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November 19, 2009
Jerry Jeff Walker singing in Austin to help Democrat Bill White's Senate campaign
Jerry Jeff Walker is putting on an exclusive $500-a-head-and-up show in his Austin home Friday night to raise money for Houston Mayor Bill White’s U.S. Senate campaign after two no-cost opportunities to hear White (but not Walker) during the day.
Walker said through White’s campaign that his wife, Susan, “and I have been long-time Democrats. Whenever we feel there is a chance to elect someone who shares our values we lend our support.”
Walker continued:
We met Bill White in Washington D.C. during Obama’s inauguration. We talked on various topics and decided that if he ran we would help. Texas needs good, honorable people in Congress. We also need good Democrats. Bill White is both.
Walker fans should forget about swaggering in on the concert because the gathering was limited to 50 people, White spokeswoman Katy Bacon said. An invitation posted here states that it costs $500, at minimum, to attend. The show’s hosts include Roy Spence, one of the founders of advertising giant GSD&M.
Kelly Fero, an adviser to Democratic U.S. Senate aspirant John Sharp, doesn’t sound like he’ll be eavesdropping. Fero said: “Jerry Jeff is an interesting choice for a campaign that keeps trying to persuade folks that their candidate represents the future.”
Otherwise Friday, White plans to attend a coffee at IBM in Austin before doing a noon interview with Evan Smith, ceo and editor in chief of The Texas Tribune, on the University of Texas campus; fetch details here.
White also plans to attend a 3 p.m meet-and-greet open to the public hosted by state Rep. Dawnna Dukes, D-Austin, at the Nuevo Leon restaurant on East Sixth Street.
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November 12, 2009
Pick up some Molly on your way home?
The first book-length biography of Texas journalist Molly Ivins premieres this afternoon at an Austin reception hosted by the publication that launched her into Texas politics, The Texas Observer.
The inaugural book signing for authors Bill Minutaglio and W. Michael Smith is set to take place from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Scholz Garten, 1607 San Jacinto Street.
Meantime, read an excerpt from the work here.
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November 10, 2009
Jack McDonald, Austin Democrat poised to challenge U.S. Rep. McCaul, non-committal on two health-care questions
This morning, I took a short video of high-tech executive Jack McDonald of Austin, who’s expected to seek the 2010 Democratic Party nomination for the U.S. House seat held by Republican Michael McCaul of Austin.
Unless I missed something, McDonald essentially didn’t say how he would have voted on two hot-button issues taken up by the House in its health-care debate this weekend.
Skip below to see our exchange if you like, but here’s some background:
After he delivered remarks to a group attending a conference at the University of Texas, I asked McDonald how he would have voted on the health-care plan approved almost entirely with Democratic votes in the House on Saturday.
And I asked how McDonald would have stood on an amendment viewed by some as critical during that debate related to restricting federal funding for abortions—language that President Barack Obama has since said he opposes. (National Public Radio summarizes the amendment debate here.)
McDonald didn’t say he would have voted “aye” or “nay” on either issue, but he offered to take more time later for a fuller interview. I’ve pinged him to say I’m ready when he’s ready.
On Saturday, McCaul voted against the health-care plan. He voted for the adopted amendment on abortion funding; see the roll-call results here.
Below is my video, unedited, of our brief encounter. The other individuals who show up are someone coaxing McDonald to move onto his next stop and Mike Rosen, viewable on the right, who’s communications director for McCaul. Rosen and McDonald briefly sat next to each other before McDonald’s morning talk and McDonald told the crowd he’d be careful knowing the McCaul aide was watching.
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November 4, 2009
McCaul hammers absence of GOP members from health-care negotiations; Doggett critiques GOP proposal
U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul of Austin joined Republican House colleagues from Texas this morning in reminding reporters that GOP members—in the minority in the House and Senate—have been left out of the Democratic leadership’s search for a plan broadening access to health coverage.
“When you don’t have a seat at the table, it’s hard to negotiate,” McCaul said during a Washington press conference that I joined by telephone.
McCaul noted too that the secretive way Democratic plans are getting hammered out has strayed from how then-Sen. Barack Obama said last year he expected to proceed.
At an August town hall, Obama said:
I’m going to have all the negotiations around a big table. We’ll have doctors and nurses and hospital administrators. Insurance companies, drug companies — they’ll get a seat at the table, they just won’t be able to buy every chair. But what we will do is, we’ll have the negotiations televised on C-SPAN, so that people can see who is making arguments on behalf of their constituents, and who are making arguments on behalf of the drug companies or the insurance companies. And so, that approach, I think is what is going to allow people to stay involved in this process.
Didn’t happen—with the result amounting to a broken campaign promise, according to this fact check.
Separately this week, U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, questioned House Republicans lately spelling out what they’d prefer in a health-care plan:
After months of delay in offering any proposal, Republicans have been as revealing as a hospital gown regarding why we lack a bipartisan health insurance plan—they have speeches, but no real solutions to offer our families. Sadly, Republican obstructionism is a recurrent pre-existing condition to any meaningful change. Masquerading as reform, their new bill authorizes insurers to continue denying coverage to Americans with ‘pre-existing health conditions,’ such as acne, a C-section, or any other prior medical treatment. The GOP Leadership again sides with insurance monopolies over struggling middle-class families. Under their proposal, competition does not increase and health insurance coverage remains little more than a receipt for premiums paid and likely denial of coverage when families need it the most.
I asked the GOP House members today—including Reps. John Culberson, Kevin Brady and Louie Gohmert—if Texas members of Congress have played substantive roles in the simmering health-care debate. They singled out Rep. Gene Green, D-Houston, who serves on a pivotal committee, and Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, the only Texan among conservative-leaning Blue Dog Democrats.
In other words, basically nope. Still, I hope to continue exploring the impact of Texas members on the debate. Fire at me if you have a suggestion, wgselby@statesman.com .
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October 30, 2009
Madeleine Albright, in Austin, raising money today for expected McCaul challenger
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, paused in Austin for Saturday’s Texas Book Festival, is the guest of honor as I type for a fund-raiser for Austin’s Jack McDonald, the Perficient executive who’s raised more than $1 million in hopes of unseating GOP U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, next year.
McDonald’s camp casts today’s closed-to-reporters’ “discussion” of international affairs at MPower Labs as a fresh demonstration of the strength of the Democrat’s campaign. Fetch the invitation by clicking here, though keep in mind the gathering ends at noon.
And if McCaul airs a reaction, I’ll update this blog.
Loose talk: Albright sported a bronze Texas pin at a taping of “Texas Monthly Talks” this morning. “Where else could I wear it?” Albright said, according to someone in the audience.
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October 29, 2009
UT polling outfit to be paid $57,000 by new sponsor, The Texas Tribune
A University of Texas unit will be paid $57,000 by The Texas Tribune for conducting five statewide voter polls, UT said Thursday, with the Tribune controlling the initial posting of each round of results.
I’m told UT will cover an additional $25,000 of the projected $82,000 in costs.
The polls will take place over 16 months, meaning the last poll could occur in early 2011, after the November 2010 elections.
Gary Susswein, spokesman for the UT College of Liberal Arts, said that “in these austere budget times at UT, the polling may very well have gone under if we didn’t get this grant.”
The Austin-based Tribune, an about-to-debut, non-profit public media organization—profiled separately here—will be backing the Texas Politics Project in polls focusing on upcoming primary and general elections as well as Texans’ views on key state and national issues.
By sponsoring the research, UT said, the Tribune will ensure that all Texans have access to complete data sets from the Texas Politics Project’s research team, led by Project Director James Henson and Government Professor Daron Shaw.
I wondered what would be new and different given that the poll has already been well publicized with its data sets available online.
Susswein said: “It will still be easily accessible and well publicized. All the data, results and methodology will still be available on UT’s Web site and will be accessible to the media and any interested party. The Tribune, as a sponsor and collaborator, will review the data first and have the opportunity to make it public.”
That’s basically saying that the Tribune just assured itself of five future scoops; it’ll be reporting the results ahead of news organizations who aren’t sponsoring the polls. Put another way, the Trib has committed a little over $11,000 per scoop.
I’ve no idea if this is a healthy sign for political journalism.
Anyway, the first poll’s results will be available the day the Tribune debuts Nov. 3. And UT’s announcement of the sponsorship is posted here.
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October 28, 2009
Rep. Lamar Smith ranks 10th in days speaking on House floor, yet other Texans yak more often
Could seemingly mild-mannered U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith be preening all of a hurry?
Smith, R-San Antonio, newly ranks among the top 10 House members for the number of speeches given on the House floor, his office announced Wednesday. Specifically, according to a count posted here by C-SPAN , Smith has spoken up on 60 different days this year; his office says he’s made more than 90 individual speeches, most of them of the one-minute variety delivered to make a quick point or two.
Yet Smith doesn’t appear to be the most frequent speechifier in the Texas delegation.
U.S. Rep. Ted Poe, R-Humble, ranks first in the nation among House members by having spoken on 115 days. His office tells me Poe has actually spoken more than 330 times (and counting) since the start of the congressional session in January.
DeeAnn Thigpen, Poe’s spokeswoman, said Poe ends each speech by saying: “And that’s just the way it is.” Thigpen said constituents love to see what he’s thinking via videos posted on Poe’s Web site.
Two other Texans rank ahead of Smith: Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, who has spoken on 80 days, and Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler, who has piped up on 67 days.
Austin-area representatives are far behind with Rep. John Carter, R-Georgetown, speaking on 29 days, Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, on 12 days and Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, on 11 days.
Far, far behind among Texans is Rep. Charlie Gonzalez, D-San Antonio, who last spoke on the floor in July 2008. He have some explaining ahead? Not to me, at least right away. His office said Gonzalez had no comment.
Back to Smith: Of late, he’s spoken against any offers of amnesty to undocumented immigrants, warned of the costs of Democratic health-care proposals and maintained that news organizations are kinder to President Obama than they were to President Reagan. Peek at video snippets starting here.
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October 7, 2009
Warren Buffett commits to Texas U.S. Senate hopeful; Ron Paul has 10 percent chance of running, aide says
Stock-market champion Warren Buffett was identified this afternoon as a $2,400 donor to Houston Mayor Bill White’s U.S. Senate campaign in a note from White’s campaign otherwise touting his successes raising money online.
White spokeswoman Katy Bacon said Buffett also is poised to give again to White if there’s a special-election runoff.
Buffett, who hails from Nebraska, doesn’t show up on the Texas Ethics Commission Web site as a past donor to Texas candidates for state office, though he ponied up to Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama last year and to Democratic Senate candidates including Al Franken of Minnesota, according to research by the Center for Responsive Government.
Meantime, the political director for U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, told me there’s a 10 percent chance that Paul would join the field of aspirants for the Senate seat that Kay Bailey Hutchison has said she’ll quit by December.
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October 1, 2009
Houston legislator did sign no-tax pledge, but plans to retract
State Rep. Alma Allen, D-Houston, conceded this afternoon that she did sign the no-tax pledge circulated by Americans for Tax Reform in 2006.
Earlier today, she’d said her name was on the group’s list in error.
We spoke a second time after I fielded a copy of her signed version, fetchable here.
“I didn’t know no better at the time,” Allen said in our second conversation. She added that she plans to write the group asking to back off the pledge.
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UPDATED: Perry, like Hutchison, signs no-tax pledge that isn't entirely a no-tax pledge
Gov. Rick Perry signed a national group’s no-new-taxes pledge at an Austin hotel today as the group’s leader said the pledge doesn’t mean signers can’t monkey with taxes.
UPDATE: Democratic candidate Tom Schieffer said later he’s not going to sign such a pledge, calling Perry’s move “the same political shell game that Rick Perry has been playing for eight years. You pledge not to raise people’s taxes, but you do things that will cause the price of government services to go up.”
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National Democratic group enlists Texas spokesman
Organizing for America, the group that succeeded Barack Obama’s presidential campaign organization, has hired the former communications director for the Texas Democratic Party to be its spokesman in Texas.
Hector Nieto started today as communications director for the OFA in Texas, having left his previous post as chief of staff to state Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth. His hiring brings to 12 the number of OFA staffers working in the state.
Luke Hayes, who helms the Texas wing, said: “With so much Republican misinformation being spread throughout Texas about President (Barack) Obama’s agenda, it is imperative Texans have all the facts. With Hector’s help, OFA will directly dispute this misinformation and finally provide Texans with the truth.”
He didn’t pony up examples right away.
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September 29, 2009
Second tea-party caravan headed to Texas--with an Austin stop
Leaders of a Republican-leaning political action committee have penciled in a second Tea Party Express tour across the United States, tentatively including six Texas stops including one Nov. 6 in Austin.
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September 23, 2009
In Pelosi's wake, Sen. Boxer of California set to raise money in Austin next month
U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-California, is penciled in to hold a fund-raiser in Austin on Friday Oct. 2, nearly two weeks after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, paused in the state capital to corral donations.
Boxer plans to seek another term next year across one of the most expensive states for TV advertising.
The fund-raiser invitation states:
With 38 million people in 13 media markets, California is home to some of the most expensive campaigns in the country. While pundits consider Sen. Boxer to be in a strong position, challenger Carly Fiorina could make 2010 the toughest Boxer campaign yet. (The) former (Hewlett-Packard) CEO and McCain-Palin spokesperson, Fiorina made more than $100 million at HP and would be able to fund her own campaign.
Fiorina, who is not yet a candidate and hence has no campaign Web site, has performed well against Boxer in pre-election-year polls. Yet one of her aides recently told the San Francisco Chronicle, in a blog posted here, that Fiorina won’t pour millions into the race from her own pocketbook.
Boxer’s campaign site, by the way, offers Boxer shorts on sale. This is not a recommendation to buy—or to attend her Austin event. More information is available at 323-841-9613.
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September 19, 2009
Pelosi arrives for Austin fundraiser to protesters including one with a sign stating: "Abort Nancy Pelosi"
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, wearing a light-green outfit, arrived for a political fund-raiser in Austin this afternoon as more than 30 conservative protesters called out to her from across the street of her host’s house.
But three neighbors in what I believe to be the Windsor Road neighborhood appreciated Pelosi’s visit. Among them, Marianne Dorman called out: “We love you, Nancy.”
Dorman said after Pelosi’s entrance that she appreciated Pelosi’s dedication in the health-care debate in Congress. “Just saying no is not going to help anything,” Dorman said.
Pelosi’s entrance was only briefly visible from the curb on Windsor Road because she exited through a vehicle door facing the front door of the Mediterannean-style home of Melanie and Ben Barnes, the lobbyist and former Texas lieutenant governor who was expected to accompany Pelosi to tonight’s University of Texas-Texas Tech University football game.
Earlier, Barnes brought small bottles of water to the protesters, who thanked him before lofting questions, to which Barnes, edging away, said that he’s known Rep. Pelosi, D-California, a long time, doesn’t know how much money he’s donated to her campaigns, makes his living by doing a lot of things and does not make a few pennies for every lottery ticket sold in more than 20 states.
Among the protesters’ signs: “Stop Obama’s Socialism,” “Fire The Looters,” “Hey Pelosi, What Business Do You Have in Austin? And Who Is Paying For Your Trip? We Hope It’s Not the Taxpayers.”
Pelosi’s office has said the Austin stop to corral donations to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee was funded from political funds.
Protester Carlene Denman, who wore a T-shirt depicting President Barack Obama in whiteface, held a sign stating: “Abort Nancy Pelosi.”
Denman said: “If she doesn’t let the babies live, why should she live?” She declined to elaborate, saying: “I’m not going to play your game.”
Two protesters didn’t buy into the message on Denman’s sign.
Judy Holloway of Austin, who helped organize the Pelosi protest after overseeing Austin “tea party” events since April, said Denman has the right to express her opinion. “But you won’t see me with a sign like that. I don’t like to step over boundaries,”Holloway said.
Kay Gracy of San Marcos said she didn’t agree with Denman’s sign.
“There’s no sense in violence or death wishes,” Gracy said. “There are peaceful ways to obtain what you want.”
Gracy, a cosmetics sales representative, said she decided to join the protest after reports that Pelosi pressured House colleagues to approve the “cap and trade” plan related to carbon emissions earlier this year. “There’s so much corruption in Washington,” Gracy said.”I don’t think that’s right. People should be able to vote the way they want to vote without pressure.”
About 30 minutes after Pelosi’s arrival, I was told afresh that she wouldn’t grant an interview. Some 75 guests were expected inside; at my departure before 4 p.m., I’d seen perhaps three dozen people enter—including state Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, lobbyist and former State Sen. Kent Caperton and former Texas Land Commissioner Garry Mauro.
A man who didn’t stop to identify himself pulled up in a black Range Rover. A protester asked how much he planned to contribute. “As much as I can,” he replied, walking toward the front door.
The photo below shows Caperton in the foreground and some protesters, including Denman, in the background.
View more photos of the protesters here.
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Cornyn, Hutchison, McCaul comment on Pelosi raising money in Austin
The state’s Republican U.S. senators and an Austin congressman tossed darts at U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi raising money for a Democratic campaign committee in Austin this afternoon.
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn chuckled Friday before noting that Austin is one of the best known havens for Texas liberals. “I’m sure she’ll go back with a sack of Texas cash,” Cornyn said.
I’d asked what Pelosi has done right and wrong. Cornyn didn’t volunteer anything she’d done right, but he suggested two measures advancing through the House warrant criticism—the climate-change “cap and trade” plan, which he said would drive up energy bills, and the committee-approved plan to expand access to health insurance.
“Our disagreement is not personal,” Cornyn said. “It is about policy matters and I think the winds are blowing in our (Republicans’) direction now.”
The state’s senior senator, Kay Bailey Hutchison, issued a statement through her gubernatorial campaign today about Pelosi’s Austin stop:
Nancy Pelosi is coming to the wrong place if she’s trying to drum up support for Obama’s government takeover of health care. The Texas grassroots movement in opposition to government run health care is unlike anything I’ve seen. The message is clear ‘don’t mess with Texans’ health care’. I urge Speaker Pelosi to listen to the people and stop pushing legislation through Congress that would have a disastrous effect on the quality of our health care and on the economy.
Separately, I asked Austin-area U.S. House members to visit Friday about Pelosi raising money in Central Texas. Of them, U.S Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, offered a statement suggesting Pelosi was pitching in for Austin executive Jack McDonald to challenge McCaul next year.
Lobbyist Ben Barnes, hosting Pelosi, later told me McDonald isn’t getting money from the event though, unsaid, he could certainly qualify for later consideration by the group fielding donations, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
McCaul’s statement, via spokesman Mike Rosen, suggested Pelosi would be fetching donations while Texans watched or played football before anyone knew Pelosi is also expected to attend the University of Texas-Texas Tech University football game this evening:
The Pelosi/McDonald event is being held while the Aggies and Longhorns are both playing football — (she’s) hoping to raise money from those opposed to McCaul’s bipartisan achievements and those who hate football, a tiny group indeed. The McDonald/Pelosi team will quietly raise money while hoping to avoid questions from the press and the public on bailouts, cap and trade and government-run health care.
I’ve been told Pelosi doesn’t have time for an interview today, but I’m holding out hope. Maybe she needs a lift to the big game.
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September 18, 2009
Pelosi, poised for Austin visit, speaks to concern about protesters in Washington
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, poised to raise money in Austin on Saturday for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, choked up during a press conference on Thursday, referring without the details to the murders of two San Francisco city leaders in the 1970’s, a tragedy chronicled in “Milk,” a movie released last year.
Here’s video of her comment:
Unpresented: The question that a reporter put to her.
This is what was asked:
In terms of the political tone, the tone of the debate, (House Majority Leader Steny) Hoyer (D-Maryland) said earlier this week he thought it was the most vitriolic since ‘93-‘94. And around that time we also saw acts of domestic violence, domestic terrorism. How concerned are you about the tone of the political debate, in terms of people talking about anti-government rhetoric and so on and the possibility of violence?
Pelosi’s Austin visit is expected to include her joining host Ben Barnes, the former lieutenant governor, at the evening’s University of Texas-Texas Tech University football game. On a political front, Barnes said it’s not true that the fund-raiser is intended to help Austin executive Jack McDonald gear up for a 2010 challenge to U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin.
Meantime, Judy Holloway of Austin said protesters plan to gather at a neighborhood park before the Pelosi fund-raiser. She said e-mail blasts also have gone out to residents of Houston, Dallas and San Antonio.
Holloway wondered who was paying for the trip and if it had a governmental purpose. I’ll speculate the trip is funded by the Democratic campaign committee and that, in Austin at least, it has no governmental purpose. I’ll update this blog if that proves wrong.
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September 17, 2009
Speaker Pelosi coming to Austin on game day--for political fund-raiser
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, is expected in Austin on Saturday.
She’s going to be welcoming donations for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee at an afternoon reception in the West Austin home of former Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes and his wife, Melanie.
It’ll cost $1,000 at minimum to attend, though the invitation solicits donations of up to $30,400 per couple. To inquire, contact Lindsay Brown at brown@dccc.org .
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September 11, 2009
Kaine, without getting specific, says national Democrats will help turn Texas blue
Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine told the Democratic National Committee today that it’s meeting in Texas (for the first time since the 1970’s) because the committee intends to help the state’s Democrats win statewide races.
It didn’t hurt either, he indicated, that some “intrepid” Texans bulled their way into his office in Washington early this year to make a case for coming to the state.
Speaking briefly in Spanish, Kaine said: “Mas importante, estamos aqui para ganar.” He continued, in English: “We are here to win.”
Kaine, who chairs the committee, didn’t specify what it will invest in the state. But he said the plan is for the committee to continue the 50-state strategy developed under his predecessor as chairman, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean.
Noting Democratic gains in his home state—including Sen. Barack Obama’s November win when the last Democratic presidential nominee to carry the state was Lyndon Johnson in 1964—Kaine said other states can make the same kind of swing.
“Texas can do it and Texas will do it,” Kaine said. “We are thrilled at the prospect of working side by side to turn Texas blue.”
No doubt, every Texas activist in the room wants to know how much money and staff will flow the state’s way next year. Also worth watching: Whether the national party steps up its organizing presence in the state. Organizing for America, the group that succeeded Obama’s campaign, has 10 field workers in the state.
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Ladling on drawl, Sen. Van de Putte stirs Democrats after Leffingwell draws ovation
State Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, noting Republican plans to hold a “Hands off Texas!” rally at the Texas Capitol on Saturday, told the Democratic National Committee she’s not going to be impressed; she also suggested former President George W. Bush doesn’t hail from Texas.
“Most Texans know that it’s time to stop shouting insults and slogans and put down those silly signs and quit playing politics with health care and people’s lives,” Van de Putte told the national committee, which is meeting in Austin through Saturday.
The San Antonio Democrat, who was co-chair of the Democratic National Convention in Denver, said the heat is building on Texas Republicans. She noted Democratic gains in legislative races and said the party’s sights are on GOP Gov. Rick Perry and Kay Bailey Hutchison, his March primary challenger.
Earlier, Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell got a standing ovation after conceding that the Austin City Council and mayor are elected in nonpartisan balloting. “That makes me a strictly nonpartisan, dyed-in-the-wool lifelong Yellow Dog Democrat,” Leffingwell said.
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September 10, 2009
UPDATED: Democratic confab starts with closed-door meeting; socializing ahead
A funny/odd way to start a meeting expected to echo high hopes for Democrats in Texas: The chairs of state parties hunkered down behind closed doors this morning at the Democratic National Committee meeting at an Austin hotel. Among the hush-hush presenters: Mitch Stewart, director of Organizing for America, the group that succeeded President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign organization.
Stewart hasn’t howdied me in the hotel lobby. But he did send an e-mail out to Obama supporters this morning urging them to contact their U.S. senators and members of Congress on behalf of passing a health care plan.
