Batman villain Darrell Issa

Back in August, we were rather delighted to see that the richest member of Congress, Darrell Issa (R-That One Rightwing Part Of SoCal) was actually in a competitive race, but that all that money of his still gave him a huge advantage over his Democratic challenger, Doug Applegate, a retired Marine colonel who actually signs off in his ads as "Col. Doug Applegate" -- which could be a useful identifier in a district that's home to Camp Pendleton. (Your editrix would add that she hopes he cuts the "colonel" shit if he's elected, as nothing annoys her more than seeing her congressman refer to himself as "Commander" Ryan Zinke. "Congressman" isn't a good enough honor?)

Applegate finished a very close second to Issa in California's weird blanket primary thing, just 5.3 percentage points behind Issa despite Issa's outspending him by 15 to 1. And here's the other clown shoe to toss at Issa: In a poll conducted for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee at the end of September, Applegate is now leading Issa by four points, 46 percent to 42 percent. Yes, it's an internal poll, so the usual cautions apply. But dang, wouldn't it be something if Issa finally crashed and burned? (Issa knows a thing or two about burning.)

Issa, Roll Call notes, has won every single election in his San Diego district (with fingers up into Orange County) by 16 points or more. And now he's dead even in a poll, with 31 days to the election. Also worth some moderate glee: Where Mitt Romney won the district by six points in 2012, Hillary Clinton is currently leading Donald Trump by 14 points, 49 to 35 percent. The DCCC poll was conducted after the first presidential debate, so there could be a bit of a bump from that, but it's not a usual look for San Diego or OC.

Roll Call and the Rothenberg & Gonzales Political Report recently downgraded their prediction for the district from "Safe Republican" to "Republican Favored." And in a reminder that internal polls aren't necessarily gospel, Issa's early-September internal polling gave him a 14-point lead, as well as high favorable ratings. So let's not break out the celebratory bubbly and dildos just yet. You are allowed, however, to lay in a hopeful supply of those cakes we like.

Applegate has been running ads aimed at connecting Issa with Trump, who is deeply disliked in California, claiming Issa has been awfully good at getting rich while in office:

And then there's this ad, coproduced with the DCCC, which slams Issa for his votes against funding health care for 9/11 first responders:

Should we feel bad about a campaign using 9/11 to evoke a reflexive response? Against a flag-humping hypocrite like Issa, we don't have any problems with it.

Want to throw money at a guy who's got a shot at taking a seat away from one of the most consistently loathsome R's in the House? Doug Applegate's donation page is right here!

[Roll Call]