Failed CD-10 candidate named Candidate of the Year and one of 2009's Best and Brightest by Esquire magazine

"He's an Iraq-war vet, a West Point and Harvard grad, one of the first openly gay black men to run for Congress. And, now, in debt and out of a job. But that's just the beginning of his story."

This is Esquire magazine, introducing its profile of Anthony Woods in its December issue.

At 29, Woods, an economic policy analyst, returned to his hometown of Fairfield in March to run for the congressional seat left open by Ellen Tauscher's decision to leave California's 10th congressional district and go work for President Obama's administration.

From the beginning, Todd Stenhouse, the political consultant Woods hired to guide his campaign, "recognized the potential in Woods's story: a decorated Iraq-war veteran kicked out of the Army for being gay; a young African-American man raised without health insurance by a single mother, going on to West Point and Harvard."

Yes, as I noted in a post, back in July, that Woods' backstory was the dream of any progressive Hollywood scriptwriter.

As the Esquire story continues: "In the age of personality-driven politics, [Stenhouse] knew he could get media attention for Woods that other first-time candidates, no matter how good their intentions, would never receive. And if the campaign could use the online organizing tools perfected by Obama to transform that attention into strong grassroots support, Woods might just surprise the establishment and come out on top."

Well, that didn't happen. In the September 1 run-off, Woods came in fifth, behind leader, Lt. Governor John Garamendi, who went on to win the November 3 special election. The Esquire story points out that Woods recognized that, in "a business that is famously local, his candidacy was garnering more attention on the national stage than within the district."

Woods is back in Washington, weighing his options, including whether he'll run again and how he would do things differently next time. He said in a candidate's debate at St. Mary's College in August that he believed that it was time to send a younger generation to Washington, and someone who had grown up knowing what it's like to live inside a failed policy.

The Esquire story continues: "When the debate ended, [Garamendi] was gone within minutes, but Woods remained standing in the aisle, where voters had lined up to speak with him."

Bill, Al urging us to vote for Garamendi for Congress

Two letters, one from William Jefferson Clinton--with his presidential seal--and one from the Honorable Al Gore arrived in the mail today, urging our family to vote for Lt. Governor John Garamendi for congress.

Garamendi is one of 14 candidates running in a September 1 special election to replace Ellen Tauscher as the U.S. representative in the 10th congressional district. Here's a round-up of the candidates in this red hot race.

President Clinton's letter, printed with a Courier-esque font that looks like it was just rolled out of an old-fashioned typewriter, extolls Garamendi as a "proven environmental leader and first-rate public servant." Gore, Mr. Nobel Prize-winning Inconvenient Truth, also praises Garamendi's environmental record: "As a life-long rancher ... John served at the U.S. Department of the Interior helping to protect our nation's natural heritage. He worked shoulder to shoulder with President Clinton and me to design programs to protect and preserve our National Parks for generations to come."

Both laud Garamendi's advocacy as state Insurance Commissioner on behalf of consumers, and for his overall experience in government at the local, state, and national level.

The San Francisco Chronicle has also endorsed Garamendi, saying he stands out in the crowd of contenders"because his vast portfolio of experience is so well aligned with the issues of the times and the big concerns of the district." (Here is Garamendi with his wife, Patti; both were long-time volunteers with the Peace Corps.)

"The 64-year-old Garamendi has the confidence and depth of knowledge that would allow him to hit the ground running in Congress --and his history sggests he would be unabashed in doing so," the Chronicle says.

If you want to do the horse race thing, these sorts of endorsements are probably helping to give Garamendi a double-digit lead in recent polls, according to the Contra Costa Times Lisa Vorderbrueggen. Whether you're happy about that or not--personally, I haven't decided whom I'll vote for--Garamendi is also leading the pack in fundraising, Vorderbrueggen says. He has raised $517,368 since he launched his campaign and $216,655 in the last reporting period between July 1 and Aug. 12."

State Sen. Mark DeSaulnier of Concord, Garamendi's chief rival and the candidate who seemed to be the early frontrunner for the seat, has been unable to keep up with Garamendi, fundraising-wise. "He has raised $378,028 during the election cycle and $168,249 in the most recent reporting period. His lag behind Garamendi may reflect the two recent polls that show Garamendi with a double-digit lead," Vorderbrueggen says.

I wonder how much DeSaulnier's campaign was hurt by the U.S. State Department, Ellen Tauscher's new employer, asking DeSaulnier to stop advertising her early endorsement in his campaign materials.

DeSaulnier is fighting back, with a new mailer that explains why Garamendi would not choose to run in District 3--where "he actually lives"--because it would pit him against Republican Dan Lungren in a Republican leaning district, Vorderbrueggen writes in her blog on Friday.

Back to that Chronicle endorsement of Garamendi: It also offers a favorable assessment of the other candidates, including DeSaulnier, Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan, and the leading Republican in the race, San Ramon attorney David Harmer.

Notably, the Chronicle agreed with my prediction of which politician to keep an eye on for the future. That would be Democrat Anthony Woods, the 29-year-old Iraq war vet with degrees from West Point and Harvard. Actually, he's the "gay Iraq war vet," who defied the military's "Don't Ask Don't Tell " policy. He also is the son of a single mother who pulled himself up by those proverbial bootstraps. Bottom line: He's got the great made-for-movies biography. The Chronicle editorial board was impressed with the "depth and energy" he displayed in his interview. "He has a bright future in politics, if he stays with it. He should."