An excerpt:
Last night, President Obama called on our representatives to pass health reform that brings stability and security to Americans who have insurance, affordable coverage to those who don’t, and reins in the cost of care. Now, it’s our turn. After last night’s speech, members of Congress have no doubt about where the President stands. But to win this fight, we must show that Americans from every state and every background support his plan — and we need Congress to do the same.
As reported in today’s Statesman, this happens to be the first time since the 1970’s that the Democratic National Committee has held one of its quarterly meetings in Republican-strong Texas. I’m guessing, though, that outside of a Friday speech by the committee’s chairman, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (count on a section in Spanish from the one-time missionary), the highlights will bubble up in personal schmoozing as Texans host parties for the more than 300 committee members from across the land. Outsiders can get into two of the parties listed if you click ahead below.
Meantime, Houston Mayor Bill White is touting endorsements from state representatives of his bid for the U.S. Senate seat that Kay Bailey Hutchison has said she’ll quit in October or November. Peek at the list here. Former State Comptroller John Sharp, another Democratic Senate aspirant, floated out some of his House endorsements earlier; I blogged that here.
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September 8, 2009
Virginia governor--and not Michelle Obama--to be featured at weekend meeting of national Democrats
For months, I’d heard First Lady Michelle Obama might be the star speaker at a rare gathering of the Democratic National Committee this weekend in Austin. But the DNC is instead touting its chairman, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, who is slated to give an address on health care reform at the meeting, which begins Thursday at the Renaissance Hotel.
Kaine, who’s a lame duck, speaks Friday, the same day committee members will see a tribute to Sen. Edward Kennedy and remarks from state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio.
The meeting, which ends Saturday, will give Texas Democrats ample opportunities to claim the state is fast turning blue—or at least purple. More significantly, it’ll give the cream of the crop of Democratic activists from around the nation a chance to weigh future investments in Texas campaigns.
And outside of the meetings, there are several parties afoot including an event hosted by Houston Mayor Bill White, a candidate for Kay Bailey Hutchison’s Senate seat. Maybe he’ll yodel?
Washington, DC—The full membership of the Democratic National Committee will meet this Thursday, September 10 through Saturday, September 12 at the Renaissance Hotel in Austin, Texas. At the full DNC meeting on Friday, members will hear a major speech from Chairman and Virginia Governor Tim Kaine with a heavy emphasis on efforts to pass Health Insurance Reform. There will also be a tribute to the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy. In addition, Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell will welcome the DNC to the city and Texas State Senator Leticia Van de Putte will deliver remarks. Also at the meeting, members will vote on Chairman Kaine’s slate of At-Large committee members and his recommendations for membership of the DNC’s Standing Committees.
Below please find a complete schedule of meetings that are open to the press and public.
All press must RSVP in advance to jacobsm@dnc.org and show a valid press credential upon arrival.
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Virginia governor--not Michelle Obama--to be featured at weekend meeting of national Democrats
For months, I’d heard First Lady Michelle Obama might be the star speaker at a rare gathering of the Democratic National Committee this weekend in Austin. But the DNC is instead touting its chairman, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, who is slated to give an address on health care reform at the meeting, which begins Thursday at the Renaissance Hotel.
Kaine, who’s a lame duck, speaks Friday, the same day committee members will see a tribute to Sen. Edward Kennedy and hear remarks from state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio.
The meeting, which ends Saturday, will give Texas Democrats ample opportunities to crow that the state is fast turning blue—or at least purple. More significantly, it’ll give the cream of the crop of Democratic activists from around the nation a chance to weigh investments in Texas campaigns.
And outside of the meetings, there are several parties afoot including an event hosted by Houston Mayor Bill White, a candidate for Kay Bailey Hutchison’s Senate seat. Maybe he’ll yodel.
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September 3, 2009
"Conservatives in exile" roar at Waco stop of Tea Party Express
The headline on this blog hearkens to a window sticker I saw in the parking lot next to the park in downtown Waco this afternoon where the Tea Party Express—a two-bus caravan that originated in California, bound for Washington—arrived toward dusk for a rally that drew at least 1,500 people (probably more, at times), most of them waving signs and miniature “Don’t Tread on Me” flags.
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How Texas ranks in property taxes, debt and college tuition--and why
While writing a column printed today on how office-seekers charge Texas with being first in things bad and last in things good, I shared my research into where Texas has ranked compared to other states with GOP Gov. Rick Perry and his March primary challenger, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.
I also touched base with a former top number cruncher for the state and a senator who keeps a constant eye on where Texas stands.
Hutchison spokesman Jeff Sadosky replied by noting that Texas ranks No. 1 in the ratio of property taxes to each home’s value, according to this chart.
Also, the state recently reached 81.81 percent of its constitutionally limited debt capacity, according to this state board. Under Perry, bonded debt per person has increased more than 80 percent, according to the Hutchison campaign’s review of annual financial reports posted here.
Separately, I asked Billy Hamilton, the state’s former deputy comptroller of public accounts, what he made of Texas’s ranking in some areas not changing much over nearly 20 years.
Hamilton replied:
It seems to me all states have been under similar pressures over the past few years. Maybe a few have tried to make real headway on key public policy issues, but if you think about the political environment, that mostly has been a non-starter. I am surprised that the share (of government spending dependent on property-tax revenue) hasn’t risen. Partly, I would bet that is a result of the rapid rise in the use of sales tax locally and the strong growth of the tax in the 1990’s. Maybe also some effect of the recovery of oil and gas tax after the nadir in the late 1980’s. I can’t think of any other explanation.
He added:
I am not surprised that the (college) tuition rates have risen because, as you know, the state made a conscious policy to restrict general funding of higher education and transfer more of the cost to parents and students. That may fit the state’s conservative outlook, but I think it’s the wrong policy if we value an educated workforce, particularly with our state’s complex demographic future.
Finally, state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, bristled at Hutchison reciting where Texas lags without following up with proposals to improve the state’s standing.
Shapleigh, who tracks how Texas stacks up to other states, said Hutchison’s “major complaints are transportation, fight clubs in Corpus Christi, poor education outcomes, and the highest uninsured rate in the country—all these issues relate to state resources. How will she fix these problems and still spend and tax less? I hope you will ask her these hard questions as she moves forward with her campaign.”
I expect she’ll be asked many questions along those lines, presuming she sticks with the woe-is-Texas theme.
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September 2, 2009
One county, four U.S. House members, smiling family style
After the GOP-led Legislature redrew U.S. House districts in 2003, Travis County landed four U.S. House members, each of them ultimately getting a district taking in a portion of the county. And this morning a select crowd got to gander at them all in one place at the dedication of a planned federal courthouse on West Fifth Street in downtown Austin.
Freelance photographer Bob Daemmrich corraled the quartet for the brief photo shoot shown below — though I took these photos, each of them more informal than the one above it. The members are, from left to right, Reps. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, John Carter, R-Round Rock, Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, and Michael McCaul, R-Austin, though Smith isn’t visible in the third pic.
When they posed, I asked them to say “health care.” Or “tea party.” Not one did.
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September 1, 2009
UPDATED: Fayette County judge urges Doggett protester not to act at dedication of veterans clinic
Plans to protest U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, at the dedication of a Fayette County clinic this week led the county’s chief elected official to urge a protest organizer to back off.
The call by Fayette County Judge Ed Janecka to Chris Boyle occurred shortly after 10 a.m. Monday, the two confirm.
That’s when Janecka told Boyle, vice president-secretary of the Fayette County Taxpayers Coalition, that it wasn’t a good idea to have the protest at the dedication Thursday morning of a Veterans Administration clinic in La Grange.
Janecka, saying he made the call after a VA representative expressed concern about the protest, stressed that he didn’t tell Boyle to can the protest. He said Doggett’s office did not contact him about the protest.
The judge said: “There is no way in hell I would ever tell anybody they can’t go protest anything. I just told her it would not be good for the veterans.”
Boyle, a retiree, said of the judge’s call: “He told me he wanted me to stop this ‘tea party.’ He said this is going to make the veterans feel like you’re against the clinic.
“I said bull… no it’s not, they know better than that. After all Doggett didn’t have a damn thing to do with having this clinic. You did it, judge. He said that’s besides the point. He just told me to stop it. I said maybe you’ve forgotten about the First Amendment. He said it’s going to disrupt the dedication for the clinic. I feel like that’s my right.”
UPDATE: Doggett said through an aide Tuesday evening: “With meetings in both Washington and Texas, I have been working on getting this clinic to La Grange since 2006. Last year, I invited the VA to a meeting with veterans at the Fayette County Courthouse to involve them in the planning for this clinic. Some may call government provision of doctors and clinics like this ‘socialism,’ I call it fulfilling our responsibility to those who defended our freedom.”
He closed: “These Teabag extremists have every right to protest my unwavering commitment to health insurance reform anywhere that I go, but I hope they will do so in a way that respects the service of our veterans to whom my success in getting this new clinic open is very important.”
Boyle said earlier that she still plans to be there Thursday to urge Congress to heed the Constitution, uphold free speech and to stop meddling in people’s lives.
Janecka said Tuesday afternoon that he won’t be coaching anyone else not to protest.
“It’s so sad that it’s getting to this point,” he said. “People sometimes are just looking for a fight. I wanted this to be a day for the veterans of Fayette County.”
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August 28, 2009
UPDATED: Austin-area legislators split over John Sharp or Bill White for U.S. Senate
Without causing riots in the real world, two prominent Democrats have been striving to win the U.S. Senate seat Kay Bailey Hutchison has said she’ll quit in October or November.
Yet John Sharp and Bill White have divided Democratic legislators from the Austin area.
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August 27, 2009
Two conflicting Democratic U.S. Senate candidates expected in Kyle
I wrote here in today’s American-Statesman on the fact that, far as I know, neither of two powerhouse Texas Democrats angling for the U.S. Senate seat that Kay Bailey Hutchison is giving up has talked to the other guy about maybe one of them running instead for governor—clearing the way for a single major Democrat to take a shot at Hutchison’s seat in an expected special election.
This weekend, Hays County Democrats may be affording Houston Mayor Bill White and John Sharp, the former state comptroller, a chance to chat privately about their conflicting ambitions.
The Hays County party is throwing a 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. fund-raiser Sunday in honor of Lyndon B. Johnson’s 101st birthday. And Sharp and White will each be given five minutes to talk up their aspirations. U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, is penciled in for a stop along with state Rep. Patrick Rose, D-Dripping Springs. It’s possible, I hear, that Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Tom Schieffer of Fort Worth also will make it.
Tickets are $25 per person, though donations are solicited up to $2,500. Fetch the LBJ-faced invitation here.
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August 26, 2009
Ted Kennedy sang, not so tunefully, in Laredo
A reader alerted us to this moment from Ted Kennedy’s stop in Laredo on behalf of then-Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in February 2008:
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UPDATED: My frail Kennedy memory; what do you recall?
I’ve got a weak memory of Ted Kennedy, though it’s not about the illness that killed him.
In 1972, Kennedy introduced Democratic presidential nominee George McGovern, the senator from South Dakota, at a huge rally in downtown Philadelphia. I was perched on my Dad’s shoulders hanging onto a lamppost. And my memory is that the crowd roared more for Kennedy, the introducer, than for McGovern, the longshot who seemed to overly dwell on a break-in that had taken place at the Watergate complex in Washington.
Surely our readers have stronger memories of Kennedy, perhaps from his 1980 run for the Democratic presidential nomination. I’m asking; fire at me at wgselby@statesman.com or feel free to comment below.
Meantime, thanks to a nudge from Democratic blogger Phillip Martin, here’s a link to Kennedy’s 1980 speech to the Democratic National Convention.
Factoid: President Carter walloped Kennedy in the Texas presidential primary of 1980 which, to be fair, occurred well after the president had all but locked down re-nomination. In Texas, Carter drew 770,390 votes, Kennedy 314,129. Jerry Brown of California ran a distant third, getting 35,585 votes.
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August 25, 2009
Hank Gilbert says he will run for governor
Hank Gilbert told the Statesman’s Gardner Selby on Tuesday that he plans to seek the Democratic nomination for governor.
Gilbert, a cattle producer and businessman from Whitehouse, was the party’s nominee for agriculture commissioner in 2006. He lost that race to Republican Todd Staples, 55 percent to 42 percent. He is also active in efforts to fight toll roads.
“I just feel like we need that person at the top that has the experience of fighting in the (Legislature) and fighting to get things done for the people of Texas across this state, get people inspired to take a hard look,” Gilbert told Selby.
Gilbert is the third Democrat who badly lost a statewide election in 2006 (when Democrats were sweeping Republicans out of office across the country) but is planning to run for a different statewide office in 2010. Barbara Ann Radnofsky, who ran for the U.S. Senate against Kay Bailey Hutchison, is planning to run for attorney general. Mark Thompson, who lost a challenge to Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams, is also running for governor. And Fort Worth educator Felix Alvarado has said he’s going to join the governor’s race.
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August 21, 2009
Houston mayor/Senate hopeful headed to Round Rock Saturday for Democratic fundraiser
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Bill White, the Houston mayor, joined a parade in Fredericksburg Friday morning. He heads Saturday to Round Rock to help local Democrats corral donations.
Admission to the “Taking Back Texas” event hosted by the Williamson County Democratic Party from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Junior’s Grill and Ice House, 119 Main Street, costs $15 to $500, the charge for anyone seeking to be dubbed a “visionary.” According to this site, 22 people had committed to being there as of midday Friday, chipping in $365.
Fetch the invitation here.
Know of other U.S. Senate aspirants alighting in the Austin area? Fire details any time to wgselby@statesman.com .
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August 20, 2009
Tea Party "express" stopping in four Texas cities, but not Austin
A Tea Party “Express” bus tour starting in California and bound for Washington, D.C. plans to pause for events Sept. 2-4 in El Paso, San Antonio, Waco and Dallas.
The goal: To “highlight some of the worst offenders in Congress who have voted for higher spending, higher taxes and government intervention in the lives of American families and businesses,” a Web post states. “These members of Congress have infringed upon the freedom of the individual in this great nation, and it’s time for us to say: ‘Enough is Enough!’”
The tour won’t stop in Austin, according to the schedule posted here, a surprise considering its route surely shoots north on Interstate 35, practically in hollering distance of the Texas Capitol. I’m trying to reach organizers to learn more.
Some tea-party activists stress their distance and disagreements with the major political parties. Yet the bus tour originating in Sacramento Aug. 28 is being funded by the Our Country Deserves Better PAC, which has focused its energies previously on defeating Democrats including Barack Obama and Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, the Senate majority leader. It’s a decisively pro-Republican group. That said, I understand the Republican Party of Texas is not involved in the tour.
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August 19, 2009
Austin "tea-party" group hosting speaker on health care Saturday; Democrats decline invitation to join audience
Austin Tea Party Patriots, the self-described conservative grass-roots group that has organized two tea-party rallies this year, is hosting a health care town hall meeting from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday in the Texas Capitol Extension Auditorium in E1.004. Tickets are available for free on a first-come, first-serve basis; send an e-mail to having.anaustinteaparty@gmail.com .
An e-mail invitation states: “We at the Austin Tea Party Patriots are stressing to all attendees that this Town Hall is a time to leave our ‘for’ and ‘against’ signs at home and to focus on learning about real alternatives.”
The speaker is Clare L. Gray, a founder of Physicians for Reform, which he pitches as intent on protecting the physician-patient relationship while warning of a push for socialized medicine. Gray also advocates for patients to control their own health-care dollars—both a salute to health savings accounts and a call for everyone to be offered access to a basic health plan funded from pre-tax dollars paid by an employer or, for low-income Americans, federal tax credits.
Is the event a chance for Austin-area residents to hunt common ground? That’s already touched off disagreement.
The Texas Democratic Party didn’t respond to an invitation to send members to the event. The organizing group offered half the seats in the auditorium to the Democrats.
“We have enough information from them to know this is a one-sided initiative, featuring just one speaker whose agenda opposes Democratic efforts to reform our broken health care system,” said Kirsten Gray, the party’s communications director. “Given this organization’s history, we aren’t going to encourage Democrats to attend an event that’s rife with shouting and intimidation and discouraging of meaningful dialogue.”
Austin lawyer Greg Holloway of the Austin Tea Party Patriots said: “I am surprised and disappointed that the Democrats have rejected our offer. We have heard consistently from those who favor the government health care plan favored by the White House that conservatives are interested only in saying no and that we offer no constructive solutions. That is not the case. This town hall is focused on learning about one such constructive solution.”
Judy Holloway, Holloway’s wife, said she chose the Capitol auditorium to ensure a classy gathering. “We are saying leave your signs at home; this is a time to sit down and ask questions,” she said.
On a separate front, Austin lawyer Lou McCreary said he’s given up on organizing a local “civil debate” of the health-care issue partly because U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, couldn’t fit the envisioned forum into his schedule. He noted that Doggett has been featured in some national cable and network TV news coverage of the topic.
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August 13, 2009
Would-be 2006 Democratic candidate for governor whose check bounced says he plans to run next year
A Fort Worth resident knocked out of the 2006 Democratic primary for governor says he’s intent on running for governor next year despite the fact that he was bounced from the previous race when his $3,750 check for the candidate filing fee bounced.
“It has taken me a long time to come out of hibernation,” Felix Alvarado said today. “I really felt bad about what happened. It was humiliating.”
Irma Mathis, his campaign operations manager, said separately that she’s going to make sure Alvarado covers the filing fee this time. “I told him this time I want to see a money order, or cashier’s check…no personal check,” Mathis said.
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August 11, 2009
Schieffer expounds on Bush, taxes, gays in military and the online investor who hasn't asked for his money back
Former state Rep. Tom Schieffer, the Fort Worth lawyer and former U.S. ambassador who’s the sole major announced Democratic aspirant for governor, rode out a frank encounter with Austin Democrats Monday who pressed him on his political support of Republican George W. Bush and how he’d raise money to fulfill his repeated vow to focus as governor on improving public schools (he doesn’t know). Editorial columnist Ken Herman recaps the downtown event here.
Afterward, Schieffer sat down for an interview touching on state taxes, discrimination against gay soldiers and his abiding friendship with Bush including an unexpected detour into whether he contemplated resigning as ambassador and coming home early due to second thoughts about the Bush administration’s course (punch line: no, but the way Schieffer framed that answer could raise eyebrows).
Also, Schieffer aired hopes of tapping Austin investor and campaign donor John Thornton for advice. Thornton has lately been in the news because he’s funding The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit online enterprise geared toward deep-dish reporting on state government and politics.
Details from our visit pour out after the jump…
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August 6, 2009
Cisneros reaffirms he's not running for governor (or anything)
Henry Cisneros, the former San Antonio mayor and U.S. secretary of Housing and Urban Development, says he huddled recently with his wife, Mary Alice, and decided not to continue pondering a run for governor next year.
“I was tempted,” he said. “It may be the last opportunity that I have (to run statewide). I sat down and talked to my wife about it. We are really trying to build our business nationally… We are going to spend the next 20 years building our business” and tending to the needs of their family and city.
Cisneros, who turned 62 in June, said as long ago as July 2008 that he didn’t plan to run for governor. “I am put out to pasture,” he said then.
Yet he’s sufficiently popular among Democrats and smooth on the stump that such talk didn’t die.
And Cisneros, whose wife is on the San Antonio City Council, remains politically active; the other night, he was a star attraction at a Sinton, Texas party event otherwise featuring gubernatorial candidate Tom Schieffer of Fort Worth and the party’s two U.S. Senate aspirants, Houston Mayor Bill White and John Sharp, the state comptroller.
But talk of his own candidacy—any candidacy—should die, Cisneros said Wednesday. “That decision has been made conclusively.”
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July 14, 2009
Democrat Schieffer reporting $800,000 in contributions, counting $200,000 loan
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Schieffer of Fort Worth revealed today he’s raised almost $800,000 in contributions. That’s far less than what Republican Gov. Rick Perry or his expected primary challenger, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, have said they each corraled, but probably in excess of what Democratic prospect Kinky Friedman will be reporting this week (I’ve heard Friedman has raised less than $100,000, the bulk of it from Spicewood entrepreneur and long-time Friedman supporter John McCall).
His campaign entered July with $454,155 cash in hand.
Schieffer’s campaign money includes $200,000 loaned by Lyndon Olson of Waco who, like Schieffer, is a former U.S. ambassador; Olson, the campaign’s treasurer and co-chairman of its finance committee, separately gave $55,000 to the campaign. Also, Edward “Rusty” and Evelyn Potter Rose of Dallas each gave his campaign $100,000. Rusty Rose was a partner with Schieffer when the two were in a group with George W. Bush that owned the Texas Rangers baseball team.
Lawyer Joe Longley topped Schieffer’s Austin donors; he gave a little more than $25,000.
“This money was raised during some very difficult times in Texas,” Schieffer said in a statement distributed by his campaign. “People are worried about the economy, jobs, insurance rates, health care and utility costs.
“Still, enough people believed in what we are doing to invest their hard-earned dollars in our cause. They did not give because I had the advantage of incumbency nor did they give because I held one office and was running for another. They gave us these resources because they believe I can lead a cause that will change Texas for the better. I am humbled by their confidence and will do everything I can to merit their continued support.”
Clay Robison, Schieffer’s spokesman, told me Schieffer hasn’t devoted as much energy as Perry and Hutchison to fund-raising; he’s been focused on meeting potential supporters around the state.
“He hasn’t been spending a lot of time on fund-raising, per se,” Robison said, adding that “you could call (Perry and Hutchison) professional fund-raisers, professional politicians.”
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July 8, 2009
Memorial service set for Creekmore Fath
A memorial service for Creekmore Fath, the Austin lawyer and long-time Democratic activist who died June 25, are set for 11 a.m. Thursday at Weed-Corley-Fish funeral home at 3125 N. Lamar Blvd., his sister-in-law, Shudde Fath, advises.
Expected speakers include Sissy Farenthold, whose gubernatorial campaigns were managed by Fath, and Bernard Rapoport of Waco, the Democratic benefactor. A light reception will follow.
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July 2, 2009
Earle, Watson each being urged online to run for governor
As snagged here, former Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle, who left office this year, filed paperwork with the Texas Ethics Commission today to run for an unspecified office next year.
Earle’s move comes in the wake of his saying last week he was leaning toward running for governor after his earlier speculation about running for attorney general.
Earle’s action also comes after separate online efforts to draft State Sen. Kirk Watson and/or Earle to run for governor next year. Both Facebook pages surfaced recently; neither prospect spoke up for or against the pitches, though Watson has said he’s going to mull his political options probably until the end of the summer.
In some Democratic circles, there’s just that much unease at possibly ending up with former Fort Worth Rep. Tom Schieffer as the likely nominee; some are uncomfortable that his career has been entwined with the successes of George W. Bush. Another hopeful is Mark Thompson, the party’s nominee for the Texas Railroad Commission last year, while Kinky Friedman, who ran as an Independent in 2006, is considering a try as a Democrat.
Peek at the draft-Watson site here. See the draft-Earle site here.
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June 30, 2009
Kirk Watson raised money AT Perry's, not WITH Gov. Perry
An array of state officials, including Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Joe Straus, were squeezing in political fund-raisers this week in advance of the special legislative session starting Wednesday.
Among them: State Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, lately mulling a gubernatorial bid. Watson had his shindig Monday at Perry’s Steakhouse in Austin (a restaurant presumably not picked as a kind of pre-campaign signal to Gov. Rick Perry).
Big picture: Every officeholder will be required to report cash on hand and money raised and spent through June in reports filed with the Texas Ethics Commission by mid-July.
Little picture: Unlike during regular legislative sessions, officeholders aren’t barred from accepting contributions during special sessions. I’m guessing, though, that it’s less awkward to field donations before members are in session to avoid the appearance of soliciting contributions while drafting law.
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June 26, 2009
Lamar Smith draws Democratic challenger--and another could be in wings
An Austin real estate broker who’s filed paperwork to challenge U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, next year said Friday she needs to raise at least $1 million to mount a competitive bid in the Republican-leaning 21st Congressional District.
