As I noted in a post on Pete Session's lackluster NRCC efforts last Friday, many of our incumbent Texas Republican Congressmen are facing primary challengers this cycle, from Tea Party folks. Let's take some time to get to know the folks who are doing their best to make Congress even less functional, and think about what this means for the Republican party.
Ralph Hall vs. Jerry Ray (Tea) Hall, TX-4
Hall faces tea party challenger Jerry Ray Hall (no relation to Ralph or Mick Jagger's ex), who submitted his ballot application with the word "Tea" after his middle name. Challenger-Hall also has been passing around a photo of himself with Rep. John Culberson as an implied--and erroneous--endorsement. That link is also entertaining because "Jerry Ray (Tea) Hall" mixes it up in the comments... With himself.
Also interesting about this race: Congressman-Hall is the oldest member of the House, at 86 years. He would take over the Science Committee should the Republicans regain control of the lower chamber. Notably, would-be Science Chair Hall is actually older than the Big Bang Theory, the Heisenberg Uncertainty principle, penicillin, the material nylon, radiocarbon dating, treatment for leukemia, the radio transistor, and the polio vaccine. I'm not trying to imply anything... Well, really, I'm just saying, the dude is too old to be in charge of the Science Committee.
Michael McCaul vs. Joe Petronis, TX-10
Michael "#7 Water Waster in Austin" McCaul is facing a primary challenge from the self-proclaimed "RINO Hunter" Joe Petronis. In fact, he has an entire page on his website dedicated to his RINO Hunting. Click on the link. You need a giggle.
This is interesting, because unlike some of the districts mentioned here (the 4th, 11th) which are mind-numbingly Republican, the 10th (and Sessions' 32nd) have the potential to flip. Unfortunately, the highly-anticipated challenger to McCaul, Jack McDonald, did not file for the race, leaving 2006 challenger Ted Ankrum to pick up the slack. It will be interesting to see, however, what effect the primary challenge has on a Republican base that doesn't have too much to praise in the lackluster McCaul's performance in D.C. After all, McCaul is clearly better at wasting water at home than he is fighting for jobs or hewing to "conservative principles" in D.C.
Mike Conaway vs. Chris Younts, TX-11
Conaway, from Midland, is a big-time Bush crony, working for Bush's various failed business ventures until being appointed by then-governor Bush to the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy. He later had the luxury to run for a district again redrawn by DeLay to include Midland and Odessa. TX-11 is widely considered to be one of the most Republican, with a PVI of R+28. (Only the 13th, much of the Panhandle held by Mac Thornberry, is more Republican, at R+29.)
Conaway is being challenged by Chris Younts, an insurance salesman from San Angelo. Of his candidacy, Younts stated, "Contrary to opinions on both sides, the Tea Party movement was never intended to play the role of an infatuated, doting cheerleader of all players with an 'R' on their jersey, regardless of past indiscretions."
Kenny Marchant vs. Frank Roszell, TX-24
Marchant will face a primary challenge for the district he basically drew for himself during the 2003 Congressional gerrymander, during which time he was a member of the Texas House. He is squaring off against Roszell, a developer and tea party supporter from Grapevine. Roszell may win the "best quote on a campaign website" contest, which is pretty stiff amongst the Tea Partiers: "No one will jerk my chain but my wife." Unclear how his views on chain-jerking relate to partisan line-drawing.
Pete Sessions vs. David Smith, TX-32
As I noted last Friday, the head of the entire NRCC is facing a primary challenger in the form of David Smith, a corporate financial analyst and tea party activist determined to rid the Republicans of the D-minus Sessions.
Smith expects to receive significant grassroots support from the Tea Party denizens, telling TPM "I anticipate that those will be the most active supporters of my campaign, those are going to be the people who will go out for my campaign and wear out shoes, and make phone calls to people in the district."
This ought to be interesting. While pundits and political "soothsayers" are already predicting death to Democratic victories this cycle, there's clearly a fomenting Tea Party movement on the Right that sets the stage for post-primary strife, and may enable third party or independent candidates to step up to the plate and capitalize on this discontent.
Let's also not count out the role of Debra Medina in this, whose gubernatorial campaign may draw out Republican primary voters who seek to support the "Tea Party" challengers in their local Congressional primaries. However, the national Republicans seem largely unwilling to address the growing frustration amongst Tea Party activists, suggesting that everyone will mend fences after the primary and work for the status-quo Republican incumbents that are likely to survive the vast, vast majority of their primary challenges.
