Nancy Pelosi's Opponent

Interesting profile:

Republicans are so rare in San Francisco that they would all fit comfortably into Candlestick Park. Even though Pelosi is vilified in elections across America this campaign season, the district she represents is so solidly left-leaning that in 11 elections she has never won less than 72% of the vote. She hasn't run a single TV, radio or newspaper ad in her reelection bid. Most of her critics here think her problem is that she's not liberal enough.

Pelosi's Republican opponent this time is a real estate investor with two first names, a dreamer on a journey that everyone calls Quixotic. He's a Ron Paul acolyte with a libertarian bent who supports legalizing marijuana and same-sex marriage, wants to pull U.S. troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq, and thinks the Patriot Act is an assault on individual freedom. He's also a fiscal conservative who wants to pay down the federal debt and slash government spending.

...Choosing this particular race was easy. "This is a huge platform — a chance to run against this very polarizing figure who also is speaker of the House," he said.

He also thought he would "connect with San Francisco voters on social issues in a way that a traditional Republican wouldn't," and in the primary he defeated a more traditional and well-funded Republican who had been the party's choice in 2008 and had argued that Dennis was a liberal in disguise.

...The first hints that Dennis is not your ordinary Republican are on the office windows, which are covered with rainbow-themed campaign placards, including one featuring a marijuana leaf and another with a peace sign. (Dennis hands out T-shirts with the marijuana leaf insignia in cannabis-friendly nooks of the city.)

The pot poster recently caught the eye of two vacationers who paused to take a photograph. "It's sure not something you see very often on a Republican campaign poster," said Michael van Kleeck of Portland, Ore.

Another sign on the window urges passersby to volunteer. "Come say hi," it says. "We won't bite."