You're forgiven if you haven't already heard the good news about Donald Ritze. He's a helicopter pilot, avocado grower and member of the Orange County Bee Keepers Association who is running against Bill Campbell for OC's third supervisorial district.

According to a section of his website called "My Bios"--which you presumably can find on "The Internets", Ritze has a wife and kids, 232 avocado trees, and a desultory relationship with spelling and punctuation. "Everyone wants to know what party I belong to? I’m a republican, I’m not a stanch or hard liner," he explains. "During the upbringing of my sons," he adds, "I have participated and held many various positions in the community: Little League, PTA, Booster clubs, Little League Baseball, and coaching Baseball five years at El Modena High School."

Did we forget to mention Little League and baseball?

But more importantly to voters, Ritze has a compelling platform: combat the evil influence of OC Weekly, which is the root of all our problems and social ills.

In an undated letter to the LA Times posted on his campaign website, Ritze listed the following items, which although not identified as such, seem to be his central campaign issues: "1) NO TAX INCREASES. 2. Environmental Issues. 3) Waste. 4) Traffic." Elsewhere he rails about children being charged for admission at the county fair.

But Ritze's most impassioned campaign statement is buried at the end of his letter. "Our County Government needs to listen more!" he proclaimed. "The values of Orange County are in jeopardy (OC WEEKLY). Not to mention the name Orange County!!!"

It's hard to tell whether Ritze really believes OC Weekly is so influential that we're threatening the core values of Orange County--or what those core values are, since he doesn't name them--or whether he's just blasting us in an effort to kiss ass with the LA Times. If the latter's the case, it hasn't worked. So far the Times hasn't bothered to profile him.

But we have! So, you're welcome, Mr. Ritze! And good luck with your campaign--and those avocado trees. And if you're so worried about OC Weekly's evil influence on county affairs, you might want to remove the reference to one of Scott Moxley's muckraking articles about county supervisor shenanigans on one of the pages of your own website.

It's always entertaining to see which sacrificial lamb the Orange County Republican Party offers to Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez every two years, but the 2008 election is already proving to be particularly fun. Running unopposed as the Republican nominee for the 47th Congressional District is Santa Ana Unified School District Trustee Rosemarie Avila, whom we'll always remember for telling her pastor, Calvary Chapel's Chuck Smith, that her school district was planning to become the first in Orange County to offer benefits for same-sex couples. Smith, in turn, told his zombies to complain--and, oh, did they.

Enough about the past. On May 28, Avila will speak before the converted at the California Coalition for Immigration Reform. As part of the promotion, CCIR links to an ad paid for by Friends of Rosie Avila touting their candidate. Amongst many hilarious assertions (Avila was hardly the main catalyst behind the 2004 Nativo Lopez recall) is this: that Avila "regularly appears on FOX NEWS, CNN, ABC, cable television and radio talk shows as a trusted source of information."

Or, does she?

A couple of days ago, the Huntington Beach City Council voted to ban campaign donation limits. It would be a noteworthy story in any city, considering most have some type of cap, but it's of primary significance in HB, where streetwalkers in the form of developers have plagued the place for decades. The city is currently mulling how to redevelop its lucrative downtown, and hotels and resorts are already beginning to sully PCH anew (we remember a wonderful nine-hole golf course next to a trailer-park community inhabited by crotchety vets). Allowing Surf City candidates to rake in as much cash as possible is akin to having an AA meeting being sponsored by Jim Beam--faithful readers know the scum that tend to inhabit the council dais. More information at Greeting from Downtown Huntington Beach. In the meanwhile, bring on the whores!

Years ago, through the wonders of the Rotten.com Library, I learned Godwin's Law of Nazi Analogies. Per Rotten.com:

Conversely, you can attack an opponent simply by declaring his position to be consistent with Hitler's. This tactic has long been a fixture of the Usenet newsgroups, which eventually prompted Godwin to formulate his famous Law of Nazi Analogies:

As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.

Whenever one of our commentators trots out the Hitler card, I always cite the above passage, not to sound clever but to shamelessly promote the Rotten.com Library, one of the greatest archives of information since the Library of Alexandria (now that's trying to be clever!). I bring all of this up not just to plug the Rotten.com library but so that readers can keep it in mind when considering the overblown analogies of Garden Grove councilwoman and Orange County First Supervisorial District candidate Dina Nguyen.

