To the person who has been stuffing the Democracy for Texas Senate Endorsement Poll with over 100 Mikal Watts votes from the same two IP addresses over the last two hours without a single mailing address or comment... please stop.
I don't know who you are but you are doing a disservice to your candidate and the integrity of the poll. All of your votes will be thrown out. As the operator of the poll (in my role as DFT's webmaster), I've implemented additional measures on our recently upgraded account to preemptively block this behavior on behalf of either candidate.
The Democracy for Texas steering committee is taking this poll seriously and we have been impressed by the response to date- both in number and in the passion of the canddiates' supporters. We look forward to hearing from more of our members and other legitimate Texas voters.
Our poll will continue through midnight this Saturday the 22nd.
Note: I am happy to verify votes or correct mistakes but we're taking the security of the poll seriously. Accidents happen and duplicate votes cast can be easily removed. This is the challenge of extending the one person, one vote philosophy in an online poll.
Somehow, someway, Democrats in the U.S. Senate finally found a backbone this week. After weeks of hesitating on whether or not there should be a hard deadline for removal of troops from Iraq tied to war funding, Senate Leader Harry Reid announced yesterday that there must be "definite timelines" for troop withdrawal. As Daily Kos said, "Hallelujah."
Now that Democrats have finally found the strength to lead follow the 2/3 of Americans that have wanted real troop withdrawal for months, the problem will be how to make troop withdrawal a reality. There will be many amendments to the Iraq war funding bill that make an attempt at bringing the troops home. One amendment, which has a strong likelihood of passing, has been proposed by Senators Jim Webb and Chuck Hegel and is called the "Dwell Amendment."
We will be offering an amendment that requires our troops have a 1:1 deployment-to-dwell ratio for active units and members. This is a minimum floor. The Department of Defense's historic policy and current goal is a ratio of 1:2. Currently, Army units are deployed for 15 months with 12 months at home...
This Dwell Time Amendment provides a safety net under our troops. However long a servicemember has been deployed, they deserve at least that much time at home. It is a very simple, common sense amendment.
In July, my amendment received 56 votes. We need just 4 more votes this time to pass this amendment, and I am asking for your help.
Senator John Cornyn voted against this amendment in July (no surprise). Both of our Democratic candidates to replace Cornyn -- Noriega and Watts -- support troop withdrawal. In his responses to the DFT questionaire, Noriega even specifically mentions his support for the Webb-Hegel amendment. We could count on Noriega or Watts for one of those needed four votes.
The is really pretty amazing and speaks to the excitment and importance of the U.S. Senate race in re-energizing Texas Democrats. Democracy for Texas (DFT), founded out of the Dean for Texas movement, is conducting a poll of its membership and the wider left-of-center community here in Texas about who to endorse in the U.S. Senate race.
DFT has received in-depth responses from both campaigns- some of the first on the record statements about a variety of issues. BOR will be exploring these more in days to come though they are linked below if you'd like to start reading them now.
The following went up on the DFT website this afternoon.
John Cornyn has been on the wrong side of countless issues that are critical to Texans in general and DFT supporters in particular. Beyond that, well, he’s just an embarrassment. But we’re not telling you something you didn’t already know, right?
Democracy for Texas has never endorsed a candidate for public office. But this race is too important to the future of our state and our country not to put all of our resources behind the candidate we feel best represents our “socially progressive, fiscally responsible” philosophy.
Two candidates - State Representative Rick Noriega and Mikal Watts - are running to be the Democratic nominee to oppose Cornyn. Which one should get DFT’s support?
Last night was a star-studded tribute to the life and legacy of James Claude Wright Junior and what an emotional and passionate evening it was for he and his family. The dinner was elegant, passionate, emotional, exciting, energizing and by far the best event to happen in Tarrant County in decades.
Mid-Cities Democrats hosted over a hundred Democrats in a North Texas Salute to Jim Wright; the beginning of what will be an annual dinner baring the former speakers name in Tarrant County. Houston Mayor Bill White was the inaugural speaker.
Mayor White gave a tremendous speech that had numerous undertones of a gubernatorial pitch, and an excellent candidate he would make too. He focused on the failure of Republicans to strengthen Texas infrastructure, the continued outsourcing of youth and intelligence outside of Texas to other national colleges, and the deteriorating environmental situation across the Lone Star State.
White took time to note too that Jim Wright was at the forefront in solving many of these issues we now face today and how the former speaker was probably the best at working across aisles with his colleagues and opponents to get things accomplished. I was very impressed with Bill White in person. He is a charming guy and very cordial. He'll make a good governor after another record Houston mayoral victory.
Part of the dinner included a stunning media presentation, created by an MCD member, incorporating tributes from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker Wright's former colleague, Leon Panetta, who later served as White House Chief of Staff .