The district takes in northeast Bexar and southwest Travis counties and Comal, Kendall, Kerr, Bandera, Real and Blanco counties.
Lainey Melnick, 47, who lives in Westlake, said she decided to take on Smith, initially elected to the House in 1986, partly because “there was nothing statewide or local that I thought would make as big an impact and would be more attainable.”
Smith, 61, didn’t have a Democratic foe last year. He carried 60 percent of the vote against Democrat John Courage in 2006.
He reacted Friday: “The beauty of a democracy is that anyone can run for office. I will continue to work hard to represent my constituents. As a senior member of the Judiciary and Homeland Security committees, I will help write laws that make our country safer, reduce government spending and protect taxpayers’ dollars.”
Separately, an Austin businessman who’s been weighing a run for the Democratic nomination for the seat said the race might cost a challenger more than $1 million considering the district takes in two major media markets.
Tejas Vakil, 52, described himself as conservative on economic issues but less so on foreign policy and social issues. He said: “The issue is whether or not I can run a credible campaign.”
Melnick, making her first run for public office, has her campaign kickoff set for 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Wednesday at Austin’s Shoreline Grill. Her campaign site is here.
She said Smith tends to vote with his party rather than representing constituents on issues such as education and health care.
She described herself as favoring abortion rights and embryonic stem-cell research. She said she opposes the death penalty and government vouchers for all students to attend private schools—though she said she’d support vouchers for students with disabilities.
“I need to raise a lot of money,” the mother of four said. “But I have such a great grass-roots following… I am not writing this off as something that’s impossible. If anybody can do it, this is the time to do it.”
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June 25, 2009
Creekmore Fath, Austin lawyer-activist-collector, dies at 93
Creekmore Fath, an Austin lawyer who was a lion in liberal Democratic circles, died early today of heart failure, his lawyer, Ron Weddington, said. He was 93.
Fath, who was born in Oklahoma, attended the University of Texas where, he once wrote, he beat out future Gov. John Connally for a lead part in a play. He also became friends with future U.S. Rep. Bob Eckhardt, who became Fath’s law partner in an office in Austin’s Littlefield Building.
Fath famously assisted President Franklin Roosevelt for several years in Washington and, decades later, helmed gubernatorial primary campaigns for Frances “Sissy” Farenthold, then of Corpus Christi, in 1972 and 1974. He was involved in many other campaigns including Ralph Yarborough’s campaigns for governor and the U.S. Senate.
Weddington said: “He was always, in my view, on the right side of every political race. And unfortunately for the country and the state, he and we were not all that successful.”
In her 1972 run, Farenthold outpaced then-Gov. Preston Smith and then-Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes and made a runoff against Dolph Briscoe of Uvalde, who won election that fall.
Farenthold said Fath’s wide-ranging contacts helped her get lift-off in her first run for governor, which he agreed to chair only after she raised $25,000 in start-up money.
“He had such a wide acquaintance; it was just extraordinary,” Farenthold said. “He could pick up the phone and call I don’t care what county it was, he’d know somebody there.
“There would have been no campaign without Creekmore.”
Fath, whose wife, Adele, preceded him in death, also accumulated tens of thousands of books that he kept in a personal library behind his house. He had a renowned collection of Thomas Hart Benton lithographs, which he started by spending $5 from his first law client’s payment of $300 on a work entitled “I Got a Gal on Sourwood Mountain.”
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June 24, 2009
Schieffer: Sen. Watson advised me he wouldn't run for governor
In a late-afternoon stop at the Capitol as part of his campaign kickoff tour, Tom Schieffer said today that Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, advised him this spring that he wouldn’t run for governor.
Watson, of course, was ballyhooed Tuesday as a potential candidate by Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, the San Antonio Democrat who announced she wouldn’t be trying for the job.
Responding to a reporter’s query, Schieffer said today: “I think Sen. Watson is a very good candidate… He told me he was not going to run for governor. I hope nobody (else) runs for governor. I hope everybody will fall out on both sides, but I suspect that won’t happen.”
Schieffer said he last spoke to Watson about a month ago.
Watson issued a statement Tuesday saying he’s mulling all election possibilities — including a bid for a second Senate term. He said he probably won’t settle his 2010 political plans until late in the summer.
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Schieffer says he's like Sam Rayburn in declaring candidacy for governor
A former Fort Worth legislator whose career was entwined with the rise of George W. Bush declared his candidacy this morning for the Democratic nomination for governor of Texas.
Tom Schieffer, the younger brother of CBS-TV newsman Bob Schieffer, told onlookers in Fort Worth, according to his campaign: “It has been a long time since we had any vision in this state, and I want to do something about that. I am a Democrat — as (the late U.S. House Speaker) Sam Rayburn used to say, without prefix, suffix or apology — and I think it is time we all had a governor.”
Schieffer, 61, surfaced as an unexpected Democratic prospect for 2010 this year after ending stints as the U.S. ambassador to Japan and, before that, Australia. Previously, he helped a group led by George W. Bush purchase the Texas Rangers baseball team, subsequently serving as the club’s president.
The former three-term Texas House member, who lost his bid for a fourth term in a redrawn district in 1978, spoke outside his boyhood elementary school in Fort Worth as word broke of a poll of Texas adults on their preferences for governor.
The poll by the non-partisan Texas Lyceum suggests that among Republicans, Gov. Rick Perry lately leads U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, his expected challenger in March’s GOP primary, though the spread between them falls within the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus 6.1 percentage points, meaning their tussle could be neck and neck.
According to the poll, Perry leads Hutchison by 33 percent to 21 percent, though 45 percent of GOP voters remain undecided. The poll found 81 percent of Democratic voters uncommitted for governor.
“The big picture is that Texans have not focused on this race at all,” said Daron Shaw, a University of Texas professor of government who helped oversee the poll, though he added that Perry appears to have a strong lead among core conservatives, while Hutchison has an edge among GOP moderates and liberals.
Hutchison spokesman Hans Klingler reacted: “To the extent this poll shows anything, it’s that two-thirds of Texans don’t want Rick Perry for yet another four years. His 39 percent support from (November) 2006 is deteriorating. When Kay Bailey Hutchison begins laying out her vision for the state later this summer, we’re confident that her substance will prevail over his rhetoric.”
Perry spokesman Mark Miner said: “After months of criticisms from Washington and tearing down Texas, the senator’s numbers continue to drop. Gov. Perry will continue to talk about creating jobs, cutting taxes, protecting private property rights and improving education.”
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Tom Schieffer's announcement tour; five factors to watch
In appearances today in Fort Worth, Houston and Austin, former state Rep. Tom Schieffer is expected to declare his candidacy for governor.
The Fort Worth lawyer who prides himself on consistently voting in Democratic primaries is best known to date for personal ties to George W. Bush—with whom he teamed while running the Texas Rangers baseball club and for whom he later served as the Bush administration’s U.S. ambassador to Australia and then Japan.
I reached five ways Schieffer could shine or stumble in his first campaign fly-around:
1) Tone: Will he prove strident or poised, muddling or sharp? The worst thing that could happen is that he puts observers to sleep—or drives them to restlessness. If anyone within reach of a reporter openly yearns for the party’s losing candidates of yore, Schieffer will have made a lousy first impression.
2) Message: I’ve heard that Schieffer’s initial stump speech, built around fears of Texas becoming a third-world state, has been tightened. Observers will see today if that’s so. Also, Schieffer needs to find detailed facts to back up his moan about Texas tumbling. Otherwise he risks sounding all too fret-filled; voters could tune out.
3) Respect: To a degree, serious candidates publicly ignore most opponents. The point is to keep attention focused on their very own (electable) selves. So today would not be the time, for instance, for Schieffer to tee off on yet-to-commit aspirant Kinky Friedman or to compare himself to Leticia Van de Putte, the San Antonio state senator who’s revealed she’s not going to run for governor. Then again, Schieffer needs to show he understands where Democrats-not-like-him are coming from. However he can, he has to demonstrate respect.
4) Reach: Schieffer’s outfit has spread the word that he’s building a campaign team headed by long-time Austin activist Susan Longley and former Cameron County Judge Gilberto Hinojosa—a sign that he knows old-timers in party politics. To solidify standing as the front-runner for his party’s nomination, however, he needs to make inroads with activists who jumped into passing leaflets and nudging neighbors during last year’s not-going-to-happen-ever-again Democratic presidential primary; it’s those troops (thousands of them) who are both eager and wizened enough to want to get involved afresh—for the right candidate. But I suspect it’ll take a cutting-edge crew of them to get others signed on with Schieffer.
5) Management: Schieffer has enlisted California consultant Bill Carrick (whose past clients included presidential aspirants Richard Gephardt and Bill Clinton) to make his TV ads, at the least an indication that Schieffer’s not intending to campaign on the cheap. Whoever else he touts today—or brings aboard—will show if he’s got the stuff not only to win the nomination, but to whack toe to toe with the winner of the expected GOP smash-off between Gov. Rick Perry and U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.
Think of other critical factors? Write me at wgselby@statesman.com .
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June 23, 2009
UPDATED: Van de Putte not running for governor, Watson won't decide until later
State Sen. Leticia Van de Putte said today she’s not running for governor next year, saying that Austin Sen. Kirk Watson should chase the Democratic nod for governor instead.
UPDATE: Watson, a lawyer in the penultimate year of his first Senate term, said later that he’s flattered by her encouragement, but won’t decide his 2010 political plans—a chase for re-election or a try for another office—until after an expected summer special session, and probably not until the end of the summer. (He posted a statement here.)
“I do enjoy what I’m doing” now, Watson said.
Van de Putte, a San Antonio Democrat, had been mulling the possibility of a gubernatorial bid for months.
Her inaction could leave Fort Worth lawyer Tom Schieffer as the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, though Mark Thompson, the 2008 Democratic nominee for a seat on the Texas Railroad Commission, has said he’s intent on running. Also, Kinky Friedman, who ran as an independent in 2006, is exploring a try in 2010 as a Democrat.
Schieffer, set to announce his candidacy on Wednesday, reacted to Van de Putte with this statement:
She would have been a formidable opponent in the Democratic primary. I am grateful she will not be running for governor this year. I look forward to sitting down with her to discuss my candidacy because I believe I can be the kind of candidate she can support, both in the Democratic primary and the general election.
In a statement issued earlier, Van de Putte said:
I will gladly work hard to ensure that a Democrat prevails in the election for Governor, so that Texas families can have a better shot at having a state government focused on the needs of Texans, instead of state Republican leadership obsessed with their own political futures, at Texans’ expense.
In stepping aside, however, Van de Putte pitched for Watson to leap in.
The warm-up:
Prominent Democrats must put personal ambitions aside and very pragmatically nominate the person best equipped to win in November. Just because one can win the Democratic nomination for Governor doesn’t mean one should, unless he or she is best positioned to defeat the Republican nominee in the fall.
And the punch line:
That’s why I think Senator Kirk Watson should raise his sights and run for governor. I’ve watched as Senator Watson has emerged as a leader in the state Senate on the issues of most importance to Texans. While staying true to Democratic values, he is a bipartisan pragmatic leader solidly focused on addressing the priorities of all Texans. I intend to lobby Senator Watson to run for governor, and I’ll wholeheartedly support him if he does. But if he declines, Democrats should recruit and support someone who, like Watson, is energetic, pragmatic, focused, and smart; and who can fully energize Democratic supporters while also attracting a broad range of independent voters in every region of the state.
Van de Putte subsequently told me that she’s been encouraging Watson to leap for governor for the last couple of days — and he’s mulling the possibility. Watson, the former Austin mayor, was the Democratic nominee for attorney general in 2002; he later won the Senate seat given up by Gonzalo Barrientos, D-Austin.
Van de Putte said she hopes that Democrats who put their hopes in her will turn their energies to Watson. “I hope they will join me in asking Kirk Watson to take up this challenge,” she said. “I think he’s strongly considering it.”
She said her decision not to run for governor was based on family considerations.
“At this particular time, I am not going to be able to give the type of energy and focus to it that (a gubernatorial bid) would need,” she said.
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June 4, 2009
Consultants mutter about Hutchison possibly dithering; her campaign rolls out supporters
Two consultants—one Republican, the other Democratic—each insisted to me this week that if U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison doesn’t fully commit to running for governor soon (say, by July 4) she risks losing momentum in her expected challenge to Gov. Rick Perry.
It just could be, each fellow said, that GOP donors who have waited for her summer declaration will reconsider if she’s not full-throated soon. Some may already wonder if she’s going to change her focus as she did before the 2006 elections.
Until Hutchison acts, it’s almost impossible for her to demonstrate otherwise—though it’s worth noting that if the senator were thinking of shutting down her gubernatorial campaign, she probably wouldn’t be adding on staff.
Amy Hopcian started in March as the Hutchison campaign’s director of research and rapid response (yes, that’s really her title). And spokesman Hans Klingler of Hutchison’s campaign announced today that Austin lawyer Pete Winstead with be steering her fund-raising in Central Texas.
Saying more supporters will be rolled out starting Friday, Klingler said the senator’s announcement “will come in plenty of time… Summer time is a lot about being with your kids out of school. Republicans will have plenty of time to assess their choice for governor.”
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June 3, 2009
UPDATED: Combs seeking a second term, calls economy robust
To no surprise. Republican Susan Combs declared her candidacy for a second term as state comptroller at an Austin hotel today. She was helped along by Rep. Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands, who waved a blue plastic “Susan Combs” comb and said: “I’ll never part with it.”
Combs, who didn’t lower her forecast of state revenues toward the end of the just-completed legislative session, said the Texas economy has proved “remarkably robust even given everything we’ve heard about the rest of the country.”
That said, she hewed to conventional wisdom around the Capitol that the 2011 Legislature will have a tougher time writing a budget. “From a budgeting perspective,” she said, “this legislative session was relatively easy compared to what may face us next time.”
And she said she’ll be coming with proposals to standardize accounting across state government and to hasten conservation by agencies.
Combs, who entered the year with $3.6 million in her political kitty, has no obvious challengers from either party yet. Like her predecessor, Carole Keeton Strayhorn, she may snag her second term without serious opposition. In 2002, Strayhorn won re-election with 64 percent of the vote against three opponents.
UPDATE: Kirsten Gray of the Texas Democratic Party forwarded news articles suggesting Combs has missed on her revenue forecasts and said several Democrats, who she didn’t name, are looking at tries for comptroller.
Gray also referred to Gov. Rick Perry saying the state won’t take $555 million in unemployment compensation aid, writing: “In the midst of our unemployment fund going broke, (Combs) hasn’t said a word and hasn’t spoken out against Perry’s refusal of the stimulus. When we have to raise the business tax to make up for the (Unemployment Insurance) fund shortfall, the responsibility will be on Susan Combs as well as Rick Perry.”
Combs froze earlier this year when asked to pick between Perry or Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison for governor. She said today she’d “absolutely” be happy appearing on the November 2010 ballot with either one as the GOP gubernatorial nominee.
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June 1, 2009
Democratic National Committee gathering in Austin in September
The Democratic National Committee plans to hold its quarterly meeting in Austin Sept. 10-12, its chairman is announcing this afternoon.
Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine suggests in an e-mail to Democrats that Texas is ready to make a big turn toward embracing Democrats for high office—much like his state in the past decade.
Kaine writes:
Texas is an increasingly diverse state with a burgeoning and politically active Hispanic population that went strongly for Barack Obama in 2008…. (W)e have every reason to feel bullish about our chances in Texas.
A DNC spokesman said he wasn’t advised on whether any White House residents will be flying in for the meeting.
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May 28, 2009
UPDATED: GOP slaps prospective challenger to McCaul with tax attack--which the prospect calls absolutely false
Austin lawyer Michael McCaul, in Houston today for a campaign fund-raiser featuring Rush Limbaugh, won his third two-year term in the U.S. House in November.
Yet Republicans monitoring his political health may feel antsy about McCaul’s chances of re-election—assuming that the little-known Austin Democrat targeted in a GOP press release this week has told me the truth about his firm’s tax payments. (He also passed along documents indicating his company started clearing up a related paperwork snafu years ago.)
Either way, the episode was an early volatile moment, considering McCaul won’t face a Democratic foe on the ballot for about 17 months.
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May 21, 2009
Voter ID, insurance agency measures set to top Saturday's House calendar; will they be delayed yet?
Word is spreading tonight that legislation stepping up identification requirements for voters at the polls has been set for consideration by the Texas House on Saturday. It’s also the No. 1 proposal on the House’s intended Major State Calendar for that day.
I am told that the same calendar has the leadership’s seemingly must-have proposal to keep the Texas Department of Insurance in business—plus the resurgent concurrent resolution ballyhooed by Gov. Rick Perry, and authored by Rep. Brandon Creighton, emphasizing state sovereignty.
The voter-ID decision was reached via a vote that I’m told broke 7-5 along party lines (Republicans for, Democrats against) by the House Committee on Calendars this evening.
Yet perhaps it doesn’t guarantee the ID measure will be considered on Saturday, given how slowly items have been moving through the House lately.
A thought: It’s worth watching Friday to see if House Democrats, most of them opposed to the ID proposal, exert special effort to slow action even more on the bills piled up on the calendar already, including the unresolved proposals affecting college admissions and whether Texas should take in at least $555 million in offered federal unemployment compensation aid.
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May 18, 2009
McCall confident voter ID legislation will reach House floor
Rep. Brian McCall, who chairs the agenda-setting House Committee on Calendars, expressed confidence this afternoon that the politically volatile voter ID measure will reach the House floor in time for action before the session ends.
I’d recently heard the floor debate could be lined to take place this Friday. McCall said that’s possible, but cautioned that the committee hasn’t yet set that day’s calendar.
Generally, McCall said, “it will be (debated) on the floor. Too many people want it passed and too many people want it killed. It’s probably half and half. It will be heard.”
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May 15, 2009
Radnofsky declares for attorney general, saying Texas has more Democrats than Republicans
Houston lawyer Barbara Ann Radnofsky, the Democratic Party’s 2006 nominee against GOP U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, intends another tilt at Republican dominance of statewide elections since 1998.
Radnofsky said Thursday she’s going to run next year for attorney general, starting with an Austin fund-raiser Tuesday featuring nine Democratic state representatives (all 74 Dems were contacted, Radnofsky said, but most may be session-swamped).
Reminded that the past three Democratic aspirants for attorney general drew no more than 44 percent of the November vote, Radnofsky replied: “You’re mired in the past.”
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May 12, 2009
UDPATED: Lebermann, Hightower call Friedman intriguing, but maybe not serious enough about running for governor
I’ve closed loops with two Austin operators celebrated overnight by Kinky Friedman as advisers to his exploration of running for governor next year as a Democrat.
Businessman Lowell Lebermann and former Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower separately confirmed they’re advising Friedman. But each also cautioned they’re not sure Friedman, who ran as an independent in 2006, is serious enough to make a substantive bid.
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Friedman says his advisers include Hightower, Lowell Lebermann and Richard "Racehorse" Haynes
Kinky Friedman, exploring a fresh run for governor (this time as a Democrat), says he’s enlisted several well-known advisers, though he wasn’t clear what precisely they’d be doing to help him decide whether to run for governor.
Now he’d mentioned San Antonio lawyer Abel Dominguez and former Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower before. But Friedman hadn’t revealed commitments to advise from Austin businessman Lowell Lebermann, who’s a former University of Texas System regent and Austin City Council member, and Houston lawyer Richard “Racehorse” Haynes, who’s famous for his courtroom moxie.
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May 8, 2009
Chairman: House panel voting Monday to advance Senate's voter ID plan
Rep. Todd Smith, the Republican chairman of the House Committee on Elections, confirmed today he’s intending to have the committee vote Monday on a voter ID plan.
The twist: Smith is backing off his attempts to rewrite the plan.
Bowing to a request from two GOP colleagues, Smith simply intends to seek the committee’s approval of the Senate-approved version of Senate Bill 362.
Presuming the five Republicans on the committee stick together, this means that barring unforeseen hang-ups, a clean version of the Senate plan will ultimately be taken up on the House floor.
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May 6, 2009
UPDATE: Revised voter ID proposal circulates; chairman nixes call for hearing, but is reconsidering
UPDATE: Don’t count on a House committee vote on the voter ID legislation today. Rep. Todd Smith, R-Euless, said he’s still waiting to see if he can corral enough votes to do so. But he isn’t intending to hold any additional hearings, though nearly three dozen House Democratic leaders (every Democratic committee chair and vice chair plus the speaker pro tempore) sent a letter to him today.
The Democrats’ letter closes:
While some components of the bill may have been discussed previously in committee, the public has not had the opportunity to give voice to their opinions regarding the comprehensive new bill.
Smith said at the House’s lunch break he hadn’t seen the letter. But, he said, “I’m probably not amenable to a hearing.” Noting that lawmakers have already held more than 24 hours’ worth of hearings on the ID issue, Smith said: “There’s no reason to have any more.”
UPDATE: Smith said later he could yet hold a hearing. He was fuming after lunch at what he described as resistance to his latest draft from Reps. Betty Brown, R-Terrell, and Linda Harper Brown, R-Irving, who he said told him they now want the committee to send the House solely the Senate-approved version of Senate Bill 362.
Smith said he can’t go with the Senate version because it wouldn’t accommodate the concerns of the handful of House Democrats and Republicans he’ll need to get a majority’s approval on the House floor.
Also, he said: “I’m frustrated at seeing the target move.”
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May 5, 2009
House chair says members "don't have gun" to heads on voter ID proposal
Rep. Todd Smith, the Euless Republican who helms the House Committee on Elections, said today he’s still trying to gather the five committee votes he needs to send a voter ID measure to the full House. Smith, you’ll remember, initially said he hoped to win the committee’s sign-off on his approach sometime last week.
Noting that House rules permit members to act on Senate bills for three weeks’ more, Smith said: “We don’t have a gun to our heads. I’m going to give the members of the committee time to get comfortable with a proposal.”
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April 27, 2009
Texas Republicans "contest" Vice President Biden's Austin visit
The Republican Party of Texas is warming up for Vice President Joe Biden’s Austin visit Tuesday by throwing an online contest asking viewers to pick their favorite Biden gaffe.
In one of three video snippets strung together for consideration, then-Sen. Biden offers to test his IQ against a reporter. In another, he seems to characterize convenience store employees as hailing from India. And in the third, he finds Sarah Palin not the greatest foe for vice president.
Peek and/or play here.
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April 23, 2009
Biden plans to visit Austin's National Domestic Violence Hotline Center
Vice President Joe Biden plans to swing through Austin Tuesday, touring the National Domestic Violence Hotline Center before speaking at a private fund-raiser for the Democratic National Committee, the White House announced today.
Retha Fielding, chief communications officer for the hotline center, said Biden has visited it before; as a Delaware senator, he was responsible for the hotline’s initial federal funding.
Biden is expected to address 40 guests at a lunch fund-raiser. He is penciled in to go to Houston for another fund-raiser Tuesday evening.
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Shoe drops; Sharp juiced his kitty with $2 million in loans
I reported last week that former State Comptroller John Sharp topped the field of U.S. Senate prospects with $2.4 million cash on hand at the end of March (see the posthere). But he didn’t volunteer at the time how much of his early haul was money taken in loans. I speculated then that if he raised most of his money, he’s a strong candidate.
Word comes today that Sharp’s big tally consists of a little more than $2 million in loans made or guaranteed by Sharp and about $515,000 in direct contributions.
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Poll: Narrow majority of GOP voters OK with Perry's secession comment
Another poll has popped, this one from the pro-Democratic Daily Kos blog.
And it has a current-events touch; 51 percent of Texas Republicans approve of Perry’s “suggestion that Texas may need to leave the United States.” Also, a majority of Republicans and independents approve of how Texas government is run; most Democrats don’t.
