[img_assist|nid=2072|title=Congressional candidate Charlie Brown|desc=|link=none|align=right|width=190|height=240]Congressional candidate Charlie Brown's campaign fired back at opponent state Sen. Tom McClintock this week, saying a campaign mailer McClintock sent to 4th Congressional District voters is "rife with fabrications."

Brown campaign manager Todd Stenhouse said the mailer, which compares McClintock's (R-Thousand Oaks) stances on issues to Roseville Democrat Brown's, is incorrect in several instances.

Stenhouse pointed out that the mailer said Brown is against offshore oil drilling, for amnesty for illegal immigration and for higher taxes, all of which are not the case, he said.

"On immigration, Charlie Brown's stance is the same as John McCain's," Stenhouse said. "You've got to secure the border first, and no general amnesty."

Brown also believes in expanded offshore oil drilling as part of a comprehensive federal energy plan, and in a permanent middle-class tax cut, elimination of the alternative minimum tax, expanded tax credits for child care and alternative energy investment, and reduction of deficit spending that adds to a tax burden on later generations, Stenhouse said.

"The McClintock campaign's claims on Charlie Brown's tax policies are absolutely ridiculous and absolutely false," Stenhouse said.

Noting that McClintock states in the mailer that he has signed a "no new taxes" pledge, Stenhouse said, "There is a difference between a pledge made by a career politician and the promise made by a career military officer."

He pointed out that Brown has followed through on a commitment to donate 5 percent of his campaign donations to community-based nonprofit groups that assist veterans.

"This is personal to him," Stenhouse said. "He's running to offer these issues action, not words."

The mail piece also says Brown opposes Proposition 8, the Nov. 4 ballot initiative that would ban gay marriage in California.

Stenhouse said Brown believes marriage is between a man and a woman, but that marriage is a religious ceremony and that he won't impose his religious views on other people.

He added that when McClintock ran in the gubernatorial recall campaign of 2003, gay marriage was an area where government shouldn't legislate.

Stenhouse also took issue with former U.S. Rep. Doug Ose's (R-Sacramento) endorsement of McClintock in the mailer.

During the primary campaign earlier this year when McClintock and Ose were opponents, Stenhouse said, Ose told PolitickerCA.com that McClintock was “ripping the system off” for collecting transportation reimbursements for travel to Southern California when he spent most of his time as a house in Elk Grove.

Ose also released a commercial ad that stated, “How does he sleep at night?” when McClintock voted against state legislation that would’ve provided mortgage relief for veterans and their widows.

A surge in negative attacks against Brown in recent weeks, Stenhouse said, suggests trouble in McClintock's camp.

"It's clear to me that he's afraid that the taxpayer-funded gravy train may be coming to a close," Stenhouse said.

The 4th Congressional District is represented by U.S. Rep. John Doolittle (R-Roseville), who is not running for re-election.

The Pindell Report on Politicker.com rates the race as "likely Republican."

ALSO on PolitickerCA.com:

• Ose backs McClintock in mail piece bashing Brown