#CA07 Update – Endorsement of Doug Ose for Congress

Many of you who read this blog know that I have been outspoken in my criticism of Doug Ose. Even though California has a so-called top-two jungle primary, it is still a primary. In most districts, that process still yields two candidates, one from the GOP and one from the Dems.

I needed some reasons to reconcile to Doug Ose after he won the primary.

Doug Ose changed that dynamic when he reached out to CRA in an attempt to see if he could A, get our support and B, attempt to give us a reason to set aside some of our ideological differences in an attempt to do that.

The mere fact that Ose was interested was a stark change from the past. The Doug Ose I was told about was hostile to Conservatives and would never be interested in reaching out to Conservatives…

… yet here we were at a shooting range in the extreme eastern end of Sacramento County – far from the urban bustle that defines the #CA07 Race.

I had been told and the evidence I had told me that Ose was hostile to gun owners, yet here was Doug Ose at a shooting range with a bunch of social conservatives.

There are many other Republicans to the right of Doug Ose who refuse to interact with CRA because they continue to harbor a grudge over past primary fights and disagreements.

Doug Ose stood in front of the gathered and skeptical CRA delegates and told us the truth about where he was aligned and not aligned with CRA. Due in no small part to Ose facing the music so-to-speak, he was endorsed as all gathered agreed that in this case, CRA and Ose needed to come together.

Oh yeah – Doug Ose and I have our disagreements ideologically. But I live in the 48-28 GOP Registration Advantaged 4th Congressional District that is 62% Pro-Life. That isn’t the 7th.

My friend and fellow CRA officer Carl Brickey landed a job working for the California Republican Party and has been spending most of his time at the Doug Ose Headquarters. He encouraged me to come down and pitch in.

I went to Doug Ose’s campaign office yesterday, more to help Carl, a friend of many years in politics. While there, I had a chance to interact with Doug Ose.

It is very hard to see through the fog of war to understand the character of someone you have some significant ideological differences with.

Yet, here was Doug Ose telling me that he had to go to Gibson Ranch to make payroll before heading off to some more events. Here was Doug Ose, Doug Haaland and I talking about real life issues.

Then it hit me. This is the main reason why I could feel comfortable publicly endorsing Doug Ose – two of the very things I despise about most in partisan political office seem to not be present in Mr. Ose. Doug Ose is a real dude, versus being a product of the political apparatus and two, Ose appears to lack the self-serving narcissism that has infected a generation of term-limit babies that are in office now that do nothing but plan their next run for office.

As someone who is a battle-hardened warrior with 17 years of experience in this game, I generally treat candidates with suspicion and disdain while maintaining a polite and engaging exterior.

Doug Ose was himself yesterday at his office and I got a chance to see him for who he really is. I can trust that man to do the right thing despite the fact that I think he is wrong on some issues.

However, his character as I have seen, is why I would encourage anyone else on the right like myself to do anything and everything you can to help elect this guy.