-than Tom McClintock, whose fate he shares as the DCCC buys up ad time against the two Republicans.

Posted by Shane Goldmacher on July 22, 2008 9:32 AM