Tying an internal House policy to national politics, California Democrats are trying to brand Rep. Dan Lungren with a new nickname to use in their race against the Republican in 2012: “Styrofoam Dan.”

As chairman of the House Administration Committee, Lungren undid former Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) House composting program, saying it cost too much money.

Liberals say allowing the cafeterias to replace compostable dinnerware with Styrofoam will not fly in the Golden State, where Lungren won last year with 50.6 percent of the vote.

“The ‘Styrofoam Dan’ campaign ads almost write themselves,” one liberal blogger wrote Tuesday.
The California Democratic Party posted a YouTube video depicting its field director, Christopher Guerrero, visiting Lungren’s Gold River office with coffee and recyclable cups.

“Styrofoam may be good for your offices in D.C. It’s not good here in California,” Guerrero told a Lungren staffer in the video.

Lungren told the Los Angeles Times last week that he is surprised by all the fuss. “I never thought I’d be known as ‘Styrofoam Dan,’” Lungren said.