First in a series
[img]1578|left|Mr. Bill Bloomfield||no_popup[/img]As of last week, Bill Bloomfield’s supposedly unbeatable opponent, the venerable Congressman Henry Waxman, was refusing to do interviews because the calendar was too kissing-close to Election Day next Tuesday.
Nobody is kissing, and in the truthful environment of privacy, neither is predicting the outcome.
Just hoping.
Is Mr. Waxman worried? Shutting himself away suggests so.
While Mr. Bloomfield’s style presents California casual, Mr. Waxman is the antithesis, dapper.
Something else – homespun Mr. Bloomfield, Westside native who moved to the South Bay in the mid-‘80s – sprinkles “my heavens” into his speeches, two words the non-homespun Congressman never has been charged with putting back-to-back.
Mr. Bloomfield is exactly what Mr. Waxman dreaded at this late stage of his high-profile 18-term Washington career:
• A well-financed rival – which, alone, would not necessarily have been fatal for Mr. Waxman. Plenty of ambitious well-off guys often turn out to be empty suits when they have to think and campaign.
• Not Mr. Bloomfield. He is smart, charming, eloquent, hugely successful in the private sector, makes a sterling public presentation, connects with audiences – and worst of all for the Waxman camp, the Bloomfield policy positions suit this newly drawn liberal 33rd Congressional District – Ventura County down the coast to Palos Verdes – the way manicured fingers tuck into a pair of gloves from Brooks Brothers.
How They Differ
Even though Mr. Bloomfield was a lifelong Republican until two years ago, when he converted to Independent, his main stances are comfortable walking distances from Mr. Waxman’s.
Then how is he different?
What the challenger believes will irresistibly distinguish him on Election Day is his cement-sealed pledge to pour gas into the empty tank of Congress by conducting himself in a strongly bi-partisan manner.
It’s not merely happy talk – he has outlined an elaborate strategy that he intends to spread among his new colleagues.
Mr. Waxman, says Mr. Bloomfield, never has made his arms sore by reaching across any aisle since 1974 when he was elected during the fumes of Watergate.
In the absence of late hour non-campaign polling, Mr. Bloomfield is not boldly predicting victory.
“Our campaign is going well,” he says. “No one will know how well until the night of Nov. 6. It’s just the way Congressional races are. We have done some polling and he has, and we all know it is going to be close.
“We always have been the underdog in this race. It’s looking good, though. ”
(To be continued)
