When the San Francisco Chronicle "Outs" Charlie Brown, you have to start scratching your head. Anyone that thinks that Tom McClintock is going to walk away with this Congressional seat had best read the below first and realize that you can fool people some of the time.

The question is - will Charlie be able to fool enough people into thinking he is some sort of Republican long enough to get elected. Volunteers and boots on the ground can change that.

In addition - don't forget that left-wing sites like Daily Kos and Blue America know who Charlie Brown is...

San Francisco Chronicle
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/18/BAKS13IVV0.DTL&hw=tom+mcclintock&sn=001&sc=1000

Brown distances from Dem label in 4th District
John Wildermuth, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, October 18, 2008

(10-18) 04:00 PDT Auburn, Placer County --

California's sprawling Fourth Congressional District is no place for a Democrat, so Roseville's Charlie Brown isn't running as one.

Sure, Brown's got a "D" after his name on the ballot and came within three percentage points of upsetting veteran GOP Rep. John Doolittle in 2006. But the word "Democrat" is nowhere to be found on the opening page of his campaign Web site or on a couple of the "walking pieces" that are handed out by volunteers going door-to-door.

It's not "Democrat Charlie Brown for Congress," but "Lt. Colonel, U.S. Air Force (retired) Charlie Brown for Congress." "Patriotism Before Partisanship," campaign T-shirts proclaim.

"Country comes first," Brown told members of the Auburn Chamber of Commerce. "We need to put partisanship aside so we can get some results."

But in a district where Republicans outnumber Democrats on the voter registration rolls by 46 percent to 31 percent, partisanship is the last thing that the GOP candidate, state. Sen. Tom McClintock, wants to put aside.

After using his conservative credentials to win an expensive primary race against Doug Ose, a moderate Republican who served three terms in Congress from the neighboring district, McClintock has no intention of stepping away from what has worked for him.

At a debate with Brown, McClintock slammed "the Luddite left" for opposing nuclear power and charged that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco has targeted the district in the Democrats' effort to expand their control of Congress.

"They're counting on your vote, Charlie," McClintock taunted.

In a largely rural - and conservative - district that extends from the Sacramento suburbs of Roseville and Rocklin east to Lake Tahoe and north to the Oregon border, "I simply have to get my message out" to win, the state senator said in an interview.

It hasn't been anywhere near that easy.

Two years ago, Brown came out of nowhere to almost beat Doolittle, a strong conservative who had held the seat since 1990. Doolittle found himself linked to a corruption scandal involving convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, and Brown almost rode the ethics issue to Washington.

Brown never stopped raising money for a 2008 rematch that polls showed could be bad news for the Republicans. And after the FBI raided Doolittle's Virginia home in April 2007, it was clear the veteran legislator likely would jump into retirement before he was pushed.

When Doolittle announced in January he would not run for re-election, local Republicans lined up for the job. But the ultimate winner was McClintock, who as a state senator representing the Ventura County city of Thousand Oaks, 400 miles south of the Fourth District, was anything but local.

But McClintock is one of the state's best-known conservatives and a familiar figure to Republicans throughout California after a series of statewide campaigns for controller, governor and lieutenant governor.

Where McClintock stands is about as far to the right as any California politician. He is opposed to raising taxes, takes pride in having voted against budgets from both Democratic and Republican governors and says he would be hard-pressed to back the current GOP leaders in Congress because of their support for the $700 billion economic bailout, which he said will be remembered as "one of the most expensive follies in the history of our nation."

He supports the proposed Auburn Dam, which environmentalists have fought for 40 years, and argues that his 22 years in the state Legislature and his support of conservative public policy can give the district the leadership it needs in Congress.

Brown, a former Republican, also takes a conservative stand on many issues, arguing that urban Democrats have been too quick to support gun control and saying that he believes in "a balanced budget, state's rights and individual liberties."

While he didn't publicly support Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, until last September, Brown still takes many mainstream Democratic positions. But in a year where Democrats are running strongly across California, Brown is confident that his time has come.

At campaign stops, Brown talks of his 26 years as an Air Force helicopter pilot, contrasting it with McClintock's 22 years as a legislator.

"If you want change, don't go with people who have been part of the problem," Brown said.

Both candidates have been touting private polls showing them with a lead in the race. McClintock has out-raised Brown, $2.5 million to $1.8 million, but spent much of that money in the primary against Ose.

As of Sept. 30, federal campaign finance reports show that Brown had $456,000 in the bank, compared with $94,000 for McClintock, who also had $110,000 in unpaid bills.