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Austin lunch with Vice President Biden will run at least $5,000 per guest
I’ve come across more detail on Vice President Biden’s expected visit to Austin on Tuesday, though no confirmation of any public events.
Biden will be featured at a lunch reception in a private home. The fund-raiser for the Democratic National Committee has a minimum entry charge of $5,000 per guest, though an invitation states that the committee is permitted by law to accept up to $30,400 per donor a year. The event’s hosts include Waco’s Audre and Bernard Rapoport and one of Austin’s leading Obama fans, Eugene Sepulveda.
To get aboard, go here.
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April 21, 2009
Vice President Biden expected in Austin in a week
It’s an official secret for now, but I’m told by Central Texas Democrats that Vice President Biden is expected in Austin a week from today to headline a private fund-raiser being pulled together by the Democratic National Committee, the entity that absorbed President Obama’s presidential campaign committee when Obama entered the White House.
The latest plan is for Biden to attend a fundraising luncheon in the home of Obama donors and, before or after, swing by the East Austin headquarters of Lance Armstrong’s Live Strong Foundation. (It could be the mix of official business—meaning a foundation visit or something of the like—and politics enables Biden to fly to Austin on Air Force Two, his government-assigned plane.)
I’ve also heard Democratic speculation about Biden addressing a joint session of the Republican-majority House and Senate—potentially a fine spectacle presuming Biden attempts a spirited defense of the federal stimulus package that’s been chewed upon by lawmakers and GOP Gov. Rick Perry.
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April 20, 2009
Have a drink with Tom Schieffer, though he's not declaring his candidacy yet
Prospective Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Schieffer, the former Fort Worth legislator who later worked in baseball and as an ambassador, invites you to meet him at an Austin event for a beer, soft drink and/or snacks next month, though he’s not quite announcing his candidacy, a spokesman said.
Fetch the invitation I fielded here, which had me thinking we had a 1970’s-style campaign kickoff in the works.
Nope, spokesman Clay Robison said.
“He’s continuing to explore,” spokesman Robison said, adding that an official announcement is likely after the legislative session ending June 1.
The howdy event is from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. May 8 at Scholz Garten, 1607 San Jacinto Blvd.
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April 17, 2009
Sen. Cornyn says Texas can't secede from United States
While a poll broke this morning suggesting Texans favor staying in the United States by more than 3-to-1, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said secession can’t legally happen.
A multi-media firestorm broke this week over Gov. Rick Perry insisting Texas could secede if residents wanted to do so, though he also said he doesn’t favor breaking away.
Perry stuck Thursday with his initial indication that Texas could quit the union. He’d said Wednesday that “if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that?”
Cornyn, the state’s former attorney general and a past member of the Texas Supreme Court, said in response to a question during a stop at the Texas Capitol that secession isn’t legally possible. “I understand the sort of frustration people feel about what’s happening in Washington. I share that frustration,” the second-term senator said. But as to secession being legally possible, he said, “the answer is no. Texas cannot, as a constitutional law matter, secede. I thought Sanford Levinson did a good job of answering that question,” a reference to a law professor quoted here in Friday’s American-Statesman.
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April 16, 2009
McCaul says he's no longer mulling bid for attorney general next year
Less than three months after saying he would consider a run next year for attorney general of Texas, third-term U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, told the American-Statesman’s Danny Yadron on Wednesday that the AG option is no longer on his plate.
Asked if he was still mulling a run for attorney general, McCaul replied: “No, I’m running for re-election.”
Through a spokesman, McCaul later added: “I am running for re-election because the challenges we face in Washington have never been greater. That is where I can best serve my constituents and the people of the state of Texas and this country.”
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April 15, 2009
Sharp tops Senate hopefuls in cash on hand, his loans a temporary mystery
Democrat John Sharp topped five other candidates or prospective candidates for the U.S. Senate in cash on hand as of March 31, though his camp didn’t say this afternoon how much of the $2.4 million he piled up since Jan. 1 came from loans. His loan chunk—perhaps tapping Sharp’s personal wealth—may be left to show up when his report, filed with the Federal Election Commission, surfaces online.
Another Democrat, Houston Mayor Bill White, had $2.1 million cash on hand at the end of this year’s first quarter; he’d taken no loans.
Among Republicans, former Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams had $388,628 cash on hand; a haul fueled by $200,000 in loans he gave his exploratory committee. State Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, had $310,407. She was trailed in her bank balance by two members of the Texas Railroad Commission, Elizabeth Ames Jones with $164,663 and Michael Williams with $113,957.
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April 14, 2009
National Democrats place an Obama organizer in Texas
About a week after Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign manager swung through Austin to thank fund-raisers and donors to Obama’s campaign, Obama’s political operation has put an organizer in Texas.
And Luke Hayes, who’s been affiliated with the Democratic National Committee, wants to introduce himself at 11 “listening tour” events starting Thursday in Houston. There’ll be an April 23 gathering in Austin.
As hinted here by Austin’s Eugene Sepulveda, Hayes will be reintroducing himself to some Austin residents. He ran field operations in Mayor Will Wynn’s 2006 re-election campaign and then served on the Texas staff for then-Sen. Obama’s Texas presidential primary campaign. Sepulveda advises that Hayes was second in command in Virginia during the general election; Obama carried the state.
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April 6, 2009
VIDEO: Voters make the case for and against an ID mandate
Watch our video prepared in advance of the House’s two days of hearings on a voter ID measure here:
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April 2, 2009
Reporter who broke Tom Schieffer story goes to work for him
Clay Robison, the Capitol correspondent and bureau chief who broke the story early this year that Fort Worth lawyer Tom Schieffer was mulling a run for governor next year, has signed on as director of communications for Schieffer’s gubernatorial exploratory committee.
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March 31, 2009
UPDATED: Democratic prospect from Austin says he's raised $308,000 for U.S. House run
High-tech executive John T. “Jack” McDonald of Austin reports raising $308,655 in five weeks toward a possible Democratic run next year for the U.S. House seat held by Republican Michael McCaul of Austin.
“I’m gratified,” McDonald said Tuesday night, adding that if he commits to the race, he will resign as ceo of Austin-based Perficient, but would serve as its board chairman.
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March 26, 2009
Voter ID hearing in daylight forecasted and Democrat may fashion deal
Anyone interested in testifying on the voter ID legislation awaiting House review will likely get a chance in daylight.
That detail popped this week along with word that a West Texas Democrat is working on a compromise plan conceivably sparing the House from a partisan bloodbath.
Rep. Todd Smith, who chairs the House Committee on Elections, wants that panel to hear invited testimony April 6 with members of the general public welcome to speak April 7.
Smith, R-Euless, said he intends the two-day approach to spare legislators and speakers from yakking through the night—in contrast to the Texas Senate, which grinded through a marathon hearing this month. After the hearing, Senate Republicans approved Sen. Troy Fraser’s proposal requiring voters to present a photo ID or two other identifying documents at the polls and sent it to the House.
Smith said today: “I didn’t like the fact that the public didn’t have a chance to testify until the wee hours.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Joe Heflin of Crosbyton is drafting an approach that he believes could bring members of both parties together. Early this week, he outlined some of his ideas to Smith, who didn’t reject any ideas out of hand, though he said today he wants to hear testimony on their feasibility and potential costs before making commitments.
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March 18, 2009
Democratic group based in DC casts Texas House Republican as akin to Tom DeLay
The Lone Star Project, steered by an influential Democratic strategist based in Washington, casts state Rep. Todd Smith, R-Euless, as a “Tom DeLay-style political thug” in an e-mail sent today urging opposition to voter ID legislation heading to the House from the Texas Senate.
Smith, who chairs the House Committee on Elections, is expected to shepherd the ID legislation through the House.
Today, Smith reacted to the Lone Star Project’s e-mail blast by likening the project’s chief, Matt Angle, to Rush Limbaugh, though Smith shortly backed off his comment because, he said, it gives Angle too much credit.
Smith initially said: “People like Matt Angle are as harmful to the interests of the Democratic Party as people like Rush Limbaugh are to mine.”
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March 16, 2009
Poll: Hutchison, Abbott look strong, most voters favor photo ID mandate at polls
A wide-ranging poll by a group at the University of Texas suggests afresh that GOP Gov. Rick Perry would trail U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison if their March 2010 primary were held at this time.
The poll further suggests that Texans rate the economy and immigration as key issues. Surveyed Texans also leaned the most toward Attorney General Greg Abbott in an envisioned race to fill Hutchison’s Senate seat against other aspirants.
UPDATE: And, the poll results state, nearly 70 percent of the surveyed Texans agreed that voters should be required to present a government-issued photo ID at the polls before they are allowed to vote. Some 18 percent disagreed, 13 percent didn’t know. Forty-two percent said it’s true that existing law already requires presentation of a photo ID.
The poll, conducted by members of the UT-Austin Department of Government and its Texas Politics project, surveyed 800 Texas residents between Feb. 24 and March 6.
Dive in by fetching the poll results’ summary here.
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March 6, 2009
UPDATED: Abbott under fire from Democratic legislator over voter ID
Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, asked a colleague today to look into alleged voter irregularities in a 2008 school board election in Progreso in South Texas—and also whether Attorney General Greg Abbott’s office failed to pass along its knowledge of the allegations in response to inquiries from Anchia and state Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin.
Rep. Chuck Hopson, D-Jacksonville, chairman of the House Committee on General Investigating & Ethics, said the panel would look into the matter. writing:
If our committee sees real evidence of voter impersonation in Hidalgo County, I will immediately forward it to the proper authorities for further investigation and prosecution. In addition, allegations that legislators and local prosecutors were kept in the dark about possibly bogus claims of voter impersonation are serious and will be pursued.
Abbott’s office said Friday night the allegations in question remain under investigation. Spokesman Jerry Strickland said they also were included in lists of referrals sent the lawmakers—though mistakenly under the name of another county (some heck of a typo, it appears).
Strickland said that “because of a clerical error, the Hidalgo County election fraud case referenced by Rep. Anchia was labeled as a Dickens County case. The clerical error was neither committed by an investigator, nor a lawyer—and is immaterial to the investigation or prosecution of this or any other case.”
Anchia’s alarm probably reflects intense watchfulness in advance of next week’s Texas Senate hearing on a proposal requiring Texas voters to present a photo ID or other self-identifying documents before voting. Republicans generally embrace the move as a step against election fraud; Democrats suspect the change is a backdoor move toward discouraging some oft Democratic-leaning elderly and minority voters, lacking photo IDs, from turning out.
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Austin high-tech exec starts committee toward Democratic run for U.S. House
U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul’s spokesman Mike Rosen said this week that McCaul intends to seek re-election next year. Meantime, an Austin high-tech executive, John T. “Jack” McDonald, confirmed today that he’s started a federal exploratory committee in advance of likely running for McCaul’s seat as a Democrat next year—regardless of whether McCaul, R-Austin, hunts a fourth two-year term.
McCaul, you may remember, has earlier said he might run for Texas attorney general next year should AG Greg Abbott move on to bid for lieutenant governor or the U.S Senate seat potentially vacated by Kay Bailey Hutchison, lately bent on running for governor. (It’s OK to think of this blog as another what-if head-spinner in pre-2010 politics.)
McDonald, who has a campaign-like Web site here, didn’t toss grenades in McCaul’s direction.
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March 5, 2009
Kinky says he's close to starting gubernatorial campaign committee
In advance of the March 19 premiere of an inside-look documentary on his 2006 run for governor, described here, Kinky Friedman says he’s close to starting a tour of visits with Texans about running for governor as a Democrat next year.
He forecasts an unorthodox—kind of like a moon shot—campaign strategy that would focus on rural voters who are far out-numbered by voters in the state’s urban centers.
Friedman told me today he’ll decide by the end of this month whether to start an exploratory committee—a step enabling him to raise money for a bid.
“It’s time to win,” Friedman said. “If I were to win the Democratic nomination, I have the best chance of winning” against Gov. Rick Perry or Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who are expected to face off in the 2010 GOP primary.
“I’m the only (prospective candidate) since Ann Richards who can excite the grass roots,” Friedman said. “If we run a generic Democrat, we’re going to get beat again.” Richards was governor from 1991 to 1995.
I asked him if he’d place Tom Schieffer of Fort Worth, the former ambassador, in the generic category; Schieffer started his Democratic gubernatorial committee on Monday. Friedman said he doesn’t know Schieffer.
So what’s he depending on before starting his committee?
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March 1, 2009
Schieffer plans to explore governor's race, confidant says
Fort Worth lawyer Tom Schieffer, who said Friday (in a Statesman article posted here) he might look into running for governor as a Democrat next year, plans to announce Monday he’s launching an exploratory committee to raise money and test his strength in the race expected to include Republican Gov. Rick Perry and U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Austin lawyer Joe Longley said today.
Longley, a Schieffer confidant, said Schieffer will elaborate at an 11 a.m. Monday press conference at the Capitol.
Schieffer had said Friday he wanted to talk to his wife and son today before committing to a serious look at running for governor. By starting a committee, he’ll be able to raise campaign funds and talk openly about his candidacy.
“All systems are go,” Longley said today.
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February 26, 2009
Poll: Schieffer, possible Democratic gubernatorial hopeful, not well known
Who the hey is Tom Schieffer? That’s one impression left by a poll of Texas voters by the Democratic outfit based in North Carolina that’s been posting results this week.
And Fort Worth’s Schieffer, a former ambassador to Australia and Japan, would have a tough time defeating either GOP Gov. Rick Perry or Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison for governor, according to Public Policy Polling. The firm tested Schieffer because he’s been quoted saying he might seek the Democratic nod for governor.
Some 43 percent of voters weren’t sure if they had a favorable or unfavorable impression of Schieffer, whose brother is Bob Schieffer, the CBS-TV newsman. Schieffer also was once a business partner of former President George W. Bush.
Hutchison leads Schieffer by 54-to-30 percent while Perry holds a 45-to-35 percent advantage, according to the poll.
The survey also looked at President Barack Obama’s approval rating in the state and found that 45 percent of voters approve of his job performance with 46 percent disapproving. His reviews are extremely polarized along party lines.
Click to get the poll summary here.
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February 25, 2009
Poll: Abbott, Dewhurst look like strongest Senate candidates if Hutchison departs
The same Democratic outfit out of North Carolina that polled Texas Republicans on the expected 2010 GOP primary showdown for governor between Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison posted results this morning suggesting that two yet-to-be U.S. Senate candidates—Greg Abbott and David Dewhurst—might prove the strongest contenders for Hutchison’s seat. She might make way for at least one of them to launch a bid by resigning to focus on her gubernatorial goal.
Raleigh-based Public Policy Polling tested Lt. Governor Dewhurst, Attorney General Abbott and state Sen. Florence Shapiro on the Republican side against Houston Mayor Bill White and John Sharp, a former state comptroller, on the Democratic side. (White, by the way, is penciled in to visit with University Democrats on the University of Texas campus tonight.)
Forty-three percent of Texas voters have a favorable opinion of Abbott, according to the poll, compared to 25 percent that view him negatively. In test match-ups, Abbott leads Sharp 44-to-36 percent and White by 42-to-36 percent.
Dewhurst enjoys a 43/30 favorability breakdown and bests Sharp and White by slightly narrower margins than Abbott, by 42-to-36 percent over Sharp (whom Dewhurst bested for lieutenant governor in 2002) and 42-to-37 percent over Abbott.
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February 24, 2009
Houston mayor draws fire for being in mayors' group against illegal guns
I wrote the other day that Houston Mayor Bill White, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate seat that might be vacated by Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison, could draw criticism because he’s part of a national group against illegal firearms.
Didn’t take long; Scott O’Grady of McKinney posted a shot here taking White to task for being in Mayors Against Illegal Guns.
O’Grady, describing himself as a former board member of the National Rifle Association, says that White opposes the Second Amendment, which permits Americans to bear arms.
White responded today: “Bull pucky and balderdash.”
Not really. White doesn’t talk in such terms. But he did say he supports Second Amendment rights.
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Travis County Democrats wonder what they need to do next
Andy Brown, chairman of the Travis County Democrats, fired off an e-blast Monday soliciting advice on what the party should do to build on its successes of 2008.
Brown writes:
In 2008 we took back the White House. In 2010 we need to make sure Tom Craddick, Rick Perry, John Cornyn, Kay Bailey Hutchison and the Texas Republican Party don’t gerrymander Texas again. We must win critical seats on the powerful legislative redistricting board to ensure a fair and responsible redistricting in Texas. We need your input to make that possible.
His questions:
Should we hire more staff? Do we need a new, permanent building for the Travis County Democratic Party? More yard signs? More stickers? New branding? New Web site? This is your chance to tell us what you think.
Got advice? Fill out a form here.
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February 23, 2009
Texas Democratic Party: No plans to return or redirect $100,000 given by Houston financier
Texas’s GOP U.S. senators are redirecting some donations they’ve gotten from Houston financier R. Allen Stanford, who’s under scrutiny for allegedly bilking investors of billions of dollars.
The Texas Democratic Party has no plans to act on a $100,000 corporate donation it got from the Stanford Financial Group on Nov. 27, 2001.
“Given that the contribution was made and expended long ago, any type of reimbursement would be unnecessary and unfair to current donors,” party spokeswoman Kirsten Gray told me today.
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February 19, 2009
Maxey encouraging draft of Van de Putte to run for governor
I touched bases with Sen. Leticia Van de Putte today after fielding notice that former state Rep. Glen Maxey, D-Austin, is encouraging people to join a Facebook group devoted to drafting Van de Putte to run for governor next year. Keep a look out too for an Associated Press story exploring her career.
Van de Putte, essentially rehashing what she’s said before, told me this afternoon she hadn’t heard of the Facebook appeal and won’t think seriously about making a statewide run until after the legislative session ends June 2.
Interest in her potential underscores the reality that no Democrat of note has stepped forward about entering the 2010 governor’s race. It might even be that Texas has never been this close to a gubernatorial election without at least one major player in each party raring to go for it. At least, I can’t think of a similar circumstance in the past 30-plus years.
To be fair, Van de Putte hasn’t been quiet about possibly plunging into a statewide contest.
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Rick Noriega: Obama offered a job, which I declined
Former state Rep. Rick Noriega, the 2008 Democratic U.S. Senate nominee, says in a post-Valentine e-mail blast that he was recently offered a job in President Obama’s administration and turned it down.
On the Obama possibility, Noriega writes:
Last week I was contacted and asked if I would consider a post as Assistant Secretary of Defense (Reserve Affairs) with the Secretary of the Air Force. I declined the position. I remain open to a position in President Obama’s administration, one that is aligned with my core competencies. I am most honored to have been called. It is hard to consider leaving my family again, and I am not yet sure what the final outcome will be.
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February 18, 2009
North Carolina firm to poll Texans on governor, U.S. Senate races
A Democrat-oriented firm based in North Carolina plans to poll Texas residents on possible match-ups for governor and the U.S. Senate after several hundred online visitors favored Texas to be polled over two other states.
Raleigh-based Public Policy Polling—which blogged its polling decision here—says it’s adding wrinkles to the poll it envisioned in its pitch for Web heads to choose where they polled. They’re going to test the appeal of Tom Schieffer of Fort Worth, who’s reportedly been looking into running for governor as a Democrat. And they’ll add state Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, to candidates listed on their Senate poll; Shapiro started raising money toward a Senate bid last summer.
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Sen. Williams: Voter ID measure won't come up all that soon
Sen. Tommy Williams, the Republican whose surprise move early in the session lowered the number of votes needed for the Senate to act on a mandate that voters present photo IDs before voting, said today that while the measure is now eligible for committee consideration, he doesn’t expect action soon.
Williams’ point: A constitutional provision requires a four-fifths vote of the Senate to debate proposals of statewide sweep in the first 60 days of a regular session. The 60-day mark of this session will come around mid-March.
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February 16, 2009
UPDATED: Influence a North Carolina pollster in Texas by voting online
A reader shares this link in case you’ve always wanted to tell a pollster what to do with their time in Texas. UPDATE: The firm, whose business site is here, works for Democratic candidates. Listed clients have included one Texan, state Rep. Donna Howard of Austin.
North Carolina-based Public Policy Polling asks visitors to its Web site to vote today on whether it should poll a possible U.S. Senate race looming in Texas—or focus instead on possible Senate showdowns in Connecticut or Delaware.
Curiously, the firm’s envisioned Texas poll would test declared Democratic Senate candidates Bill White, the mayor of Houston, and John Sharp, the former state comptroller, against two yet-to-be candidates, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Attorney General Greg Abbott.
Perhaps their candidate/non-candidate mix reflects the thinking of political observers that only Dewhurst and/or Abbott stand to mount well-funded Republican runs for the Senate should Kay Bailey Hutchison resign to run for governor.
But by proposing to test only two non-candidates, the pollsters seem to be slapping at Texas Republicans who have either said they’re definitely running or thinking about seeking the Senate seat. The overlooked ones are state Sen. Florence Shapiro of Plano; Michael Williams, chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission; Roger Williams, former secretary of state; and Elizabeth Ames Jones, a member of the railroad commission.
At this writing, the proposal to poll Texas voters is ahead in the online poll. About 40 people have acted.
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February 6, 2009
Houston mayor has raised $1.4 million toward U.S. Senate run, adviser says
Need a fresh political noodle?
Houston Mayor Bill White’s consultant says White has raised $1.4 million since he declared plans to run for the U.S. Senate in mid-December. That probably puts White ahead of all candidates either exploring or committed to chasing the Senate seat yet to be vacated by Kay Bailey Hutchison, who has said she’ll formally declare her candidacy for governor this summer.
White’s consultant, Mustafa Tameez, noted that White is still mayor of the nation’s fourth-largest state and counts on a statewide pile of backers. “We’re keeping a very strong pace,” Tameez said.
Individual contributions for a Senate race must be raised in $2,300 increments. So it’s fair to say that White’s haul, which counts nearly $769,000 gathered between Dec. 15 and Dec. 31, demonstrates strength.
Houston lawyer Barbara Radnofsky, the Democrats’ 2006 Senate nominee, raised close to $1.5 million her entire campaign, while Rick Noriega, the Democratic candidate who challenged Sen. John Cornyn last year, raised $4.2 million.
According to year-ending finance filings, Cornyn outspent Noriega by $16.5 million to $4.2 million. Put another way, Cornyn spent about $3.80 for every vote he fielded. Noriega spent $1.21 for each vote he won. Cornyn carried 55 percent of the vote, or more than 4.3 million votes.
Among Republicans, state Sen. Florence Shapiro of Plano started raising money toward a possible U.S. Senate bid last summer. She has reported raising $544,652 through December.
Among other Republicans looking at a Senate run, Roger Williams, the former Texas secretary of state, reported raising $131,100 counting $100,000 he lent his start-up committee.
Michael Williams, chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission and another GOP Senate candidate, reported raising and spending no money as of Dec. 31. Elizabeth Ames Jones, his fellow commissioner and a possible Senate candidate, reported raising nearly $158,000; she spent about $12,500 including about $10,000 on a St. Louis lawyer.
Democrat John Sharp, who started his Senate committee in January, isn’t required to report his fund-raising totals until April.
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February 5, 2009
Majority leader headed to Austin; Hutchison may follow
I hear that U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison will soon hold an Austin fund-raiser for her incipient gubernatorial campaign—an event sure to be a thumb in the eye to Gov. Rick Perry, who like all state elected officials is barred by law from raising money during the legislative session and through the June veto period.
Until her plans are confirmed, politicos can count on a swoop-in from Harry Reid, the U.S. Senate majority leader. The Nevada senator will hold forth at a fund-raiser for his political kitty in about two weeks.
Cocktails and heavy hors d’oeuvres will be served from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Feb. 19 in Alexa and Blaine Wesner’s Westlake home. Suggested contributions range from $1,000 for a guest up to $10,000 for a host. RSVP to Jake Perry at jake@harryreid.com or (202) 544-5632.
And send me the transcript?
