The perfect candidate

A special primary was held Tuesday in the San Diego Congressional district formerly represented by Randy (Duke) Cunningham, who resigned after running into a little trouble with the law.

Cunningham, who enriched himself to the tune of millions of dollars he pocketed from lobbyists, is serving a prison sentence of eight years-plus. He also was ordered to pay $1.8 million in restitution for accepting bribes from defense contractors.

So who did Republicans nominate? A former Congressman who is now -- you guessed it -- a K Street lobbyist in Washington. His name is Bryan Bilbray, and he narrowly won the GOP bid with about 15% of the vote in a huge field. Democrat Francine Busby came in first with 44% but did not get the 50% needed to avoid a runoff. The district is Republican, so lobbyist Bilbray could be back in the House come June.