You know, I had just about written off the Lone Star State as a lost cause. Any state that would give Slick Rick Perry such a long term at the helm would not seem to be taking full advantage of everything that representative democracy has to offer. However, we have a few glimmers of hope lately:
Senate District 10: There's blood in the water, at least according to The Lone Star Project. The ethically-challenged Kim Brimer, who pioneered the sleazy practice of using special interest campaign contributions to make mortgage payments disguised as "rent" on a second home kept in the name of a spouse. Brimer used the scheme to funnel over $200,000 to his wife to pay for a second home in Austin. Enter Wendy Davis. Sure, she's well liked in downtown Fort Worth, but how will a Democrat play in the red collar suburbs of Colleyville, Grapevine, and Euless? Reports that she donated to George W. Bush in 1999 as well as Kay Granger may make her a little more acceptable. But will that make her less likeable to Democrats? Will Tarrant County Democratic Party Chairman Art Brender decide to run? Who knows? But PinkDome has isolated one huge factor in her favor: she's much hotter than Brimer.Fort Worth City Council Race: Of course, the real reason that the Caravan is excited about Davis taking an early exit from the City Council is the open door for Bernie Scheffler to run again. The Startlegram finally got around to calling Bernie for a Saturday story. Bernie told the S-T: "It came a little earlier than I expected it to," he said. "I think I'm still going to be one of the smaller candidates, campaign-funding-wise. But there will be one familiar name on the ballot, which will give me an advantage, unlike the last time, when I was a political newcomer." Looks like one opponent will be Joel Burns, a member of the city Zoning Commission and chairman of the Fort Worth Historic and Cultural Landmarks Commission, announced his candidacy via e-mail Friday. I'd like to encourage all my regular readers to take a minute to visit Bernie's campaign site at I Heart FW and read a little about the man and if you could, send a few dollar his way. He's not a big-money establishment candidate, his money comes from small donations from regular people sending in a few dollars at a time. Help if you can.Rick Noriega: There was a great post on Job's Anger about another ethically-challenged Republican, John Cornyn, who not only voted against ethics reform, he opposed increasing the funds available for the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Great guy, Cornyn. Why help children when you can help the fat wallets in the insurance industry get fatter. Enter Lt. Col. Rick Noriega. This is the guy I want representing the great state of Texas for me in the U.S. Senate. And as long as I am trying to pry money out of your wallet, send Rick Noriega some, too. He's got an uphill battle against Cornyn in the money department. He needs your help. And we need him.Kinky in '10? Well The Kinkster hasn't ruled out another tilt at the wildmill in 2010, as a Democrat no less. He's already got my vote. Just tell me where to show up. I can't quit you.
2 comments:
I received a lot of flak from fellow left-wing bloggers in 2006 because I supported the Kinkster (in fact, some are still holding a grudge). But I'm with you. I'm back on board the minute he announces.
I think that Kinky was kind of a bellwether event. When he ran, he tapped into the fact that something is really, really wrong in this state. At the Kinky events I worked, I found his supporters to be made up of as many Republicans as Democrats. I think it's going to take a critical mass of fed-up Republicans in this state to move things away from the Rick Perry kleptocracy. I think we are starting to see that now. If the Democrats game things the right way, they could take one of the houses of the Lege in 08 or 10.
Oh, and I really liked the Kinky Friedman talking action figure. That helped too.
Post a Comment