During Hurricane Ike, almost every campaign suspended their campaigns. Now we are in the recovery period, and still most campaigns aren't back up to full speed. Pete Olson on the other hand kept campaigning, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sent out negative attack mail pieces to members of the 22nd congressional district.
As many of you know last week all of us here in Houston were dealing with the devastation we know as Hurricane Ike. It was a tough time as many people had damage to their homes, power outages, flooding in our neighborhoods and even worse - the loss of life by some here in our area. All local television stations were focused on helping people get the right information and news they needed to push through this storm. Some of them even chose not to run any commercials like FOX 26. But what caught me by surprise and even irritated me was an advertisement on KTRH radio.
It was a commercial paid for and sponsored by the US Chamber of Commerce. It was a partisan political commercial that seemed out of place and very negative at the wrong time. While most of us are suffering, the radio ad focused on attacking Congressman Nick Lampson. It was the same old silly game from Washington DC that many of us get tired of hearing. It was the name calling (liberal) and divisiveness that some thrive on. It was just so inappropriate that it left me wanting to call the radio station to complain.
This is a time when people are suffering and this agency (US Chamber) has time to play childish political games on the airwaves. In the middle of this storm when people are helping each other, color lines have temporarily disappeared and politics irrelevant - the US Chamber of Commerce wanted to divide us. Shame on you guys for not sending a better message in Houston at such a trying time. I don't fault KTRH, they simply aired the commercial paid for by a political group but I do blame that group for their silliness!
We were able to get our hands on the mail piece being sent around during these troubling times (also the US Chamber continued to run attack ads on radio).
The ripples of the Abramoff conviction are most apparent in Tom DeLay's old district. Congressional District 22, Represented by Democrat Nick Lampson, is running against a challenger that doesn't just have ties to the culture of corruption, he embraces them.
Because of Abramoff's conviction of conspiring to defraud the United States and corrupting public officials he was sentenced to four years in prison and brought Tom "The Hammer" Delay's day in court one step closer.
While Republicans as a whole try to distance themselves from Bush/Cheney and DeLay/Abramoff, Pete Olson continues to embrace them. As we pointed out nearly two months ago, Olson, has spent over $300,000 and most of it Tom DeLay's closest advisors.
The Lampson campaign states clearly:
Olson employs several consultants who stood with DeLay through the scandal that ripped through America and has refused to denounce the actions of DeLay or his cronies.
According to the most recent Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings, Olson paid $90,389 to consultants that advised Tom Delay. According to a Fort Bend Now article on July 16, 2008, Olson employed several consultants close to Delay's inner-circle. From April 1 thru June 30, 2008:
Olson's campaign spent about $15,600 with Dana Benoit of Richmond, for fundraiser consulting services. Benoit served as DeLay's finance director for several years.
Olson's campaign spent just over $9,000 with Walden & Associates of Houston, also for fundraising consulting. According to Source Watch, the firm is owned by Sue Walden, whom the New York Times described as a "close ally of Tom DeLay" who also served as an adviser to the late Ken Lay, former Enron chief executive.
Olson's campaign also spent about $9,650 during the quarter with Marathon Strategic Communications, for media and "grassroots" consulting. The firm's address is listed at 3771 Vinecrest Drive in Dallas. Real estate records list the owner of the property at that address as Christopher Homan. Chris Homan was DeLay's former campaign manager.
"Pete Olson should immediately cut all ties with Tom Delay's cronies and return every tainted dime he received through that network," said Trevor Kincaid, Lampson spokesman. "It's clear that Pete Olson wants to return pay-to-play corruption to Washington and is will check ethics at the door if that's what it takes."
By re-electing Nick Lampson to Congress two years ago, CD-22 has had more open government, cronyism and corruption are not the status quo, but "The Hammer" and his top lieutenants, still get huge pay days from Washington lobbyists. Sad thing is, this time the Washington lobbyist is a candidate for Congress.
Last week the DCCC started airing an ad clarifying Republican Pete Olson's economic stance.
The ad goes up at the perfect time. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a D.C. based group, will endorse Olson simply because he is a Republican. Not normally a big deal, but sources in the Lampson campaign point out that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce gave Lampson their Spirit of Enterprise award during the primary.
In addition, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently endorsed the Abercrombie/Peterson energy bill, a piece of legislation which Lampson had a huge role in crafting. While the chamber is going with their partisan leanings and endorsing Olson they're also endorsing Nick Lampson's energy plan designed to address our energy crisis and bring down gas prices.
Too bad the Olson tax plan would raise gas prices a dollar and hurt every day Texans.
The Lampson campaign pointed to the National Conservation, Environment, and Energy Independence Act to bring contrast between Lampson and Olson (a.k.a DeLay 2.0).
Reaching Across the Aisle - The National Conservation, Environment, and Energy Independence Act (H.R. 6709) Congressman Lampson has led bi-partisan efforts to reach compromise on a comprehensive, broadly supported bill. As a core member of the Abercrombie-Peterson Energy Working Group, Lampson helped write key measures and lobbied for additional R & D funding to be included in the legislation. The group adopted HR 6067, the Invest in Energy Independence Act, introduced by Lampson in May, as a major component of HR 6709. The Abercrombie-Peterson bill, introduced with 47 original co-sponsors, including Lampson, now has 119 co-sponsors, all added within 1 day of introduction before recess. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has endorsed the legislation and is encouraging Members to become co-sponsors.
Lampson has been a dramatic improvement over Tom DeLay, and Olson represents everything wrong with DeLay and the Republican Party.
CQ Politics has done a run-through of some of the key races in the nation (and at least in Texas), and they've decided to change some of their prediction-ratings.