Ben Sargent, Rick Noriega, Mikal Watts and Susan Criss all together This Sunday at the Brazos County Democratic Party's second annual Jefferson-Jackson Day Banquet and Silent Auction at 7:00 PM Briarcrest Country Club Ballroom, 1929 Country Club Drive in Bryan. For more information call 979-779-5600
Anyone who follows Texas politics (and who isn't a paid political consultant) knows that the Republican assault on Texas consumers' rights has been an assault on the sanctity of the Texas citizens' service on juries. Phil Hardberger, a good Democrat elected to mayor of San Antonio and Chief Justice of the San Antonio Court of Appeals, documented this problem in his award winning legal analysis "Juries under Siege." University of Texas law professor David Anderson also discussed this corruption of the judicial system in his recent article "Judicial Tort Reform in Texas". The Texas Observer also recently documented this problem in its report on "The Worst Judges in Texas".
NOTE: If you are looking for the most recent Clinton vs. Obama Texas Primary Poll, please go to this post.
Below is the latest installment of the Texas Primary Tracking Polls conducted by IVR Polls commissioned on behalf of Burnt Orange Report. IVR Polls correctly predicted the TX-10 race within a margin of 1 point in 2006.
This month we have two polls for your reading pleasure! We are profiling both the Presidential and U.S. Senate primary races here in Texas. The Senate results are further down if you want to jump to them.
After holding steady in the low 40's, Clinton has dipped off this month going from 41.5% in July to 36.7% in August. Clinton seems to have lost some Latino support and it has hurt her top line. We have said for months now that Clinton likely has a ceiling of support in the low 40's, this month's poll seems to prove that point.
Obama's numbers have also fallen do to a loss of Latino support. After climbing as high as 20% last month, Obama is down 17.6%. This is a change within the margin, but this could have been the month to further close the gap on Clinton and that didn't happen. Obama still hasn't made the gain in the African American community in Texas. Obama registered 32% of the African American support were Clinton still has 31%.
After a steady drop for Edwards and a sudden drop for Richardson, both men have climbed back up. Edwards is back up to 14.6% and Richardson has hit his highest level of support since we started this poll in March with 8.9%.
Kucinich and Biden have also had surprising bumps with 3.2% and 4.2% respectively. Undecided have also dropped nearly 3% to 13.7%.
Texas Senate Race Results
The Senate race has a clear winner-undecided. Note that this poll was conducted before word came that Emil Reichstadt was pulling out of the Senate race.
IVR Polls breaks down their data by region with some interesting facts.
In the Senate race, more than half are undecided, but Noriega takes 58% of those with an opinion to Watts' 30% and Reichstadt's 12%. Noriega was the huge favorite in the Houston area codes, while Watts was the huge favorite in the Corpus Christi area code. Noriega leads slightly in Watts' new home of San Antonio, but almost 70% were undecided. Noriega was also a solid favorite in the 956 area code, which stretches from Brownsville to Laredo and has the heaviest turnout for Democratic primaries. DFW had no clear favorites and was more 'undecided' than most areas.
Undecided sits at 52%, with Noriega at 27%, and Watts at 14% as noted in the chart above.
While plutocrat Mikal Watts was getting some well deserved tough love from the Houston Chronicle, the people-powered candidate Rick Noriega was getting some great press around the state. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has a particularly glowing piece that points out the prescience of Noriga supporter State Rep Lon Burnam, one of the first to endorse Rick and also THE first to totally reject the corrupt leadership of the Texas GOP:
In a church turned reception hall, state Rep. Rick Noriega, D-Houston, told local Democrats last week that Fort Worth Rep. Lon Burnam is a prophet.
Burnam was the lone representative in 2005 to vote against electing Tom Craddick as speaker of the Texas House. In 2007, Burnam led another House dissent against Craddick, but this time he wasn't standing alone.
Perhaps Burnam is foretelling the future with his endorsement of Noriega to win the Democratic nomination for the 2008 U.S. Senate race. Noriega, citizen-solider, believes that Texans are as frustrated as other Americans with the Iraq war debacle and yearn for experienced leadership to end that conflict.
As battalion commander of an infantry unit in the Texas National Guard, he has led troops in Afghanistan and guarded the southern U.S. border.
Noriega said he's running partly because of his warrior ethos, which demands you leave no soldier behind.
"We have 160,000 brothers and sisters right now who I think are being misled by civilian leadership that has never walked the walk," he said.
Noriega claims that his experience at the front lines and the border gives him the expertise to formulate policy based on the realities of war and diplomacy. After five terms as state representative from District 145, he said he's ready to go to Washington to help fill the leadership void.
There's no need to worry that Noriega will be a "Bush Dog" when we send him to Washington to represent Texas in the U.S. Senate. Here's a man who knows why he's running and knows that there are real life consequences to political action.
Still, the citizen-soldier, like Noriega, has an unromantic, unsanitized understanding of war that tempers the zeal to shock and awe the enemy. As any grunt in Iraq will tell you, the mission is far from accomplished.
