The Old Eighteen

Noriega responds to Cornyn's lameass video

By now, just about everyone has seen John "The Suburban Cowboy" Cornyn's embarrasingly bad campaign video that aired at the Texas Republican Convention, in which Cornyn dresses up like the cowboy character from the Village People and goes hunting fow wabbits.  Or something.  Anyway, Rick Noriega's campaign has released a video response to the Cornyn promo:

Texas Lyceum poll: Obama, Noriega within striking distance

A newly released poll by Texas Lyceum [PDF] offers some encouraging news for both Barack Obama and Rick Noriega as they face an uphill battle to win their respective races.  The poll of likely voters shows John McCain leading Barack Obama by only 5 points, 43%-38%, with 17% of Texas voters saying they are undecided about who will get their vote.  Ralph Nader and Bob Barr were included in the poll, but only got 1% each - and Nader will probably not be on the ballot in Texas.  With McCain polling well under 50% and a large number of undecideds, Obama has a lot of room for growth and a legitimate chance at actually winning Texas, if the results of this poll are to be taken seriously.

The same poll shows Rick Noriega faring even better, showing John Cornyn with a lead of only 2 points, 38%-36%, and 24% of respondents identifying themselves as undecided.  Noriega has a problem with name recognition and a significant cash disadvantage, but his fundraising appears to be picking up steam lately and he's bound to get a boost from the Obama campaign investing resources in Texas for the general election.  John Cornyn polling at only 38% is a significant sign of weakness for an incumbent, so there's a lot of good news to be taken from this poll for Rick Noriega.

But can this poll be trusted?  The party splits for the poll are 44% Democratic to 32% Republican, indicating that Democrats were oversampled, unless there's been some huge, dramatic shift in party affiliation since the last election.  And 32% of the respondents were Hispanic, indicating that they might also have been oversampled - Hispanics are about 35% of the state population, but have historically tended to lag significantly behind whites and blacks in voter participation.  The poll results are encouraging, but should be taken with a huge grain of salt.

Noriega speaks out against telecom immunity

Here's a new video from Rick Noriega's campaign, in which the candidate speaks out against telecom immunity and calls for Senator Box Turtle to stand up for our Constitution and the rule of law:

I'm glad to hear Rick speaking out against amnesty for the telecoms.  Too bad our presidential candidate isn't doing the same thing.

Kinky Friedman considering another run for governor... as a Democrat

Conveniently forgetting the fact that he ran for Kerrville Justice of the Peace in 1986 as a Republican and voted for George Bush in 2004, Kinky Friedman is now claiming that he is a longtime Democrat ("I was a Democrat before you were born"), as a preface to saying that he will run again for governor in 2010 as a candidate for the Democratic nomination if he can raise $3-5 million for the primary challenge. Kinky is betting that Texans who supported Obama and Clinton during the presidential primaries, as well as Ron Paul Republicans and Libertarians, can propel him to victory in 2010.  Kinky seems to be a bit detached from reality about both his prospects in the next election, and his performance in the last one: he thinks that "there was never a black community against [him]" because of his racially insensitive remarks, just "some bloggers who felt that I was doing too well."  In fact, the NAACP demanded an apology from him, and not just for remarks that he made "27, 29 years" earlier, as he now claims,but for stuff that he said as recently as 2005.

I like Kinky as a personality and a musician, and I certainly think he's well within his rights if he wants to run - if he does, I'd certainly rather see him do so as a Democrat than as an independent again (mostly because I don't want to see him cockblocking the Democratic nominee in 2010 like he did in 2006).  But he shouldn't be taken seriously as a politician, and he isn't somebody that we as Democrats can count on to stand up for or promote our values.  He supports organized prayer in schools, supports posting the Ten Commandments in classrooms, supports putting up a wall between Texas and Mexico, and despite his expressed support for gay marriage, he couldn't be bothered to vote against the state constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriage.  I certainly don't think he's a racist, but I hold no illusions about the fact that because of some of the statements that he's made in the past, African-Americans at best will have little or no enthusiasm for him as a candidate, and at worst will stay home on election day or even vote against him if he's at the top of the 2010 ballot.  Kinky would certainly get more than a few votes from people due to his name and celebrity status, but he's just not viable as a general election candidate, and if he runs as a Democrat in 2010, we would be foolish to give him the party's nomination.

Man the lifeboats!

