The other week, we posted a clip from Brester McCracken's office opening. (See it here if you missed it). The Leffingwell Team has spliced together a little youtube piece as well which you can watch below.
Also of note on the Leffingwell Blog, former Land Commissioner Garry Mauro has endorsed Lee as well as Travis County Commissioner (Pct 2) Sarah Eckhardt who represents large chunks of central and northwest Austin which turn out in higher rates in municipal elections than other parts of town.
This is actually a pretty interesting round-up introducing the official kick off the Austin Mayor's race in the local media's eyes as produced by KXAN. Also, if you are very sharp eyed, you might recognize a couple BOR writers at the 35 second mark.
Also, it was interesting to see the relatively unknown Jason Morales on camera who was quoted with this statement in the story.
"I know Austin needs a professional, someone who has been in the trenches, someone who has dealt with finances, someone who has dealt with a budget." said Morales. "The city needs someone who knows how to tackle these issues and do it efficiently. I know Austin needs that. I know Austin needs a CEO, so I'm stepping up."
Congrats to him for actually getting one of the precious few campaign quotes. Burnt Orange Report is actually attempting to schedule some time to meet with Mr. Morales who recently created a user account here, but I do have to ask the following question.
Given the current climate of American corporate business and banking management, is saying Austin needs a CEO is the best messaging?
ed. note. Kudos to KXAN for actually having embedable news segments. KVUE could learn a thing or two from them.
Yesterday, I went to the campaign office openings for both Lee Leffingwell and Brewster McCracken. I went both as a writer for the Burnt Orange Report and as someone who really wants to here from both sides in order to make a personal decision. That is, I have not yet decided who I am voting for in this race.
When considering the two events, the most telling fact is that they were not close to the same thing.
Lee Leffingwell's event was the party before their supporters' work began. Brewster McCracken's event was the beginning of their work. Leffingwell had a keg flowing, Ruby's Barbeque at a buffet, and homemade brownies. McCracken's campaign put out a dessert tray, and it was a much more solemn affair.
Lee Leffingwell was introduced by Councilman Mike Martinez, a strong symbol of Leffingwell's institutional support. When a councilman running for reelection backs you, you know you've got some big names. Other appearances I noted were of John Sharp, Chris Riley, and apparently a couple former mayors. I saw none of these public office holders or hopefuls at the McCracken event.
Brewster, in fact, was not even introduced by someone else. A staffer let out a loud whistle to gain everyone's attention, and Mr. McCracken stepped up to speak. He used his blanket charisma to hold on its own, too. (In contrast with the Leffingwell campaign, which used a microphone.) It was effective, too. The speech McCracken gave was a strong campaign speech. Leffingwell gave a good speech, too; but I noticed that Leffingwell made a personal plea to supporters for volunteer work, and McCracken delegated that job to Temo Figueroa, a former national field director from Barack Obama's primary campaign.
When Mr. McCracken was done speaking, it was time for his supporters to hear the game plan for victory, and then to sign up to help. At the Leffingwell event, I feel that many people finished socializing a tad before leaving. For both, though; the real work started today. Both campaigns sent block-walkers to the streets.
I feel that all of the above, in basic, shows the core difference between the way the campaigns decided to start their work. And oddly, it was a stylistic difference, for the most part.
A few more observations:
- The Leffingwell event attracted a significantly larger crowd.
- McCracken campaign Headquarters are apparently in the geographic center of Austin, but the Leffingwell Headquarters are in downtown Austin. Notably, Leffingwell's HQ is more accessible to UT students, a group I'm sure both campaigns are hoping to get volunteer hours from.
- Speaking of UT students, I recognized a group of them at each event. Every student I noticed at the Leffingwell event is or has been involved with the University Democrats. Every student I noticed at the McCracken event is or has been involved with Student Government, including the student body President.
- Leffingwell had yard signs readily available for supporters to take. The McCracken campaign had both signs and t-shirts, but asked for suggested donations when getting them. I don't know if this actually says something about the two fundraising strategies, but I thought it was notable.
(Both Leffingwell and McCracken will be kicking off their campaigns tomorrow. McCracken's kickoff will be from 4pm to 6pm in the Village Shopping Center at 2700 W. Anderson Lane, Ste. 901. Here's more info on Leffingwell's kickoff. - promoted by David Mauro)
You're Invited!
Join Council Member Lee Leffingwell, supporters and friends, as he officially kicks off his campaign for Mayor of Austin!
Come on out tomorrow and help us celebrate with free barbecue, beer and music. You'll have a chance to chat with Lee, meet our talented and homegrown staff, and check out our very cool campaign headquarters.
Lee Leffingwell for Mayor Campaign Kickoff and Headquarters Grand Opening Saturday, Feb. 7, 2-4pm
700 N. Lamar
(across from BookPeople - where Eclectic furniture was)
Free BBQ, music and fun!
Feel free to bring friends, family and folks interested in learning more. If parking is tight, you can park in the garage in the Bookpeople lot or in the empty lot at 8th and Lamar.
Austin: Has anyone else seen this sign at a car wash near West Lynn and West 5th street near downtown? Apparently it has been up for a few weeks. Anyone have info on it?
Just nine month after graduation, Jason earned and A.A. in Engineering and Business with seamless ease and is considered by his professors and peers to be brilliant and a light for our country's future. By 2003, he was the sitting CEO and founder of three prosperous Finance and Investment Companies and a self made multi-millionaire. As a young, self-taught CEO, Jason rose up as a leader in the Finance industry and became a well-respected and valued professional amongst field leaders. His experience and success in the private sector have proven Jason a capable and talented business professional. In 2007, at the age of 26, he retired from the private sector, sold his companies and donated most of the proceeds to charities.