The Orange County Register is doing an admirable job in cornering Little Saigon's politicos to discuss the protesters targeting Viet Weekly, Nguoi Viet, and seemingly anything or anyone that doesn't sufficiently kowtow to their particular brand of anti-communism. Asked why some refugees turn into McCarthyites upon seeing the flag of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Dina told Reg reporter Martin Wisckol, "It’s sort of like a Jewish community seeing a Nazi flag."

Cue Godwin's Law!

Sorry, Dina. As painful as the Vietnam War is for hundreds of thousands of Orange County residents, it never got into Hitler territory. I understand why some Vietnamese refugees have such visceral reactions to the current Vietnam banner, but to compare a civil war to the atrocity of the Third Reich is a political ploy as cheap as taking helicopter rides down to the United States-Mexico border and thereafter declaring yourself tough on illegal immigration.

Yesterday, I stumbled (literally: a Bloody Mary, bottle of soju from Ami Sushi, and a double Makers Mark were in my bloodstream) upon the Orange County Young Democrat mixer at Jason's Downtown in SanTana. The keynote speaker was Hoa Van Tran, the one Democrat running in the First Supervisorial District race on June 3rd against GOP gals Dina and Janet Nguyen (no relation). Tran gave a brief speech and took questions, including my own undoubtedly slurred query: given that Orange County's most prominent Vietnamese politicians love to talk tough on illegal immigration, what was his stance?

Tran started his response by noting it was a "federal" matter, then said something else (sorry: the last drops of Makers hit my synapses at that point) but concluded that he's in support of amnesty. Didn't specify how, but such a position puts him in a decidedly different stance from Little Saigon's Boss Tweed, Van Tran (no relation), and draws him closer to the Latinos who make up a significant chunk of First Supervisorial District voters. Hoa: gracias for answering my question--if all the illegals in the First could vote, you'd win in a landslide.

After pondering a posting tonight at theliberaloc.com by Gila Jones, I'm guessing that Orange County Republican pollsters have worrisome data that raises concerns about the safety of Congressman Dana Rohrabacher's re-election chances in November.

An enigma wrapped in lies, a temper, quixotic brain functions, shameless self-promotion, questionable personal habits, margarita breath and a dress code likely suggested by a well-meaning but drunk Frank Mickadeit, Rohrabacher is, by any reasonable measure, the one GOPer county Democrats should be able to unseat.

Yet, Dem efforts to date have been pathetic. He's easily won election after election for nearly two decades. It didn't help that after the last U.S. Census Democrat Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez used her influence with Democrats in the state legislature to strengthen Rohrabacher's gerrymandered California coastal district in an behind the scenes game of incumbency protection.

Now, Huntington Beach Mayor Debbie Cook is set to take on Rohrabacher and Michael J. Schroeder--Rohrabacher pal, GOP heavyweight and plotting political mastermind--is attempting to convince the court system that Cook can't call herself "mayor" on the ballot. His reasoning? Cook was elected to the position by the HB city council, not the public.

You don't say?

Perhaps Schroeder is just bored and waiting for the next USC football season. Then again, perhaps internal Republican pollings suggests local voters are finally tired of the pro-war, pro-status quo crew and Rohrabacher's campaign is looking for ways to put Cook on the defensive from the outset.

-- R. Scott Moxley / OC Weekly

While John McCain was inside the Island Hotel in Newport Beach yesterday rallying funds for his general election war chest, three—count 'em, three!—separate rallies, uh, rallied outside.

Let’s start with the obvious: Orange County, presidential candidate who stops short of proposing mass deportation of Mexicans—yup, you guessed it, the Minutemen were there!

National rally spokesman Raymond Herrera and his grumpy gaggle of troublemakers actually seemed to hate McCain even more than they detest Democratic candidates, branding his position with the scarlet letter of nativists everywhere: A, as in “amnesty.”

The group passed out bright yellow fliers that read, "Boycott Mexico!!! Do-not give your tourist dollars to Mexico! Spend them in the beautiful American Southwest." Herrera explained that John McCain is lying to the public about his views on immigration. If he is elected, McCain will open the borders and grant amnesty, Herrera insisted.

