Ed. note: Ideas that are not original are appropriately cited throughout the piece. I never contacted Bill White's campaign about this story -- my observations about his campaign are just that, observations. They do not constitute any endorsement of his campaign -- by myself or BOR -- but they do reveal how, at least in my opinion, he and his campaign are prepared to win a statewide election.Also, you can follow me on Twitter here: @PhillipMartin
"Texas Democrats' First Truly Statewide Campaign of the 21st Century"
With a single press of a key, either a staffer or a volunteer for the Bill White for Texas campaign ushered Texas Democrats into the new era of internet organization. His campaign has walked across the bridge that so many people spent so many years building. I'm not sure who pressed that key, and I can't guarantee why they did it. But I can say two things for certain:
(1) I'm glad it finally happened, and (2) Not knowing who finally crossed the bridge is what makes it so wonderful.
I will get to the story of what specifically this person on the Bill White for Texas campaign did towards the end of this post. The short version of what they've done, however, may (if I'm right) be quite a story:
A Democrat running a statewide campaign in Texas has, for the first time, fully adapted to the tools and principles of online organization, therefore making it possible to run Texas Democrats' first truly statewide campaign of the 21st century.
I need to unpack that a lot more to back up such a claim, I know. That's why this post is as long (~4,400 words) as it is.
I started writing this as just a short couple of paragraphs on a simple change in the campaign's Twitter usage. But the more I thought about it, the more I began to think it was the sign of something bigger -- that it was the sign of Texas Democrats' finally catching up, after years and years of playing from behind. But to take you from here to there, it is going to take more than just a few paragraphs.
In an e-mail sent to supporters, former U.S. Senate nominee Rick Noriega wrote that he had been offered the position of Assistant Secretary of Defense (Reserve Affairs) with the Secretary of the Air Force.
Although Noriega turned down the offer, he said he remained open to taking a job in the Obama Administration in the future.
From the e-mail:
In November, I had the opportunity to fly to Chicago to meet with the president-elect, now President, Obama. We visited about possibilites with the new administration, which was an honor. We discussed our respective campaigns and the future strategic potential of Texas, as well as what I might be able to do in service to our country.
Last week I was contacted and asked if I would consider a post as Assistant Secretary of Defense (Reserve Affiars) with the Secretary of the Air Force. I declined the position. I remain open to a position in President Obama's administration, one that is aligned with my core competencies. I am most honored to have been called. It is hard to consider leaving my family again, and I am not sure yet what the final outcome will be.
In response to those who are deeply analyzing Noriega's motivations, Melissa Noriega provides a "simple explanation" in the comments.
Separate from the leaving his family again for the fourth time in five years, which is a very real consideration, the Air Force is a pilot's club and no place for an Army infantryman. I would refer you to Half Empty, who got it exactly right. You wouldn't send a football player to coach basketball--it's like that. Army doesn't do Air Force, and vice-versa.
Markos Moulitsas, better known as the founder of Daily Kos who has become a powerful figure in progressive Democratic politics, was an early supporter of the Draft Rick Noriega for U.S Senate movement.
I like Rick a lot. He ran the Katrina relief operation at the Astrodome, so he seems to have the ability to put together an effective operation. Then again, his campaign team was an embarrassing disaster. So maybe he can't put together an effective operation? Some candidates lost despite running great races (Jim Martin, for example). Noriega lost running a shitty campaign.
Update by KT: For a little more background on this, the reason why the GA race was in the "running a great race" category is because a former Daily Kos front pager was the campaign manager, one who passed over by the Noriega campaign. The online outreach for both campaigns was equivalent (and both rather successful in building support and raising money).
Apparently Commerce Secretary Bill Richardson isn't enough. The Hispanic Caucus wants more.
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus, frustrated that just one Latino has been picked for Barack Obama's Cabinet to date, is pushing Houston state Rep. Rick Noriega and 13 other prominent Hispanics for the eight remaining spots in the president-elect's Cabinet.
Reps. Charlie Gonzalez, D-Texas, and Joe Baca, D-Calif., sent a letter yesterday to Obama's transition team on behalf of the Hispanic Caucus recommending that Noriega be considered for the Secretary of Veterans Affairs position. Noriega, a reserve Army officer who has served in Afghanistan, has met with the Obama team in Chicago, our Chronicle collegue Alan Bernstein reported last week. Noriega will be looking for a job in January: He gave up his seat in the Texas House to run unsuccessfully against Republican Sen. John Cornyn.
As was mentioned by those in this community earlier, Noriega would actually be a good pick for FEMA, too. In fact, I think if you are discussing the best 5 possibilities to run FEMA under President-elect Obama, Rick Noriega's name HAS TO be mentioned. His time in the military has given him key managing skills, and he showed them in a time of emergency when he headed the George R Brown Convention Center in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
It's probably a good bet, though, that Noriega is under consideration for both FEMA and Veteran Affairs. Obama attempted to reassure the Hispanic caucus when he announced Richardson today:
President-elect Barack Obama has a simple message for Hispanic leaders who are disappointed he has not named more Latinos to his Cabinet: Give me some more time.
"I've completed about half of my Cabinet," Obama told a press conference today announcing the selection of New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a Latino, as Commerce Secretary.
"When people see the entire slate, what they will see is this is one of the most diverse cabinets and White House staffs of all time."
It's possible, or at least overtures have been made according to the Houston Chronicle:
State Rep. Rick Noriega of Houston, the unsuccessful U.S. Senate candidate who served in Afghanistan and on the Mexican border as a Texas Army National Guard officer, met with President-elect Barack Obama today as Obama worked on filling leadership positions in his administration, according to confidential sources.