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December 16, 2008
Houston Mayor Bill White is in for U.S. Senate run
Via a low-key online video, posted here, Houston Mayor Bill White today announced he intends to seek election to the U.S. Senate seat that aspirants are expecting Kay Bailey Hutchison to relinquish to run for governor in 2010.
“Working for my neighbors as mayor has been a great honor,” White says in a statement posted on the site. “Texas needs a new voice in decisions that will be made in Washington, and my business experience and administrative expertise will ensure utilizing fiscally responsible means to get our economy moving.”
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December 15, 2008
Houston lawyer says White will be Senate aspirant
Bill White, the Democratic mayor of Houston, appears to be on the verge of saying he’ll run for the U.S. Senate seat that Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison has said she could quit by late next year to run for governor in 2010.
Houston lawyer Arthur Schechter, a former ambassador and longtime Democratic counselor, said he spoke with White Monday.
“He’s running for the Senate,” Schechter said. “He wants to be in the Senate. Texas needs that kind of representation.”
White remained mum in public Monday. His spokesman, Frank Michel, said the mayor might declare his intentions at the end of Tuesday’s afternoon meeting of the Houston City Council.
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December 12, 2008
White declines to confirm he's running for U.S. Senate
Houston Mayor Bill White this evening declined to confirm an online report that he’s decided to offer himself as a U.S. Senate candidate.
‘l’ll keep you posted on those future plans. But for now, I’m focusing on keeping Houston moving,” White told me via an online exchange.
Separately, he said through his spokesman, Frank Michel: “I’m still looking at it (the Senate possibility). I haven’t made a decision.”
I contacted his office after The Houston Chronicle quoted anonymous sources saying White has resolved to run for the Senate and plans to announce as much next week. That story is here.
If White jumps in, he’d join John Sharp, the former state comptroller, as a major Democratic figure committed to chasing the seat that might not open up until Hutchison’s term enters its last year in 2012. Hutchison, however, has said she might resign late next year to run for governor in 2010.
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Nieto leaving as spokesman for Texas Democrats
Hector Nieto plans to step down as spokesman for the Texas Democratic Party next month to become chief of staff for an incoming state senator.
Nieto, 31, has served as communications director for the party through the rollicking presidential primary season. Party Chairman Boyd Richie has occasionally celebrated him as the party’s first Spanish-speaking spokesman. I found Nieto quite a quipster, though almost always off the record.
Nieto’s new post: chief of staff to Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth.
There’s no early word on who will take his place speaking for the party.
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December 11, 2008
Report: Swing voters lifted Texas Republicans in statewide races
Larry Willoughby, a professor at Austin Community College, popped a report today suggesting that more Texas voters are casting straight-ticket Democratic ballots than before — with a smaller share of voters voting straight-ticket Republican ballots than before. The report reviewed voting in 47 counties representing 83 percent of the Nov. 4 vote.
Republicans still voted straight-party ballots more than Democrats, though. And statewide, GOP candidates won largely due to voters who spread their support among candidates of different parties.
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State senators charge national Democrats with shorting Texas
Two Democratic state senators today are cracking on the Washington committee that doles out money for Democratic U.S. Senate candidates, suggesting the group unfairly failed to bolster Rick Noriega in his challenge of Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.
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December 8, 2008
Sharp: I'm running for the U.S. Senate
In a move that might be intended to head off another Democrat, former State Comptroller John Sharp issued a statement today making public his intentions to run for the U.S. Senate.
There could be an opening by late next year if Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison resigns to create an opening. She is exploring a run for governor in 2010.
Sharp, who lost for lieutenant governor in 1998 and 2002, said: “I will be a candidate whether the election is in 2012 or any time before then. Texans face tough challenges that call for innovative solutions, and that’s what our campaign is all about.”
He said he will create a campaign committee with the state on Jan. 1 to begin raising money and campaigning.
No one has said so, but I suspect Sharp acted today to dissuade Houston Mayor Bill White from declaring his own aspirations for the Senate. White is widely expected to air his political plans soon—and speculation has centered on his leaping for governor or the Senate.
Sharp’s sudden public declaration, after months spent privately telling Democrats he intends to seek the Senate seat, practically dares White to set himself up for a Sharp showdown. Alternatively, it encourages White to lean toward a run for governor.
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November 20, 2008
Mattox served in Dallas, Austin and Washington
Jim Mattox, a fiery Democrat whose career brought him from Dallas to Austin to Washington and then back to Austin, has died in his sleep, a former spokesman, Kelly Fero, said today. The former Texas attorney general was 65.
Mattox, who lived in Dripping Springs west of Austin, was born in Dallas on Aug. 29, 1943, the first of three children of Norman and Mary Katheryn Harrison. His father was a union sheetmetal worker, and his mother was a waitress.
After attending Woodrow Wilson High School in Dallas, he worked his way through the Baylor School of Business (where he graduated magna cum laude in 1965 and won the Wall Street Journal Award for academic excellence). He earned his law degree from Southern Methodist University and received the third-highest grade in the state on his bar exam in 1968.
Fero said Mattox served as an assistant DA under the legendary Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade and began his political career in 1973 when he took office (for two terms) as a state representative from East Dallas. He gained a reputation for ethics reforms, including the “Big Five” package of open government legislation — open meetings, open records, full financial disclosure, campaign finance reform, and lobby registration.
Mattox was elected to Congress in the 5th Congressional District in 1976, 10 years after serving as an intern in the office of then-Congressman Earle Cabell. He was the only freshman elected to the powerful House Budget Committee that term and later chaired that committee’s task force on National Security and Veterans Affairs, as well as the Banking Committee.
He was elected Texas attorney general in 1982 and re-elected in 1986. He ran unsuccessfully for governor in what was the the fiercest Democratic primary in memory in 1990; Mattox lost a runoff to Ann Richards of Austin, who went on to win the governorship in November. He made two more runs for statewide office—in 1994 for the U.S. Senate and in 1998 for his previous job of attorney general.
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Aspirants to succeed Hutchison might have to wait
I write in my column this week, here, about Dallas lawyer Ken Emanuelson launching a Web site pitching Michael Williams, chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission, for the U.S. Senate.
Williams ranks, of course, among many possible successors to Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, who could resign her seat to gear up for a 2010 run for governor.
And he won’t necessarily have support from all quarters.
Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, a fellow Republican, rates Williams’ endorsement of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani for president as a weak point.
Calling Williams a “great guy and a tremendous asset to our party,” Patterson said his endorsement of Giuliani, a “pro-choice and rabidly anti-Second Amendment candidate for president, will pose a problem for him in a primary or special election. One can’t help but wonder if Michael’s endorsement was because Rudy was thought at that time to be the inevitable nominee, and being with the winner became more important than principle.”
GOP Gov. Rick Perry would likely appoint an interim senator after Hutchison’s early resignation. And it seems unlikely he’d hold a Giuliani endorsement against anyone. Perry, like Williams and State Comptroller Susan Combs, initially endorsed Giuliani for president.
Generally, speculation has centered on Hutchison resigning as soon as June. But I heard a different scenario from a Republican operative that bears chewing over.
It could be that Hutchison stirs the waters by forming an exploratory committee in December or so to look into running for governor. She then hints or says that she won’t resign until late 2009 at the earliest.
Such timing would still allow her to focus on the 2010 campaign year while also preventing any foe from both running in the special election to succeed her in the Senate and then (after a loss) turning around to run for governor in the same field she hopes to lead. Depending on the timing of her resignation, it if happens, party candidate filing deadlines would prevent someone from doubling up, so to speak.
Emanuelson, by the way, said he’s never voted for Perry. Speaking for himself and not for the effort to draft Williams as a senator, Emanuelson said he lately has misgiving about Perry’s vision of toll roads criss-crossing Texas with the state acquiring farm and ranch properties to put together each route.
Emanuelson said that if Hutchison goes for governor, “she’s probably got it. It’s really difficult to think of somebody really challenging her for it.”
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November 19, 2008
Houston mayor wants to resolve political plans soon
Houston Mayor Bill White, whose last term runs through December 2009, intends to address his post-mayoral political goals within the next few weeks, an aide said today.
“He’s going to make a decision in the near future,” said Michael Moore, White’s chief of staff. “It will be based on where he could do the most for Texas with his experience and abilities.”
I touched bases with Moore while preparing a column running in Thursday’s newspaper on jockeying among Texans who might want to succeed U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, if she resigns in advance of running for governor in 2010.
Moore said White, who wasn’t immediately available, is talking to people around Texas by telephone, sounding out his prospects. Most observers expect White to make a try for the Senate or for governor.
White’s goal is to settle his plans well before the end of this year, Moore said. “Days,” Moore said, “not weeks.”
White, a Democrat, will be taking a calculated risk if he airs his plans before the new year.
An outright declaration for governor, say, would put GOP Gov. Rick Perry and Hutchison on early notice of his seriousness—likewise giving White ample time to plan his run. But he’d also be putting anything he does as mayor in his last year in office in an especially political light, including anything the city seeks from the 2009 Legislature.
Then again, White’s pending decision could be less dramatic.
He might simply say he’s ruling out a position in President Obama’s cabinet and/or a bid for the Senate. Such a move would leave him plenty of time to mull a 2010 run for governor without jeopardizing his actions as mayor through 2009.
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November 11, 2008
Democrats holding Austin hearing on primary-caucus system
A Democratic Party advisory panel plans its final hearing on possible changes to how voters choose the party’s Texas presidential delegates for 10 a.m. Friday at the Texas AFL-CIO Building at 1105 Lavaca St. in Austin.
The panel, helmed by state Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, has been collecting feedback on the system in advance of making recommendations to the State Democratic Executive Committee. See more information on the effort here.
Boyd Richie, the state party chairman, invites Democrats to testify at the hearing or to e-mail thoughts to testimony@txdemocrats.org .
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November 6, 2008
Dewhurst airs concern over business tax revenue, health care
At a University of Texas post-election conference, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said today that revenue from the revamped business tax is running behind what the state needs. He also said the tax wasn’t his first or second choice in 2004 as a revenue source to cover the state picking up the tab for reductions of nearly $15 billion a year in local school property taxes.
Dewhurst also stated a desire to do something about spiraling health care costs, which show up dramatically in the state budget as Medicaid costs. He said he favors the state creating a tax credit so that businesses not currently insuring employees would be encouraged to do so. He said he is also considering ideas for pilot projects that focus more on prevention rather than paying providers for specific medical procedures.
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November 4, 2008
Williamson Democrats energized
To say that Williamson County Democrats are energized tonight by the Obama Train and on down the ballot might be an understatement.
“I haven’t seen this many people this excited at an election night party in 20 years,” said Jeff Wilson, 64, who proclaims himself “a lifelong, blue-dog Democrat.”
More than 100 excited folks are crammed standing-room-only into a small sushi bar at RM 620 and Interstate 35 to watch the vote returns, just a few steps from the Williamson County Democratic Party headquarters in a strip shopping center.
Stars of the night so far: Diana Maldonado, who’s leading slightly in early returns for a Texas House seat that the GOP has held for a decade, and Mike Grimes, who until a few minutes ago was ahead in his race for county commissioner in this longtime Republican-stronghold county.
The mood at the party? Loud and raucous.
Wild cheering and applause when the TV networks proclaimed an Obama win in Ohio. “It’s over. Stick it to ‘em,” one man yelled.
Boos followed when McCain was projected the winner in another state.
The party crowd is heavily women and minorities, with lots of folks wearing Obama T-shirts and Blue State pins and stickers. A number profess to be crossover Republicans who say they want change.
“I’ve voted Republican since Reagan, but not this time,” said Jim Greenhaw, 46, a software engineer. “It’s time for a big change. This county won’t go blue (Democrat) but tonight is a first step.”
As he finished his interview with Statesman.com, the folks around him gave him their applause.
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Nine million Texans expected to vote by close of day
Hope Andrade, the Texas secretary of state, expects more than 9 million voters to act by the time polls close at 7 p.m. tonight, meaning nearly seven in 10 registered voters will have turned out either in the early-voting period or on Election Day.
On Monday, Andrade projected that 68 percent of the state’s 13.5 million registered voters would ultimately vote.
In contrast, 7.4 million voters participated in the 2004 presidential election in Texas, up from 6.4 million Texas voters in the ‘04 presidential race.
Those are big numbers, yet if they hold true, the state still won’t set a record for percentage of registered voters turning out. According to figures posted online by Andrade’s office—start here—a record 73 percent of registered Texas voters turned out for the 1992 presidential race. President George H.W. Bush won his home state that year over Democrat Bill Clinton, who beat Bush nationally. Dallas billionaire Ross Perot also was in the mix that year.
The share of registered voters previously reached 68 percent twice, in 1980 and 1984, according to the Texas Secretary of State’s office.
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November 3, 2008
Imagine it's Thursday and the election is over ...
Will you have your fill of politics once Tuesday’s election is over?
For everyone needing more to chew on, the University of Texas has pulled together a day-long gathering Thursday featuring at least two possible candidates for governor in 2010: U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and Houston Mayor Bill White, a Democrat. State Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, also is expected as part of a panel.
The event at the AT&T Conference Center, titled “Who’s Right? Who’s Left? What’s Next? Texas Politics and Policy Beyond 2008,”, the conference hosted by the LBJ School’s Center for Politics and Governance starts with a 10 a.m. coffee with Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Hutchison penciled in to speak at lunch.
Later in the day, closing remarks are expected from White.
To RSVP, and to line up the free lunch, go here.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Campaign finance, Democratic politics, Governor, Presidential race, Republican politics, U.S. Congress, U.S. Senate
October 23, 2008
Harris County's early vote stirs conflicting forecasts
Harris County Democrats are marveling at what they believe to be a nearly 3-to-1 Democratic-Republican margin among voters who have turned out to vote early in the county.
But Republican pollster Mike Baselice of Austin says Democrats ought to be worrying. His review of early-voting tallies led him to say: “Republicans are doing just fine.”
Critics could dismiss the competing interpretations as partisan sniping over similar numbers. In fact, the distinct reads are based on different ways of analyzing the early voting. It’s still helpful to remember that activists from both parties consider Harris County a bellwether for what’s probably happening statewide (though it’s more Democratic-leaning than the state as a whole, Baselice said). Results there are worth noodling on.
First, the Democrats’ view:
Gerry Birnberg, chairman of the Harris County Democrats, said that through the first three days of early voting, 62,000 early voters also voted in the March 4 Democratic primary. That compares with 21,000 early voters who turned out for the GOP primary — giving him a path to claim the 3-to-1 margin he’s touting.
“That’s pretty good wind at our back,” said Birnberg, a lawyer who’s hoping Democrats take many local offices including judicial posts from historically dominant Republicans.
Birnberg said some 126,000 voters acted early through Wednesday.
If it turns out that the three-day tally accounts for about 15 percent of total early-voting turnout, as it has in previous years, he said, the county’s total early vote could approach 790,000, perhaps signaling record-shattering turnout through the Nov. 4 election:
We could well see more than 50 percent of the total vote voting early and more than 62 percent, perhaps 65 to 66 percent, participating in this election. Both would be records, indicative of tremendous interest in this election…Birnberg’s bottom line:
I’m declaring a huge turnout. If you’re asking me if I’m declaring victory, of course not. Things are looking very upbeat for Democrats right now in Harris County. We really do expect to sweep the county. I expect it to be a Dallas County-style sweep (referring to Democrats’ winning all local offices there in 2006). But am I declaring victory? Not at all.
Baselice guffawed at Birnberg’s take. His assessment, based on voter interviews, is that up to 25 percent of the state’s first-time Democratic primary voters this spring are likely to favor Republican John McCain for president and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, for re-election.
Baselice said that since 2000, voters who participated in at least one Democratic primary in Harris County outnumbered one-time-or-more GOP primary voters by nearly 2-to-1. Yet through the first two days of early voting there, voters who had voted in a Democratic primary since 2000 were outvoting Republicans by only 1.5 to 1. (Raw numbers, he said, were 49,159 early-voting Democrats this month compared to 32,456 Republicans.) So, he theorized, either the Democrats are running behind in getting out their early vote or the Republicans are running ahead of schedule.
Noting that the county’s 2008 Democratic primary voters outnumbered Republicans by a wide margin (407,102 compared to 169,448), Baselice said: “Unfortunately for the Democrats, they can’t limit (November) turnout to people who just participated in the March primary.”
I couldn’t immediately reach Chairman Birnberg’s counterpart with the Harris County GOP.
But Ed Emmett, a Republican serving as Harris County’s judge, said he’s not concerned about the early tilt for Democrats, partly because he doesn’t believe every voter is casting a straight-party ballot.
Emmett said:
For the first time in a long time, Democrats have a reason to go vote. The whole (Democratic) plan has been to get them to vote early, which is what they’re doing. It’s a good wake-up call. … I feel pretty comfortable. Unless my polls are just dead wrong, I feel pretty good.
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September 24, 2008
Travis County party chairs on radio Thursday morning
Rosemary Edwards and Andy Brown, the respective chairs of the Travis County Republican and Democratic parties, will make a joint appearance on an Austin radio station Thursday, the Travis County GOP advises.
The pair are slated to talk on KAZI 88.7 FM during the 7 a.m. hour.
The GOP announcement closes: “It will be the two chairpersons’ first public discussion of the political scene in Travis County.”
Surely that’s an overstatement. My bet is both of them talk about the local scene constantly — at the least to themselves.
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September 9, 2008
Cecile Richards appearing on "Larry King Live" tonight
Cecile Richards, who spoke at the Democratic National Convention two weeks ago, plans to appear during a segment starting at 8:30 p.m. Central time tonight on CNN’s “Larry King Live,” Richards’ spokesman Tait Sye tells me.
I’d expect King to ask Richards, eldest daughter of the late Texas Gov. Ann Richards, what she makes of the Republican ticket. Richards, who heads Planned Parenthood of America, is sure to voice concern about Sen. John McCain tapping Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate.
Palin, who is solidly anti-abortion/pro-life, is expected to give her first post-nomination interview to ABC-TV’s Charles Gibson on Thursday.
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August 28, 2008
Primacaucus hearings resume Sept. 6 in Harlingen
Sen. Royce West of Dallas insisted today that he remains undecided on whether Texas Democrats need to end the controversial method of choosing presidential delegates both by voting at the polls on primary day and through primary-night caucuses.
A party-appointed advisory panel studying the “primacaucus” system has set its schedule of upcoming hearings, which will wrap up in Austin on Nov. 14. (Mark the date if you want to speak directly to the party leaders considering changes.)
The hearing dates and cities:
Sept. 6: Harlingen
Sept. 12: Houston
Oct. 17: Arlington
Oct. 18: Nacogdoches
Nov. 8: Lubbock
Nov. 14: Austin
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Democratic National Convention, Democratic politics, Presidential race, Texas Senate
August 27, 2008
Noriega assails Cornyn; aide says money not crucial
Rick Noriega, the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate seat held by Republican John Cornyn, hit his marks in a speech to Texas delegates at breakfast on the third morning of the convention.
Noriega, a fifth-term Texas House member from Houston, called Cornyn out of touch with Texas families and insensitive to the plight of people unable to obtain health insurance or adequate health care.
And he promised to stump to every corner of the state — or send family members to do so.
“We have to get the state back on the right track,” Noriega said. “We have to stand up and fight. We have got to take it back. It is not going to be given to us.”
Noriega opened his speech with a sure sign that President Bush is unpopular, even back home. He said he feels compelled to apologize to non-Texans for what’s happened in Washington the past six to eight years.
Separately, Noriega’s spokesman, Martine Apodaca, said that it’s not critical that Noriega pick up the financial support of the Washington-based Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which is separately holding an event in Denver celebrating other Democratic Senate aspirants.
Noriega has already courted the DSCC in hopes of a late-campaign infusion of money that could be spent on turning out voters and TV advertising. So far, the committee has not committed.
Regarding the DSCC, Apodaca told me: “We’d like to have all the help we can get. I don’t think that we need it. We’re not expecting it.”
His contention: Noriega can overtake Cornyn regardless of the fundraising gulf between them. Unease over the Iraq war and concern over access to health care will be driving issues, Apodaca said.
“Texans aren’t stupid,” he said. “They remember the last six years.”
“Once voters meet Rick, they’ll take him over John Cornyn.”
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August 25, 2008
Texas GOP draws attention with anti-Obama ad
The Republican Party of Texas is reveling in big play it says it’s getting from a Web-only advertisement that swings at Sen. Barack Obama for his jibes at Sen. John McCain’s multiple houses and condominiums.
Peek here:
GOP spokesman Hans Klingler, the party’s political director, said he created the ad in his office on a laptop Friday afternoon; the voice-over comes courtesy of Janie Mathis, the party’s deputy political director.
Klingler said he was torqued by an article on Obama’s half-brother in the Italian version of Vanity Fair magazine and a subsequent report on CNN. “I was not going to sit by and let Barack Obama say these things without something from us,” Klingler said.
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August 24, 2008
Stuck in Denver again (Monday night party)
The headline above is my little joke about landing in Denver in time for the first night’s proceedings—featuring a speech by Michelle Obama. Meantime the same night, the Texas delegation to the convention is throwing down for a party.
The invitation/notice shows 13 corporate and association sponsors for the do, with the guest speaker expected to be Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter. As I mentioned last week here, the venue, Mile High Station, is in keeping with the high hopes of Texas Democrats.
Fetch the invitation here.
With no one except Sen. Joe Biden biding to be vice president at the four-day convention, I’ll be on the prowl for sideshows and political whodunnits. Got one or two handy? Let me know, you hear?
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July 24, 2008
This weekend, politics and Barton Springs do mix
Barton Springs may already be a hotbed for sunbathing and aggressive relaxation; this weekend, political activism will be added to mix.
Spurred by Sen. Barack Obama’s “Listening to America” campaign, Austinite Richard Morgan is organizing a “platform meeting” on Saturday to compose the “first ever major party platform written of, by, and for the people.” The weeklong campaign, which ends Sunday, encourages citizens to meet in their communities and come up with policy recommendations for Democratic Party leadership.
How well sunbathing and politics will mix remains to be seen, but Morgan said he is hopeful that grassroots activists will be able to wield some power over the decision-making process through the meetings.
“The goal is have our voices be heard,” said Morgan, a Texas State University student studying water resource management. “We’re pretty confident that it’ll happen given that for them to win this election, they’re relying on the backs of students and [grassroots activists].”
Morgan said he has gotten 43 RSVPs for the event, and added that will be recording participants’ testimony on video tape and sending it directly to DNC chair Howard Dean.
The meeting will be held at Barton Springs this Saturday from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. at the picnic tables near Philosophers’ Rock.
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July 22, 2008
Doherty vows to Webcast lobbyist meetings
Larry Joe Doherty, the Democratic nominee for the U.S. House seat held by Michael McCaul, R-Austin, told Austin-area Democrats on Monday night that as McCaul’s successor, he’ll Webcast meetings he has with lobbyists so constituents can listen in.
Doherty, fresh off a trip to Washington, said he’s lately determined that it’s physically feasible for a congressman to Webcast office visits. He said he already e-mails thank-you videos to campaign contributors.
Before a friendly crowd at the headquarters of the Travis County Democratic Party, Doherty also revisited his proposal to create a veterans advocacy board of district residents to help Texas veterans get benefits from the federal government.
Doherty, a Burton lawyer, is running in congressional District 10 as configured by the Republican-majority 2003 Legislature. It runs 160 miles east-west along U.S. 290 from a chunk of Austin to a chunk of Harris County; McCaul won the seat in 2004 and in 2006.
Buoyed by record-breaking turnout in the March Democratic primary, Doherty’s campaign says he can win if he swamps McCaul in Travis County and manages at least 37 percent of the vote in the Harris County part of the district. Fetch a consultant’s full analysis for Doherty here.
Doherty, who has played a judge on TV, has a countrified air that could boost his appeal.