“Hopefully Mitt Romney will come back in few years then we will have a president for the people,” Herrera said.

Anti-Iraq War protesters were on the other side of the hotel chanting, “stop the war.” Ed Garza, one of the anti-war activists, got into a lively exchange with Laura Bekeart Dietz, who worked for the Republican National Committee in the '70s. Here's what Garza had to say:




Dietz, who had arrived with a group of McCain supporters (rally No. 3) who had mostly left the scene by that time, maintained that the Minutemen were way off in their assessment of McCain's immigration stance.

"He's not for open borders," she said. "He understands the importance of getting the wall up."

With his book subject Mitt Romney (thankfully) out of the presidential race, Orange County's own nationally syndicated yackmouth Hugh Hewitt is desperately trying to remain relevant in this year's presidential race by trotting out the lamest smear attempt since Democratic Party nominee Barack Obama's middle name. Here and here, Baby Hewie tries to make an issue of Obama's 1995 memoir Dreams from my Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance. "It has to be the most unusual book ever by a presidential aspirant," Baby Hewie writes, "and much of what he writes cannot be classified as mainstream, and some of what he wrote would shock the average American, including his causal use of profanity and his admission concerning past cocaine use." A strange assertion considering Lyndon LaRouche and A Charge To Keep, but fine, Hugh: we'll play your game. So what offends him so much about Obama's writing? He points to pages 72-74 at the beginning of Chapter 4 in Dreams from My Father. The shocking details after the jump!

Republican presidential candidate and war-lover, John McCain, will be in our neck of the woods tomorrow to rub elbows (raise money) with the rich folks whom he will help make richer if he takes office in 2008.

McCain's meeting with the GOP big bucks will take place at the Island Hotel in Newport Beach where they will drink wine, eat bite-sized pieces of cheese and discuss whether McCain has discovered the difference between the Sunni and the Shi’a yet. Our money is on no.

Meanwhile, OC's Young Democrats will be outside picketing the event and urge others to join in on the fun. If interested contact Carlos Camacho at Carlos@oclabor.org or at 714-385-1534 or just show up with a sign at noon. The hotel's address is 690 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach.

We recently heard from a reader in Santa Ana who received a copy of the "Republican Party Census Document," along with an introductory letter from the RNC stating that "your answers will represent the views and opinions of ALL Republican voters living in your voting district...Unless we hear from YOU, we will not have an accurate BLUEPRINT -- a full legislative agenda and campaign plan -- and a unified Republican Party.""

Problem is, our reader is not now nor has she ever been a registered Republican. However, it's hard to imagine the survey actually matters in determining a platform, since every question is so ridiculously skewed. A few samples, after the jump...

In Mitt Romney's rambling, scary speech announcing he's dropping out of the Republican presidential campaign, the flip-flopper uttered this curious line:

Americans love God, and those who don’t have faith, typically believe in something greater than themselves—a “Purpose Driven Life.”

Wait a minute, Mitt: your deliberate use of the term "Purpose Driven Life" is a specific reference to Saddleback Church's money cow, the multi-million-selling book of head pastor Rick Warren. Last I checked, Rick Warren was Christian, and "those who don't have faith" aren't Christian--hell, they're not even Mormon. Thank God this man won't be your next president, Orange County--thank God and Moroni.

Meanwhile, click here to read Hugh Hewitt's hagiography.

Throughout his radio show yesterday, Hugh Hewitt kept emphasizing that true conservatives despised John McCain, that true conservatives must vote for Mitt Romney. He repeatedly cited the examples of Rush Limbaugh and James Dobson, who insisted they'd never vote for McCain. To stick to one's principles was honorable, Churchillian, great, and Hewitt's message was clear: everyone should do the same.

So what was the title o Baby Hewie's post-primary post this morning?

Seven Reasons To Support The GOP's Nominee

"Romney and Huckabee ought to begin to note Senator McCain's lead and urge their followers to recognize that if they cannot come back they and their followers will have to come in and join the party's eventual nominee," Baby Hewie wrote, and damn if those words don't clash with his railings yesterday. Really, Hugh: we actually thought you really were a principled person, that you had eclipsed your days as a GOP hack. Thanks for clarifying!

Photographer Jack Gould hung out at Pangea with the Dems last night, then visited Obama headquarters and this parking lot in Westminster near Assemblyman Van Tran's event (which he couldn't find).

