Cindy Sheehan To Challenge Nancy Pelosi

Earlier this week I wrote a piece discussing why the process of collecting signatures to get on the ballot is considered to be an important part of a campaign. It now appears as though Cindy Sheehan is experiencing that firsthand as she is gearing up in her bid to take on Speaker Nancy Pelosi this November. Sheehan will have to obtain the signatures of 10,198 voters, a number which represents three percent of the total voters registered in the district during the 2006 general election, by August 8. Interestingly enough, the candidates who are running in the Senatorial primaries here in Virginia only had to collect 10,000 signatures to get onto the ballot.

Unfortunately for Sheehan, she’s going to be running into some other serious challenges if she actually wants to have a legitimate chance of defeating the Speaker. In addition to being a powerful member of the House of Representatives and a ten term incumbent, Pelosi also usually receives about 80 percent of the vote in her home district. Then there’s also the plain and simple fact that Pelosi is extremely well known throughout the country and would very likely have absolutely no problem defeating Sheehan in the fundraising department. Nonetheless, Sheehan still tells the San Francisco Chronicle that she’s confident about her chances in November.

The odds don’t bother Sheehan, who has raised more than $100,000 for her race, most of it from outside the district.

“Even people who I won’t represent are willing to back me, because they know what I’ll do in office,” she said. “Many people in San Francisco know me, and they know my persistence.

“If I get to Washington, I’ll only be in office a couple weeks before Bush leaves, but I guarantee he’ll know I’m there.”

No matter how much confidence Sheehan claims she has, however, she’s a smart enough woman to realize that she won’t win in November. I personally think she’s probably just using her candidacy to give herself an opportunity to get talk about how she believes some Democrats gave in to demands made by the Bush Administration.

In the end, I think most people will cast Sheehan off as a candidate that is from the extreme. Speaker Pelosi, on the other hand, will be able to use this as an opportunity to talk about how she’s attempted to set aside partisan bickering in order to pass legislation that’s in the best interest of the American Public.