Key Point: The Google ads (for when they disappear) have an image of Jack McDonald and say, "Real leadership means taking a stand on the issues." In fact, Michael McCaul is the one is standing down -- and could not so much as lick a stamp -- while he lost the largest defense contract in his district and the 3,000 jobs that came with it.
Oh, the irony.
Yesterday, I wrote a lengthy post about how Republican Congressman Michael McCaul Dropped the Ball and lost 3,000 Texas jobs. The story was picked up and received some links from the Texas Tribune, KUT, KSAT, and several other traditional and new media sources. The highlights (or lowlights, as they should be called) were that:
Michael McCaul had absolute no written communication with the Department of Defense about the defense contract BAE Systems lost. In fact, the communication he had was so non-existent that he and BAE Systems admit to being "blindsided" by the contract change. (Source: Department of Defense)
The defense contract McCaul lost was the single largest defense contract in his district, and 3,000 Texans are likely to lose their jobs because he dropped the ball. (Source: Austin American-Statesman)
McCaul has provided no proof of any communication with the Department of Defnse about the contract, and only now -- after the fact -- has solicited the help of high profile Democrats Chet Edwards and Bill White to help save the jobs (which, hopefully, they can do). (Source: Virtual Capitol)
That post -- which generated quite a lot of traffic and buzz -- is now the reason that Michael McCaul ads are running on Burnt Orange Report. As Google searches the "Texas news" sites across the internet, it comes across the keywords in our post -- predominantly, Michael McCaul. As a result of that, we now see his ads running on our site -- which is great for the BOR staff because that means some more money from advertising generated for everyone.
So -- thank you, Michael McCaul, for paying for the coffee we drink, the chicken sandwiches we buy, and the small dollar contributions we make to your opponent, Jack McDonald -- an opponent who is going to defeat you in November 2010, no matter how much you try to advertise on our site.
The Google ads (for when they disappear) have an image of Jack McDonald and say, "Real leadership means taking a stand on the issues." The idea that Michael McCaul is the one who is taking a stand -- when he could not so much as lick a stamp in order to help save the largest defense contract in his district and the 3,000 jobs that came with it -- is purely laughable for any BOR readers who McCaul could hope to advertise with.
Let's take a look at some of the issues Michael McCaul has stood down on:
Michael McCaul Has Stood Down and Supported Rush Limbaugh's Attacks on Sonia Sotomayor (Source)
Michael McCaul Has Stood Down and Allowed Property Tax Rates to Increase (Source)
Michael McCaul Has Stood Down and Allowed Student Loan Interest Rates to Increase (Source)
Michael McCaul Has Stood Down and Allowed Insurance Companies to Block Meaningful Health Care Reform (Source)
There are dozens more instances -- I'm sure -- of McCaul standing down and allowing special interests and Republican ideologues to run him over. Those are the ones that took me forty seconds to find here on BOR. The simple truth, though, is that Michael McCaul doesn't work hard, and doesn't really care about his job. He is a career politician whose support of the far-right policies do a tremendous disservice to his district -- and his complete ineptitude has led to nearly 3,000 Texas families losing their jobs.
Michael McCaul -- if you want to advertise on BOR, by all means. KT will just collect the ad revenues and send all the money to Jack McDonald, the man who will soon replace you in Congress.
So, I've wondered what will happen to Harris County candidates' ads because of Hurricane Ike. What's the right balance to strike in taking your campaign to the airwaves. One has to be respectful, yet you do have to continue on with the campaign to offer voters education about the candidates.
Here's an example from David Mincberg who's running for Harris County Judge. Thoughts?
John Cornyn has voted with George W. Bush more than 95% of the time and has taken $1.3 million from big oil companies while Texans are facing skyrocketing gas prices. He's taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from drug and insurance companies while cutting health care benefits to Texas children and keeping drug costs high for Texas seniors.
And now, he wants us to believe he'll bring change to Washington? Who does he think he's kidding?
Remember, you can help Rick fight back for just $1 in the ongoing Blue America PAC contest.
Titled "Big John" (overcompensating much?), this ad was created by Senator John Cornyn's staff and aired at last week's State Republican Convention in Houston.
Maybe Cornyn has a sense how ridiculous this ad looks as he was quoted by the Austin American-Stateman saying...
"My staff convinced me it was a good idea," Cornyn said. "Maybe I need a new staff."
Maybe we just need a new Senator. Support Rick Noriega.
Big John Cornyn had to speak at a convention,
Oh my, what to say, with all that attention!
He queried his staff, they dwelled on the matter,
'Til finally they settled on iambic quadrameter!
"A cowboy to narrate! Some bales of hay!"
Then Cornyn responded, "but isn't that gay?"
"Nay" said his staffers, "It's rugged, and tough!
It's hard-working and white; you'll look crazy buff!"
So Cornyn agreed and they made this video,
It's shockingly gay; they thought it was witty yo!
Dear god, it's hilarious, to a cosmic degree,
'Cause this is what happens when egos run free.
P.S. Rick Noriega just passed 8000 online donors! Pile on.
Today our campaign released a new ad, entitled "Only One," which details a hostage situation in Iraq that then-Congressman Richardson was called upon to defuse. In the 60-second spot, Bill Barloon, the late David Daliberti, and his wife Kathy Daliberti praise Richardson for obtaining the release of the two men from Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in July 1995.
If the site is slow or even down at times today, we're aware of it. From what I can tell it's because of upgrades and updates to the Soapblox network and server. Just wanted to let you know so you don't have to e-mail or IM us.
In addition, if you read the site live and not via RSS, you have probably noticed that there are new ads in the extended entries of posts. BOR is part of a one month trial with Google which is testing new video ad content so for the next 3 weeks those will be taking the place of the flatter text ad units that were embedded in the individual entries. Check them out, I'd be curious as to hear what your feedback is.
Additionally, you will notice new flash style BlogAds to the left- two of which are running right now. One is for Chris Dodd's bill to restore Habeas Corpus while the other is for John Kerry's push to set a deadline to end the war in Iraq. You can actually submit the information in the ads without ever leaving this blog- cool new stuff.
It's been more than a year since John Courage announced his bid to run for Congress in Congressional District 21. It was September 17, 2005 on the Texas State Capitol grounds that John started this political journey. A bus full of supporters came along on that announcement tour. Change was in the air.
(You have voted 4 times on-line, have you voted yet in real life? - promoted by Matt Glazer)
On behalf of Team Courage, and from the bottom of my own heart, I want to say THANK YOU to the blogosphere, the Netroots, and all of the voters who helped me win another online victory yesterday. At 7:01 p.m. EST, we learned that we were one of the three winners in John Kerry's PAC's "3 at the Buzzer" poll. Along with my fine Democratic colleagues, Senate candidate Jim Webb and congressional candidate Dan Seals, we are honored to have garnered the most online votes in the field of 17 Netroots candidates, terrific challengers all.
The prize is to be featured in Sen. Kerry's final fundraising email of this election season. With more than 3 million email recipients in his list, Sen. Kerry can give us a major boost at this critical point in the campaign.
