Texas and Illinois were the first two states where candidate filing was due to close. Then the US Supreme Court gave Texas one extra day.
But nonetheless wander down below the fold to see how both parties are going at filling the slate in the first two cabs off the rank in the 2012 cycle.
Not long ago, Pastor Dan at Street Prophets put up this map:
Which is kind of encouraging and kind of depressing. It's encouraging because it shows exactly how much of America wants to end Bush's War on American Soldiers Deployed Abroad. It's depressing because four of the twelve dumbest Congressional districts in the country are apparently located in Texas.
Of course, Tx-19 has Randy Neugebauer to sell us outnot-represent us, so our credentials are well-established.
But Blue 19th shows us that all may not be lost. In a uber-non-scientific internet poll EverythingLubbock.com poll (this includes the news-sites for both KAMC (ABC) and KLBK (CBS) affiliates), a majority of respondants want US troops to come home from Iraq.
An updated count is 277 (58.32%) for, 198 (41.68%) against. All of the standard cautions about internet polling apply - probably in triplicate. And it has to be noted that not enough people have responded to even make it close to being statistically valid even if respondants were randomized. Still, it is the first polling data I've seen that shows public opinion turning in Tx-19.
It's enough to raise an optimist's expectations just enough to have them crushed.
Blue 19th isn't all about Lubbock - we recently found Abilene setting itself up to waste $30,000 on a slogan. How about "Abilene: We Dumb Enough to Pay for This"?
But since we brought up Lubbock - Randy Neugebauer's constituents want to know why he's so transparently sold-out and doesn't give a damn about them. Answer: Because he knows the sheeple won't revolt.
Meanwhile, no one in Plainview knows about date rape. I can't imagine why else they would be printing a fictional account of it in the NEWSpaper - I guess everyone in Plainview has insurance...
In Sweetwater, the big news is that the grand jury indicted nine people - none of which was named Randy Neugebauer, Rick Perry, or George Asshat Bush. The people of Sweetwater may lay bleeding at home unable to get to the hospital, but, by God, they'll know that you can't evade arrest with a vehicle in Sweetwater!
This is why I say the people of Tx-19 aren't really to blame for the nut-swinger they send to DC. If your newspaper won't tell you that you are being shafted from a thousand miles away, how can you demand accountability?
Sarah Kleiner Varble of the Abilene Reporter-Newstells us:
''Congressman Neugebauer is proud of his voting record to support veterans' interests,'' his office said in a statement. ''He has proven to be an advocate for veterans' rights and benefits and will continue to vote in support of the men and women who so bravely defend our country and our freedom.''
Proud? From the same article:
Neugebauer received a ''zero'' rating from Disabled American Veterans in 2003, 2004 and 2005 for voting against eight bills championed by the DAV. But this year, he received a score of ''66'' for voting in favor of two of three bills supported by the organization, according to the DAV Web site.
He's proud that in three years he found it within his heart to support veterans twice? He's proud of that?
Here is a full picture of Neugebauer's support of veterans - in 2003, he was rated "0" by both American Veterans and Disabled American Veterans; in 2004, he was rated "33" by the Retired Enlisted Association and again received a "0" by Disabled American Veterans; in 2005, DAV rated him "0" again; and this year, the DAV gave him a 66 while Iran and Afghanistan Veterans in America gave him a "D".
That isn't a record to be proud of - unless your goal is to demoralize our troops and let them know that you would rather that they die in combat than come back and impose a burden on taxpayers.
But don't look to Neugebauer to do anything at all - he can't even be bothered to make a new campaign commercial:
Neugebauer didn't produce any new television ads this election season because the campaign is being frugal with contributions and because issues from the 2004 election are pertinent today, Allen said.
What a freaking lie! Neugebauer has raised $1.2 million dollars and spent $828,476 of it. That means he's spent almost 70% of the money he's raised.
Allen encouraged residents of the 19th District to visit www.congress.gov to research Neugebauer's record. However, the campaign declined to provide scripts of the congressman's advertisements to the Reporter-News.
Yeah - the Congressman is suggesting that his constituents search the Library of Congress if they are interested in finding out what he votes for. How generous! Why not just tell them to go to a university research library? Why can't they provide ANY proof of supporting our disabled veterans?
I'm looking for ten people to donate twenty dollars to make sure our veterans are taken care of when they get back home.
This is it, boys and girls! The time for good men to stand and be counted is here! In one weekend last month, we raised over two hundred dollars. It's GOTV time - lets give Robert Ricketts enough money to crank out the voters! I need a dozen people who will give roughly the equivalent of a large pizza - $20. Who will be first?
The San Angelo Standard-Times is not known as a Democratic screed. How could it be? Stuck out on the High Plains of Texas where Democrats are as rare as Congressional ethics (ooh, did I really go there?), the SAST tends to be moderate at best. So it's a bit of a surprise to hear it say this:
Not to judge individual congressional races, but it would be no bad thing for the country if one or both houses of Congress changed hands in the November elections. Ours is a system of checks and balances, and in six years of largely one-party rule, we have had neither checks nor balances.
Robert Ricketts has posted another wonderful op-ed at Blue 19th. True to his straight-talking image, he doesn't pull any punches:
We need change in Washington. For the past six years, the Republican Party has been in the driver’s seat in Washington and they are lost. None of their plans are working. Indeed, everything they have done has failed. Consider where they have brought us.
Our federal government is, quite literally, bankrupt. Our national debt is approaching 10 trillion dollars and it owns assets of only a fraction of this amount. George Bush promised to cut the national debt in half. Instead, by the time he leaves office, he and the Republican Congress will have doubled it.
Our tax system is so broken that it asks the least from those who have the most, leaving the burden of paying for government on the backs of the middle class, and increasingly, on the backs of the next generation.
Blue 19th isn't all about Lubbock - we recently found Abilene setting itself up to 