Loretta Sanchez Facing Challenger

Loretta Sanchez, better known for her risque Christmas cards, and being called out by colleagues, might be facing a significant challenger in her next election.

According to C.Q. Politics Asian American Republican Van Tran announced Wednesday he is forming a 2010 exploratory committee to run against Democratic Rep. Loretta Sanchez in California's 47th District.

From C.Q.:

"I'm deeply concerned about our economy. California's unemployment is up 33 percent in the past five months, but we're not seeing solutions in Washington," Tran, a California assemblyman, said in a statement. "If I run for Congress, my first priority will be passing meaningful economic reforms to create more jobs and get Californians working."

Republicans in Washington have been working to recruit Tran for a congressional bid. Tran's election to the state assembly in 2004 made him the first Vietnamese-American in the country elected to a state legislature.

Officials in Washington (I am assuming the NRCC and RNC) hope that Tran will appeal tot he large Vietnamese constituency in the district, who are also strongly conservative Christians.

Sanchez, a Latina, whose sister is also in Congress, is whispered to be interested in running for the California Governor in 2010. But like usual, many are not taking her very seriously. She has taken no major steps toward seeking the mega office of California Governator. She isn't even a blimp in major statewide polls of the race.

George W. Bush narrowly carried the district in 2004. Shockingly Barack Obama received 60 percent of the vote in 2008. John McCain received 38 percent in CA-47.

Hispanic Democrats Mad They Are in Video with BHO?

Apparently the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) is furious they are in a video with President Obama. And, of course, they are asking for an apology.

Yesterday Minority Leader Boehner put out a video (see below) asking "Do you Feel Safer?"

The Hispanic Dems quickly responded staying the Minority leader and the Republicans were insulting ALL Latinos by including an image of them in the video.

In an article from The Hill it quotes Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.), chairwoman of the CHC as saying:

“It’s disrespectful to the hard-working Latinos across the nation, serving in every sector of our economy and on our military’s front lines,” Velazquez’s statement continued. “The CHC demands an apology from the Minority Leader for this insensitivity and that the video be removed immediately.”

I applaud the communications staff at CHC for their quick thinking and trying to play the minority card here but this is the reality: All the members of the CHC are Democrats. They all voted for President Obama. A vast majority of them support his policy, including ending the war as soon as possible, taking down Gitmo, and not using the word "terrorism," and millions of other things.

I think it is fair for the Republicans, as they make the case that they are stronger on national security issues, to claim that members of CHC, as part of the Democratic Party and its leader President Obama, are contributing in making our nation less safe. It has nothing to do with thier nationality, ethnicity or color of skin, just thier voting record.

See the video here, the Hispanic Congressional Caucus (Democrats) comes out at 1:11