A seemingly off-the-wall question of whether 4th Congressional District candidate Tom McClintock is really John Doolittle in disguise is being taken seriously by both sides of the campaign.

The camp of Democratic candidate Charlie Brown claims evidence shows state Sen. McClintock, a Republican, effectively is a substitute Doolittle, and in particular asserts that McClintock campaign manager John Feliz’s connections to Doolittle are significant.

“John Feliz is the architect of Doolittle’s first known political-practices transgression,” said Todd Stenhouse, Brown spokesman. “The bottom line is McClintock claims not to be John Doolittle, yet he’s using his former campaign manager, and he has the same treasurer (David Bauer).”

McClintock campaign spokesman Bill George said, “John Feliz hasn’t worked for Doolittle in 18 to 20 years.”

State Fair Political Practices Commission records show Feliz, in connection with reporting the funding of a mailer, was responsible for the Doolittle campaign committee being fined $3,000.

“An administrative law judge found that state Sen. John Doolittle, Doolittle’s aide John Feliz and 1984 state Senate candidate Jack Hornsby violated campaign reporting laws in connection with the November 1984 general election,” an FPPC report states. “Doolittle was negligent prior to the election for not making further inquiry into the matter once Feliz informed him of the mailer’s existence.”

George said Feliz’s tenure with Doolittle meant nothing in the context of Feliz’s current work in the McClintock-Brown race.

“Different people work on different campaigns,” George said. “It isn’t significant.”

George was eager to answer the question of whether McClintock, a state senator, is a substitute Doolittle.

“I’ll answer that one for you,” George said. “The senator is obviously not John Doolittle -- he’s his own man, running on his own record of accomplishments. His record is well demonstrated. Frankly, we don’t need to run with anybody, or be embraced by anybody.”

To date, it is unclear whether McClintock seeks to distance himself from Doolittle, the scandal-plagued long-time incumbent whose former aide, Kevin Ring, was recently indicted in a federal probe of corruption in Congress. Doolittle didn’t endorse any candidate in the June primary and “nobody’s asked” for Doolittle’s endorsement in the current race, said Doolittle spokesman Dan Blankenberg.

“I don’t understand the word ‘distancing,’” George said. “Oh, do you mean like Charlie Brown’s distancing himself from Obama?”

George said he didn’t know whether current McClintock campaign treasurer David Bauer had worked also for Doolittle.

Federal Election Commission documents dated July 8 of this year list “David Bauer” as treasurer for a still-active Doolittle campaign committee.

The Telegraph’s Roger Phelps can be reached at rogerp@goldcountrymedia.com, or post a comment at folsomtelegraph.com