- you’ve gotta give him points for originality. In the race for California’s 47th Congressional seat, GOP candidate Van Tran has found a novel way to create a negative association with his opponent, Loretta Sanchez. Tran recently sent out a mailer with a picture of Sanchez, accompanied by a pungent scratch-and-sniff pad. According to a GOP aid, it’s “a horrible odor–like a combination of 5 or 6 of the worst possible scents you can imagine.” A dirty tactic? Perhaps. But certainly a creative one. source