Memo to Cindy Sheehan

Cindy Sheehan, you're running for the US Congress from California's eighth district. We're all supporting you and you can consider this an in-kind-donation.

Your opponent is Fancy Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi did a poll to find out what her weakness was in the upcoming election. The results aren't helpful to her.

What she needs to fix allows her two channels: she can push for strong legislation which she will not get any support from the majority of Dems in the House in an election year or she can push for weak legislation which will be seen as more sop tossed out by Nancy to trick voters. Either way isn't considered a win by campaign Pelosi. And she's really afraid you'll grab the issue.

You probably think we're talking about the illegal war.

We're not.

The polling showed Pelosi was weakest among the LBGT community.

That matters because the Bay Area isn't some other city that practices some form of tolerance (or pretends to). The Bay Area has long attracted the LBGT community. Homophobes do exist in the Bay Area but they are in the minority. Straight people in the area haven't just stumbled upon the first openly gay person they've ever met. The Bay Area isn't divided on the issue.

Fancy Nancy's years in Congress have seen a steady erosion in her support for gays and lesbians. Her elevation to Speaker of the House made it very clear that she's not going to fight for anything -- including the LBGT community -- that won't serve the national Democratic Party.

The 60 Minutes profile on her in October 2006 was an embarrassment for Nancy and considered one of the reasons that she's taken a hit from the gay community.

Your outreach efforts will include many areas, but in the Bay Area, it must include the LBGT community.

Pelosi's camp is trying to figure out what Nancy can do to bring back that support. They also think you're going to shoot yourself in the foot. They think the issue of gays in the military will be how to start a whisper campaign against you.

If you come out in favor, they're talking of whispering about your loss and how strange it is that you'd support it. If you come out against it, Nancy plans to grandstand in a speech that she's always been there for the community.

The approach we expect you to take, but that the Pelosi campaign doesn't seem to have thought of, is "I'm against the war but any person who wants to serve in the military should be able to do so. It goes to an equal playing field for all."

There are weaknesses across the board, according to the polling, but the thing that has Pelosi's campaign worried is the LBGT community. If she is seen as having turned on them, it will cause a lot of people in the area -- straight or gay -- to ask, "Did we vote for her to represent our area or to go to DC and speak like Joe Lieberman?"

Her other negatives in the polling included the illegal war and that's why she's going on and about how she understands people's frustrations with the illegal war and she's frustrated to (she feels the deaths and wounds, apparently, even though she won't do a damn thing to end the illegal war); how cozy Nancy-of-the-People has gotten with big business and never seems to miss an opportunity to appear locally at one (while refusing to do townhalls); and, yes, you.

Pelosi, who does not like to debate, so will try to avoid a debate with you (she doesn't like it because she's not good at it), can't attack you directly based on the polling. A shift away from her among women voters that already exists would harden if she attacked. So there is talk of whisper campaigns.

If you're in it to win it, you need to know it will get ugly. You also need to know Fancy Nancy is running scared for the first time in her political career. Good luck.

P.S. She's trying to avoid a debate but is considering it. If she does, the campaign already has their talking point. So, if a debate's announced, look for another memo.

This memo brought to you by Friends of Cindy and an insider in the Pelosi campaign who's disgusted by the talk of whisper campaigns.