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Even a Loss Will Be A Win, Democrats Say
By Susan Jones
CNSNews.com Senior Editor
May 31, 2006

(CNSNews.com) - Next Tuesday, voters in the San Diego area will head to the polls in a special election to replace Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, a Republican who is serving time in prison for bribery.

Democrats say no matter what happens, they've won - because Democrat candidate Francine Busby "has put Republicans on the ropes in a district they bragged was theirs for the taking."

In an email message to supporters, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said that Democrats are setting the tone in a majority Republican district -- "forcing Republicans to frantically spend millions of dollars to defend themselves."

And no matter what happens next Tuesday, "If Francine even comes close, Democrats will send a wave of panic through Republicans everywhere," the DCCC said.

The DCCC also said the special election in San Diego is "just the beginning."

It said it is targeting Republican districts across the country, and that includes running advertisements on Christian radio stations "holding Republicans feet to the fire for trying to privatize Social Security."

The winner of the June 6 runoff election - either Francine Busby or Republican Brian Bilbray - will fill the remaining seven months of Cunningham's term.

Bilbray has attacked Busby for supporting the "earned citizenship" immigration bill that the U.S. Senate passed last week.

But Bilbray's opposition to that bill apparently prompted Sen. John McCain to cancel an appearance at a Bilbray fundraiser on Wednesday.

McCain's staff was quoted as saying that while the Arizona Republican supports Bilbray, the two men "disagree on some of the issues related to immigration reform."

Sen. McCain was a guiding force behind the Senate bill and proposed its guest worker program.