The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), chaired by Congressman Chris Van Hollen, announced automated and live calls will be starting today against Representative Michael McCaul as part of its month-long major advertising and grassroots offensive in support of President Obama's health insurance reform plan.
"Time and again, Republicans including Representative McCaul protect a broken system of skyrocketing costs, insurance companies making health care decisions, and record-setting insurance company profits instead of working with President Obama to bring real health insurance reform for middle class families," said Jon Vogel, DCCC Executive Director. "This August we are going district-by-district to hold Republicans accountable for trying to obstruct health insurance reform through their scare tactics and just-say-no protection of big insurance companies at the expense of affordable health care."
Unlike the chaos and shouting matches the Republican Party is building, the Democratic Party is organizing a series of educational meetings and reaching out to inform people about the true impact insurance reform will have on them.
According the the DCCC the outreach activities going on in Mike McCaul's district may include:
Radio ads in eight (8) Republican Members' districts
Volunteer live calls, automated calls to 25 targeted Republican Members
Volunteer live calls to talk radio stations in targeted Republican Members' districts
Three (3) million e-mails
Letter writing drives in Republican Members' districts
Letter to the editor drives in Republican Members' districts
On-line petition campaigns
Fact checking Republicans' lies about health insurance reform
Tele-town halls in specific Republican Members' districts
An automated call has already started in Mike McCaul's district. The message highlights McCaul's position and our current health care crisis.
This call is paid for by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, 202-741-1350. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.
I have an important message about your health care. Insurance companies are posting record profits while health bills skyrocket. Now they are lining up to stop health care reforms and protect profits. Congressman Michael McCaul took almost fifty thousand dollars from the insurance industry and now he's trying to block reform... like reducing costs by forcing insurance companies to compete and preventing them from denying you coverage. Call Congressman McCaul today. Ask him to stop standing up for insurance companies and start standing up for us.
In Texas, we have a distorted view of what a "swing seat" is for Democratic targeting. Given our multiple rounds of redistricting, true marginal seats in the traditional sense are hard to find. Texas Democrats either hail from incredibly safe districts, districts that are safe due to demographic trends but not ideology, or Republican districts where great Democrats make an exception (Chet Edwards).
That said, it's encouraging to see not one, but two Republican Congressional seats listed among the top 10 potential "dark horse" breakout races that are causing buzz in the Beltway. And not only that, but they are at the top of the list.
McCaul was technically a lower-tier Democratic target in 2008, but that was really only because his opponent, former TV judge Larry Joe Doherty (D), was raising money like gangbusters. Doherty really didn't have the right profile, and he wound up losing by a pedestrian 11 points - the exact margin of the presidential tally in the district. Now, Democrats have another big-money candidate, with businessman Jack McDonald raising $300,000 in the first quarter. We'll see if he has the right profile, but the fact that he is vice chairman of the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce suggests he might. The party has already put McCaul near the top of its target list.
4. Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas)
Democrats tried to mount a late charge in 2006 against National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) Chairman Tom Reynolds (R-N.Y.), and they could do it again in 2010 against current NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) only took this suburban Dallas district 53-46 in the 2008 presidential race, and the heavily Hispanic areas have grown at a faster pace than the white areas. Sessions's district is actually probably more fertile ground than McCaul's, but Democrats might not have as good a candidate. Attorney Grier Raggio (D) has an exploratory committee, but it's not clear who else might emerge.
In TX-10, Democrat Jack McDonald expressed earlier today that there is good reason to be paying attention to the 10th yet again, having raised over $634,000 to date with over half a million on hand, even while in exploratory mode and having yet to roll out campaign staff or field. While there isn't a equivalent Democratic response in TX-32 up in Dallas as of yet, the more competitive nature of the district and county coordinated campaign there provides a bit more breathing room for a top notch candidate to get settled.
A couple of weeks ago, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Executive Director Jon Vogel stated that TX-10 and Michael McCaul were in the top 10 targeted seats in the nation. Combined with the work done the past two cycles in-district, and the over $300,000 McDonald raised in the first quarter, there is good reason to finally have the tenth so high up on the DCCC's radar.