Should it bother anyone that neither he nor his treasurer Lee Zucker bothered to register to vote until after he filed the treasurer report on January 21st? Jason's doesn't come active until February 25th.
Fredericksburg: Two term incumbent Tom Musselman has announced he's running for re-election to a 3rd two-year term. If you know some folks out in Fredericksburg tell them to visit his website and sign up to help. This year he's also accepting contributions for his campaign...
Houston: I missed this earlier, but Annise Parker announced her campaign for Mayor of Houston. I'm inclined to support her.
The Houston GLBT Caucus has issued an early endorsement.
After using a similar design in campaigns for several statewide offices including Governor, her campaign for Mayor has adopted a logo that drops her famous "One Tough Grandma" slogan and her last name altogether.
Although she sued to try to get "Grandma" included with her name on the ballot in 2006, her mayoral campaign website makes, as far as I can find, not a single mention of "One Tough Grandma."
Dropping the last name(s) may be designed to distance Strayhorn from her past as a Republican statewide elected official. In a Democratic city that gave her less than fifteen percent of the vote when she ran for Governor, she must walk a thin line between touting her experience and avoiding her Republican past. Whether it will work, well, while I wouldn't bet on it, that still remains to be seen.
(Be sure to tune in tomorrow night! - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
Just thought you all might be interested, my fellow co-hosts and I will be interviewing Brewster McCracken in his capacity as candidate for Austin Mayor.
If you have any questions you'd like us to ask him, please include them in response to this blog posting for the radio show.
When: Wed Feb4 @ 8PM
Where: 91.7FM KVRX or listen.kvrx.org Why: Interview with Brewster McCracken
Call-in #: 512.495.5879(KVRX)
Tons of Fun is a political free-form talk show on 91.7FM KVRX - UT-Austin's student-run radio station. ToF was awarded an Honorable Mention in Public Affairs radio from the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association in the spring of 2008.
TO: Sandy Baldridge; Mike Levy
CC: Sandra Ramos
SUBJ: We're Waiting...
Dear Mike & Sandy,
So you've either filed a treasurer report that specifically notes you are not a candidate for Mayor, or you keep promising that you are going to run but don't actually do anything.
What gives?
Rumored candidates don't win elections, just real ones. Yeah, we know filing day isn't even technically here yet but it's hard to take y'all seriously. If you are going to grace the city ballot with your presence, would you kindly let us know?
Interesting of note, that it's not simply his name as the URL, the slogan mirrors that from his official announcement, and that it was announced very first on Twitter. Also, they are launching with 650 supporters which I think is more than any of the other mayoral candidates launched with.
Leffingwell said: "I'm honored to start this campaign with the strong support of such a broad cross-section of our community, and I'm looking forward to working with them, and many others, to win this race and help get Austin on course to a better future. I'm also very excited to launch our campaign website and open our campaign headquarters today. This mayor's race will be a contest of ideas for a city of ideas, and I am anxious to continue to lay out my record and my vision for Austin voters to judge."
Overall, I like it. Smart use with the splash page to increase signups, and their blog has the ability to comment. I'm glad to see more campaigns adopt a level of open feedback- so many view it as a "risk" when in reality, I don't think that it loses you a single vote (the fear that someone will write something negative about you). At worst, you have to moderate, at best, you can respond and it give a reason for coming back to a campaign site.
Also, the campaign has moved into a new headquarters at 700 North Lamar, and has scheduled a campaign kick-off event there on Saturday, February 7, from 2:00 - 4:00 PM. Locals may remember that as the former home of the store Eclectic which is catty corner from Whole Foods.
I'm bound to go hang out at campaign offices that candidates open up if they don't mind me sitting around blogging, chatting, and listening in exchange for for some wireless and a change of scene. Being in this space as an activist journalist, I often find that some of the most interesting stories and gossip can be found around a table stuffing mailers and doing campaign grunt work.
P.S. Anyone know of physical campaign offices for other campaigns? Post in the comments.
Usually one of the first organizations to endorse, Austin's Police and Firefighters Associations have once again come out early and are backing Lee Leffingwell in the Austin Mayor's race.
Leffingwell said: "For many people, Austin's first responders are the real face of city government. It's been my honor to work closely with Austin police and firefighters over the last four years to help keep Austin safe, and I'm looking forward to building on our strong relationship over the years ahead to make Austin an even better, safer city."
During his time on the City Council, Leffingwell has led an effort to consolidate all City police groups - the Austin Police Department, Parks Police, Airport Police, and City Marshals - with uniform standards for hiring, promotion, training, and operations.
The two public safety endorsements are expected to give Leffingwell's week-old campaign an early organizational boost heading into the May contest.
The McCracken campaign replied with the following.
"Ensuring the public's safety is one of the Austin City Council's most basic responsibilities, and making sure the public safety union contracts are fiscally responsible is equally important.
"While the public safety unions and I have disagreed on budget issues, I deeply value their members' commitment to our community.
"As Austin's mayor, I pledge that I will remain independent in tackling our city's budget challenges, and I will be fair to Austinites and all city employees."
I don't think this set of endorsements comes at much of a surprise, but these groups are some of the largest traditional players and Leffingwell needed them in his corner early and he got that. Their PACs will offer up some independent expenditures more than likely as well as helping with highway signage around town.
Update: From the comments, welcome Stephen.
Lee has proven through his steadfast support of Austin's public safety agencies, and particlarly it's public safety workers, that he is the right candidate for Mayor. He will face tough decisions with the struggling economy and he will have to work closely with firefighters, police officers and paramedics to ensure our outstanding public safety service delivery doesn't suffer. Lee has the skills and ability to see us through and the credibility needed to keep the confidence of Austin's public safety workers as they continue to be asked to do more with less.
Stephen Truesdell
President, Austin Firefighters' Association