Could also be he has an edge that bears watching. Asked how much time he had for audience questions, Doherty replied: “It depends on whether or not somebody gets personal.” Nobody did.
He also said a couple things he likely won’t repeat, including: “We have as good a chance of beating Michael McCaul as the Republicans have of beating Nick or Ciro,” referring to U.S. Reps. Nick Lampson and Ciro Rodriguez, Texas Democrats seeking re-election.
He also recapped what he said was an encounter with a Republican Texas House candidate at a July parade. He said the candidate told him he knew two things — that he would win his statehouse race and Doherty would take McCaul.
How did the Republican know Doherty would win? “You’re here,” Doherty quoted him saying, the implication being that McCaul was not there and would lose ground due to his absence from district events.
Doherty said afterward he doesn’t believe either Lampson or Rodriguez are in trouble in their races. “McCaul is in trouble,” he said.
When asked to elaborate on the parade moment, he was interrupted by an aide who said “there was some confusion there” and Doherty wasn’t talking that day to the Texas House candidate, only someone supporting him.
“It wasn’t him?” Doherty replied, sounding surprised. “I thought that it was (the candidate) himself. I’ve never met (him)… We were all queuing up for the same parade.”
Doherty reminded, “McCaul wasn’t there.”
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July 19, 2008
Liberals like the army too
Conservatives will have you believe that liberals hate the army, Netroots Nation participant Timothy Smith says, but it’s simply not true.
Smith, who might be more familiar to DailyKos readers by his handle “Timroff,” organized a workshop here at Netroots to make care packages to send to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Volunteers are currently cramming underwear, candy, fireproof gloves and a long list of other supplies into more than 100 cardboard boxes.
“The Right will tell you that taking a magnet that looks like a yellow ribbon and is made in China and slapping it on the back of your SUV is the proper way to show support for your troops,” Smith said.
“You want to support the troops, this is how you support the troops, you get a box … and if you cram that box full of that stuff that they need and send it to them, you help decrease the chances that they come down with PTSD, you increase the chances that they survive, you decrease the chances that they come down with depression.”
Smith said the idea sprouted from a comment thread on DailyKos, in which bloggers were trying to figure out what they could actually do to support the troops.
At the workshop, Jon Powers — an Iraq War veteran who is now running for a Congressional Seat in New York’s 26th district — recounted watching other soldiers’ shirts get shorter and shorter as they spent more time in the field. They had run out of toilet paper, Powers said, and soldiers were cutting pieces off their t-shirts to get by.
The packages will be shipped out Monday morning, Smith said.
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July 18, 2008
UPDATED: Noriega likes idea of compulsory service
UPDATE: My colleague Peter Mongillo points me to a DailyKos post by Noriega, where he hails the Netroots’ community—drawing 97 comments (good golly).
An excerpt:
“Like the families of Texas, the people at Netroots Nation who I’ve met are frustrated that their voices aren’t being heard in Washington. They’re organizing with fellow activists, making phone calls, and bringing people together in a growing movement to change Texas this fall.”
See the whole deal here.
Meanwhile, Rick Noriega said earlier today he likes the idea of young Americans being subject to compulsory public service of some kind, though he stopped short of saying he’s going to coin a proposal.
Noriega, the Democratic nominee challenging U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, mentioned his interest in compulsory service while speaking on a panel of veterans at the Netroots Nation conference.
He said afterward: “It’s something we ought to look toward as an attitude… Just fundamentally, I think that it is an idea that’s overdue.”
He said he also supports the idea of a public service academy, much like existing military academies, “that is currently gaining steam in Washington.” Also, he’d like to better formalize “how we look at this initiative going forward.”
Noriega said he’s focused lately on his proposals regarding national energy policy, and this package won’t include a plea to open up drilling for oil off U.S. coasts or in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Details are expected by Tuesday or so.
A few weeks ago, Noriega told Midland audiences that he favors drilling for oil in Iraq, though his campaign later said he was joking.
Noriega said today he wasn’t joking; he was trying to illuminate the lousy thinking behind the invasion of Iraq, he said, including the prospect that the move would result in a flow of oil from that nation to the United States.
“Even for those who would have couched our policy of going into Iraq for the oil… I have said that even for those persons, it was a failed policy. I mean we couldn’t even get that right,” Noriega said.
Broadly, Noriega said, Cornyn “continues to try to sell to the Texas voters that there is some magic spigot of oil just outside our coast or up in (the Arctic), that if we could only access that, gas would go back to $1 a gallon. You know, he is selling some mythical solution; that dog just won’t hunt. I mean, here’s a guy that told us that we had weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. So now we’re going to believe him that there’s a magical spigot of oil that’s going to reduce everybody’s price per gallon?”
Cornyn spokesman Kevin McLaughlin pinged in response: “In West Texas, it’s a joke…but when he’s with his liberal blogger buddies, he’s dead serious. The only joke is Rick Noriega’s inability to come up with a coherent energy policy.”
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Pelosi won't be a Netroots bore; a poem
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s session at Netroots Nation 2008 starts early Saturday; it’s been moved up to 8:30 a.m. at the Austin Convention Center.
If you’re teetery about going, consider this nudge-by-poem:
Maybe it’s a chore to get up early for Pelosi. But count on this, pal; the Netroots corps won’t be bored. You never know who she’ll bring through the door; Could be a matador, a bigwig from days of yore. I’d say more, but I agreed not to start a roar.
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July 17, 2008
Dean keynotes Netroots confab seeing blue
Howard Dean revisited a vow from his ‘04 presidential campaign in his keynote address to Netroots’ enthusiasts Thursday night by noting that he visited Crawford, near President Bush’s ranch, to kick off a voter registration drive on Thursday morning.
Nice town, he said, and Bush will soon be retiring there.
“We went to Crawford, Texas to show that we do not want a third term of George W. Bush,” he said, suggesting Sen. John McCain, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, lines up with Bush on Iraq, the economy and other issues.
Dean’s remarks — forecasting a Democratic-blue election this fall — mirrored his noon-hour rally outside the Austin Convention Center; see my account of that here.
In his evening keynote, Dean said that if it weren’t for Netroots’ Nation, Democrats wouldn’t hold a majority in the U.S. House. He also thanked the liberal blog-ocracy for helping him win election as chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
Sen. Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, stands to win because Democrats will run a 50-state campaign, Dean suggested.
“This is going to be a very close race,” Dean said. “But I believe that hope and the future will always triumph over the candidate who’s always looking backwards.”
Getting a roar, Dean also revisited his noon-hour vow on arriving in Austin for Democrats to gain five Texas House seats in November — a step he said will enable lawmakers to begin to reverse the impact of congressional districts redrawn for Republican gains in 2003, at the urging of Tom DeLay.
Dean also incorrectly said more people voted for Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton (combined) in this year’s turnout-heavy March 4 primary than the Texans who voted for the Democratic presidential nominees in the 2004 and 2000 general elections. His point holds true in comparison to 2000, but not to 2004; peek at the vote tallies starting here.
Dean, sporting what looked like an American flag lapel pin on his suit jacket, was introduced to an estimated 2,000 Netroots Nation attendees by former Austin state Rep. Glen Maxey.
Maxey recalled telephoning Dean’s presidential campaign office and telling them he was going to captain the Vermont governor’s Texas efforts — even though the person at the other end of the line said Dean wasn’t organizing in Texas yet.
Not long after, Dean raised $30,000 at an East Austin fund-raiser.
“We were empowered by Howard,” Maxey said, “and we organized it over the Internet.”
He sounded like he was hearkening to ancient history.
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Gen. Wesley Clark exhorts Netroots Nation
Wesley Clark, the retired Army general who ran for president as a Democrat in 2004 (and who keeps his thoughts on securing America posted here), credited Netroots ‘08 bloggers for making it possible for him to run for office.
Before launching into issues stressed by nearly every Democratic candidate for office (universal health care, more of an emphasis on non-military rather than military solutions, an energy policy focused on alternatives to oil, human rights), Clark mentioned Darcy Burner, a U.S. House aspirant in Washington state whose house just burned down (yes, her name is evidently really Burner).
Clark later called Rick Noriega, the Democratic nominee against U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, “our next United States senator.” Noriega stood next to one of the many round tables in the hall and waved.
He shortly asked most everyone to stand—individuals ranging from officeseekers to nurses to police officers—but stopped short (they always stop short) of recognizing journalists in the room (though “The Onion” Web editor later gave props).
“Did I miss any professional group?” he said. “If I did, I apologize.”
Understandably, there was one more group he wanted to recognize, the Netroots’ nation of bloggers.
“You’re like the keel on the ship of state, you’re like the compass on the bridge,” the general said. “You keep America going in the right direction. You bring passion, you bring commitment, you bring your ideas and you bring your energy to American politics.
“We’ve needed you for so long in this country and we need you desperately right now.”
Referring to Sen. Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, West said: “Let’s move America forward. Together, Netroots Nation, you can do it. Let’s do it.”
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Obama Girl invades Netroots Nation
First, here’s the video featuring Obama Girl, Amber Lee Ettinger, visiting the media room at the Netroots Nation conference:
Right after the video was shot (and after Eileen Smith of Texas Monthly’s Poll Dancing shot her own video second), Obama Girl’s handler Melissa asked me not to post the video.
“You brought her to the media room so that we could shoot a video of her and then not post it?” I asked.
Melissa said I was asking her too many political questions that Obama Girl didn’t know the answer to in an effort to make her look dumb.
I told her I don’t cover politics. “Believe me, she probably knows way more about politics than I do,” I told her.
Still, she thought I wasn’t showing Amber’s best side (I disagree), and I promised to post something nice to go with the video. Here it is: she was very nice to agree to the video in the first place and she seems like a perfectly nice young woman. Crush-worthy, even.
Unfortunately, that was how my day at Netroots ended — I wanted answers to all my political questions, and if we can’t count on Obama Girl to figure it all out for us, then I will have to remain disillusioned in our fledgling Internet stars.
(Bonus note: try to find the exact time in the video when Obama Girl got completely bored with me and started looking around for something more interesting to do.)
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Whasssssup at Netroots
That’s what the fellow warming up folks for retired General Wesley Clark, who’ll be talking before Howard Dean.
“Whassssup?” he asked.
The guy, identified as the Web editor of “The Onion,” went on to warm up the crowd at Netroots 2008 with three calls-and-responses:
“When I say fired up, you say ready to go!” Happened three times; a basic salute to Sen. Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.
Two more:
“Netroots… Nation.”
“Mental… recession,” a jab at former U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas, who suggested some Americans are in just such a state.
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Noriega busy before heading to Martha's Vineyard
Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Rick Noriega stands to be in the middle of the muddle at the Netroots 2008 convention, starting with his star appearance at a party tonight and commitment to speak on two panels during the day Friday — one on military issues, the other on Texas campaign ‘08.
The twist: Noriega, hoping to unseat GOP Sen. John Cornyn, intends to head east by Saturday in time to participate in a leadership retreat being hosted by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. The do is taking place through the weekend on Martha’s Vineyard, an island off Cape Cod — a Massachusetts island, for any critics primed to type l-i-b-e-r-a-l. (It’s way beautiful, by the way.)
At least one other Democratic Senate nominee is likewise heading from Austin to the retreat: Larry LaRocco of Idaho, seeking the Senate seat being vacated by Republican Larry Craig.
Both nominees, of course, want the committee to throw campaign money their way in time for TV advertising in the fall.
By the way, Cornyn’s campaign reminded supporters in an e-mail dispatched today that Noriega counts on online donations from out of state. The e-mail says in part: “Noriega has raised nearly half of his total funds online, much of it from out-of-state “progressives” who will never even visit Texas, let alone vote here. His campaign regularly boasts that he has strong support from the left-wing blogosphere. Make no mistake, if he were to get elected he would be beholden to these people.
“Texas cannot afford that. Will you continue to help John Cornyn in the battle?”
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Netroots Nation: Waiting for Obama Girl
More evidence that they sent the wrong person to cover Netroots today: instead of listening in on the Latino Caucus session, which was my original plan, I’m hiding out in the chilly, but well-stocked Media Room waiting for Obama Girl.
I had no idea she’d even be in town (doesn’t she have a photo shoot and some short-shorts waiting somewhere?) but according to my new favorite person, Eileen Smith of In the Pink/Texas Monthly, she should be here “Around 5ish.”
I’ve been watching Smith and Karen Brooks of The Dallas Morning News shoot hilarious videos of each other and joking about their anti-Big-Media sticker. I think I’m in the right place.
I e-mailed my editors: “Obama Girl is supposed to be in the Media Room soon. I’m ON IT.”
Hunter S. would be so proud.
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Like real life, with more nude virtual dancing
A “Second Life” panel at Netroots Nation attracted more virtual participants than real ones.
About 30-40 people spread out all over the U.S. (and France) connected to the virtual online world of “Second Life” to participate in a conference where they couldn’t appear physically.
In Austin, however, only about 10 people showed up to see avatars on a giant screen and to appear on video in a giant real-life screen within the virtual world (got all that?).
Some of the participants, with names like, “Spokane Skytower,” “Lake Woebegone” and “John McCain Weezles” (wearing only a thong) boogied on a dance floor. (“Weezles” was being portrayed by a popular blogger.)
Keynotes from Netroots are being fed into “Second Life,” but this was a more intimate affair as people in “SL” greeted everyone in the room (they were also connected by voice via speakers).
It was Wonk Meets Geek. And pretty cool, honestly.
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Netroots Nation: Request for hazard pay
I don’t cover politics, so my apologies in advance for going wildly off-message from what this blog usually covers. (I cover personal technology, which is to politics what the former Planet Pluto is to a can of Pringles.)
Nevertheless I am here at the Convention Center covering Netroots Nation, more as an outsider blogging type than as a hard-nosed political reporter.
The first panel I’ve been to, “Craft Your Message” is in a huge, cavernous room with a giant screen and an enormous panelist table. It looks very expensive. The most number of people I’ve seen in the room so far at one time was 30.
Maybe they didn’t “craft the message” about this panel?
Nevertheless, I have learned that I am in no way qualified to ever run a campaign, political or otherwise. At the end of the presentation, several examples of good campaign ads were shown, and to be honest, they all looked identical to me, with the same lilting, Lite FM (or “Isn’t this sad?” guitar pluckings) background music, the same “I am going to do THIS and it will be AWESOME!” politicalspeak, the same authoritative bold fonts and the same insulting simplifications about the respective opponents.
My plea to the other people in the room is not that they change their ways because something must be working for them all to be employed. My plea is that they just don’t run any of these commercials on channels I actually watch.
Nobody told me that I’d have to sit through TV campaign commercials as part of my job.
I demand hazard pay.
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Netroots Nation: Caucus fail
The first caucus/session I tried to go to at Netroots Nation, “Moms’ Caucus” had this sign on the door:
That’s a bit of a hike. Think I’ll stay here and find somewhere else to go.
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Dean: No yelps, but a call to walk door-to-door
Howard Dean, fresh off a bus from Crawford, grinned his way today through an appeal to Democratic activists at the Netroots 2008 convention in Austin.
He called on them to walk door-to-door in their neighborhoods to encourage voter registration and then November turnout.
Dean said: “The most powerful people in America in getting people to vote are you; it’s not Rush Limbaugh or Bill O’Reilly,” a reference to two iconic conservative commentators. “You are more powerful than they are to the people that you know.”
The Democratic National Committee, which Dean chairs, launched a national voter registration drive this week.
On Dean’s watch, the committee also has vowed to stoke Democrats in every state, not just states most likely to tilt the party’s way. The approach is a new effort to widen the party’s appeal that appears to fit neatly with the no-holds-barred hopes of liberal political bloggers at the convention.
“I can see at the grassroots level he has a plan that’s working,” said Diane Palmer of Tempe, Arizona, who wore a pink “NH, Live Free or Die” cap. “We shouldn’t write anyone off, any state, any group.”
Dean, a former governor of Vermont, started the Texas portion of the drive this morning in Crawford, the hamlet close to Waco that’s also near President Bush’s ranch.
Dean reminded his Austin crowd that when he ran for president in 2004, he often ended speeches promising to send Bush into retirement on the ranch. He likened Sen. John McCain, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, to Bush, saying: “We don’t need four more years of George W. Bush.”
He excited Austin activist John Denson by stressing the need to turn out voters toward the goal of helping Democrats capture five Texas House seats, giving the party a majority in the 150-member body—and maybe a promising foothold toward Democrats playing a controlling role in the 2011 legislative session when lawmakers look again at drawing legislative and congressional districts, based on U.S. Census updates.
“We’re going to undo all those evil things Tom DeLay did,” Dean said, a reference to the GOP-majority Legislature’s redraw of congressional districts in 2003. At the time, then-Rep. DeLay was the U.S. House majority leader and a prime architect of the redistricting effort.
“Yeah yeah yeah, that’s right,” Denson responded to Dean. “That’s what we want.” (Denson said later he wishes Dean was showing up as a possible vice presidential pick for Obama.)
Dean also made cheery though not unexpected predictions to a few hundred folks, many holding “Democracy for America” and “Change We Can Believe In” placards in a partially shaded park just north of the Austin Convention Center.
Dean’s forecasts: Sen. Barack Obama, the Democrats’ presumptive nominee, is going to win the White House. And Obama will win Nevada and Florida, taken the past two rounds by George W. Bush. And he’ll take Michigan. And he’ll snag Virginia, which has tilted Republican in presidential elections.
“South Dakota,” a woman in the crowd suggested.
“I’m not gonna name every single state,” Dean said.
Winning the presidential election isn’t enough, he said.
“This is about taking long-term responsibility for your country,” he said. “We have to rebuild this country, and it is from the bottom up. We have to rebuild this country so that it stands for ordinary people again.”
Style note: Dean stepped down from the bus in khakis and a white polo shirt. It turned out that Boyd Richie, chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, and an aide were the only luminaries sweating out the midday rally in suits and ties.
Note of confusion: Right before Dean spoke, some crowd members chanted: “Four more years.” Eh?
Dean is expected to catch up with Austin-focused activists later this afternoon; more on that later. Indoors, he’s giving the convention keynote this evening.
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Live blog with 'Netroots Rising' co-author Nate Wilcox
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July 16, 2008
UPDATED: Godfather of liberal Netroots on the air today
Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, the godfather of liberal political bloggery, is penciled in as the guest on KOOP FM’s “Texas Politics Today.” He’ll be there from 2:30 to 3:00 p.m. Texas time; the station is at 91.7 on Austin’s FM dial and also streams live over the Internet here.
UPDATE: Moulitsas told hosts David Kobierowski and Deece Eckstein that too often “the Democrats are so afraid of themselves, they are so afraid of their own convictions,” and voters react accordingly.
Then again, he’s optimistic about Democratic chances in the 2008 elections, at least nationally. “Republicans have made such a mess,” he said. “You could be a monkey and win some of these (races).”
Asked to make a Texas prediction, Moulitsas said statewide wins depend on turnout.
An upset—say, Sen. Barack Obama over Sen. John McCain—is possible, he said. “I wouldn’t say it’s probable,” he said.
Weather note: Moulitsas began his appearance by referring to the typical July heat, saying: “It’s always nice to visit scalding hot Austin.”
Moulitsas is the founder and principal author of DailyKos.com, the political blog that lays claim to an average daily readership of over 750,000 people. Also, he’s written several books, incuding “Crashing the Gate: Netroots, Grassroots, and the Rise of People-Powered Politics” and the pending “Taking On the System: Rules for Radical Change in the Digital Era.”
According to KOOP, he’ll be talking about the netroots phenomenon and how it’s transformed politics, and giving his thoughts on the fall elections in Texas. Naturally he’s in Austin in anticipation of the Netroots conference starting Thursday.
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July 14, 2008
Cornyn has 10 times more cash than Noriega for campaign
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn outpaced Democratic challenger Rick Noriega in cash on hand through June by about 10-to-1, according to their respective campaigns.
Noriega had $915,506 in cash on hand at the time, his campaign says.
Cornyn, a Republican, will report a treasury balance exceeding $9 million, his campaign advises.
The financial reporting deadline is Tuesday.
Spin for Cornyn: He’s positioned to swamp Noriega in TV and radio advertising and direct mail. He has enough money to both define himself (a weakness to date, by some polls) and to define the little-known challenger (a weakness acknowledged in Noriega’s camp).
Spin for Noriega: The lieutenant colonel in the Texas Army National Guard is still the right guy for these tilting-toward-Democratic times. If he can nudge up the fund-raising — maybe get to half the original goal of $10 million with an infusion of out-of-state cash — he can match up with Cornyn sufficiently to make the race competitive.
Noriega is hoarding money better than the Democrats’ 2006 nominee against GOP Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas.
Through June 2006, Houston lawyer Barbara Ann Radnofsky had less than $350,000 in cash on hand. Hutchison, who had $9.2 million in hand at the time, ultimately beat Radnofsky, 62 percent to 36 percent.
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John Dean attending fundraiser for Travis County Democrats
John Dean, President Nixon’s White House counsel at the time of the Watergate break-in and cover-up, is slated to be among participants in this week’s Netroots conference in Austin.
I spoke with him 35 summers after he testified against Nixon before the U.S. Senate’s Watergate committee.
Among his comments: “Democrats need to keep their act together because my old tribe scares the hell out of me.”
On a lighter note, the Beverly Hills resident said he doesn’t hear Chairman Sam Ervin’s rumbling drawl in his sleep—nor does he have a handle on what caused the infamous gap in the tape recordings of Nixon’s conversations with aides.
Folks not attending the conference can catch Dean on Thursday night; he’s set to speak to the North by Northwest Democrats from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Waterloo Ice House at West Sixth St. and Lamar Blvd.
Dean calls himself an independent, but the Waterloo do is a fund-raiser for the Travis County Democrats. Dean could be signing copies of his latest book, a tome co-authored by Barry Goldwater Jr. on the late Sen. Barry Goldwater of Arizona.
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July 11, 2008
Fero: Tony Sanchez intended negative '02 run at Perry
Democratic consultant Kelly Fero of Austin walks back through the 2002 Texas elections—including Laredo businessman Tony Sanchez’s sudden rise and big fall—in an interview with Nate Wilcox. Though the interview took place in 2007, it’s just posted online because it plays into a book, “Netroots Rising”.
An excerpt:
…when I was first talking to Tony, very early, still in 2000. Sanchez and I were at the Four Seasons and he told me he wanted to run the most negative campaign ever. It registered with me later, after he ran one of the most negative campaigns in history.
Peek at the interview transcript here.
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July 9, 2008
Doozy or dud: Republicans pick Obama sticker
The Republican Party of Texas has declared a winner of its anti-Sen. Barack Obama bumpersticker contest.
Doozy or dud?
Peek below or order here.
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July 7, 2008
UPDATE: Richie floats changes to Democratic "primacaucus"
Boyd Richie, chairman of the Texas Democrats, floated two ideas to a party panel studying changes to the party’s method of choosing presidential delegates to its national convention.
Before the start of a hearing in Austin today, some party activists said the party needs to match states that award delegates to presidential candidates based on voting on primary day, rather than having about 25 percent of delegates picked at night-time caucuses.
“Caucuses are subject to mob rule,” said Frances Morey of Austin, who has supported Hillary Clinton for president. “And that’s what happened” this year.
Barack Obama gathered more delegates from Texas than Clinton, thanks to caucus turnouts, though Clinton led in the popular vote in the March primary.
Richie’s first idea: employ electronic voting at the caucuses, which drew 1 million voters in this year’s presidential primary. That could cost about $2 million, Richie said.
Idea two: shift the caucuses from the night of the primary to another day. Richie suggested holding the primary on a Friday and caucuses the next day.
Panel members are faced with a ticklish judgment — whether to preserve caucuses the party considers critical to small-donor fundraising and to building grassroots support or shift to choosing presidential candidates based on whoever turns out to vote at the polls alone.
