McCloskey vs. Pombo is welcome news

First-rate editorial today in my local paper, the San Jose Mercury News, about my corrupt, misguided congressman, Richard Pombo: McCloskey vs. Pombo is welcome news. Retired Peninsula lawmaker could restore integrity to seat held by anti-environment congressman linked to Abramoff.

Taking on an incumbent congressman is always an uphill battle. Taking on an incumbent who is a powerful committee chairman with close ties to the majority party's leadership can be a fool's errand.

But if there ever was a time and place for such a challenge, it's in the race for California's 11th Congressional District, the seat that Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, has occupied for 13 years. And the surprise Republican challenger, former Peninsula congressman Pete McCloskey, may be colorful, but he is no fool.

McCloskey's experience and integrity make him an ideal opponent for the increasingly discredited Pombo. McCloskey served eight terms in Congress, from 1967 to 1983, and became known for his vocal opposition to the Vietnam War and his commitment to the environment -- a stance that places him squarely opposite Pombo.

From his seat as chairman of the Resources Committee, Pombo, a rancher and property-rights activist, has launched an all-out assault on the nation's environmental laws. His No. 1 target: The Endangered Species Act, which McCloskey helped write. Pombo has also taken aim at the ban on offshore drilling and the notion that public lands should be managed for the public good. He wants to build a freeway over Mount Hamilton and the East Hills into San Jose.

McCloskey, 78, isn't just peeved about Pombo's extreme brand of anti-environmentalism. He also wants to bring his party back to values he cherishes, such as fiscal restraint and smaller government. And he's fed up with the lobbying scandal that has ensnared former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and threatens to sully scores of other Republican lawmakers.

The slime from that scandal is swirling dangerously close to DeLay protege Pombo, who has received money from convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff and an Indian tribe represented by Abramoff.

To take on Pombo, McCloskey had to engage in shameless carpet-bagging. While he lives on a ranch in Yolo County, he recently rented an apartment in Lodi to claim residence in Pombo's Central Valley district, which stretches into parts of the East Bay and Southern Santa Clara County, including Gilroy and Morgan Hill.

Carpet-bagging is more of a problem in local government, where it's important that city council members know neighborhood quirks. And it's not like McCloskey is sweeping in from Idaho. He knows this region, and he knows his way around Washington.

We hope voters welcome McCloskey back into politics. But if he succeeds in nothing more than forcing Pombo to account for his fringe views and questionable conduct, he will have done a service to his constituents and the state.