A New York Times piece on the recent Republican retreat to their favorite foreign nation of Hawaii illustrates this. Michael Steele, RNC chairman, stated:
"If a Republican incumbent or a Republican candidate is running and a Tea Party candidate is in the race and the Republican wins, my expectation is that the Tea Party guy is going to support the Republican. ... Because we would support the Tea Party guys."
Ok, let me get this straight: RNC Chair Michael Steele says that his party would support Tea Party activists should they win a primary. However, that's the exact opposite of what happened in NY-23, where moderate Republican Dede Scozzafava endorsed Democrat Bill Owens over certified nutjob Doug Owens after Tea Party folks pushed Scozzafava out of the race for being insufficiently ideologically pure. The comments of the challengers above suggest that this might not be so true, and that Tea Party activists may not let themselves be taken for granted by the Republican Party.
This should also be a huuuuge warning sign to moderate Republicans and independents, that the RNC establishment says publicly that they're willing to get on board with Tea Party extremists should they win the primary.
However, former Texas Congressmember and one-man Dick Armey seems to see the handwriting on the wall:
"This is not a situation where the grass-roots activists are saying, 'What can we do to make ourselves attractive to the Republicans?'" he said. "It is 'What can we do to help the Republicans understand what they must do to be attractive to us.'"
Armey admits it: the Tea Party is the new activist base of conservative politics. To win over their support and enthusiasm in November, Republican candidates may have to swing even harder to the right to pacify the folks who are currently holding the megaphone in the Republican party. What this will do to moderate and mainstream voters remains to be seen, but thanks to the Tea Party this may shape up to be a more intriguing election season than we expect.
According to the DCCC there are 67 House Republicans who voted against the stimulus package. But when these no voters are back in their home states they like to brag and swagger about bringing home the bacon. On a different level, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison joins these ranks. She voted against the stimulus bill and yet she criticized Rick Perry for turning down federal funding for extended unemployment benefits.
Texas has its fair share of outstanding hypocrites. Check the list below to see if your U.S. House Rep. is included in the GOP Hall of Hypocrites. I must admit that I am not shocked to learn that my U.S. Rep., John Culberson, is among them. I betcha your U.S. Reps are too.
Time and time again Ralph Hall tells voters that American soldiers will have to "fight a war and take some energy away from someone." Does this represent your values? It doesn't represent mine. I believe it's time to stop talking about stealing and to start investing in America.
My campaign has produced a short video using Hall's own words to expose his values. Please circulate it to your family and friends.
We have twelve days left to spread the word and fight for change in Texas. Donate today and help put this commercial on the air: https://secure.actblue.com/con...
It's time to change fundamentally the dynamics of the energy industry. America's future depends on clean, affordable energy from a variety of sources. In the 1970s America faced a similar challenge to today's energy crisis. A small group of countries had threatened the prosperity of the entire world. The United States Congress led the way to reducing our nation's reliance on foreign oil, requiring new technologies to reduce home and automobile energy use. Instead of the disaster the doomsayers predicted, consumption fell and the economy bounced back. A wise energy policy makes a stronger America.
Just like in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, a local TV station is pushing Republican propaganda on energy. How many times do Ralph Hall and his corporate cronies have to be wrong before the media question their judgment? Is Tokyo Rose a professor in American journalism schools?
A perfect case in point is this KXII's story, "Texas-born petition supports fight against high gas prices in Washington." Reporter Emi FitzGerald simply repeated Hall's false assertions without ever reading the details of his proposal. FitzGerald also neglected to report any counter arguments or explain how this plan offers more of Hall's same tired proposals. During a heated national election you would think FitzGerald might call Hall's opponent. You would be wrong.
(Glenn is running in the 4th Congressional district against Ralph Hall. - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
I had the great honor of winning the Democratic nomination for the Texas Fourth Congressional District. The bigger story, however, is the growing bipartisan dissatisfaction with Ralph Hall. He received only 42,212 of 57,530 Republican votes. If you add those who voted against Ralph in both parties' primaries, almost twice as many voters - Republican and Democratic - want a new Congressman!
"new
direction"
"stay
the course" with Hall
80,479 votes
42,212
votes
The tide continued to move forward four weeks later as Democrats packed precinct and county conventions. Particularly, impressive were the crowded conventions that I attended in Grayson, Hunt, Rockwall and Collin Counties. If Democrat are going to win a state-wide races, we have to do better in these "Republican strongholds.