D.J. Johannson, a Tarrant County activist on the panel, compared the rollicking, often chaotic caucuses this year to a 100-year flood, saying: “This isn’t going to happen all the time.”
Sen. Royce West, an Obama supporter, interjected: “Oh yes it will.”
West, a Dallas Democrat, said today’s kickoff hearing at the Eastview campus of Austin Community College will be followed by several public hearings around the state, leading to recommendations that might be weighed by the 2009 Legislature.
Today’s hearing featured party officials, but West said he intends to hold another hearing in Austin to hear from anyone.
“I want to make certain that we come to Austin to allow for input from the public,” West said before bringing today’s hearing to a close.
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June 30, 2008
Primacaucus hearing set for July 7
The Texas Democratic Party will begin a review of its now-notorious presidential candidate nominating system at a hearing scheduled for July 7.
A committee led by state Sen. Royce West of Dallas will hear from past and present party officials about the history and issues with the combined primary and caucus system.
The party’s unique system developed quite a national reputation because Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York won the primary vote but Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois ended up with more total delegates due to the caucus turnout.
Chaos at some caucus sites combined with the uncertainty about which candidate actually won more Texas delegates led to calls for reforming the Texas two-step system.
Party Chairman Boyd Richie formed this committee to collect testimony and recommend possible changes. The party is also gathering input through an online survey.
The meeting will be held at 10 a.m. on the Austin Community College campus at 3401 Webberville Road in Room 8500 of the Health Science Building.
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June 27, 2008
Hightower going to lake, Republicans to ranch
Former Texas Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower, calling himself “America’s No. 1 populist,” will be the guest speaker at a gathering tonight of the Lake Travis Democrats, a group whose members say they’re gaining ground in historically Republican territory.
Mary Ellen Roche, who handles public relations for the group, says anybody is welcome to the free barbecue starting at 5:30 p.m. at the Lakeway Activity Center, 105 Cross Creek Road.
“You do not have to be a Democrat,” Roche said.
Prefer a Republican alternative? Roger Williams, the former Texas secretary of state helming the Republican Party of Texas’ get-out-the-vote effort this year, intends to host an “All-Star Event” at the ranch he owns with his wife, Patty, on Saturday featuring Gov. Rick Perry, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Michael Williams, chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission.
General admission for the 5:30 p.m. event is $250 a person, though guests paying up to $10,000 get access to exclusive shoulder-rubbing. Early word is that more than $600,000 has been pledged.
To land a late invitation, call 866-789-9223.
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June 19, 2008
Russert once tried to hold Texas-centered debate
The unexpected death of Tim Russert, NBC’s mainstay in its coverage of national politics, brought me back to the time I briefly interviewed him. It was the fall of 2002 and Russert invited the Texas candidates for the U.S. Senate, Republican John Cornyn and Democrat Ron Kirk, to debate live on his Sunday morning program.
Cornyn accepted, while Kirk declined to make the Washington trip.
Before deciding against the joint appearance on network TV, Kirk told the editorial board of the San Antonio Express-News (the paper that had me watching the race that year) that he wasn’t inclined to take time for Russert.
Kirk said then that he had not planned to leave Texas in the last month of the campaign to appear on TV or for any purpose. He also called Russert a “huff and puff,” though to this day he insists he would not have hatched such a tame descriptive.
Russert was the host of “Meet the Press,” which then reached 6 million viewers a week.
When I reached him about Kirk’s comment, he was mystified.
“What is a ‘huff and puff?’” Russert said. “Sometimes candidates get tired and say things. I’m here to do my job, and I want to do a debate with the candidates from Texas.”
Dave Beckwith, a Cornyn campaign adviser at the time lately serving as the senator’s Texas chief of staff, remembers the Russert-debate back-and-forth this way:
“In 2002, Russert was just starting his now-established practice of screening a full hour debate in competitive Senate races. He called both camps to issue an invitation. Attorney General Cornyn accepted almost immediately, nearly three weeks before the planned date in September. Kirk stalled, and delayed a decision.
“Meanwhile, NBC aired what I believe was Russert’s first such debate, between Sen. Wayne Allard and challenger Ted Strickland. Russert asked both candidates about their plans to resolve the Social Security crisis — raise taxes, cut benefits, or what else? Allard touted private accounts. Russert pressed Strickland repeatedly, but he could not come up with an answer. He looked foolish.
“Early the next week, Kirk announced he would not be accepting the Russert invitation. Russert later told me that he had mixed success arranging these debates that first year, and in every failed case, it was the Democrat candidate who had refused to come on his show.”
Justin Lonon, Kirk’s spokesman at the time, said this week that the issue came down to Kirk’s busy schedule, filled with campaign stops and fund-raisers. “Ron was getting a lot of national exposure,” Lonon said, recalling that national and international reporters were already touring with him. “Getting national exposure was not a problem for us.”
Kirk agreed with Lonon’s recollection, adding that the campaign took the debate offer seriously. “I wanted to do it. With the travel, I just couldn’t give up three days 10 days out front of an election.”
“I was a Tim Russert fan,” Kirk said. “I liked the show… I respected him. He was a good guy, he was tough, he was fair.”
Kirk dismissed Beckwith’s theory that he dodged the Russert opportunity after the previous Democrat who debated a GOP opponent struggled. Kirk said: “That’s (horse puckey). We were not afraid. I was not afraid of debating John Cornyn anywhere. For us, it was just an issue of time.”
That’s all I know about what could have been a significant Russert moment in Texas political history.
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June 10, 2008
Beachballing at Democratic state convention
In case anyone has a wish-I’d-been-there feeling about the Texas Democratic Party’s state convention last weekend in Austin, here’s a video flashback from floor action during a break.
I’ll wager there won’t be beachballs afloat at the Republican Party of Texas convention this weekend in Houston.
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June 9, 2008
Texas labor leader switches to Obama
Texas AFL-CIO President Becky Moeller, chosen Saturday to be a superdelegate to the Democratic National Convention in August, has newly urged Democrats to line up behind U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, the presumptive presidential nominee.
At the party’s state convention this weekend, Moeller was a delegate for U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton for president.
“I am confident an AFL-CIO endorsement in the presidential contest will arrive before long, but today I am personally and independently urging Democrats, union members and open-minded independents across Texas to rally around Barack Obama’s historic campaign for the presidency,”” Moeller said in a statement issued Sunday.
“Hillary Clinton’s candidacy made a permanent mark on American political history. As a union activist and as a woman who has fought to break glass ceilings in my career, I joined millions of Americans who saw in Hillary the path to a better, more just society. Democrats in both camps worked to our utmost abilities in this campaign, and it is a tribute to Sen. Obama that he became the presumptive nominee against competition that touched a chord with so many Americans.”
“Now is the time to look at the bigger picture and unite. The issues facing our nation are too important and the gap between the candidates too great to let even the greatest of political primary struggles linger. Sen. Obama has shown he, too, can lead us to a better, more just society. I thank Ron Kirk and all the Obama campaign officials in Texas for declaring that from here on, all Democrats are invited to walk together toward victory in November. At this new juncture, I proudly, wholeheartedly and optimistically support Barack Obama for president. ”
“A new future is at hand for America. We know the path to positive change and we know the path to more of the same. By coming together around Barack Obama’s candidacy, Democrats will write the next chapter in an election for the ages and in the history of our great nation.”
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June 7, 2008
UPDATED: Watson sips clear liquid, wisecracks
Kirk Watson, the Austin state senator chairing the convention, needs to keep his voice hale and hearty. So he’s been sipping from a plastic cup of clear liquid—what the rest of us call water.
Then again, here’s what Watson said a moment ago, after a sip: “Tito’s Vodka is one of the best vodkas. And it’s made right here in my Senate district.”
I’d write that Watson then tumbled clumsily from view, but that would be incorrect—and plain wrong.
UPDATE: Watson spilled his cup a little while later.
“Uh oh,” he said. “I spilled my vodka.”
UPDATE II: Mindful that delegates needed more time to vote on two party positions, Watson said from the dais that he’d grant them three additional minutes. Besides, he said, that would give him time to go to the men’s room.
“Let’s see if both of us can get it done in three minutes,” Watson said, stepping away from the microphone.
Then he was back, adding: “Yes we can.” That’s an Obama campaign chant.
For the record, he made it back in time.
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Stemwindering, two challengers to Boyd Richie
Taking what appear to be longshot runs at denying Graham lawyer Boyd Richie a second two-year term as chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, two candidates spoke to delegates at mid-afternoon Saturday (though the convention floor at the Austin Convention Center appears to be emptying out, slowly but surely).
Neither one of them mentioned Richie by name—though one painted him as way old-school, out of step with the Obama/Howard Dean spirit of campaigning for Democrats everywhere.
San Antonio lawyer David Van Os vowed to get on a plane to Chicago to visit Sen. Barack Obama’s camaign and give them a “toe-to-toe” what-for to spend money on Texas so Texas will turn out votes for Obama and the Democratic ticket top to bottom.
“I am tired of hearing year in and year out that this is another rebuilding year,” Van Os said. “Now is the time to establish from the leadership of this party, the vision, the winning attitude, the shoot for the stars… we will put Texas in play. And I mean it.”
Fort Worth hospice worker Roy LaVerne Brooks, the state party’s vice chairwoman for the past two years, spoke very briefly. Mentioning the late Barbara Jordan, she said: “We can do it together.”
Richie got final say. More on his remarks soon.
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Obama wins Texas -- finally
Unless Democratic officials say otherwise later Saturday, it looks like Sen. Barack Obama will take 99 Texas delegates to the August Democratic National Convention in Denver with Sen. Hillary Clinton landing 94 delegates based on voting on primary day and at battles starting with the boisterous primary-night caucuses. It took this long to say (that’s three months since the March 4 primary) so for sure because the total depended on which Democratic delegates showed up for this weekend’s state convention.
So ink in the headline for sure: Obama Wins Texas.
That result was solidified this morning as Kirk Watson, chairman of the convention, announced the results of the presidential preferences recorded by delegates signing in for the state convention on Friday. Specifically, 7,239 delegates signed in; 4,144 for Obama (57 percent) and 3,088 (43 percent) for Clinton.
The 99-94 Obama edge doesn’t take in how 35 superdelegates from Texas will vote. Our pre-convention count of them had it 14 for Obama, 14 for Clinton and 4 undeclared, with three spots to be filled after party Chairman Boyd Richie nominates them; he hadn’t done so as of 11 a.m. Saturday.
Again: Obama Wins Texas.
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June 4, 2008
Elfant: Word expected soon on Obama, Clinton in Austin
Travis County Constable Bruce Elfant, in charge of security at this weekend’s Texas Democratic convention in Austin, expects to hear soon whether the party’s presidential candidates (Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton) will drop in on the convention Friday and Saturday.
Elfant confirmed Tuesday the Secret Service has been through the Austin Convention Hall, the convention site, though he reminded that such visits can occur for planning purposes without anyone knowing a leader is actually coming.
(Also fair to wonder: Why would Obama need another Democratic audience just as he’s focusing on broadening his appeal?)
Elfant said both candidates should come to what’s going to prove the nation’s next big Democratic do after Tuesday’s primaries.
“We’re going to have the ‘unity picture’ eventually,” Elfant said. “It might as well happen in Austin.”
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June 3, 2008
Lulu Flores: Clinton should fight on to convention
Austin lawyer Lulu Flores, president of the National Women’s Political Caucus, wants Sen. Hillary Clinton not to give up her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Flores, reacting to an Associated Press report Tuesday stating Clinton intends to concede to Sen. Barack Obama, said Clinton deserves a chance to persuade super-delegates — party dignitaries and Democratic members of Congress — that she would be the strongest November foe for presumptive GOP nominee John McCain, the Arizona senator.
The caucus, which endorsed Clinton for president in April 2007, has raised tens of thousands of dollars for Clinton’s campaign, Flores said, believing that her candidacy would be the one to finally place a woman in the nation’s highest elected office.
“We’ve waited. We have had 43 male presidents. We are probably about to elect our 44th. I hope not. I’m still not giving up,” Flores said.
Regarding Obama’s popularity, Flores said: “We are not selecting our next rock star. We are selecting our next commander-in-chief.”
Flores said she’d spend part of her afternoon telephoning voters in South Dakota and Montana, which have Democratic primaries wrapping up tonight. And, she said, she hopes Clinton puts off a concession to Obama — and that the super-delegates give her a chance to make the case that she’ll have a stronger chance of winning big states in the fall such as Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida.
Flores was in Washington over the weekend among Clinton supporters urging a national party committee to award Clinton the delegates she could have won for prevailing in early-against-the-rules primaries in Florida and Michigan. The party panel settled on an approach seating delegations from the states, with each delegate having half a vote at the national convention this summer in Denver — a result that diminished Clinton’s chances of closing much ground on Obama in pledged delegates.
Flores said some Clinton supporters were angry at the decision and threatening not to turn out for the Democrats in November; they chanted, “We’ll Remember in November.” Flores said she didn’t join that chant, but she did chime in on another signaling the battle for the nomination should go on to the national convention: “Denver!”
“I’d love to see it go to Denver,” Flores said.
“Let’s not be hasty,” Flores said of Clinton possibly ceding the nomination to Obama. “I really believe we might be making a serious mistake, a rush to judgment.”
Hear her off-stage advice here.
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June 2, 2008
Mauro: Hillary not quitting and could be in Austin
Garry Mauro, who’s steered Sen. Hillary Clinton’s Texas presidential campaign, insists that regardless of what happens in Tuesday’s primaries in South Dakota and Montana (where Mauro has been chasing votes for Clinton like the twenty-something activist that he’s not), Clinton won’t quit her chase of the nomination against Sen. Barack Obama by this weekend.
“She is not quitting,” said Mauro, who has known the candidate since they worked for Democrats in Texas in 1972.
Furthermore, Mauro said, he expects Sen. Clinton or Bill Clinton to speak at this weekend’s Texas Democratic Party state convention in Austin. “One of the two will be there; I don’t think there’s any doubt,” Mauro said, noting that Sen. Clinton had earlier told him personally she’d see him back in Texas.
“We’re not quitting before the state convention” Friday and Saturday, Mauro said. “I can tell you that unequivacably. She is not going to concede.”
Referring to delegates put in play at primary-night caucuses statewide, Mauro said: “We still have 67 delegates to allocate.”
Obama’s campaign said they don’t know yet if he’s headed to Texas for the state confab. The state party said it hasn’t fielded a confirmation from either candidate.
If Mauro is right on Clinton sticking with it, the state convention could be as raucous as the March 4 primary and evening caucuses—with a potentially giant twist. If Obama’s campaign enters the weekend a handful of pledged delegates shy of the total needed to clinch the nomination, the Texas convention just might give him the national edge he needs.
Then again, Mauro reminds, all pledged delegates and super-delegates (party honorees and members of congressional delegations) lately flocking to Obama will remain free to change their minds until the national convention in August.
Arguably, Democratic presidential politics haven’t been this touch and go since party rules were changed in the early 1970s to stem backroom bosses from controlling conventions. How voters feel about that might relate to who they support for president.
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May 30, 2008
Baselice: Cornyn leads Noriega, though he's under 50 percent
GOP pollster Mike Baselice says his latest poll of Texas voters (fetch it) shows U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican seeking his second term, with a 16 percentage point lead on Democratic nominee Rick Noriega, a Houston state representative.
Baselice’s sample must have been distinct from the sample corraled by automated-telephone-voice pollster who earlier found a tight race between the pair (see our blog on that here).
Among likely voters, Baselice found, 49 percent favor Cornyn, 33 percent for Noriega, and 16 percent undecided. The poll of 801 had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percent.
At a glance, three details leap out. First, Cornyn is just shy of the 50-plus percent threshold often used to gauge whether an incumbent is vulnerable. Second, he has a solid lead among Republicans (no surprise) and independents (a potential problem for Noriega), 46 percent of whom are aligned with him. Third, Cornyn leads in every region of Texas including Hispanic-rich South Texas, where he holds a 49 percent to 35 percent edge.
Noriega spokesman Tony Gray took note Friday of Baselice’s partisan background, of Cornyn’s standing shy of 50 percent and the 16 percent segment of undecided voters, who could be disgruntled with the status quo.
“I don’t think it’s anything for Cornyn to brag about,” Gray said.
Kevin McLaughlin, Cornyn’s spokesman, reacted: “While we don’t put a lot of credence in any polls, this poll is certainly more in line with what we have seen internally.”
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May 29, 2008
Cornyn: I've got pals in every county in Texas
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn wants everyone to know he’s got a campaign chair or two in every one of the state’s 254 counties. Peek at his interactive map here.
In Travis County—peek here—his co-chairs are Gail Suttle, last in the news taking on Ron Paul supporters at a district GOP convention, and Sheri Brummett, a Realtor, member of Austin Republican Women and the Associated Republicans of Texas. Cornyn’s camp says Brummet also helped start East Austin Republicans.
Tony Gray, spokesman for Democratic Senate nominee Rick Noriega’s campaign, said there’s no Travis County chair for Noriega’s campaign yet, but he’s “built, and continue to build, solid relationships in counties all across the state, and have a strong network through the Texas Democratic Party.”
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UPDATED: McCain voters crossed over -- and they're grouchy
Democratic strategist Leland Beatty told Capitol reporters on Thursday that according to a poll he conducted for The Texas Observer, 9.4 percent of voters in the Texas Democratic primary in March actually supported U.S. Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
Beatty said they may or may not have accounted for Sen. Hillary Clinton’s win of the popular vote that day over Sen. Barack Obama. Can’t say, he said, because he doesn’t (and can’t) know who the McCain-leaning voters actually voted for.
(Back story: In April, Democratic pollster Jeff Smith concluded that Republicans intending treachery were not responsible for the results in the Democratic presidential primary. I wrote about Smith’s take here.)
Beatty said that his survey — which singled out 1,500 first-time primary voters and 1,500 voters who had previously voted in a Republican primary — suggests a strong realignment is underway in Texas as more voters become “persuadable” to Democratic candidates, provided the aspirants have a positive message and enough campaign money to get it across.
Beatty, who has a background in farm issues, summed up this way: “It’s going to take some irrigation on that wheat to get a crop out of it.”
James W. Pennebaker, chairman of the University of Texas Department of Psychology, separately analyzed voter responses to Beatty’s queries on what they think about the presidential campaign so far and the Texas issues they believe most important to themselves.
Pennebaker said he ran the responses through a computer program fueling his conclusion that voters for Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were generally positive and optimistic, while voters inclined toward McCain were not.
The program reaches such conclusions by breaking down how often a speaker uses certain words. For instance, to gauge the mood of supporters of each candidate, the program counted the use of words like happy, good and fun compared to words like bad, mess and ridiculous.
The voters’ words indicate, Pennebaker said, that Obama supporters are cognitively abstract and complex, and upbeat. Clinton-ites are engaged, personally involved with political issues and positive in their thinking.
McCain supporters, he said, “tend to be emotionally distant. Most striking was their negative mood and dearth of positive emotions. This grouchy orientation may reflect a risk-averse approach to the world, as opposed to an opportunity-oriented way of thinking.”
Peek at the poll numbers here. Peruse the word analysis here.
Permalink | Comments (23) | Post your comment Categories: Democratic politics, Republican politics
May 22, 2008
Writing in first person, judge rules against LULAC
U.S. District Judge Fred Biery of San Antonio must be a breezy fellow; at the least, his ruling Thursday rejecting claims by LULAC and others that the Texas Democratic Party’s method of allocating delegates discriminates against Latinos has an opening light touch.
The essence of the ruling is Biery’s agreement with the party that Hispanic voters brought their lesser representation among Texas delegates upon themselves by not turning out in large numbers in fall governor’s elections — hence, he sees no constitutional problem.
Just as striking, perhaps, is Biery’s decision to write the first four pages of his 21-page order in the first person. Biery writes, for instance, that he was born in 1947, the year Brown v. Board of Education was filed. He says he was in one of the first integrated high-school classes to graduate 19 years later. He notes that racial discrimination occasionally kept then-U.S. Rep. Henry Gonzalez and his family from having picnics (presumably in public parks).
Then came the Voting Rights Act of 1965, barring discrimination against citizens of all races voting though, Biery writes, it does not dictate to parties how to choose nominees as long as all people have a right to participate.
In the order, Biery says he began attending Bexar County Democratic conventions as a grade-schooler. And, he reminds, he was appointed to the federal bench by President Bill Clinton “and I hope to shoot baskets some day with Sen. Obama.”
Finally, in a reference to Charles Soechting of San Marcos, a lawyer who helped Chad Dunn of Houston represent the party in the LULAC matter, Biery recalls that he was stopped for speeding by Soechting at a time that Soechting was a Department of Public Safety trooper.
“I represented myself in Justice of Peace Court,” Biery writes. “I lost.”
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May 21, 2008
Group goofs, lists Clinton as nominee by June
Scoop up this: By June 4, Sen. Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic nominee for president.
At least, that’s how she’s described on an invitation to a San Antonio banquet that day hosted by the non-partisan Southwest Voter Registration and Education Project.
Fetch the invitation for yourself here.
Lydia Camarillo, a vice president for the group, was unaware of the reference to Clinton as her party’s nominee when I inquired into the wording. She took the blame, though, saying: “That’s a big, big boo-boo”—and not a sign of any kind that the project keeps a crystal ball handy.
Clinton, who still hopes to overtake Sen. Barack Obama for her party’s nod, isn’t expected at the banquet, Camarillo said. Neither will others listed as receiving speaking invitations: New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, an Obama supporter, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.
Gov. Kay Bailey Hutchison will be there—I kid.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Democratic politics, On a Lighter Note, Presidential race
May 20, 2008
Chris Bell considers state Senate run
Chris Bell, the 2006 Democratic gubernatorial nominee, could be edging closer to a bid for the District 17 Texas Senate seat soon to be vacated by Kyle Janek, the Houston Republican who said in January he’s intending to resign his seat in June.
Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, who won election to the 31-member body in 2006 after being his party’s nominee for attorney general in 2002, has called Bell to offer encouragement.
“I’ve known Chris a long time, and was excited about the prospect he might consider it. I talked to him on Saturday,” Watson said.
“He would be a formidable candidate in that district because of his length of service in the Houston area,” Watson said, referring to Bell’s background as a one-term U.S. House member and before that as a member of the Houston City Council who ran for mayor.
“My guess is he’d start that race with the sort of name ID that an incumbent usually enjoys, maybe even better than an incumbent,” Watson said.
Bell told me he’s not decided to make the bid, but he’s considering it.
A potentially significant wrinkle: Bell has resolved nearly $42,000 in outstanding bank loans he reported on his gubernatorial campaign committee finance report filed in January.
“We negotiated a settlement of the amount of interest owing with the bank,” Bell said. “We will pay $26,000 as full and final settlement of the amount owing and that will be the end of it.” The money will be paid from his gubernatorial campaign kitty.
According to a published report—see the story here—two Republicans are already seeking to fill Janek’s footsteps: Houston lawyer Grant Harpold, a precinct chairman, and Houston money manager Austen Furse.
State Rep. Charlie Howard, R-Sugar Land, and Gary Polland, former Harris County Republican Party chair, are two others who reportedly have expressed interest.
Among Democrats, state Rep. Scott Hochberg of Houston has been mentioned as a contender, though if the special election coincides with November’s general election, Hochberg would be forced to choose between seeking re-election or chasing the Senate post.
Hochberg noted Tuesday that Gov. Rick Perry has not yet set the special election date. Perry doesn’t have Janek’s letter of resignation yet either, I’m told, though it’s expected any day now.
If Bell seeks the seat, he’ll enter knowing Perry won 39 percent of the district vote in 2002, with Bell drawing 30 percent and independents Carole Keeton Strayhorn and Kinky Friedman trailing.
In the closest non-judicial statewide race in the Senate district, Elizabeth Ames Jones won her race for the Texas Railroad Commission with 56.5 percent of the vote. Democrat Dale Henry took 43.5 percent.
