Today the NRCC placed a $330,000 ad buy in the Special Election for CA-50.  I think it's safe to say they are not coming in with a positive, feel-good spot. Right before he went to prison, Duke Cunningham made one final donation to the NRCC to try to keep this seat in the hands of another pay-to-play politician. It was the final contribution in a career where Cunningham gave over $640,000 to the NRCC.

With none of the Republican candidates able to gain any traction and Francine Busby polling at 45%, the NRCC is clearly nervous about this race.  The spending is an admission that Francine's campaign is gaining enough momentum to win this election outright next Tuesday.  

The first contested Congressional race in 2006 will take place on April 11th in San Diego County - the seat formerly held by convicted felon Randy "Duke" Cunningham.

My name is Francine Busby and I am the progressive, grassroots candidate in this race.

I ran in 2004 against Duke Cunningham because I couldn't take it anymore.  I was so frustrated that I didn't hear anyone speaking out for a change in the direction of this country.  I went to a few meetings to find out who was running against Cunningham so I could offer to help "their" campaign.  I was shocked to find out that no one was running and the party just wanted a name to put on the ballot. After three meetings, I told local Democrats that I wasn't running to be a name on the ballot, I was running to win. When I went home and told my husband I was running against Cunningham, he laughed.

There are 22 days until the April 11th election and no one is laughing now.

I know many of you have seen my first TV advertisement of the election (it is posted on my website at www.busbyforcongress.org) and I want to know what you think. I will be checking in on the comments so feel free to write the reaction you, your family or your friends have had. It will begin airing on TV in San Diego tonight and one of our first spots is during the Academy Awards.

You put this ad on the air with your contributions so I want to hear from you.

-Francine

www.busbyforcongress.org
--crossposted on kos--

Today I had the honor to deliver the nationally-aired weekly Democratic radio address. My focus was the very serious national security concerns surrounding a United Arab Emirates-owned company taking over operations at several US ports and on the larger issue of making sure that the security of our country always comes before partisanship or special interest influence.

The full text of my address is below but the theme is very simple: we need representatives who put the safety and wellbeing of their constituents above all else. Above partisanship. Above powerful special interests. Above Washington lobbyists. And above themselves.  Please share your feedback on my address in the comments - I'll be checking them throughout the weekend. You can also hear the complete audio at www.busbyforcongress.org

-Francine

I'm proud to unveil the first ad my campaign will air for the April 11th Special Election to replace Duke Cunningham.  You can view the ad on my website at http://www.busbyforcongress.org.

There are 39 days until the special election and the 50th District is ready for change.  I look forward to hearing your comments on the ad.  

Today I am making a very big announcement in my campaign: We have raised more than $1,000,000 in the race to replace Duke Cunningham. This is huge milestone in our campaign and YOU are the reason.

We've outraised a team of career politicians, lobbyists and millionaires trying to buy the election because people like you are tired of business as usual. People who are supporting me are fed up that both parties in Congress have let the culture of corruption go unchecked and the result has been a Medicare Bill for the big drug companies, an energy bill for the profitable oil companies and secret pork barrel spending spiraling us into further debt.

Voters got their first look at the Republican field tonight at the San Diego Republican Party candidates' forum. If voters were looking for change, they wouldn't have found it at last night's forum.

The local North County Times ran with the headline "GOP hopefuls' positions similar" and that was certainly the case. There was more of same immigration rhetoric from Sacramento and Washington politicians, with no concrete results. There were more of the same partisan attacks on me from career politicians. There was more of the same talk of reducing spending without any talk of changing the process.

This morning the San Diego Union-Tribune published an article detailing the thousands that signed the petition nominating me to be their candidate in the 50th district.

The article started: "With television cameras rolling and campaign volunteers cheering, Francine Busby plunked 4,161 signatures down on the counter at the county elections office.  The stack was thicker than a volume of `War and Peace.'  The words inside weren't as elegant as Tolstoy's, but they did tell a story: Lots of people like Busby.  Each of the signatures represented a voter who supports Busby's candidacy in the 50th Congressional District."