Check his photos out over here.

...live in SanTana. Measure D, the ballot measure funded by developers which claimed it would weaken their own grip on City Hall, passed by a 54-46 margin last night.

No excuses, SanTaneros: the lot of your are pendejos* who don't mind living under Papi Pulido and his band of conflict-of-influenza-infected City Council, don't bother to read your local papers (whether in English or español) to learn the truth behind robo-calls and idiot fliers, and don't even bother to vote. Consider the story of Roberto, whom I met at Taqueria de Anda on Fourth Street after leaving the morgue that was Pangea last night.

Roberto is a 24-year-old SanTana resident and American-born citizen. When I asked him about Measure D, Robert responded, "Yeah, I saw the Measure D posters around the city."

Did you vote?

"No."

Why not?

"I don't vote."

Why not?

"I just don't. I don't know about the issues."

Why not?

(shrug of shoulders and a smirk)

Compare that with my beloved Anaheim, where voters ran out trustee/bigot Harald Martin out of office last summer and replaced him last night with the bright Jordan Brandman, a man whose only true fault is he probably views the position as a springboard for something higher in the future. Anaheim might not be as Mexican as SanTana, but we're getting there--and our Mexicans pay attention. Those in SanTana? You deserve the Aliso Viejo that's coming your way.

*Exception made for the folks who voted against Measure D. Keep fighting the good fight against vendido politicians.

Well, the votes from all 2076 precincts have been tallied. No huge surprises, but here are the final numbers in the presidential race:

Democrats:

On a cool evening in the heart of Little Saigon loud firecrackers periodically exploded as Vietnamese Americans celebrated the coming of Tet (Vietnamese New Year) and something that should comfort Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle: the launching of the Year of the Rat.

Of course, I'm kidding. According to Wikipedia, “rats can be terribly obstinate and controlling." Pringle is just the opposite: controlling and obstinate.

I’d thought of Pringle because as I worked my way through a traffic jam in Westminster, I’d observed cocky, on-duty Anaheim officers harassing someone—wasting taxpayer’s dough as dirty cops are apt to do with smiles on their plump faces.

But this wasn’t a night to contemplate the petty machinations of petty police officers or the elected officials who protect them.

Or was it?

I’d come to see California state Assemblyman Van Tran without anticipating the hurdles. Beyond the disturbing wailings of an intoxicated middle-aged man attempting to sing Vietnamese karaoke, a malfunctioning escalator, an angry lost elderly woman and an oddly locked door stood a smiling Tran. He held a beer, warmly greeted guests (mostly young Republican operatives and one especially cute woman), conducted media interviews and studied election returns on a laptop computer.

Orange County's Republican Party is often monolithic, but Tran broke ranks to support Arizona Senator John McCain for president. This show of independence could cost him a finger or, at least, an illegal but highly profitable investment tip. The rest of his homeboys—Scott Baugh, Mike Schroeder (pictured above ordering dinner at Chat Noir), John Campbell, Dana Rohrabacher et al.—went with the Maytag repair man from Boston. Romney’s hopes of winning California hinged entirely on his OC GOP success. To borrow a line from UC Irvine professor Mark Petracca: Ha!

McCain kicked Romney’s ass in California.

My spies tell me that far away in another part of OC—behind a guarded gate and illegal-immigrant-manicured lawns—the Romney men huddled in some guy’s mansion. They eased the night’s sorrows with some sort of red grape concoction, ridiculously expensive for sure. Drink up boys! And then tell us why you Republicans back a man—your “true conservative”—who supported liberal Democrat Paul Tsongas in the 1992 presidential election.

-- R. Scott Moxley / OC Weekly

A short film by LYT...

The Measure D gap has shrunk--a tiny amount, but shrunk. The No on Measure D crowd are getting more optimistic. They have no other choice. "We already saw the bulldozers driving up Flower Street," Orange Juice blogger Thomas Anthony Gordon cracks. I tell them to pray hard, or to at least move to Anaheim. "We do gentrification right!" I offer, which the semi-drunk Measure D folks think is the funniest thing in the world.