You know your presidential campaign is in trouble when members of your own party are going out of their way to associate themselves with your opponent, as seen in this recent campaign ad for Republican Senator Gordon Smith:

For the record, of course, Obama's campaign is making it clear that he supports the Democratic candidate, Jeff Merkley, in this race.  But this ad is a perfect illustration of how political fortunes have changed in this country.  In the past, you might have seen ads for Democrats trying to tie themselves to a popular Republican incumbent, such as Ronald Reagan, or Dubya back when his approval rating was in the 60's and above.  But I don't recall ever seeing an ad like this where a Republican is trying to associate himself with a Republican presidential candidate who hasn't even been elected yet, much less a Democrat, elected or otherwise.  Strange days indeed...

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(via AMERICAblog)

If you build it, they will come

One of the main reasons that I've supported Barack Obama as a presidential candidate is because I believed that he would take Howard Dean's 50-state strategy to rebuild the party at the grassroots to heart - that he would think beyond the needs of his own contest, and work actively to support Democrats at the state and local level.  I'm glad to see that my faith in Obama as a different kind of Democrat hasn't been misplaced:

Barack Obama will focus his resources largely in 14 states George W. Bush won in 2004, his chief field operative said Tuesday, hoping to score upsets in places such as Virginia, Indiana and Georgia.

But winning the White House won’t be his only goal, deputy campaign manager Steve Hildebrand told Politico: In an unusual move, Obama’s campaign will also devote some resources to states it’s unlikely to win, with the goal of influencing specific local contests in places such as Texas and Wyoming.

“Texas is a great example where we might not be able to win the state, but we want to pay a lot of attention to it,” Hildebrand said. “It’s one of the most important redistricting opportunities in the country.”

Texas Democrats are five seats away in each chamber from control of the state Legislature, which will redraw congressional districts after the 2010 census.

[...] Hildebrand’s plans underscore the unusual scope and ambition of Obama’s campaign, which can relatively cheaply extend its massive volunteer and technological resources into states which won’t necessarily produce electoral votes.

In Texas, for instance, Obama’s three dozen offices were overrun with volunteers during the primary; the campaign’s challenge is, in part, to find something useful to do with all that free labor. But, while Hildebrand said Obama is unlikely to pay for television advertising outside a core of about 15 states the candidate thinks he can win, he will spend some money on staff. Obama’s chief strategist, David Axelrod, reportedly told donors in Houston that he would send 15 staffers to Texas, and the campaign has committed to having some staff on the ground in all 50 states.

One of the chief concerns that I've heard expressed by Democrats here in Texas, and it's a concern that I share, is that Barack Obama and the national party not view Texas as little more than an ATM machine that they can come to for money to be spent in other parts of the country, and dismiss our chances of having any success down here.  It's good to see that convern being addressed by the Obama campaign.

Despite my possibly irrational exuberance about our chances in the Texas presidential vote and the Senate campaign, I admit that it's probably too much to hope for to see the Obama campaign or the national party spend a bunch of money on TV down here - the state has too many huge, expensive media markets, and the enormous amount of money that would need to be spent to make any sort of a difference down here wouldn't be worth the return for that expenditure.  But with the emergence of the internet as a key organizational and promotional tool, and with the Obama campaign's emphasis on grassroots organizing, that might not be such a big deal.  The influence of campaign commercials is probably vastly overstated to begin with, and that's becoming even more true as the internet continues to change the face of modern politics.  Obama is signaling that he intends to spend money down here in a way that will produce real results, and that's far more than we've gotten in previous election cycles.

I'm hopeful that Barack Obama will make a few campaign stops down here in Texas as the campaign progresses.  There's been some speculation about the question of whether Obama and Clinton might campaign together here in the Lone Star state, particularly down in the Rio Grande Valley where Obama needs to make inroads with Latino voters.  I think it would be wise for him to visit Texas, not just to help his own prospects but to help Rick Noriega and other down-ballot Democrats as well.  I would be disappointed if he doesn't do so, but even if he chooses not to, he's made it clear that he takes Texas far more seriously than national Democrats have done in the past, and as a Texas Democrat that's something that makes me optimistic for our future.

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(via Burnt Orange Report)

TexBlog PAC Endorses Chris Turner for State Representative

TexBlog PAC has announced its second endorsement of the 2008 election cycle, selecting Chris Turner, who is running for State Representative in District 96 against Republican incumbent Bill Zedler.  Along with the endorsement, Chris Turner also gets a nice, fat check for $5,000, which will help him in what looks to be a hotly contested race.

