RANCHO MIRAGE - Julie Bornstein (D-Palm Desert) believes she has the first-hand knowledge of the origins of the country's financial crisis. Bornstein, the Democratic challenger in the 45th Congressional District, served as the director of the California Department of Housing and Community Development under Gov. Gray Davis, and recently led The Campaign for For Affordable Housing, a national nonprofit organization. In this Riverside County district, which is home to the second highest foreclosure rate in the country, Bornstein's hopes her background is particularly relevant.
 
But Bornstein, a self-proclaimed expert on the housing industry, isn't looking to lecture anyone on the many causes of the credit crunch, though she is certainly capable.
 
"It's a very complex problem with lots of moving parts," she told PolitickerCA.com. "It is difficult for most of us to fix blame, but it seems like the people who caused the problem are not paying the price."
 
At a recent candidate forum in Rancho Mirage, Bornstein was strongest on questions relating to the financial crisis.
 
"We are in such a terrible time," she told voters at the forum. "I can find a lot of things that we should have done differently. But you can't begin your arson investigation while the house is still burning down."
 
Bornstein represented parts of Riverside County for six years in the state Assembly. She knows the district's constituents and tries to appeal to their populist sentiments. After stressing the need to stabilize the markets at Tuesday's forum, she expressed outrage at the AIG executives who enjoyed an expensive retreat just days after the federal government bailed them out.
 
"We do not want people to benefit by their own wrongdoing," she emphatically concluded to a round of applause.
 
Bornstein faces an uphill battle against Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-Palm Springs), who has ignored her requests to debate. At the candidate forum, Bornstein sat next to an empty chair reserved for Bono Mack, who was attending a presidential debate watching event elsewhere in the district.
 
Bornstein came prepared. When she was given the opportunity to address the absentee incumbent in her closing remarks, Bornstein came out firing.
 
"This is a job interview," she said, asking Bono Mack, "How is it that you feel that you do not need to meet with your constituents?"
 
"There is no sense of entitlement here," Bornstein told voters, "that somehow your vote is already predetermined, that you owe it to a party or a person. One of the first lessons I learned when I became a working person is that you have to show up. You have to be here. And my question to my opponent is, where are you?"
 
Over her eight years in Congress, Bono Mack has never faced a serious challenge for re-election. Bornstein wants voters to know that this year they have a choice.
 
"For so long, people have believed that this is such a safe Republican seat that they don't have an alternative," Bornstein told PolitickerCA.com. "I want to convince constituents that they deserve better representation and that I can offer it."