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Ose thinks he can win

Dave Moller
Sun News Service

GRASS VALLEY ” Before he even heard John Doolittle was not going to seek re-election, Doug Ose hired a pollster to see if he had a chance to replace the long-time congressman and found out he could.

In an interview Monday with The Union newspaper in western Nevada County, Ose said the early polls showed Republican Doolittle would have lost to Democrat Charlie Brown if he had stayed in the 4th District race. The polls also showed Brown would have crushed Rico Oller, Ose’s chief opponent for the Republican nomination for the congressional seat in June’s primary.

“When it was Brown versus us, we were tied,” Ose said. “Our polling shows Brown is formidable” but beatable.



Endorsements of Oller from Republican Sen. Sam Aanestad, of Grass Valley, and GOP Rep. Rick Keene, of Chico, do not bother Ose.

“I have great respect for Sam and Rick, and I have no doubt when I prevail in the primary, they will endorse me,” Ose said.



The 52-year-old Sacramento developer was the 3rd District Congressman from 1998 to 2004 and quit after promising his constituents he would only serve three terms.

But in the past few years, Ose did not like what he was seeing in Washington, D.C., and wanted to get back to Congress.

Republicans are in trouble nationwide because they have lost touch with traditional GOP values – small government spending coupled with strong national security, Ose said.

“People have lost faith in government,” Ose said. “There’s no accountability.”

Dan Lungren, however, had Ose’s old seat tied up after winning it in 2004. Ose has the legal right to stay in Sacramento and run for the 3rd District seat without leaving it but said he will move to the district soon.

“I’ll be here so I can vote. I want to vote for me,” Ose said. “I am going to establish a residence now, and you’ll get sick of seeing me.”

The former congressman said he will run on an economic turnaround ticket.

To help stimulate the economy, the government needs to give better tax breaks for establishing alternative energy use and use incentives already on the books to get 100 mile per gallon vehicles, he said.

Ose said his experience in Congress and his knowledge of foothill issues such as methamphetamine, timber and grazing should help him defeat Oller.

Medical marijuana

Ose said he was unsure how to completely combat the foothills methamphetamine problem, looking to a package of education and treatment that would work. Prop. 39 drug courts don’t work in his opinion and only put the addicts and problems back on the street.

When it came to medical marijuana, he minced no words.

“Medical marijuana is a farce,” Ose said.

“The THC component today is multiple times what it was,” Ose said. “The psychotropic impact is profound. It’s not just a joint. It’s a gateway drug with no pharmacological benefit.

“If they want to smoke dope, they should vote for the other guy,” Ose said. “On this issue, I’m willing to lose the race.”

As for Doolittle, Ose said time will tell if he will pay in the ongoing investigation into Doolittle’s and his wife’s ties to jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

“I don’t believe he’s done anything illegal,” Ose said. “He’s not been charged or convicted of anything.”


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