A challenge for Lantos

[La_Serpiente]

A challenge for Lantos

REP. Tom Lantos, D-San Mateo, is facing his first significant challenge in two decades. His main opponent, 27-year-old attorney Ro Khanna, has emerged as an articulate, aggressive campaigner whose long-shot bid has gained traction with his criticisms of Lantos' votes for the Iraq war and the Patriot Act. "When I found out how vocal he was in support of the war," said Khanna, "I thought he needed to be challenged."

The other Democrat in the field, Maad Abu-Ghazalah, also has been highly critical of Lantos' early support of the invasion of Iraq -- but Khanna's superior fund raising has made him the serious challenger.

Khanna also has pledged to repeal the Patriot Act, which cut back civil liberties under the guise of fighting terrorism. Khanna said he was appalled by Congress' ready acquiescence of an act that greatly expanded government's authority to search private property, detain suspects without charges and scrutinize Americans' library records.

Beyond those two major issues, Khanna acknowledged that Lantos has "a good record on traditional Democratic issues."

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A challenge for Lantos

[Paschall]

1. Thanks for the post

The French media (forget which network) just did a long and flattering portrait of Maad Abu-Ghazalah that included footage a small anti-Lantos demonstration organized by Democrats.