THE RACE FOR THE 45th CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT

Alex Coolman

Striding down the length of the Huntington Beach Pier, Ted Crisell is

pressing flesh at top speed.

“Are you folks voters?” Crisell asks a group of senior citizens,

handing them a couple campaign fliers. “I’m running for Congress!”

This morning, Crisell is animated and infectious. He meets a woman who

tells him she’s voted for him, and the result is a hug of pure political

joy. If there was ever a day when it seemed like a Democrat could take

the 45th Congressional District, this is it.

The 45th is, of course, the district that’s been dominated for years

by Dana Rohrabacher. And at times in recent weeks, Crisell has sounded

discouraged by the tough odds he faces as a Democrat running against a

Republican incumbent in a conservative district.

But Crisell continues to run an aggressive campaign. He continues to

court moderate Republicans and women with his positions on abortion

rights and gun control, and he continues to bash Rohrabacher at every

opportunity.

“I’m going to shopping centers, I’m going door to door,” Crisell said.

“If we win, it’s a total grass-roots effort.”

The Democrat’s essential argument has been that voters would choose

him over his opponents -- both Rohrabacher and Libertarian Don Hull -- if

they understand his position on the issues.

Who has the most integrity? Crisell says he does, and he rips into

Rohrabacher for his association with figures like Huntington Beach Mayor

Dave Garafolo.

“I think the man is unethical, dishonest and definitely guilty of some

wrongdoing,” he says of Garafolo.

On the environment, schools, senior citizen issues and campaign

finance reform, Crisell says he has Rohrabacher beat. Crisell would push

for a greater government role on each of these issues, but he articulates

his positions in a way that tries to avoid sounding threatening to the

more conservative swing voters.

“I’m not for abortion,” he’ll say. “Nobody is for abortion. I’m just

for a woman’s right to choose.”

It’s a tricky business, courting the center, particularly for a man

who has the tendency -- whether it’s a virtue or a vice depends on your

point of view -- to say what’s actually on his mind.

And so the odds remain great against him. But with his feet clumping

along the planks of the pier, he repeats the sentence that is like a

mantra for his campaign. And he seems to believe what he’s saying:

“Miracles do happen.”