Turning his attention to immigration, Noriega claimed that Sen. John Cornyn was the administration's first lieutenant in supporting every policy introduced in the Senate except for comprehensive immigration reform. Instead, he said, Cornyn joined the ideological extreme and became an obstructionist.
Noriega said that obstructionists oppose reform because it offers them a punching-bag issue in the next election cycle. Doing nothing provides employers with an easily exploitable work force. The Noriega plan recognizes that this country will continue to need professional and manual immigrant labor as the baby boomers age. At the same time, he wishes to secure the borders with more law enforcement officers.
His five months serving along the U.S.-Mexico border taught him something valuable: "There are bad guys over there doing bad things," he said. Those "bad things" include human and drug trafficking.
Unlike most politicians, Democrat and Republican who would be happy to stop there, Noriega goes on to offer real solutions. Solutions that recognize the messy realities of our situation here on planet Earth in the year 2007 AD:
Noriega recognizes that as long as the enormous economic difference exists between the United States and Mexico, the flow of undocumented immigrants will not end. He said that "people will continue to do risky things for $15 an hour."
He proposes foreign aid to Mexico that will help build its infrastructure. Mexicans building roads, schools hospitals and dams will give them the opportunity to work with dignity and will reduce the temptation to come to the United States.
"They may make $8 an hour, but they won't take the risk or leave their families to do something treacherous." he said. Noriega's comprehensive plan would address the supply-and-demand side of the immigration equation.
In short, Rick Noriega is so obviously the real deal, a once-in-a-lifetime candidate with obvious cross-over appeal that even the Texas press corps can recognize the potential. But here's the catch. Texas is a huge state. More than 23 million residents. More than 15 million eligible voters. More than 8 million likely voters. More than 261,000 square miles. More than 20 media markets. Winning a state-wide election will likely take more than $20million. (!)
And since, unlike his primary opponent Mikal Watts, Rick Noriega only makes around $100,000 a year rather than $109,589.04 a day, the "smart money" in Texas politics is asking the obvious question, how's Noriega, a citizen-soldier going to fund a race like that?
If Noriega wins the Democratic Senate nomination, the citizen-solider will certainly give the Republicans a run for their money.
But first we may need to consult with prophet Burnam to discern where Noriega will find the war chest required to run a statewide Senate race.
If Watts wins the primary, his background as a trial lawyer will hurt him, but 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.
The other factor is this -- the netroots has never faced a challenge of this magnitude at less than a presidential level. The biggest netroots senate campaign in history -- Jim Webb's amazing win over George Allen -- only required a little under $8 million -- half of that raised online. This race will require an unprecedented committment from the netroots. Can we do it? Throw some turkee on the pile today.
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."
"This letter seems to confirm what everybody thinks about Texas justice. Very seldom is it this well-articulated," said Craig McDonald of Texans for Public Justice, an organization that advocates for campaign finance reform. "It confirms the fact Texas courts are filled with politics."
And not just politics -- pay to play politics.
What made the letter unusual was the linking of campaign contributions to sitting justices and the potential of an appeal.
The letter then noted that if the case went to appeal, it would go to the 13th Court of Appeals.
"This court is comprised of six justices, all of whom are good Democrats," Watts wrote. "The Chief Justice, Hon. Rogelio Valdez, was recently elected with our firm's heavy support, and is a man who believes in the sanctity of jury verdicts."
The letter goes on to name Justices Errlinda Castillo, Nelda Rodriguez, J. Bonner Dorsey, Federico Hinojosa and Linda Yanez, and says his firm also has financially supported them.
Watts and his law firm in 1999 donated $5,000 to Valdez and $2,500 to Rodriguez; in 2000, $15,000 to Hinojosa; and in January 2001, $10,000 to Castillo. The firm donated $50,000 to Yanez in 2002.
I highlighted Linda Yanez' name because she's running for Texas Supreme Court (again). If Watts' outrageous claims are true, then not only is she a perennial candidate, she's one who can be bought. Not what we need on the court or representing our party as a nominee for statewide office.
Rumors are that Emil Reichstadt, one of three declared candidates for the Democratic primary for US Senate, will bow out early this week.
I liked Emil Reichstadt personally. I've met him a couple of times and he is a very likeable man. I was never sure of what he could do in this primary but he apparently saw the writing on the wall too and didn't want to ripple the waters.
Instead of pursuing John Cornyn it would appear that the former Army JAG officer is going to take on Republican Dan Branch in HD 108. I'm very pleased to see he will shift resources and stay in the hunt against Republicans one way or another.
In 2006 Dan Branch was oppossed by openly gay Democrat Jack Borden, who ran basically no campaign at all. Even with running no campaign he managed 40.42% of the vote in a strong Republican district.
With the resources that Reichstadt can bring to the table in HD 108 I would expect that those numbers would improve dramatically.
I wish Emil Reichstadt and his campaign all the luck in the world. Give Bush-lite Republican Dan Branch a good run for his money.