"We should put that on a bumper sticker with Curt Pringle's face on it!" Gordon howls, referring to Anaheim's eternally sunny mayor. Then he falls into gallows humor. "By the time all the votes are in, [the historic] Logan [barrio] will just be a pile of timber!'

Democrats:

8:39 p.m.

"I know it's Super Tuesday and all, but it would have been nice if I could have watched Jeopardy & Wheel of Fortune when I got home from work like I planned."

The Quill, 17th street in Santa Ana, 4:30-ish. Loud hefty lady opining...

"I didn't vote for a Democrat, I can tell you that! I don't want to see a ______ or a _______ get in!" [those blanks are not euphemisms; she simply breathed hard rather than say the obvious] "America's not ready for a woman president in these days."

What if it were you, I ask her.

"It wouldn't be me. But Oprah's probably gonna run in 4 to 8 years."

I opine that she would probably win.

"And then Ellen DeGeneres. She'd be worse!"

Some googly-eyed, drooly-mouthed Fox News talking head just said that the reason why New Mexico is so tight between Obama and Clinton (as of 10:50 p.m.) is because parts of the state were hit with a snowstorm today, and that many of Hillary's Latino supporters couldn't claw their way out of the snowdrifts to get to their polling places...

IBEW hall, nine-ish...

Would-be Garden Grove City Council member Paul Lucas notices my "Vote for LYT" shirt...

"What the hell's LYT?"
"My initials"
"Oh, are you Luke something something of the OC Weekly?"
"That's me"
"You're not what I pictured."
"Dare I ask...?"
"I thought you'd look like Nick Schou or Rich Kane. I didn't think you'd be wearing camouflage"

Perhaps its the Makers Mark that the Weekly's late, great Commie Girl bought me, but when someone at Pangea yelled "There's the news camera!" I sprung into action, Besides making ridiculous faces and pretending to get in a fight with Garden Grove City Council candidate Paul Lucas (who maintained his El Modena cholo cool throughout) while the TV news reporter interviewed some activist, I managed to run into Pangea and pull a copy of the Weekly. For a good minute I stood there, ruining the poor lady's interview while promoting the hell out of our goddamn rag.

In other news, the Measure D margin has shrunk—does God exist? Stay tuned!

Slowly moving. But CNN's already called California for Clinton.

Democrats:

Spin, of course! And that's exactly what Hugh Hewitt is doing. Despite his book boy Mitt Romney getting slammed tonight from the moderate wing by John McCain and by the right via the suddenly resurgent Mike Huckabee, Baby Hewie continues to insist there's hope for Mitt.

All he can muster is that Rush Limbaugh and James "I Speak for Myself and Not Focus on the Family, Which is the Only Reason Why Anyone Pays Attention to Me" Dobson are against McCain, which he somehow translates as meaning Mitt has a chance. HA! They just called California for McCain. Even here, in rock-ribbed conservative Orange County, where Romney took in more money than any other presidential candidate and the endorsements of--amongst others--Hewitt, OC Blog's Matt "Jubal" Cunningham, congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-Taliban) and Orange County overlord Mike Schroeder, Romney is losing--29 percent to McCain's 42 percent, with Mike Huckabee and Rudy Giuliani each nabbing 10 percent. Oh, sweet defeat!

UPDATE: Jubal acknowledges, even congratulates McCain on his victory in a gracious way. Baby Hewie can learn from one of his acolytes, ¿qué no?

Thought just occurred to me while watching his victory-but-not-really-victory speech a few minutes ago, as the Senator and his supporters have taken up the "Yes We Can!" rallying cry -- which, it should be noted, was also the theme of the then-California Angels' AL West-winning 1979 season. See the blurry camera phone photo of my '79 season highlights LP (that's on VINYL, kids!) for proof...

So if Obama is Jim Fregosi, who'll be his Don Baylor?

"Ah, shit!" Phil Bacerra exclaims as he sees the early results for SanTana's Measure D term-limit extension. Measure D (D is for Developers) is currently winning by a nearly 60-40 margin, and the No on Measure D troops--Orange Juice bloggers Tish Leon and Thomas Anthony Gordon, and others--have arrived at Pangea and look glum.

Leon tries to muster a smile. "They say that the early results of a vote usually predict whether something will win or lose," she says. "But I talked to everyone I know, and they all voted no." She goes outside with her No on Measure D group, who stand around a laptop with long faces.

