Burnt Orange Report: - Dan Grant

TX-10: Doherty Picks Up Endorsement from Former Primary Opponent

David Mauro — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 17:57:37 GMT

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.

From Grant's press release, picked up from the Austin Chronicle's News Desk blog:

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.”

Foreign Policy Meet-Up, Dan Grant Speaking, Mon., Sept. 22nd, 6pm, TCDP Campaign HQ!

David Kobierowski — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:38:11 GMT

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

Five Years On: More Shock, Less Awe

Dan Grant — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 17:38:11 GMT

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.

2008 TX Primary Results: TX-Sen, CD-10, and CD-22

Phillip Martin — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 00:28:35 GMT

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.

U. S. Senator
NAME	EARLY VOTES	PERCENT	TOTAL VOTES	PERCENT

Gene Kelly	264897	27.31%	582018	26.89%
Ray McMurrey	121079	12.48%	267636	12.36%
*Richard J. (Rick) Noriega*	*487412*	*50.25%*	*1103118*	*50.97%*
Rhett R. Smith	96432	9.94%	211079	9.75%

U. S. Representative District 10
NAME	EARLY VOTES	PERCENT	TOTAL VOTES	PERCENT

*Larry Joe Doherty*	*25884*	*62.18%*	*51937*	*61.11%*
Dan Grant	15739	37.81%	33043	38.88%
Precincts Reported	236	of	236 Precincts

U. S. Representative District 22 - to challenge Nick Lampson
NAME	EARLY VOTES	PERCENT	TOTAL VOTES	PERCENT

Kevyn Bazzy	370	1.46%	879	1.56%
Cynthia Dunbar	897	3.56%	2114	3.76%
Dean Hrbacek	2596	10.30%	5864	10.44%
Brian Klock	393	1.56%	992	1.76%
John Manlove	3084	12.24%	8388	14.94%
Pete Olson	5962	23.67%	11630	20.72%
Ryan Rowley	172	0.68%	424	0.75%
*Shelley Sekula Gibbs*	*6972*	*27.68%*	*16681*	*29.72%*
Jim Squier	541	2.14%	989	1.76%
Robert Talton	4194	16.65%	8163	14.54%
	214	of	214 Precincts

LJD Lacks the Union Bug

Matt Glazer — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 17:15:50 GMT

Congressional candidate Larry Joe Doherty told a group last week that "endorsements don't matter."

Interesting comment since Dan Grant has been overwhelmingly endorsed throughout the district. One group that has endorsed Larry Joe Doherty is Texas SEIU and after getting a flyer at an event, it is shocking to see neither a union bug or a printed in house message. Wonder if they'd do that again if they knew he was using non-union printers?

LJD is a nice guy, but Dan Grant has the experience we need in Congress. He has been endorsed by dozens of Democratic groups in both Houston and Austin and yesterday, Grant earned the endorsement of Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle.

Ronnie Earle endorses Congressional Candidate Dan Grant

Dan Grant — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 17:33:19 GMT

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.

BOR Endorsement: Dan Grant for Congress (TX-10)

Burnt Orange Report — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:41:30 GMT

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.

Website: www.dangrantforcongress.com

Houston Chronicle endorses Dan Grant for Congress

Dan Grant — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 18:05:42 GMT

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:
Austin American-Statesman
Houston Chronicle
The Austin Chronicle
Daily Texan
Burnt Orange Report
Charles Kuffner
Ted Ankrum, 2006 TX-10 Democratic Candidate
Lorenzo Sadun, 2004 TX-10 Democratic Candidate
Representative Senfronia Thompson, Texas House of Representatives
Hank Gilbert, 2006 Ag Commissioner Democratic Candidate
The Texas AFL-CIO
The Austin Central Labor Council
The Harris County Central Labor Council
The Brazos Valley Central Labor Council
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters
Sheet Metal Workers International Association
Communications Workers of America
Transport Workers Union of America
International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Ironworkers
Democracy for Houston
Harris County Democrats
Texas Environmental Democrats
Latinos For Texas
Capital City Young Democrats
Capital Area Asian American Democrats
Capital Area Progressive Democrats
ALGPC
Houston Area Stonewall Democrats
Stonewall Democrats of Austin
Houston GLBT Political Caucus
South Austin Democrats
Southwest Austin Democrats
North by Northwest Democrats
UT Democrats
Central Austin Democrats
Austin Progressive Coalition
Planned Parenthood of Houston and Southeast Texas Action Fund, Inc.
Harris County Tejano Democrats
Capitol Annex
Rand Beers, click here to read a statement by Rand Beers.

