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By Claudia
Lauer
(published May 25th, 2006)
It happens every year. Nice people send themselves up
to sure political
slaughter in order to uphold an ideal. Every election season
Republicans and Democrats alike spend months going door
to door getting thousands of required signatures and then
they pay a filing fee to enter an election they are all
but sure to lose.
As the Republican candidate for California's 9th Congressional
District, which includes the cities of Oakland and Berkeley,
John den Dulk is running an uphill campaign against Democratic
incumbent Barbara Lee. The Congresswoman, who is seeking
her fifth term, distinguished herself by casting the only
congressional vote against taking military action after
the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Den Dulk, who is a 59-year-old travel agent and academic
author, appreciates the challenge. He looks like a high
school history teacher as he leans back in his office chair,
wooden pointer in hand. "Some people who run in
districts with difficult registrations tend to go through the motions. I
intend to run a serious campaign," he says, listing some success stories.
"This is not necessarily a hopeless task, Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney
faced similar registrations."
The 9th District, which encompasses parts of Oakland,
Berkeley, Albany, Piedmont, Emeryville and other portions
of the East Bay, is overwhelmingly Democratic. Registered
Democrats outnumber registered Republicans almost 4 to
1. The difference between den Dulk and the Romney's of
the political world is that den Dulk has never run for
nor held a political office. He is the opposite of a high-profile
candidate.
"Sometimes it's tough because the numbers are so far against you, you feel
like a sacrificial lamb," said Sean O'Shea, Executive Director of the
Alameda Republican Party. "But, this shouldn't be a complete cakewalk for
the Democratic Party."
Den Dulk, who has been politically active behind the scenes
in the Republican Party including as part of Ronald Regan's
1980 presidential campaign, said the need for a choice
was obvious to him. He added his support for more Republicans
who would be willing to step up to the challenge in June
as well.
"The last competitive primary in this seat was probably the first time Ron
Dellums ran for re-election," he said.
Den Dulk's father, who was also named John, was one of
the Republican primary candidates vying to run against
Dellums in that re-election bid in 1972. When his father
lost in the primary, the younger den Dulk went to work
for the winning Republican candidate. Dellums, who is now
running for mayor of Oakland, first ran for the seat in
1970, which was then the 7th district, and held it for
13 terms until his resignation in 1998. Lee, who had formerly
served as one of Dellum's aids, won the seat that year
and has held the office with safe margins ever since.
"If they had pictures of Barbara Lee and the House Democratic Caucus
plotting with al-Qaida to blow up New York, with the blueprints on the
table, she still would win re-election in the 9th District," said Republican
political consultant Kevin Spillane.
Spillane said incumbency is a particular advantage at
the national level, where the restrictive term limits of
the California state house aren't in place. Still, he said
candidates often step up to mount some sort of challenge.
"There is something called the human deniability of reality that I have
noticed, and I mean it's both parties. It's a weird part of human nature and
the chance they'll win is two or three million to one," he said.
He explained that he believes four kinds of people step
up to this duty. The first is the "good soldier", the party loyalist who is willing to just
put
his or her name out despite knowing that chances of winning are slim. Then
there's the party person who accepts the duty to help the district appoint
people to the state's party committee, or the person who wants to use the
opportunity as a platform for an issue. And last, but certainly not least in
Spillane's opinion, are "the crazies".
"You have to wonder how many are credible and how many are whack jobs," he
said.
For every whack job, however, Spillane and many consultants
can name a longshot candidate who won and served a productive
term or two, leaving everyone surprised and leaving a small
legend in the political community.
Den Dulk hopes to be that unlikely longshot, but in the
meantime he is using the campaign as a platform for improving
the public understanding of international relations.
"There hasn't been a typical day yet. We're trying to get the office and
the
fundraising going. Aside from people to man the phones and type out thank
you letters… eventually I'd like to have the funds to hire a full-time
press
person," said den Dulk, making a list of things to do.
Den Dulk has spent a little more than $10,000 on his campaign
already. He held a fund-raiser for family and friends recently
in Modesto, but he said the Web site will be a major boost
in his fund raising.
"There's going to be fund raising software so people can donate online.
A
lot of my funds are going to come from out of the district. People in all
different parts of the country will pay to run a serious campaign against
Barbara Lee," said den Dulk.
Lee, who was focusing on her duties this week before
starting to campaign, responded to den Dulk's criticisms.
"I would like to think that I am an effective legislator and secure for
our
district the programs and program resources needed to implement federal
policy--such as in housing, education, health care, jobs and economic
development," said Lee. "The real test, though, is whether I represent
the
political views of my constituents; and, on that important test, I am
confident that my district and I share a progressive commitment to meeting
everybody's social and economic needs. All districts are competitive, either
in the primary, the general election or both. A member of Congress is always
accountable to their constituency."
Meanwhile den Dulk, who is unmarried, is running his campaign
largely by himself. The candidate has had three or four
bouts of flu and cold since he officially announced his
candidacy. Among the sparse amenities of his office, he
does keep a bottle of hand sanitizer on his desk. "I shake a
lot
of hands," he said smiling. "There's a lot of work to do. … I
don't want to
get sick again."
In 2004, Republican Claudia Bermudez ran against Lee and
got 12.3 percent of the votes. Jerald Udinsky received
15 percent during his Republican bid in 2002. Den Dulk
said he expects to receive around 15 percent as well.
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