Pombo Loss a 26-Point Swing

What a difference two years make. A refrain heard all around today, but perhaps most pronounced in California's Central Valley. That's where, you might remember, Bush's buddy Richard "Marlboro Man" Pombo pummeled Jerry McNerney by 20 points in 2004.

Yes, 20 points. So wide a margin, in fact, that the democratic party didn't even put money behind McNerney this year until just weeks ago, when well, things got interesting. Now, after a 26-point turnaround McNerney is the one left standing, which must be some kind of record. Maybe Bush can dub him The Comeback Kid.

Pombo's opponent in the Republican primary, old-school GOPer and author of the Endangered Species Act, Pete McCloskey, may have put it best telling Mother Jones a couple months ago, "I'm ashamed of what my party has become, and to me, Pombo represents the very worst of it."

Seems, months later, voters agree.

More on how the new congressman will lead the largely Republican district in a recent MoJo interview, here.