After receiving 39 percent in the Democratic Primary in March, Dan Grant has officially endorsed the man who defeated him, Larry Joe Doherty.
Grant said Texans needed a break from "McCaulonomics" and that a Doherty victory would help District 10 uphold the proud history of Lyndon B. Johnson and Jake Pickle.
Middle-class families and small businesses have been pushed to the brink of bankruptcy by the administration’s economic incompetence,” Grant said. “In the midst of the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression, Larry Joe Doherty wants to turn the page — and Mike McCaul wants to laminate it.”
Grant said the fact that the 10th Congressional District’s boundaries were redrawn during a controversial redistricting scheme pushed by disgraced former Congressman Tom DeLay is part of the same culture of corruption that has led to the current financial crisis.
“Central Texas deserves a fresh start under new leadership,” Grant said. “No more endless war in Iraq, no more Katrina, no more McCaulonomics putting at risk the pension and small business of ordinary taxpayers who work hard and play by the rules.”
Mon., Sept. 22nd, 6pm, Foreign Policy Meet-Up, Dan Grant Speaking, TCDP Campaign HQ!
What: Dan Grant, former Democratic Primary candidate for US Congressional District 10, will be our speaker as we discuss Foreign Policy.
(7:15pm-8:00pm is "Democratic Citizen Communication" where you present your issues important to you as a Democrat!)
When: Mon., Sept. 22nd, 6:00pm-8:00pm
Where: Travis County Democratic Party Coordinated Campaign Headquarters, 1107 N. I 35, Austin, TX (next door to CVS, in old Safeway Building at 12th and I-35)
Who: Anyone interested in networking with fun, cool, energizing, like-minded Democrats, and learning about the policies and issues important to our city, our state, and our nation heading into the November TX elections. 2nd hour is a "Democratic Party Town Hall Meeting".
Cost: FREE
You're welcome to bring food/drinks to share and you're welcome to bring your laptop (Laptop not mandatory).
PS - mark your calenders NOW for Mon., Sept. 29th, 6pm, our final "Issues/Policy Meet-Up" of the season! We'll spend our two hours summarizing all Democratic Policy Issues...it'll be our "Issues/Policy SUPERBOWL"!!!
Best,
David Kobierowski
Travis County Democratic Party Issues Committee Chair
512-413-0286
Cleanair999@yahoo.com
This week marks the fifth anniversary of shock and awe in Iraq.
Five years of blood - 3,990 U.S. soldiers killed, including two who perished in a midday bomb attack in downtown Baghdad just yesterday, and more than 29,000 seriously wounded.
Five years of treasure - $800 billion officially, including President Bush's pending request for additional tax dollars, and probably closer to a total of $3 trillion, according to Nobel economics laureate Joseph Stiglitz.
Five years of shocking failure and awesome incompetence.
It was a year ago that I returned from Iraq, where I had been serving as a civilian. I didn't support the original invasion, but I held out hope that we could help Iraq build the foundation of a democratic system to justify the heartbreaking personal investments of our military families and the financial sacrifice of our taxpayers.
I was wrong.
Neither administration - not the one in Baghdad, not the one back in Washington, D.C. - had the commitment or competence to get the job done.
This week, what we are left with is a holding pattern of continued violence against our soldiers and Iraqi civilians, against our standing in the world, and against our economic well-being, which is now being driven into a deepening recession caused to some significant degree by that can be laid at the feet of the more than $12 billion you and I are already squandering there each month.
Yesterday, George W. Bush issued hollow assurances that he and his administration are doing everything they can to avoid an outright plunge into economic disaster, touting a $30 billion bailout of a prestigious Wall Street bank engineered since last Friday by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and others.
"I want to thank you, Mr. Secretary, for working over the weekend," Bush smiled.
He made no mention of the families of the 15 U.S. soldiers who have been killed in Iraq since Sunday, who surely have lost their share of sleep, too.
Here is a look at the three biggest federal races. We'll include more races later on, if they're close, as the night develops. The Republican primary race in CD-22 to run against Congressman Nick Lampson is below the fold.
Veteran Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle yesterday endorsed foreign policy expert Dan Grant in his race for the Democratic nomination in the 10th Congressional District, saying he is uniquely qualified to step into the seat once held by Lyndon B. Johnson and J.J. 'Jake' Pickle.
"Dan Grant has the wisdom and experience that we need to face the challenges of the future," Earle said. "He is too good an offer to pass up."
Earle, who last month announced his retirement after 31 years as the county's top prosecutor, announced his endorsement during a news conference at the Travis County Courthouse.
Grant, campaigning in Austin on the last day of Early Vote, said he is proud to have Earle's backing.
"Ronnie Earle has held a generation of public figures accountable, including the man who engineered the mid-decade redistricting scheme that put the seat I'm running for into Republican hands," Grant said.
CD-10's boundaries were redrawn in 2003 under pressure from then-U.S. Majority leader Tom DeLay, who has since been forced to resign in disgrace.