Turner's district covers most of southern Arlington and Ft. Worth, along with Crowley, Kennedale, Rendon, and parts of Mansfield and Burleson.  I used to live in Arlington while attending UT-Arlington many years ago, so I have something of a sentimental interest in this race.  And since my Republican state rep is running unopposed (ugh), I guess I'll have to live vicariously through the Democratic voters of the fighting 96th.  Democrats in the district had a strong showing during the March primary, outvoting Republicans by greater than 2 to 1.  The 96th had more Democratic primary voters than any other House district in Tarrant County, and outperformed the statewide Democrat-to-Republican ratio on election day.  And Chris Turner himself got more than twice the votes that Zedler did in their respective primaries.

Chris Turner is a native Texan who was born in Sherman and grew up in Dallas, attending Skyline High School.  He has served as the District Director for Congressman Chet Edwards and managed his last four successful congressional campaigns, a remarkable feat in a red state.  His opponent, Bill Zedler, is a weak incumbent who scraped by with 52.5% of the vote in 2006 and also performed poorly in his primary earlier this year, with more than a quarter of Republicans in his district voting against him.  He's been sued over questions regarding his legal residence in District 96, and was also subjected to a grand jury investigation when it was discovered that thousands of dollars of his legal bills were paid for with corporate funds that were raised by Texans for a Republican Majority, a group founded by disgraced former US House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

Zedler has been a lousy state representative and a useful idiot for the religious right: among other things, he's proposed so-called "covenant marriages," which would make it harder for women in abusive relationships to divorce their husbands; opposed provisions in the state's Health and Safety Code that allow for late-term abortions to save the life of the mother; and joined with fellow GOP legislators to stifle debate on a controversial “religious expression” bill.  He's also proposed legislation to facilitate efforts to suppress minority voters and to muzzle teacher's groups.  He's spoken out against the pernicious threat to public decency posed by Hooters restaurants.  And he's displayed what I will only describe as an unhealthy obsession with pubic hair.

Tarrant County voters deserve much better representation than they've gotten from Bill Zedler.  If you'd like to help Chris Turner defeat Zedler this fall, you can give him a helping hand by clicking here to donate to his campaign, or clicking here to find out about becoming a volunteer.

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(via Burnt Orange Report)

Last chance to vote for Noriega in "Choose a Challenger" contest

Just a reminder that today is the last day to participate in the online vote that Barbara Boxer's PAC for a Change is holding for its 2008 "Choose a Challenger" contest. Rick still has a slim lead, but he's only ahead by 3 points so every vote counts.  After you're through casting your online vote for Rick, you can show him some more love by clicking here to make a donation to his campaign.

Obama, don't drop the ball on FISA bill

I haven't taken the opportunity yet to talk about the FISA bill that passed in the House Friday, so let me just say first of all that Steny Hoyer is an idiot if he thinks that this bill represents some sort of compromise, or anything other than the complete capitulation that Russ Feingold characterized it as.  Democrats have no political need whatsoever to cave in on telecom immunity to the most unpopular president in American history and his equally unpopular fellow Republicans.  By doing so, Hoyer and the rest of the pisspants caucus have gained nothing for themselves or the party this fall, and have in fact lost standing with the Democratic base.  There's a reason why, as unpopular as Bush is right now, Congress has an even lower approval rating, and that's because while Bush is corrupt and incompetent, he at least stands for something.  The only thing Steny Hoyer stands for is to pull his urine-soaked trousers off at the end of every day.

The fight against telecom immunity has now moved to the Senate, where our presidential candidate has an opportunity to make sure that the FISA bill gets filibustered to death if retroactive immunity isn't removed from the bill.  Thus far, Barack Obama has expressed partial support for the bill but has also said that he will work to get telecom immunity removed before it comes to a vote.  MoveOn.org, which played a crucial role in helping Obama secure the Democratic nomination, is holding his feet to the fire, calling on him to honor his pledge last year to filibuster any bill containing telecom immunity.  I think they're right to do so - this is an opportunity for Obama to show that he is in charge of the Democratic party, and to provide some much-needed leadership in an area where Democratic leadership has been sorely lacking to date.  This is a big test for him, and if he drops the ball here, it's going to sap some of the enthusiasm for his presidential campaign from many of his strongest supporters.

Support Rick Noriega in the Progressive Electorate Pick A Candidate Contest

A new blog called The Progressive Electorate is charging out of the gates with an online vote to determine which of five Democratic challengers in high-profile races will be the recipient of the blog's first endorsement.  The winning candidate will get a $1,000 campaign contribution, with the runner-up receiving $500.  Show your support for Rick Noriega by giving him your vote in this online poll - be sure to create an account first so your vote will count.

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(via Burnt Orange Report)