Danville Democrat, I am not criticizing some “throw-away mention in (Swalwell’s) C.V.” when I refer to his work for Tauscher and her “Republican lite/Let’s Have War With Iraq!” policies. His own campaign website says that he was “assisting with legislative research,” for Tauscher, etc. My point is that his experience is rather thin.

Plus we deserve to know what he thought about Tauscher’s policies, especially the Iraq War that Mr. Swalwell indirectly helped to promote when he worked for Tauscher. I haven’t the slightest idea what Mr. Swalwell stands for. Has he made his political opinions known over the years? Or is he one of those strategic “young pols” who has hidden his beliefs in order to “protect his political viability” (or whatever garbage Bill Clinton wrote during his draft dodging days)? For heaven’s sake, Mr. Swalwell has been an elected official for a mere 10 months or so. The Tri-Valley has already experienced a 30-something who vaulted from a couple of years on a city council directly into the halls of Congress. His name was Richard Pombo. That didn’t work out too well for his constituents.

Walter, you’re right on track about the types of questions that Mr. Swalwell must answer. Maybe his “listening tour” was all show for the press releases backed by no follow-through.

I was disappointed because I reside in the 15th Congressional District. Although I tend to disagree with Pete Stark more often than not, there are a few very important issues that we DO agree on.

I wanted to see how Swalwell stacked up against Stark on these important issues. Maybe he’ll give an answer here on Political Blotter?

1.) War: Will Swalwell vote in-favor of funding our interventionist foreign policy in the Middle East?

2.) Audit the Fed: Does Swalwell believe that the Federal Reserve should be audited?

3.) Bailouts: Does Swalwell believe the federal government should be in the business of bailing-out private companies/corps/banks/other countries?

4.) MJ: Pete Stark co-sponsored the Paul/Frank bill that would have ended federal prohibition of MJ and returned authority to the states. Would Swalwell co-sponsor such a bill? Would he draft and introduce one of his own if elected?

Beyond that, I was also openly carrying my firearm at the time I went to the Swalwell meet-and-greet. I was looking forward to gauging his reaction considering the fact that he is a Dep. DA. Does Swalwell support the individual, fundamental and constitutionally recognized right to openly bear firearms in public without a government approved permission slip to do so?