Weak candidate Bonamici has Dems scared

by NW Spotlight

National Democratic organizations and their special interest allies are spending almost $2 million on top of Suzanne Bonamici’s $1.5 million on a race in a district that in most election cycles is considered a safe Democratic seat. A district that Democrats have held for 36 years; a district with a 12.2% Democratic voter registration advantage.

These out-of-state special interests are teaming up with Bonamici to outspend small business owner Rob Cornilles by nearly 3-to-1.

Why are they dumping these huge amounts of money against underdog Rob Cornilles?

Because they have no confidence in their candidate, Suzanne Bonamici, with her ties to David Wu, her lack of accomplishments, her admission that “she can’t recall ever voting against a tax or fee hike”, and her poor performance in debates with Rob Cornilles.

And it looks more and more like their fears are well founded.

Besides the poll earlier this week showing that Rob Cornilles was surging, and had closed the gap to only 4 percentage points, there are now rumors of an internal Bonamici campaign poll showing the gap is only 3 percentage points. The Bonamici camp has not released their internal poll, completed this week.

The attempts by these big out-of-state special interests to buy the election are failing. The message of underdog Rob Cornilles is resonating with first district voters: focusing on the economy, taxes, and job creation.

A recent article in the Weekly Standard highlights one of the stark differences between Cornilles and his opponent:

“The 1st District is home to some of Oregon’s biggest and most prestigious employers, such as Intel, Nike, and Columbia Sportswear. The Brookings Institution estimates that 268,000 jobs in the Portland area are dependent on trade, and as such, area employers are wary of Bonamici. Her tepid support for free trade stands in sharp contrast to other Oregon Democrats.”

“To emphasize free trade, Cornilles’s honorary campaign chairman is Oregon’s last Republican governor, Vic Atiyeh, whose efforts at establishing trade links between Oregon and Asia are responsible for many of the jobs in the 1st District. Cornilles has lived and worked in Japan and speaks the language, and his wife is the granddaughter of a Chinese diplomat. He points to his business experience and cultural ties when pledging to ‘champion free trade.’“

Campaign Spending – Sources: 

http://www.oregonlive.com/mapes/index.ssf/2012/01/republican_rob_cornilles_passe.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/18/huffpost-fundrace—the-d_n_1214638.html
http://dyn.politico.com/members/forums/thread.cfm?catid=25&subcatid=82&threadid=6343785
http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/index.ssf/story/rivals-boost-spending-on-race-to-replace/a0a9cede47444ba4990a6cc68d184c4a