To be fair, former Rep. Joe Baca’s a Democrat, so he knows the intricate and contradictory rules of the “War on Women” allow him to say this with little to no price to pay. He was also on the West Coast when the misogyny was perpetrated, which is another loophole for Democratic men looking to act like skeezeballs. And, finally, the woman in question had the temerity to beat him in an election in 2012, so who can blame him? Amirite?

Former Rep. Joe Baca (D-Calif.) won’t switch districts to run for Rep. Gloria Negrete McLeod’s (D-Calif.) seat.

“No, I’m running for the 31st Congressional seat,” Baca told The Hill when reached by phone shortly after Negrete McLeod’s announcement that she’ll leave Congress after one term. “That has no bearing on me making any kind of decision, I’ve already made my decision to run in the 31st which is my old district and a vacancy. There’s no incumbent in that seat, I’m a veteran with a proving track record and experience and seniority matters.”

Baca lost to Negrete McLeod in a nasty all-party race in 2012, and is now running for retiring Rep. Gary Miller’s (R-Calif.) seat…

“What’s the difference? They’ve conspired to work against me in one, they’d turn around and do the same in the other, right? Would you roll the dice and hope they wouldn’t?” he asked rhetorically.

“Look at what we wound up with: Some bimbo who decided not to run again. … Here we go again now with another New Yorker trying to tell us who’s going to be the representative of the 31st. It’s up to the people to decide.”

Baca, who is running in another California district but struggling to raise money, later apologized:

“I wanted to apologize for the poor choice of words,” he said. “I was upset and disappointed that we have a person that’s not running again. To me [Negrete McLeod’s retirement] was a disservice to the area.”

“The people lost the representative. They want someone who’s got continuity. … I was just disappointed. That’s all it was.”

Democrats will almost certainly hold the seat in the heavily blue district. For her part, Negrete McLeod will be running for local office instead:

Another Democrat won’t be returning to Congress in 2015: freshman Rep. Gloria Negrete McLeod (D-Calif.) has opted to run for county supervisor rather than reelection.

“I have chosen to seek election to the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors and not reelection to Congress,” Negrete McLeod said in a statment. “This was a decision not made lightly. However my desire to represent this community locally, where I have lived for more than forty years, and where I have long served as an elected official, won out.” …

Negrete McLeod is the second House member to run for another office that isn’t governor or Senate. Rep. Tim Griffin (R-Ark.) announced last week that he would run for lieutenant governor.

I, for one, am in favor of as many federal politicians as possible recognizing it might be more effective for them to be local leaders instead of traipsing across the country to ruin all of our lives. Especially when the politician is a Democrat, the realization that local government might be closer, more responsive, and therefore more effective for the citizen is a gratifying one. Godspeed.