The History News Network published the following article by me on September 23, 2002. As my oldest son approaches eighteen, I still don't want him to die in an unjust quagmire. It's wrong for Washington politicians to continue using our brave men and women as political props. It's up to us to lead them home with honor.
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Every school child can recite the value of history: those that ignore the past are doomed to repeat it. What lessons can we learn about the present Iraqi crisis from the Vietnam experience?
One of the most frequently heard "lessons" is that politicians should not tie the hands of the military. US forces got bogged down in a quagmire because politicians placed senseless restrictions on how to fight the enemy. If the politicians had stepped aside, the US military could have won the war.
I believe this line of reasoning misses the point. Vietnam was not a "quagmire" because the North Vietnamese Army or Vietcong were a military challenge. Vietnam was a quagmire because the US could not generate enough trust and support among the Vietnamese people. The US was seen as an imperialist power that lacked legitimacy. Does any one really believe the US, or some puppet like Diem, can RULE Iraq? I believe the US will become an "Israel," occupying lands in which the people's anger and hatred toward the occupier will grow day by day. No matter how benevolent US rule in Iraq is, no matter how much better living conditions are, the US will still be the aggressor fighting an unjust war.
How will disgruntle Iraqi's respond to a US invasion? Sit-ins? Marches? Civil disobedience? I think not. They will respond the same way disgruntle Palestinians and Vietnamese responded. The US may win the war versus the Iraqi "army," but in the process it will provide the biggest recruiting boost to the ranks of Al Qaeda, like minded terrorist organizations or simply local "patriots."
"I accept Ralph Hall's offer to debate the issues," said Glenn Melancon, Democratic Candidate for US Congress in Texas' Fourth Congressional District. "The voters need and want to know what the candidates stand for."
According to the Dallas Morning News (Thursday, March 6, 2008), Hall said he's ready to debate the issues. Both Republican and Democratic primary candidates had highlighted Congressman Hall's absence from local town hall meetings. Hall justified his absence by the need to spend his time at fundraisers.
"A Congressman should demonstrate to the public he can debate," said Melancon. "It will be good for the voters to see their candidates in action."
Melancon proposed a series of six debates around the district. He pointed out several local organizations all have experience hosting political forums. These groups include Sherman's KXII and Herald Democrat, Greenville's Herald Banner, Mount Pleasant's Daily Tribune, Paris' Chamber of Commerce and Paris News, and New Boston's Chamber of Commerce and Bowie County Citizen's Tribune. Melancon said setting the schedule now is important in light of Mr. Hall's busy schedule.
"These debates would be great for our democracy," Melancon said. "Traditional public debates have been pushed aside in recent years by 30 sec TV ads. It would be wonderful to restore the debating tradition in our District."
Why I'm in this race: My roots in this district go back generations. My mother's family settled in Collin County in the 1800s. My parents settled in Wood and Hopkins Counties. I was born, educated, have lived and worked in the Texas 4th District all my life (except when in Law School in Austin or working for the people of Texas in as Deputy Attorney General and Director of Public Affairs, at the Texas Land Commission, or as Director of Legislative Affairs for the State Bar of Texas and for the Texas Association of Counties.)
VaLinda on the family's ranches (Hathcox Farms and Big H Ranch) with part of their herd of Texas Longhorns.
VaLinda's parents inherited only 20 acres of their 1000 acres. They worked and paid for what they acquired, but want to pass it on to their children.
For me, my family and most of my neighbors, Texas is more than just a state or an address -- it is part of us and we are intrinsically tied to it through more than just the land or where we work.
· Texas is a culture where we carve better opportunities and more just, fairer practices for successive generations.
· Texas is a culture where folks don't expect better to be easy.
· Texas is a place where hard work and diligence means incremental advancement for most folks, incredible success for some and where we work together to help prevent others from falling through the cracks.
· Texas is where we look at what we have realistically, face what got us where we are while figuring out better, more just, fairer laws, regulations and "ways of doing things" for the future.
(Glenn is being challenged by VaLinda Hathcox (former candidate for Land Commissioner) in the primary for TX-4. - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
Texas families deserve a Congressman who fights for their interests, not for corporate special interests. Today I’m officially announcing my candidacy for the United States Congress, Texas Fourth District. I’ll work for Texas families. I need your support. Together we can change Washington one incumbent at a time.
You deserve a representative who knows the needs of working families. I live in Sherman with my wife Jackie and two sons, Chris and Alex. I’m a history professor, Boy Scout leader and church volunteer. Unlike like many Washington politicians, I’m not a banker or a lawyer. I’m running for Congress to fight for the average American.