Thanks to all of our supporters, and remember, vote Dan Grant for Congress!

http://www.dangrantforcongress...

Dan Grant, Larry Joe Doherty on TV

David Mauro — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 07:39:36 GMT

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.

TX-10: LJD, KUT, and NAIS

MeanRachel — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 07:38:59 GMT

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.

Dan Grant, however, still used the original report to launch an attack on Larry Joe, the first real negative shot of the campaign. Here's what Dan claimed:

Brenham resident and ex-TV personality Larry Joe Doherty this week told KUT-FM radio that he agrees with Republican incumbent Mike McCaul that the federal government should be allowed to impose a controversial new animal identification system on Central Texas farmers and ranchers.

Talk about running with the ball. Where did he get that from? No wonder Larry Joe's campaign quickly issued a scathing statement:

"This is a fight against Michael McCaul and the failed policies of George Bush," stated Doherty. "That my primary opponent would attempt to claim that I've expressed any type of agreement with Michael McCaul about a program I oppose shows a total lack of seriousness when it comes to representing people."

Well that seemed simple: KUT got something wrong, they corrected it. Dan Grant took the original KUT piece and turned it into something it wasn't, attributed statements to Larry Joe that he never made, doing so with no good evidence to back himself up. Libelous if you ask me, but I'm no lawyer.

Once KUT corrected their error, Dan Grant had to edit his press release to link to a blog post as his source instead of KUT. That's the equivalent of citing the White House but linking to a Wikipedia article about the West Wing TV show. This is a Congressional race, right?

But here's where things get weird. In an transparent effort to further slander the LJD campaign, Capitol Annex started trying to fit the square peg into a round hole:

KUT got the statement off Doherty's website, although it is no longer there, either. Sources from KUT have confirmed to Capitol Annex that the station found the material about his support of NAIS on Doherty's website, but that his campaign called and requested they pull it. The station complied.

Does that make any sense? Why would KUT pull something they themselves call an error, all the while complaining to Vince that it was true all along? I give the KUT editors a little more credit, even if Vince doesn't. Wouldn't Dan Grant or McBlogger or somebody have been pointing this out long ago if it had supposedly been on Larry Joe's website, instead of waiting for KUT to put it up? Common sense says it's that something went wrong on KUT's end, it was corrected, and life goes on. If you Google this, you'll find bloggers obsessing about Larry Joe and NAIS, but no substance behind any of it. If there was anything to it, they would have been attacking Larry Joe long before yesterday. Instead, KUT is was the only source for this, and they ended up retracting it because it's not true. Dan Grant assumed it was based on an interview between Larry Joe and KUT. A candidate fit for office would have gotten his facts straight before launching an untrue attack on another Democrat (maybe he needs a bracelet that says "WWBOD?" - What would Barack Obama do?).

Is it any wonder Vince's big piece of "evidence" is an online comment left at the Statesman last year. You can cite an online comment made by one random person, who offers no source backing up his comment, as a source? There are so many unsources here, my head is spinning. Maybe there's no better evidence because . . . there never was any.

KUT messed up. They fixed it. Dan Grant smelled an opportunity, but didn't get his ducks in a row before going negative on Larry Joe. It blew up in his face, and now his campaign is looking like amateur hour.

I'm disappointed in the Dan Grant campaign for continuing to promote libelous statements on his website about Larry Joe. It's also shameful that a couple of bloggers then use nasty attacks to try and perpetuate a smear and a lie, and the best "evidence" they can give is an unattributable online comment. That's bad for bloggers' credibility, and it doesn't do our audience any good. It's immature and it's amateurish and frankly, it's just wrong.

Bloggers, don't abuse your sway. I suspect that the general readership here has already made up their minds one way or another as to whom they will support in the TX-10 race on March 4th. However, bloggers still have the opportunity to reach undecided and swing voters and those voters deserve respect. Readers want something productive and concrete, not something unfounded and incorrect. Bloggers: respect the readers and the candidates enough to perpetuate truth -- not lies.