Hit-piece season

A few months ago, I wrote about how Rep. Doug LaMalfa works the system by sending out what are essentially taxpayer-funded campaign mailers. Under congressional rules, incumbents are allowed to fund constituent correspondence via public money so long as they follow certain criteria, including sending it out at least 90 days before an election and keeping the content unrelated to campaigning and apolitical in nature.

LaMalfa’s mailer bragged about President Trump’s tax bill—passed into law by LaMalfa and the GOP—though what it does is give corporations and the ultra wealthy a huge tax break while giving low-income folks pocket change. As I said previously, LaMalfa’s take is blatant GOP propaganda (see “Tricky Doug,” Second & Flume, Aug. 16).

I also mentioned that, based on previous elections, LaMalfa’s camp likely would send out hit pieces targeting challenger Audrey Denney in the coming months.

Well, he’s predictable. A recent mailer—stamped as paid for by the Doug LaMalfa Committee—says “Denney pledged her support to Liberal San Francisco Politicians.” Among other falsehoods, it contains a Photoshopped image of her signing said pledge that invokes the P-word: Pelosi, as in Nancy Pelosi.

In short, it’s ridiculous. What it really says is that Doug LaMalfa thinks his constituents are idiots.

While we’re on the subject, I found quite the surprise in my 7-year-old’s backpack this week, courtesy of another longtime politico, state Sen. Jim Nielsen, who is also up for re-election Nov. 6.

It appears to be an oversize—roughly 8-by-3 inches—bookmark picturing an astronaut looking at the moon. The double-sided flier reads: “Red Ribbon Week, October 23-31, 2018, Your future is key/Stay drug-free!” At the bottom, printed in all capitals, it reads: “Compliments of California State Senator Jim Nielsen.” The opposite side has the same messages in Spanish.

To be clear, my son goes to a Chico Unified School District elementary school. He didn’t have the bookmark when he left for school on Monday, and didn’t leave the campus during the day, but somehow came home with what’s essentially a campaign advertisement two weeks before the election.

That sent me straight to the state Fair Political Practices Commission’s website, where I looked up prohibited taxpayer-funded mass mailings. The short version: violations include tangible items (delivered by any means), printed with an official’s name, with 200 or more having been distributed in a calendar month. Check, check and (probably) check.

I emailed Sen. Nielsen’s camp asking questions about the mailer, including how it was paid for, but didn’t receive a response by press time.

Another came right before deadline in an envelope stamped as paid for by Chico Democrats, but this one may take me a few days to unpack. The gist is that LaMalfa is a Trump toady, which is true. However, the mailer implies that the three conservatives vying for a Chico City Council seat are “LaMalfa’s hand picked candidates.”

It includes numerous sensational headlines, actually—some true, some hyperbolic and one alleging a candidate contributed money to Roy Moore, the twice-impeached former Alabama Supreme Court justice who lost a “safe” Senate seat to a Democrat when he was outed for being a creep. Stay tuned.