Grant spent much of the past decade working as a civilian under contract to the U.S. Government in trouble spots around the world. He returned to Texas last March from Iraq, where he served as part of the international civilian team in Baghdad. He helped the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq prepare and conduct the historic elections of 2005 and, as deputy director of Iraq's largest out-of-country voting program, oversaw the effort to register eligible voters in major U.S. cities for Iraq's Transitional National Assembly election.
A graduate of Georgetown University and the London School of Economics, Grant has put forward a detailed plan to help working families find economic security during the current downturn. He has called for universal health care, significant steps toward energy independence, an expansion of the pro-work, pro-family Earned Income Tax Credit, micro-lending programs to help local companies and entrepreneurs, and new investments in education to help the U.S. compete with China, India, and other emerging global economies.
Grant grew up in Austin and interned for legendary Congressman Jake Pickle while attending McCallum High School.
To view all of BOR's endorsed candidates, click here.
Change vs. Experience. Experience vs. Change.
This year, this seems to embody our debates for choosing Democrat candidates. We will not worry now about which of the two qualities is better in a candidate, because that is not necessary. The Burnt Orange Report endorses Dan Grant for Congressional District 10 because his candidacy embodies both.
Dan Grant initially attracted the eyes of activists with a resume worthy of a Congressman. Spring-boarding off a Bachelor's of Foreign Service from Georgetown and a Master's of Science in Government Administration and Public Policy from the London School of Economics, Dan Grant began his post-collegiate life as a global civilian helping the world. In the late 1990s he monitored elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina, in 2001 he was an election supervisor in Kosovo, he then helped plan Afghanistan's post-Taliban constitutional convention, and more recently helped the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq prepare its historic 2005 elections.
In a year where the rest of the world is wearier of the United States than during any other time of my parent's lifetime, Dan Grant knows foreign policy and has the experience to help Congress remedy the issue. Mr. Grant, however, knows that experience alone fails in solving problems. This is why he titles his "On the Issues" page of his website "Agenda for Positive Change." When Texas on the Potomac gave Grant an open forum, he insisted "We need a change in Washington -- now. We can't afford more of the same." We believe that he has the youthful energy to act on this declaration.
The United States of America calls for change by disapproving of both Congress and the Presidency. America did the same in 2006, and the government's standing with the people remains the same (if not worse) because "Democrat" alone does not represent change. The problem can be remedied in only one way: in 2008, the President and the Congress must contain the energy ready to reform while simultaneously holding the knowledge and experience to do so efficiently. Dan Grant can help this country on each count.
(Dan Grant is a BOR endorsed candidate in the TX-10 Congressional Primary. - promoted by Burnt Orange Report)
Yesterday, we received yet another major endorsement. Increasing our list of endorsers to 42, the Houston Chronicle wrote:
U.S. Congress, District 10, Democrat Dan Grant - A graduate of the London School of Economics and Georgetown University, Grant has deep foreign policy experience earned as a U.S. Agency for International Development official in Afghanistan and Iraq. He favors an immediate pullout of the bulk of American troops from Iraq. Closer to home, Grant says his domestic priorities will be supporting policies geared to economic recovery and health care reform.
Our current TV spot has also received great response:
The people have spoken and believe I am the candidate for the voters in CD-10. Here is a complete list of our supporters:
In the hotly contested CD10 race, both Larry Joe Doherty and Dan Grant are up with new spots.
Grant's spot focuses on the contrasts between the two candidates. The ad focuses on Grant's experience versus that of what the ad calls a "tv personality," referencing Doherty's time on the program "Texas Justice."
Doherty's spot does not mention Dan Grant by name at all. Doherty connects the congressional "revolving door" to the rising costs of health care.
With everyone (including myself) focusing on the presidential race, races like this can be overlooked. They shouldn't be. Democrats in CD10 have an important choice and the distinctions between the two candidates go far beyond these two ads.
(Another perspective on the NAIS issue in the TX-10 race. - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
Right here at BOR we have a great case study in "drive by blogging," where a small myth gets spun as truth, before being perpetuated into something uglier through irresponsible blogging.
Mark Duncan's attack today on Larry Joe Doherty is a great example. Instead of a responsible examination of the facts, the use of evidence, and a fair presentation of two opposing sides, a bunch of unfounded and unsupported claims are put forward as truth. While it may be fun to try take a whack at someone you don't like, it does readers no good to not practice a little due diligence before attacking someone.
As an avid Larry Joe Doherty supporter & volunteer, I feel compelled to try to set the record straight. Let's take a look at facts, and then go from there:
This whole squabble traces back to a simple little online bio of LJD over at KUT. In the middle of it was a claim that LJD supports an NAIS system, and that Dan Grant opposes it. At the time, there was no source to back this up. However, McBlogger picked up on this and ran with it.
Larry Joe's campaign contacted KUT, and asked them to back up on that, since he's against NAIS and there aren't any credible sources proving otherwise. So KUT corrected the bio and issued a retraction:
A spokesman for Mr. Doherty said the candidate is not in favor of the National Animal Identification System. An earlier version of his biography posted on this site reported that he supported the program. KUT regrets the error.
