Rick Noriega Update

Some of this old news, but I'm playing catch-up:

Stupid Thing To Say: This from the Houston Chronicle by way of BurkaBlog: Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mikal Watts of San Antonio once tried to pressure a legal opponent into a $60 million personal injury lawsuit settlement by claiming he would have an advantage on appeal because of his firm's heavy campaign financial support to an appellate court's justices, "all of whom are good Democrats." Yeah, that's pretty dumb. But the more interesting thing is Burka's analysis: "Noriega has a great personal story; the question is whether he can raise enough money to get it out to the electorate. Watts has oodles of money, but no compelling personal narrative. The question is whether money or an Hispanic surname is the greater asset in a Democratic primary. Does the name 'Victor Morales' mean anything to you? It meant something to congressmen John Bryant and Jim Chapman, who lost the 1996 Senate primary to the unknown schoolteacher, and the Hispanic vote means more in the Democratic primary today than it did then. ... If Watts wins the primary, his background as a trial lawyer will hurt him, but [John] Cornyn will carry a lot of the baggage that has piled up during Bush's second term. Watts will have enough money to focus the race on Cornyn's record. Noriega has the better shot to beat Cornyn--if he can raise the money.

Tough Time at UT: Things didn't get any better for Watts in his appearance at UT on Wednesday. I think the TCU football team got a better reception than he did. By contrast, Noriega did very well on the 40 Acres last week.

Rick Doesn't Like Bloggers? That's news to me. This is a HUGE non-story. When I met him in Dallas recently, he was very enthusiastic about blogs in general and my blog specifically. Rick's a great guy and he has my vote.

Lest We Forget: Three weeks ago, seven paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne penned an op-ed in the New York Times questioning the effectiveness of the Iraq Surge. On Monday, two of the op-ed's authors, Sgt. Omar Mora and Sgt. Yance T. Gray, died in a vehicle accident in western Baghdad. Noriega wrote yesterday about the loss of Sgt. Mora, who was from Texas City. "It is the right of every citizen to speak their mind, as Omar's brother, Roger told the Houston Chronicle -- a right that belongs to civilian and soldier alike, regardless of rank. Voicing one's opinion, especially from a soldier, is very difficult when 'management' is wrong. Omar, and his fellow soldiers had a better understanding of the cultural matrix in Iraq than what gets reported by the media, he had walked the walk. He spoke from experience when they said 'we operate in a bewildering context of determined enemies and questionable allies, one where the balance of forces on the ground remains entirely unclear.' Sgt. Mora and his soldiers concluded their editorial by making clear 'as committed soldiers, we will see this mission through.' He lived up to his word. Now the challenge lies with the rest of us to listen and bring this mismanaged war to an end." Amen.

Money From Swift Boat Bob Perry: The Startlegram reported that Noriega has taken four contributions totaling $7,000 since January 2006 when Perry's role in the Swift Boat campaign became known. Personally, I wish Rick would give the money back, but I'm willing to wait and hear and explanation.

Republicans for Rick Noriega

Republicans for Rick Noriega? It's not that far-fatched reports the Half Empty blog.

Houston business leader Massey Villarreal announced that he is forming a “Republicans for Rick Noriega” committee to support Rick Noriega’s campaign for US Senate from Texas. This is a guy who was the national Hispanic vice-chairman of the Bush/Cheney for President Campaign and deputy vice-chairman of the Republican National Convention in 2000. He is supporting Mitt Romney for president, and voted for Kay Bailey Hutchison for Senate.

“I have told Senator [John] Cornyn I am disappointed because what his words are, and what his actions on the Senate floor are, are two different things,” Villarreal said.

“It’s disappointing he voted for those [immigration bill] amendments. Those amendments were mean-spirited in nature. I believe he is appealing to the base and I’m sorry, the base will have to come out strong to re-elect him because the Latino community won’t be there for him.”