Everybody who pays attention to politics in the Bay Area knows Rep. Tauscher is a conservative Democrat. This is hardly news. Though the fact that they're writing about it in D. C. interests me. And the story itself raises some interesting points. I thought the part about Rep. Harmon, another well-known California conservative Democrat, was interesting. She, of course, famously lost a position she thought should be hers because she's butted heads too often with the new speaker. I remember the state convention last year when Harmon was the target of liberals who raised it to a bitter floor fight. Tauscher has not crossed Pelosi, though her efforts to defeat McNerney earned her a lot of grassroots emnity. I'm glad to hear she's mending fences with him, though he's not one to hold a grudge in my experience. However, if anybody can move these gals to the left, a lot of us in California will be very happy. But I'd sure rather see the activists focus on people like Republican Rep. Doolittle, who just barely hung on to a seat he richly deserved to lose.