First, the good news:
• Texas' 7th(New Rating: Republican Favored. Previous Rating: Safe Republican). With more than $1 million in his campaign account as July began, Democrat Michael Skelly, a wind energy executive who is taking on four-term Republican Rep. John Culberson , is among the best-funded challengers in the nation. Skelly has ample personal wealth, though the vast majority of his campaign funds have come from individual donors. Culberson, who was re-elected in 2006 with 59 percent of the vote, has significantly ramped up his fundraising this year.
• Texas' 10th(New Rating: Republican Favored. Previous Rating: Safe Republican). Democrat Larry Joe Doherty, a trial lawyer, has had success raising money for his uphill campaign against Republican Rep. Mike McCaul, who is in his second term representing a district that stretches from eastern Austin to the suburbs west of Houston. CQ Politics was also swayed to re-rank Texas 10 as Republican Favored in part because McCaul's 55 percent showing in 2006 was not overwhelming. Like Skelly in Texas' 7th, Doherty is running in a district with a generic Republican lean and will need to attract split-ticket voters who prefer John McCain to Obama in the presidential race.
This news, in large part, stands testament to the strong campaigns of Michael Skelly and Larry Joe Doherty. The development is also result of several years of aggressiveness by Ted Ankrum, Jim Henley, and others in the past few cycles. Our more recent aggressiveness as a party has ensured that few Republicans are safe, and hopefully we'll see many dividends in November.
CQ Politics did, however, gives some not-so-pleasant news:
• Texas' 22nd(New Rating: No Clear Favorite. Previous Rating: Leans Democratic). Though the strong Republican tendencies of this mainly suburban Houston district are unmistakable, CQ Politics had kept this contest in Leans Democratic since the beginning of this campaign cycle because there was a possibility, however small, that Democratic Rep. Nick Lampson might again face Shelley Sekula-Gibbs. She is the former Houston city councilwoman who lost to Lampson in a 2006 write-in campaign that followed the ill-timed resignation of former Republican leader Tom DeLay. But, in a Republican runoff election in early April, district Republicans rejected Sekula-Gibbs and instead backed Pete Olson, a former chief of staff to Republican Sen. John Cornyn who will be a tougher challenger for Lampson. Olson's background as a military veteran will be helpful to his campaign, and his Capitol Hill ties have helped him raise money. Anticipating a tough race, Lampson is voting against his party far more often than he did when he represented a much less Republican-leaning district from 1997 through 2004.
If Nick Lampson gets through this alive, he might need to study the work of a Mr. Chet Edwards. Their situations draw similar situations.
Until then, however, hopefully the Democratic constituents in CD22 will remember there's a tough race, and hopefully they'll forgive him for the votes he uses to try and save his hide.
All in all; these are probably the congressional races that deserve the most focus this cycle. I've seen the excitement around Skelly's campaign and around Doherty's campaign. I only hope the same energy goes into defending Lampson. For if we can net two seats this November, then maybe no harm would be done if another Texan graces a Presidential ticket.
More of the same. Pete Olson, the Republican challenging Democrat Nick Lampson in Congressional District 22, has some close ties to Tom DeLay's consulting team. According to Bend Now, Olson came out swinging in the second quarter of 2008, spending nearly $300,000 - including a significant amount on consultants with ties to former GOP House Majority Leader Tom Delay.
Lampson's campaign, which spent a total of $29,352 on consultants during the quarter ended June 30, spent $9,000 of it for "voter outreach consulting" by Mike Malaise, who served as Lampson's campaign manager in his 2006 race, but is not on the campaign payroll this year.
FEC records show Olson spent $50,448 on consultants between April 1 and June 30, some of whom also have faces familiar to District 22 political observers:
- Olson's campaign spent about $15,600 with Dana Benoit of Richmond, for fundraiser consulting services. Benoit served as DeLay's finance director for several years.
- Olson's campaign spent just over $9,000 with Walden & Associates of Houston, also for fundraising consulting. According to Source Watch, the firm is owned by Sue Walden, whom the New York Times described as a "close ally of Tom DeLay" who also served as an adviser to the late Ken Lay, former Enron chief executive.
- Olson's campaign also spent about $9,650 during the quarter with Marathon Strategic Communications, for media and "grassroots" consulting. The firm's address is listed at 3771 Vinecrest Drive in Dallas. Real estate records list the owner of the property at that address as Christopher Homan. Chris Homan was DeLay's former campaign manager.
FEC records show Olson's campaign also owes Marathon another $12,000 for consulting services.
Olson's biggest expenditure for the quarter was $92,163 to On Message Inc. of Crofton, Maryland, for cable TV ad buys. Olson also spent more than $23,000 for "GOTV calls," and more than $37,000 for mailers.
Olson's strong ties to DeLay's friends and political allies is strange given DeLay's strong negatives in the district.
The Texas Democratic Party responds saying:
"As a Washington, D.C. partisan insider, Pete Olson was cozy with the consultant and crony crowd that guided Tom DeLay and took the voters for granted," said Texas Democratic Party Chairman Boyd Richie. "So it's no surprise that Pete Olson has decided to carbon-copy the DeLay political playbook, following a script from DeLay's consultants instead of listening to the everyday people a Member of Congress is supposed to represent.""
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"Pete Olson offers nothing more than the same kind of politics that Texans put behind us with the rejection of Tom DeLay, marked by wedge issues that divide us instead of solving problems that affect Republicans, Democrats and independents alike," added Richie. "Texas voters deserve the kind of independent leadership that Pete Olson will never be able to provide."
Olson just doesn't seem to get it. In addition to working with DeLay's political team and campaign consultants, Olson has also been campaigning with unpopular President George W. Bush. Olson is a candidate that stands for pay to play, business as usual politics. Lampson has show he stands for change and empowerment.