"I hate to sound like the eternal optimist," Bacerra says as he sees the results. But reality sets in. "Fuck!" he whispers. "Fuck!"

Top dogs are still the same as of 9 p.m. and only 106 of 2076 precincts are accounted for. It's gonna be a loooong night!

Democrats:

Believe it or not, we want the Orange County Register to be healthy, to put out a good product. We wish it all the success in the world save for beating us on a story.

So, Register: please, por favor, please work on your website. It takes forever to load, frequently misplaces Frank Mickadeit's column, and did we already say it takes too damn long to load?! It took an entire MINUTE to load your home page, a home page I had visited dozens of time today and thus accepted all of your cookies and other spyware. Fix it! And while you're at it, give your photographer Daniel Anderson a raise--brother's been working the flash like Henri Cartier-Bresson tonight.

...You have it here: Orange County's most notorious racialst, Martin Millard, has officially endorsed the Mitt. Even Ron Paul can't boast of such wacky supporter credentials, unless one of his notorious newsletters ruminated about the difference in vaginas of women from various ethnicities.

From OCVote.com as of 8:10 p.m.

Democrats:

The C-SPAN feed has Romney shaking hands live from his Boston HQ as U2’s “Elevation” spins. What, no Osmonds? Ah, but Romney and Bono do have that pompous-asshole thing going for ‘em…..

Chris Prevatt stands inside Pangea in SanTana with a smile and a hand-free cell phone. He's one of the guys behind The Liberal OC, the lefty component to Orange County's political blogosphere. Pangea is hosting a poll-viewing party for Democrats tonight, and Prevatt is going to report live from here while others file across the county. "We'll have people posting the results live on our blog," Prevatt says. "This is gonna be a fun night."

Central County Democrats have celebrated the past couple of elections next door at Proof Bar, but today is the bar's popular Stiff promotion. Insert innuendo jokes about Dems and gays here...

If you need any more proof that the Barack Obama campaign desperately sought the Latino vote, one needs no more proof than the Orange County headquarters of Barack Obama, situated on Broadway across the street from the Santora Arts Complex in SanTana. Plastered on the window are various Obama articles that appeared in the local Spanish-language rags--Farándula USA, Miniondas, but strangely not La Opinión's endorsement--and a couple of Sí Se Puede signs. Great effort--but someone forgot to include an upside-down exclamation point on the dramatic Obama portrait.

Inside, volunteers burn up the phone lines--and not just the Obama-paid ringers. On a poster board, someone wrote "We'll appreciate if you can donate your cell phone minutes (underlined in the original) to make these important phone calls! Thanks!" Someone else wrote in red as an addendum, "We need to make more calls"--and with Obama projected to lose in California at this point in the night, ain't that the pinche truth.

SanTana councilmembers Michelle Martinez and David Benavides work their mobiles, as photographers (Orange County Register for sure, maybe the Los Angeles Times) snap away. Meanwhile, a skinny 20-something chick wearing a knit cap let's out a deep sigh. "If I hear Hillary's name one more time..." she trails off. A Latino in a green Los Angeles Dodgers hat finishes the thought: "You'll scream."

At 7:29 p.m. on KOCE: Antiques Roadshow! Over on KDOC: Frasier, which is an episode centered around—Antiques Roadshow! Four million people here, and we can’t even get Pete effing Weitzner doing a live standup from someplace? Pathetic...

ABC calls Utah for Romney! Which is like calling Berkeley for Kucinich...

The "No on Measure D" sign on a fenced-off area of the City Place lofts in North SanTana. City Place's developer? Robert Bisno, who gave $40,000 to the Yes on Measure D efforts.

Not only does God have a sense of humor, he protects it via the California Fair Political Practices Commission.

As Mitt Romney goes down in defeat after crushing defeat, Hugh Hewitt desperately continues to spin for his book subject by focusing on. . .the small margin of victory by which John McCain will win his home state of Arizona.

"Given the Rush blast, the Dobson declaration, and Huck's strength in the south," Baby Hewie gasps, "McCain can't be considered a frontrunner by any conventional standard."

And your boy Mitt will, Baby Hewie? Sucker's only won his home state so far--and the last time I ever saw people consider a loser a front-runner is when Dubya won the 2000 election.