[IFP endorses no political candidates for federal public office]

sanmateodailynews.com

Moloney sees a chance in congressional race

Perennial contender hopes to shift his party



Moloney sees a chance in congressional race: Perennial contender hopes to shift his party

By Will Oremus, San Mateo Daily News



This is the fifth in the Daily News’ five-part series profiling each of the candidates to replace the late Tom Lantos in Congress. The two Democrats, two Republicans and one Green will compete in an open primary on April 8.

Republican Mike Moloney believes it will be an embarrassment to his party if he wins election to Congress – and he’s proud of that.

“The Republican Party is bankrupt morally, spiritually and emotionally,” Moloney said. “It’s been hijacked by the nuts on the religious right.”

A perennial contender for the 12th District seat long held by the late Tom Lantos, the boisterous Moloney aims to be the Libertarian thorn in the Republican Party’s side. Though he calls himself “an Eisenhower Republican,” he admits he only switched to the party several years ago to get more visibility for his incendiary views.

“I’m a maverick,” he said. “Their job is to head me off at the pass.”

From his youth in an Irish neighborhood of Brooklyn, Moloney, 67, carries a thick accent and a belief that everyone deserves a fighting chance at success. But he’s no welfare-state liberal. To those who get knocked down, as he did when his local liquor store chain went bankrupt, Moloney says, “those are the breaks.”

Perhaps that’s why he never pulls punches.

In Moloney’s idiom, Democratic favorite Jackie Speier is “little Jackie, the princess.” Moderate conservative Greg Conlon is “a country club Republican.” The Bush administration’s foreign policy is “so absurd that when I actually articulate it, I can’t believe it.”

His well-placed jabs and self-deprecating jokes bring levity to the campaign trail, but Moloney is dead serious about his opposition to the war in Iraq. He sees recent U.S. policy in the Middle East as the product of a dastardly alliance between the oil-hungry Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, Israel-allied neoconservatives led by Paul Wolfowitz, and Christian extremists who want a holy war with Islam.

He’s convinced that if someone doesn’t stand up to the Bush administration soon, Iran will be next.

Who could that someone be?

Moloney quickly rules out the Democrats. “The Democrat leaders are all part of it. Bush and Cheney could never have accomplished the war without the Democrats.”

That leaves the man himself.

“If I win this special election, I go back to Washington to fill Lantos’ term,” Moloney said. “My first act, I demand (House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi puts impeachment of Bush and Cheney back on the table, and I demand it loud and clear.”

While he relishes the role of underdog, Moloney resents the attention that’s been lavished on Speier’s campaign from its beginning, when a phalanx of big-time officials turned out to her press conference in Foster City. “Jesus Christ, I thought it was Mother Teresa up there,” he said.

Earlier this month, Moloney put out a sarcastic press release suggesting that his fellow candidates call off the April 8 special election and concede the seat to Speier, saving money for the taxpayers.

In less agitated moments, however, Moloney admits he’s having a great time. He’s taken to wearing a Serra High School baseball cap around town, not because he has any connection to the school, but because it starts conversations with fellow Padres fans.

And despite his lack of mainstream backing – he recently lost an election for local Republican Party chairman 20-2 – Moloney believes he’ll have a shot against Speier if he can get past Conlon in the primary.

“It’ll be Hearns vs. Hagler, Ali vs. Frazier,” he said, shadowboxing to demonstrate his point. “I don’t remember who won Hearns vs. Hagler, but it was a great fight.”

E-mail Will Oremus at [email protected]

(Source)