McDonald is looking to repeat that amazing first quarter, having stated in a meeting with activists in Austin this week that fundraising continues to be strong. The reaction from those activists at the gathering was very positive, given his responses, both in his willingness to engage on a broad cross-section of social and policy issues from a back and forth debate over health care options, choice, economic development, and positive statements on equal civil rights and a willingness to engage, work with, and support county party operations.
McDonald is still in exploratory mode, largely until business leadership issues are settled; he is chairman and CEO of Perficient, a publicly-traded company headquartered in the District that is one of the nation's top information technology consulting firms. An official campaign launch is scheduled for the coming months.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, in a piece for National Journal's CongressDaily, listed the TX-10 Congressional District as one of the best opportunities for Democrats to pick-up a seat in Congress in 2010.
This should come as little surprise to anyone that has been following the race -- which we've been doing closely here at BOR. A quick scan through the TX-10 tagged posts here at BOR gives you a recap of what's going on in the district:
Last week I reported on Texas Republicans embrace of Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich (or at least their money) even as these far-right players made racial attacks on the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor. I made reference to Limbaugh's attendance at a fundraiser for Rep. Michael McCaul where he was made an honorary Texan by Gov. Rick Perry.
I know a number of local Democrats were interested in seeing video from that private event which McCaul was hiding the location of until the last minute. Well, Gov. Perry was so kind as to have his staff take video of the event and posted his speech and shoutout of "God Bless Rush Limbaugh" to his campaign's YouTube channel. And McCaul? He's standing by the entire time clapping and grinning at the whole scene. Watch it for yourself.
This isn't a case of guilt by association or proximity (though I can't imagine wanting to be in close proximity to Rush Limbaugh metaphorically or physically). McCaul has yet to repudiate or distance himself from the racially inflamed comments made by Limbaugh and Gingrich which even RNSC chair Sen. John Cornyn has distanced himself from calling them "terrible" and "not the kind of tone that any of us want to set".
And while Limbaugh is still set to headline Cornyn's fundraiser for the RNSC, McCaul is set to benefit from the House Republican committee's fundraiser with Newt Gingrich the same day, next Monday. The DCCC asks the prescient question.
"For five days, Representative Michael McCaul had a simple choice to make: He could strongly denounce Newt Gingrich's shameful rhetoric or stay silent and just take his money," said Ryan Rudominer, National Press Secretary for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "With five days to go until the fundraising dinner with Gingrich, will Representative Michael McCaul finally speak out against the radical right or continue to remain silent and take their campaign cash?"
This Thursday, at an undisclosed location in Houston, the de facto chair of the Republican Party is headlining a fundraiser for Congressman Mike McCaul (TX-10). That's none other than Rush Liimbaugh of course.
Limbaugh and McCaul share a closer connection which his campaign is working to obscure by not even the location of the fundraiser to people invited to it. Let's walk through that close relationship courtesy of the Lone Star Project.
Limbaugh is employed by Clear Channel Communications, which was founded by McCaul's father-in-law, Lowry Mays. Mays pays Limbaugh a reported $38 million per year and gave him a $100 million signing bonus in 2008. (Source: The Wall Street Journal, July 3, 2008)
And there's good reason that McCaul is known as Congressman Clear Channel as evidenced by how well their management and employees line his campaign coffers.
McCaul's Top Contributors: 1) Clear Channel - $140,450 2) Dell Inc - $52,696
3) Zachry Construction - $45,100
4) AT&T Inc - $37,000
5) Loeffler Group - $33,800
(As of May 26, 2009, Source: OpenSecrets.org)
McCaul has shown that he's perfectly happy to accept the public support of Clear Channel and Rush Limbaugh as well as the money from donors who believe that Limbaugh is the GOP's "One True Chairman". Hiding the location of the fundraiser Dick Cheney style isn't going to do anything to cover up the ties between Limbaugh and McCaul. Their desire to see Barack Obama and American fail are still coming in loud and clear(channel).
Jack McDonald is making more waves in the Washington whisper crowd.
McDonald, who has filed an exploratory committee to take on Republican Mike McCaul, is one of ten non-incumbents with over $100,000 in the bank.
According to CQ Politics, only ten challengers (Republican and Democrats) have raised over $100,000 and only 2 have raised more than Jack McDonald.