Permalink | Comments (6) | Post your comment Categories: Democratic politics, Elections, Republican politics, Texas Senate
May 19, 2008
Judge cites gas prices, nixes hearing on LULAC suit
U.S. District Judge Fred Biery, citing gas prices, canceled a Monday hearing on LULAC’s lawsuit against the Texas Democratic Party over selection of delegates in the presidential primary. In his order issued Friday, Biery also signaled he might rule on the challenge without holding any hearings.
In a May 9 lawsuit, LULAC and others representing Latino voters charge the Democratic Party with violating Latino voting rights by tying the number of delegates sent to the party’s national convention from each state senatorial district to turnout in gubernatorial elections within the districts; that method results in more delegates from cities such as Houston, Dallas and Austin and fewer delegates from South Texas, where turnout tends to surge in March primaries and drop off in November when there are not many contested races.
Biery’s cancellation rationale appears in his order, fetchable here.
“While the Court realizes time is of the essence in this case,” his order states, “the Court wants to perform its task thoroughly, correctly, and in an orderly fashion. At this time, the Court sees no reason for a hearing with testimony. Moreover, numerous gallons of $4.00 a gallon gasoline would be expended for a significant number of persons to appear with the result being an oral presentation of already written arguments.”
Accordingly, his order states, the scheduled Monday morning hearing is cancelled.
The judge’s order also indicates he could rule on the LULAC challenge based entirely on briefs filed by the plaintiffs and the party.
“Based on the written briefs already filed and to be filed, and the Court’s own independent research, the Court intends to rule… unless it becomes clear (that) in court testimony is necessary,” his order states.
Biery acted after the party answered the lawsuit with a 35-page brief, submitted by the party’s general counsel, Chad Dunn of Houston, saying that at the least, the voting-rights challenge belongs before the District of Columbia circuit court and before a three-judge panel.
Besides, the party brief states, any diminution in Latino representation among delegates can be blamed on lighter turnout for Texas gubernatorial elections in Latino-rich regions. “The harm, if any, (that) Latinos suffer was self-inflicted,” the brief states.
Also, the party brief states, the delegate-selection rules are in keeping with state and national party decisions dating to 1988. The “delegate selection rules are adopted by the political party’s membership through democratic processes,” the brief states. The brief suggests that cancellation of the state party’s June convention would cause severe economic harm due to commitments for hotel rooms and other facilities already in place.
Fetch the party’s brief here. Get the original suit here.
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May 16, 2008
Shaheen, facing Sununu, raising money in Austin
Jeanne Shaheen, the former Democratic governor of New Hampshire, intends an Austin fundraiser June 2. She’s polled well in her rematch with Republican U.S. Sen. John Sununu, the former governor who edged her for the seat by three percentage points in 2002.
To inquire into Shaheen’s noon event at the Headliners Club, call Guy Selden at (202) 543-5704 or send an e-mail to seldengu@gmail.com .
Her campaign site is here.
In a quick search, I couldn’t come up with Sununu’s campaign site, but here’s his Senate site.
Factoid of the fray: According to blogs on Sununu’s candidacy, he is the youngest U.S. senator.
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May 15, 2008
Taibbi's Texas project, Hagee's "apology"
I visited this week with Matt Taibbi, a Rolling Stone contributing editor whose book, “The Great Derangement,” taps research he conducted by posing as a member of San Antonio’s Cornerstone Church, whose pastor is John Hagee. Peek at the column here or a book excerpt here.
Hagee, who had no immediate comment on the book when I called, has been under scrutiny lately for what some consider his anti-Catholic remarks as a minister. They’re getting special attention because he’s endorsed U.S. Sen. John McCain for president. This week, Hagee issued a statement interpreted as an apology in media coverage, though the statement I found on the Cornerstone is more an explanatory statement than a mea culpa.
“I am not now, nor have I ever been anti-Catholic,” Hagee says. See his press release here.
While my column focused on Taibbi’s time in Texas, his book presents some pointed commentary on doings in Congress that bear recall.
In one aside, the author describes the drone of an isolationist Tennessee Republican rising to speak on the floor of the U.S. House. Turns out that that Rep. John J. Duncan, Jr., assumed his post on the death of his father, who had been elected a dozen consecutive times. “Three hundred years from now,” Taibbi goes on, “the city of Knoxville’s congressman will be a Duncan opposed to the extension of foreign aid to Pluto.”
U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, gets a prime pasting in Taibbi’s recap of an effort by Barton after Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans to say the disaster demonstrated an emergency need to lift longtime restrictions on air pollutants from plants built after 1970 as spelled out in the Clean Air Act.
After Barton mis-summarized the measure, Taibbi writes, a Massachusetts Democrat on the committee hearing the matter said that if he’d given a similar summary to his constituents at a Massachusetts gas station, they “wouldn’t leave me in one piece.”
“Well, what I do at a Texas gas station, when people ask if I’m Congressman Barton,” Barton replied, smiling, “is this… I just tell ‘em I’m his driver.” The comment drew laughs all around.
A couple more then-House members get mention: Tom DeLay, then the House majority leader, and Chris Bell, the Houston Democrat who raised ethics questions about DeLay in his lame-duck last months in the House.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment Categories: Democratic politics, Elections, Journalism, Money, Presidential race, Republican politics, U.S. Congress, U.S. Senate
May 13, 2008
Obama chief taking job with Travis County Democrats
Ian Davis of Austin, a Democratic activist who’s been busy in the presidential race as a coordinator of Texans for (Sen. Barack) Obama, plans to leave his paid post with the Texas Freedom Network to steer voter registration and turnout for the Travis County Democratic Party.
Davis assumes the role Saturday, said Andy Brown, the county party’s chairman.
Davis and Brown declared a goal of adding 50,000 voters to the county’s roll of registered voters, which now numbers about 450,000.
Brown said: “We’ve got a ton of excitement generated in the primary” with new volunteers expected to pitch in this summer. “I see the primary as a springboard.”
Davis said: “We obviously can’t turn Texas blue by ourselves, but Travis (County) can and should do its part. We’re going to combine the latest innovative technology with all the grass-roots energy stirred up in the primary, and we’ll have some fun. Hopefully we’ll create a successful model that can build upon as we march into 2010.”
Austin-area Democrats are invited to the kickoff of the county party’s coordinated campaign, which is set for 1 p.m. Saturday at Nuevo Leon, 1501 E. Sixth St. That’ll be preceded by a gathering of Travis County delegates and alternates to the party’s June state convention from noon to 12:30 p.m. Saturday in the Mary E. Branch Gymnasium at Huston-Tillotson University, 900 Chicon.
I’m checking on GOP plans to knock on doors this Saturday; word is that Roger Williams, who heads the Republican Party’s statewide coordinated campaign, is leading a “walk to win” intended to reach 100,000 households that day.
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May 9, 2008
LULAC sues Texas Democrats over delegates
Making a stab at changing how Texas Democrats allocate delegates to the party’s national convention, two groups representing Latinos sued the state party on Friday saying the system short-changes Latino voters in violation of federal voting rights.
Hector Nieto, spokesman for the party, had no immediate comment except to say that the method of allocating delegates has been approved at past state conventions.
The suit, fetchable here, was filed in San Antonio by LULAC of Texas, the Mexican American Bar Association of Houston and six voters described as Democrats upset by the party’s method of rewarding delegates.
Luis Vera, LULAC’s general counsel, said LULAC wants a judge to toss the results of the March 4 primary because it believes delegates weren’t allocated fairly, considering Latinos invariably support the party’s nominees. The party bases the delegates awarded within each state senatorial district on the percentage of voters who turned out and voted for the Democratic gubernatorial nominee in the most recent previous general election.
A key factoid: Latino-heavy districts end up fielding fewer delegates to the national convention. Why? Turnout in those districts often drops in general elections partly because Democratic candidates in those districts face fewer serious fall races.
Vera, who supports Sen. Hillary Clinton for president, said it’s possible Clinton would benefit from a change in delegate allocations. Clinton, after all, bested Sen. Barack Obama across the Texas-Mexico border region.
“Of course, it’s possible,” Vera said. “That’s inconsequential. I could care less. This is not about Hillary Clinton and this is not about Barack Obama. My loyalty is to the Latino community.”
It’s going to be up to U.S. District Judge Fred Biery whether to take this suit seriously. He hadn’t acted as of the close of business Friday.
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May 6, 2008
Bullock bio stirs Jan Bullock and longtime aides
My story in Wednesday’s editions about the Bob Bullock biography by Dave McNeely and Jim Henderson—peek here—yields the first post-publication comments by Bullock’s widow, Jan Bullock, on the book, which is in its third printing and has drawn favorable reviews. It is viewable here.
Several longtime aides to the late lieutenant governor are similarly disappointed in “Bob Bullock: God Bless Texas,” with some saying the authors made an insufficient effort to tap their knowledge and experiences of Bullock. McNeely told me they deliberately did not do so partly because they didn’t want to cause one of the Bullock-ites to hurry their own book into print.
Glen Castlebury, who worked for Bullock for 20 years starting in 1974, said the authors could have started their research by querying people closest to Bullock.
“I would have thought they would have gone to the Bullock loyalists probably first (for interviews); it would have been most obvious (approach),” Castlebury said. “Then you would have gone out to talk to all the other turkeys walking the street to see if they had something to say.”
My sense is that Henderson was permitted to listen to a few oral histories given by Bullock friends and associates, as reported, because librarians at Baylor University didn’t initially know he was teamed with McNeely, who had a testy relationship with Bob Bullock.
Jan Bullock cut off public access to the histories until the year 2009, she told me, because she figured McNeely wanted to finish his book before President Bush left office that same year.
Bullock and Ben Rogers, director of Baylor’s W.R. Poage Legislative Library, said the authors did not delve into thousands of available pages of materials in the Bullock collection including newspaper clippings and “opposition research” Bullock’s campaign put together that put him in a vulnerable light.
McNeely and Henderson said they were told by Rogers in 2004 that bound newspaper clippings were not available. The library said it has no record of the request; Rogers initially said he didn’t remember the authors visiting together in 2004, later insisting they did not visit together.
The authors did not interview Jan Bullock, but they contacted her.
Henderson called her in 2006, saying he tried again later, without leaving messages. He said he expected she would call him if she wanted to visit.
McNeely delivered a draft manuscript to Bullock in February 2007. She shortly e-mailed Henderson, saying: “I can tell you two certainly did your research.”
McNeely then solicited her corrections, suggesting they get together.
If “there are things that are inaccurate, we want to get them corrected,” McNeely said in a March 30, 2007 e-mail. “…So let’s do get together as soon as possible.”
On May 4, 2007, Bullock wrote him to say she couldn’t help. She made her decision after sharing the manuscript with aides to Bob Bullock. Her letter states that she found mistakes, urban legends, gossip and distortions.
Henderson, speaking to the negative reactions, said in a recent e-mail to me: “Jan wanted to write her own book about Bullock. Didn’t happen. Get over it. Then she did her best to obstruct the writing of this book. Didn’t happen. Get over it. Then she did her best to block publication. Didn’t happen. Get over it. She apparently wanted to control everything written about her late husband. Didn’t happen. Ain’t gonna happen. Get over it.”
Bullock earlier told me: “I would have loved to see a grand book about Bob. He certainly was not an angel. And he was difficult, temperamental - my god, he was every adjective in the book… I mean, I have great stories. I have love letters that he’s written me that people wouldn’t even believe.”
A longtime Bullock aide, Mary Jane Wardlow, identified factual errors in the book including a reference to one senator serving in 1991 who took office in 1993.
In another part, Bullock is described as introducing senators to his forceful leadership style by rushing through measures. It’s placed in 1991 though it occurred in 1995. And, Wardlow said, the book mischaracterizes the late action in a legislative session catching the Senate up after the death of its parliamentarian.
Wardlow also said the book incorrectly describes Bullock’s funeral. Bullock did not repose on a floral altar; his body was in his coffin next to sprays of flowers.
Carolene English, another longtime aide, inquired last year into the UT Press’s method of fact-checking as the book approached publication. The UT Press said the book was vetted by two outside experts it did not identify and cleared by its Faculty Advisory Committee, which unanimously approved publication.
English said this year that details were muffed such as the fact that Bullock had surgery to remove one third of a lung (not most of it), and that he had deeper Texas roots than stated. She said the authors also missed Bullock intervening in the 1980s to ensure that Democrats created legislative districts winnable by black and Hispanic candidates.
McNeely said the record isn’t so simple. And, he noted, Bullock is credited in the book with hiring and promoting minorities.
Castlebury and John Moore, a longtime Bullock aide, told McNeely last year that he mistold episodes from the years during which Bullock was a heavy drinker. The two also did not specify what was incorrect.
Their stance, Castlebury said, amounted to “don’t feed the snake.”
John Keel, a Bullock protégé, presented McNeely with letters from individuals last year saying incidents in the manuscript didn’t happen; two stories were removed before publication.
McNeely informed Jan Bullock—who knew Bullock for 22 years and married him in 1985—of the excisions with a comment she did not appreciate, writing: “I might remind you that all of these things happened before you and Bob were married and before he quit drinking, and do not involve you.”
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment Categories: Agencies, Comings and goings, Democratic politics, Senate, Texas Senate
April 28, 2008
UPDATED: Colorado senator coming to Austin
U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colorado, plans a fundraiser in Austin on Saturday. Guests are encouraged to pony up $100 to $2,300. Fetch the invitation here.
Salazar, elected to the Senate in 2004, is that state’s former attorney general (like U.S. Sen. John Cornyn re. Texas). According to his campaign-posted biography here, Salazar is a fifth-generation Coloradan. He and his family have been ranchers and farmers in the San Luis Valley since before Colorado was a state. His family helped settle what is now Colorado and for generations before that farmed and ranched in New Mexico. His older brother, John, won election to the U.S. House from Colorado in 2004.
State Rep. Rick Noriega of Houston, the Democratic nominee for Cornyn’s Senate seat, won’t be joining Salazar on Saturday, Noriega’s campaign said, but intends to connect with him soon at a Salazar event in Houston.
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April 24, 2008
UPDATED: Arrangements for Lena Guerrero
Robert Earley, who was Lena Guerrero’s deskmate when they both served in the Texas House, has relayed the funeral arrangements for the former Travis County legislator:
Public visitation with the family is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Friday at Mission Funeral Home, 6204 S. First St. in Austin, with a rosary to follow at 7:30 p.m. in the funeral home’s Serenity Chapel.
A Mass is scheduled for 9 a.m. Saturday—this is an updated time—at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, 1206 E. Ninth St., followed by internment at the Texas State Cemetery. There will be a reception at the cemetery after that.
Permalink | Comments (17) | Post your comment Categories: Comings and goings, Democratic politics, House
Lena Guerrero dies
Lena Guerrero of Austin died Wednesday night in her sleep, a close family friend, Tom Duffy, said early Thursday. The former Texas House member and appointee to the Texas Railroad Commission was 50.
Guerrero was the youngest-ever president of the Young Democrats of Texas at age 21. She won election to the House in 1984 and served as an Austin representative until 1991. Energetic and intellectually curious, she quickly became a player on many fronts.
In January 1991, Gov. Ann Richards appointed Guerrero as the first Hispanic and first woman on the Texas Railroad Commission, targeting her for higher statewide office.
But Guerrero’s aspirations melted down when, while seeking election to the commission seat, she was forced to admit she had lied about having a University of Texas degree. Republican Barry Williamson easily defeated her.
Guerrero, one of several Texas Hispanic leaders who saw their promising political careers dissolve in the same generation, later called it a “pretty loaded question” when asked to analyze the effect of the Hispanic leaders’ falls from grace. (Former San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros and Former Texas Attorney General Dan Morales were undone by criminal charges while in office, Cisneros for lying to the FBI about payments he made to a mistress and Morales for steering money from a lucrative state settlement with tobacco companies to a lawyer-friend.)
“I think that you ought to expect the first layer of Latinos to be overly reviewed, to be highly at the front of the effort to be questioned excessively,” Guerrero said. “If any of us had done a number of the things that some of these other people — Democratic or Republican people — have done, we would have not been treated alike and have not been treated alike.”
Guerrero, speaking in 2000, three years after surgery for removal of two malignant brain tumors, looked forward, not back.
“What happened to Lena Guerrero is not nearly as important as what are we doing to grow Latinos and Latinas who can run and win and serve in public office and be leaders,” she said. “I don’t think we are spending enough time cultivating them.”
Permalink | Comments (150) | Post your comment Categories: Comings and goings, Democratic politics, House, Texas Railroad Commission
April 15, 2008
Colorado guv raising campaign money in Austin
The Democratic governor of Colorado, Bill Ritter, plans to stop in Austin next week to raise campaign cash. A private reception is penciled in for 5 p.m. next Tuesday April 22. To draw an invitation, call Holly Dixon at 512-634-3866.
Ken Oden, Travis County’s former county attorney, says he has known Ritter since the Colorado lawyer was the district attorney for Denver.
Oden, soliciting sponsors for the Austin event, called Ritter a “rising star in the Democratic Party… He will be our host for the Democratic (National) Convention in Denver and could use our assistance in preparing to serve in that important role at a very critical time. We are lucky to have such a positive and gracious person for America to see as the ‘face’ of the hosting state.”
Ritter, 49, who won his first term in 2006, grew up on a farm in Arapahoe County, Colorado, according to his state Web site, viewable here. He’s described as the first Colorado-born governor in more than 35 years.
A biographical excerpt: “In 1987, Gov. Ritter and his wife, First Lady Jeannie Ritter, left Denver to run a food distribution and nutrition center in Zambia, Africa. They returned home in 1990, and three years later Ritter was appointed as Denver’s top prosecutor, a position he held until January 2005.”
Odd, but true: When I punched in the Web address of Ritter’s campaign site, I landed directly on a form to make a contribution. Try it here.
Could just be that Ritter truly needs campaign fuel…
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Democratic politics
April 8, 2008
Jeff Smith: GOP crossovers not significant March 4
Just-completed research by Austin pollster Jeff Smith, who helps Democratic candidates, suggests that Republican voters didn’t widely cross over to vote in the March 4 Democratic primary in Texas. His breakdown—the first hard comparison of voters this year and voters in previous primaries—also suggests there was no surge in newly registered voters despite excitement about the GOP and Democratic presidential contests. Also, most Latino primary voters and most young primary voters cast ballots in the Democratic primary.
Smith’s review of crossover voting should put to bed serious claims that many Republicans leaped into the Democratic fray to keep Sen. Hillary Clinton’s presidential candidacy—and her battle against Sen. Barack Obama—off life support. Some suggested that a bunch of Republicans crossed over to make a little trouble for Democrats and believing that Sen. John McCain of Arizona was already the presumptive GOP presidential nominee—though he didn’t have his party’s nod secured until after he won Texas and other states.
Clinton won the Democrats’ popular vote in March, but is believed to be trailing Obama in total delegates from Texas because of Obama’s success in primary-night precinct caucuses. Each candidate’s delegate haul will be resolved at the state party’s June convention in Austin.
To be fair, there’s still a crossover wrinkle out there defended by GOP pundit/consultant Royal Masset, who believes Republicans held tremendous sway on the Democratic side. More on that below.
Smith compared files showing people who voted in party primaries this year and lists of voters in party primaries from 1992 through 2006. His 2008 list was based on reports from nearly all of the state’s 254 counties.
Less than 4 percent of voters in the Democratic primary this year voted in the GOP primary in 2006. Nearly 7 percent of the party’s primary voters voted in at least one of the three most recent GOP primaries. Nearly 12 percent voted in at least one GOP primary dating back to 1992.
Last month, GOP pollster Mike Baselice aired his doubts of huge crossover claims. Baselice noted then that 7.2 percent of the 2006 Democratic primary turnout consisted of voters who participated in at least one of the four previous Republican primaries (from 1998-2004).
Punch line: The share of crossover voters (Republicans voting Democratic) stayed about the same, historically speaking.
Put another way, more historically Democratic voters voted Republican than the other way around.
Two percent of voters in the 2008 Republican primary voted in the Democratic primary in 2006. Seven percent of the GOP primary voters voted in at least one of the three most recent Democratic primaries. And more than 17 percent of the primary voters voted in at least one Democratic primary dating back to 1992; that big share is a reminder, by the way, that Texas was more of a Democratic state nearly 20 years ago.
Voters in the Travis County Democratic primary weren’t out of step with the state. About 11 percent had voted previously in a GOP primary. Fourteen percent of voters in the county’s Republican primary had previously voted in a Democratic primary.
Masset speculated after the record primary turnouts that there’d been a huge GOP crossover in the Democratic primary. His abiding hunch: About 250,000 of nearly 2.9 million Democratic primary voters consisted of conservative/GOP-leaning independents who historically have skipped primaries. That is, they wouldn’t show up in any analysis based on looking solely at past primary voters.
“The majority of these Republican-leaning voters were not trying to sabotage the Democratic primary,” Masset said this week. “Most supported Obama and felt their vote meant more in the Democratic primary than the Republican one, which was over.” (All but over: McCain’s victories in Texas and other states led former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to exit the GOP fray. McCain is the presumptive GOP presidential nominee.)
Smith, informed of Masset’s take, noted that it’s untestable without surveying primary participants to divine if they’ve sat out previous primaries but voted Republican in November elections. Someone could do that, but it would cost.
According to Smith’s analysis, there wasn’t a surge in newly registered voters before either primary. Less than 5 percent of Democratic voters had registered since September, and a smaller share of Republican voters did likewise.
Two more factoids courtesy of Smith: More than 89 percent of Hispanic primary voters, whom voter surveys suggest leaned toward Clinton, voted in the Democratic primary. More than 77 percent of primary voters under age 30 voted Democratic too.
“For both parties,” Smith says, “the turnout in the primaries was not dominated by the usual suspects.” Nearly 60 percent of voters in the Democratic primary and about 44 percent of Republican primary voters had not turned out for that particular party’s primary before.
Finally, Smith cautions, his voting totals are not finally certified and his voting history records are incomplete.
Fetch Smith’s county-by-county breakdown here.
Permalink | Comments (5) | Post your comment Categories: Democratic politics, Presidential race, Republican politics
April 7, 2008
Tuesday's election day, again. Who can vote?
Travis County prepared some nuts-and-bolts questions-and-answers in anticipation of Tuesday’s Democratic runoff.
Among highlights: Any voter who did not cast a ballot in the March 4 primaries is eligible to participate in the Democratic Party runoff featuring a showdown for district attorney.
Q: Why is there a Democratic primary runoff? What causes a runoff?
A: State law requires a candidate to win a primary election by a majority (more than 50 percent) of the votes cast.
In races where no candidate received more than 50 percent, the top two vote-getters vie against each other in a runoff to decide the election.
Q: Who is eligible to vote in the Democratic primary runoff election?
A: Voters who participated in the first round of the Democratic primary on March 4th. Voters who did NOT vote in the March election (neither the Democratic NOR Republican primary).
Q: Who is NOT eligible to vote in the Democratic primary runoff?
A: Voters who voted in the March 4th Republican primary are not eligible to vote in this election.
Q: Will any type of special ID be required to vote?
A: No. Election workers will have information at the polls to let them know who voted in the primary elections.
Voters need any of the standard forms of ID: · Voter registration card · Driver’s license, student ID, or other official ID card · Passport · Copy of a utility bill, bank statement or other official document with voter’s name and current address · A PHOTO ID IS NOT REQUIRED
Q: Why isn’t there a Republican runoff election?
A: In Travis County, all the contests that were on the ballot March 4th have been decided, so no runoff is necessary.
Q: Where do we vote? Are the Election Day polling places the same as they were for the primary?
A: A total of 162 Election Day polling locations will serve 210 precincts in Travis County. Voters who vote on Election Day should double-check their polling place before heading to the polls, because more than 40 locations are combined for this election.
See the county’s polling places here.
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