Democrat Noriega, who lost the Nov. 4 election to Republican incumbent John Cornyn, declined to discuss the meeting in Chicago. Obama's transition team spokesmen also declined to comment.
The meeting appeared to be a potential first step toward consideration of Noriega, 50, for appointment to an administration position, and no specific job was mentioned, according to people close to the process who spoke on the condition of not being identified.
Former Transportation and Energy Secretary, Federico Pena, has been the apparent driving force behind these meetings.
I think Noriega in the Obama Administration would be wonderful. In a role such as FEMA Director or otherwise, Noriega has a compelling resume and background that lends good reason for this pursuit. His work in 2005 with hurricane disaster recovery efforts, service in Afghanistan, and leadership along the border means you pick a man with able intelligence on important issues of the day.
According to the Houston Chronicle one million more residents have voted so far, with one day left for early voting in Texas. In Harris County (the largest district in the State) Democratic voters outnumber Republicans.
Leland Beatty, a Democratic consultant, said 42 percent of early voters had voted in Democratic primaries and 20.6 percent in Republican primaries.
A Republican strategist here said the reason for the higher turnout is due to huge participation during the Primary when large numbers of voters came out to vote for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. The strategist said some of those voters were Republicans who will vote for McCain during the General.
Well, we will see about that. My crystal ball is the same size as the GOP strategist and I'm not even a strategist. If the Texas Republican base is comprised of 23% of dumb bunnies who choose to believe Senator Obama is a Muslim we may be able to assume that 77% of Texans may just engage their brains before voting. After eight years of W. &Co. we can also assume that 77% percent of voters here understand that they are far worse off than they were in 2000. A vote for McCain should translate to a vote against one's own self-interests if not our very financial survival.
In a list of this year's top 10 worst legislators of the country, including 4 Democrats and 5 Republicans, John Cornyn is listed:
Cornyn has taken up Rick Santorum's cudgel on gay marriage, but whereas Santorum's dark visions were man-on-dog, Cornyn dreams of state-sanctioned unions between man and turtle, and of "a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife." Whoa. None of our business, senator. But you'll have to work it out on your own time.
Obviously, Esquire endorsed Rick Noriega in this race. They have a whole slew of Texas endorsements, giving a good non-partisan look to them all. Below are a couple selections from other key Texas races. (Oh, and by the way, they endorsed Barack Obama.)
With just 7 days left in this campaign, John Cornyn and his campaign would rather talk about the internet than issues.
In an e-mail titled, "24 Hours", Kevin McLaughlin, Cornyn Communications Directory, blasts the Noriega campaign and the online community for believing it is time for a change.
Let's go with the background first and then talk about how hypocritical the Cornyn campaign is being.
Last Friday, the Cornyn campaign stole footage from the Austin Chronicle and I am guessing Fox News. They then produced a negative online ad comparing Howard Dean's Iowa speech in 2004 with Rick Noriega. We of course covered the story.
The Cornyn campaign never admitted or apologized for stealing the footage, but issues are more important, so we remained silent.
That same night, Rick Noriega won an election. Of course it wasn't the election, but Rep. Noriega won an online contest at DailyKos. Noriega won the "Hell to Pay" contest with 42% of the vote and beat out 6 other highly qualified Democrats. The contest translated to dollars so what did the Cornyn campaign do? Attack.
After 96 hours, Kevin McLaughlin asks the question, "Did you see Rick Noriega condemn the comments?"
Lucky for us, he also answers his inquiry with a simple, "You didn't?"
Something seems hypocritical here, doesn't it? (Like McLaughlin, I will answer the question for you). Of course it does. On June 30, 2008 we realized David Beckwith was trolling progressive and news blogs and made sure our readers would know not to trust Buck Smith.
Beckwith was challenging people to duals and referring to himself in the third person.
How did the Cornyn campaign respond? With class.
On the same day, McLaughlin called me up early in the morning to say we had, "ummm.... Bad reporting." He then went on to send me this official campaign response:
What?!?! 'Buck Smith' isn't a real person?!?! Are you serious?? People blog under screen names?!?! I am shocked...next thing I know you'll be saying the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus aren't real either. What kind of world are we living in?!?!
With McLaughlin's e-mail, you have to guess that Cornyn condemned Beckwith within hours of hearing about this outrageous campaign tactic.
Well, Cornyn did respond-- sort of. Within hours he said that Beckwith would remain on the campaign and Cornyn himself said, "the campaign had no comment".
So McLaughlin pens the line, "Rick Noriega should show some political courage and repudiate these hateful comments from his hired staff. His continued silence speaks volumes about his partisanship, and his willingness to do anything to further his own political ambitions."
We would like to remind Kevin that Sen. Cornyn has been silent for months, where is the outrage there?
In case you are wondering, the comment that has the Cornyn camp so outraged goes on to say...
John Cornyn is now looking to become the most powerful Republican in Washington once Bush expires and McConnell is retired. In fact, he's even musing about a 2012 Presidential run. On top of that, after weeks of bland black and white ads reminiscent of John McCain's early campaign, he's turned to attack Rick Noriega & Howard Dean, and stolen footage from an Austin Progressive Paper in doing so.
The politics of fear and deception must come to an end. In the final days of the campaign, Cornyn, his staff, and the Republican Party have all shown us they can't win on issues. They have decided to go back to baseless, hypocritical hyperbolic attacks on Lt. Col. Rick Noriega's character.