Those two include 1 Republican: William Russell, Republican, Pennsylvania's 12th District ($403,000) taking on Democratic Rep. John P. Murtha in a rematch of a 2008 campaign that Murtha won by 16 percentage points. The other is Suzan DelBene, Democrat, Washington's 8th District ($315,000). DelBene, a technology executive, is gearing up to oppose three-term Republican Rep. Dave Reichert.
McDonald barely missed the top spot for Democrats.
Jack McDonald, Democrat, Texas' 10th District ($312,000). McDonald, who also has a background as a technology executive, is waging a campaign against three-term Republican Rep. Michael McCaul that technically is still in the "exploratory" phase. But his first-quarter take makes it highly likely that he will make his bid official.
McDonald's first-quarter report shows that he put in just $1,000 of his own money and raised everything else from individual donors - many of whom gave the $4,800 maximum amount allowed under federal law, of which half can be used for a primary election and half for the general election.
Interestingly, McDonald is 33% of the entire list of Democrats on the list and 66% of those are in the top 3 spots. McDonald is showing he has an ability to raise some serious money and is making a strong case for the Texas 10th to be a targeted race for both Texans and Washington D.C. decision makers.
Update: Something from the Congressional Quarterly article to highlight:
The $315,000 figure includes $209,000 of DelBene's own money, in the form of loans and contributions.
McDonald hasn't done that. He has raised nearly every cent. This makes Jack McDonald the best fundraiser among Democratic challengers and the second best among all challengers.
In January, McCaul said he would "seriously consider" running for Attorney General if the office became vacant. Though current AG Greg Abbott has not annoucned his intentions, he is widely expected to run for either Lt. Governor or U.S. Senator.
After McCaul's presumed Democratic opponent Jack McDonald posted very impressive fundraising numbres, some (including myself) speculated that McDonald's strong reportmight push McCaul towards running for Attorney General.
While he could always change his mind, that doesn't seem to be the case. As Matt reported today, McCaul only has about $62,000 on hand with over $500,000 in debt. However, the business relationships of his father-in-law, Clear Channel founder Lowry Mays, could make it very easy for McCaul to raise a large amount of money in a short time.
Two candidates, former solicitor general Ted Cruz, a Republican, and former U.S. Senate nominee Barbara Radnofsky, a Democrat, have filed papers to run for Attorney General next year.
This is clearly an impressive start and is probably going to make any other Democrats who were considering jumping in this race think twice. Perhaps the report may even inch incumbent Mike McCaul towards a bid for Attorney General.
District 10 encompasses two media markets and is among the most expensive districts in the state. Larry Joe Doherty raised over $1 million last year and still lost by double digits. We are going to need a lot of money (and a great candidate, of course) to have a good shot at winning this district. It is early, but I think McDonald has the potential to provide both.
Congressman Mike McCaul raised only $ 97,795 this reporting period and spent $ 81,515.80 leaving him with just $ 62,431.80 left in the bank. Wait, wait, it gets better. McCaul still has $ 511,252.56 in debt.
Mike McCaul is looking more and more vulnerable every campaign season.
In reference to last Friday's post, I wanted to post the district specific radio ad that the DCCC is running in TX-10 against Mike McCaul. Listen to it below or visit it on the DCCC's blog.
It's interesting to read through the comments on the last post to see people's reactions on a whole host of issues that apparently are unresolved regarding TX-10. Here are a couple of my thoughts on it.
There's a lot of interest in learning and hearing more directly from Democratic candidate Jack McDonald. That's great, and Matt actually sat down with him already and has an interview that he's going to write up and post here on BOR. Along those lines, we're going to explore maybe getting some video from McDonald as well since there is a difference in reading an interview and seeing the candidate talk himself.
In another good sign for TX-10 being on the political radar, the insider publication "The Hill" wrote up a rather lengthy piece on the district. It's worth a read.
I really think it's time to get over any feelings of "the DCCC didn't help last time so why did it take until now for them to pay attention". You're all right, and you can join the grassroots supporters in-district in 95% of all congressional districts around the country that feel the DCCC didn't get involved sooner or with more money. Me? I consider it welcome support after all the hard work that people have done in TX-10 the last few cycles.
Of course, if there are still things that need to be said about TX-10 from last cycle that will benefit us strategically in the race this cycle, the comments as always are open.
