I find the results of the poll to be so embarrassing and alarming that I had to force myself to post this diary.
Meet the base of the Texas Republican Party, folks.
There is, of course, nothing actually wrong with one being a Muslim but the implication where seriously misinformed and low information voters are concerned is highly disturbing. Do they honestly not know Obama's religion or do they choose to ignore the truth?
The bias against Muslims is bad enough and we have G.W. Bush and his fanatical right wing neonut base to thank in demonizing all members of this religion. W.'s reckless and careless language about "Islamic Fascism" has served to paint all members of the faith as potential terrorists.
The poll conducted this month by the University of Texas found that less than half the state's voters, a majority of whom support John McCain's candidacy, could correctly identify the religion of the Democratic presidential candidate. Obama has been a member of the same Christian church in Chicago for more than 20 years, and he faced controversy earlier this year when controversial statements from the church's former pastor appeared online.
When asked Obama's religion, 22.7 percent of the respondents said Muslim, while 45 percent correctly said Protestant.
The Houston Chronicle has become a gift that keeps on giving good news for Democrats in the Houston area.
Today's lead story:
"Except for Emmett, Poll Sees Dem Sweep."
Judge Emmett is ahead because he and Houston's Mayor Bill White worked well together in addressing Hurricane Ike's aftermath. He is likable and folks trust him.
The surprising and great news is that Harris County's Democratic judicial candidates are in a dead heat tie with Republicans.
Voters favored Democratic candidates over Republican candidates by 7 percentage points in elections for county leadership jobs, except in the county judge's race, where Emmett has a 13-point lead over Democrat David Mincberg, according to the survey. Sixteen percent of the respondents were undecided or said they lean toward neither party's entry.
The number 7 also popped up specifically in the race for district attorney; Democrat C.O. Bradford ran 7 percentage points ahead of Republican Pat Lykos in the poll, conducted Monday through Wednesday as early voting began for the Nov. 4 election.
The poll results indicate tough years lie ahead for the GOP. This is absolutely drop dead fabulous news considering it was not long ago when Karl Rove and Tom Delay hatched their Texas Permanent Republican Majority scheme. We are now stuck with the consequences manufactured by these two Republican low life crooks.
According to a diary written by blogger Jerome รก Paris on Daily Kos
today that includes data provided by the Sierra Club, John McBush has told more than a few tall ones on his voting record on energy bills. In a recent interview Walter Issacson asked John McCain to respond to Thomas Friedman's charge that the Senator did not support an extension of tax cuts for wind and solar energy companies.
WALTER ISAACSON: [...] Tom Friedman's column mentioned that you haven't been there supporting the tax breaks that need to be extended for wind and solar. Do you support those breaks, and will you keep pushing for--will you push for it at some point?
JOHN MCCAIN: Yes, and I have, and I have a long record of that support of alternate energy. [...] I've always been for all of those and I have not missed any crucial vote. But my citizens in Arizona know that when I'm running for the President of the United States I have to be out campaigning. But I of course I am for renewable energy.
Some historical perspective on state Rep. Kirk England's (HD-106) decision to put his convictions above political convenience and join the Democratic Party. Before we do that, England deserves congratulations for his courage. We can only imagine the embarrassment of the GOP, and they must have put enormous pressure on him not to leave the extremists of the Republican Party behind. England put his principles above politics, and his principles are in line with Democrats.
Also, Katy Hubener and the unified Democratic in the Dallas-Fort Worth area deserve credit, great credit, for opening the door to this harbinger of the history-shaping forces at work in Texas. Thanks, Katy, and thanks to all those who have helped turn around the DFW area.
When the GOP began its takeover bid in Texas, it started by recruiting moderate Democrats to switch parties. This began around 1984. Their argument was spurious at the time -- that the Democratic Party had moved too far to the left. That was always more spin that fact, but nonetheless, the migration of Democratic state representatives to the Republican Party was, sad to say, history shaping.
Now history is on the other foot, so to speak. The GOP HAS become a party of extremists, turning their backs on Texans from all walks of life. Middle class families forced to borrow huge sums of money to pay public college tuition, loans that turned out to be little more than kickback schemes. Hundreds of thousands of children without health care, millions of Texas uninsured or underinsured. Public education long forgotten. The physical infrastucture crumbling, state parks underfunded and public land being given away to privateers.
An issue of great concern to me, especially considering it is at the heart of the war appropriation debate right now, is the condition of the American military. As a result of continuous tours of duty including word last night of additional National Guard deployment, less then stellar equipment, inadequate training, and inability to repair and restore damaged equipment, the world's finest military is crumbling before our eyes.
Some of you might ask how this relates to Texas? Well, it relates to every state, no matter where you hail from, but Texas is home to a lot of military defense industries and many military bases. We also have many of our states bravest in harms way right now. Texas military complexes are right in the middle of this snowball down hill effect of our deteriorating military. Time Magazine has an excellent article detailing this topic.
What aggravates me is President Bush has the audacity to point the finger at Democrats for sending a War Appropriation bill, complete with deadlines intended to release a culture of dependency by the Iraqi government on American security, and proclaims that Democrats are putting our troops at risk by not giving him what he wants. Texans, he wants another blank check without accountability attached to it. We've seen enough of what he and the Pentagon has done with that responsibility, haven't we?
Here we go again - The Texas Republican Party just declared "America is a Christian nation" in their 2006 party platform. ( http://www.n5gar.info/2006-Texas-GOP-Platform.pdf ; warning: PDF; cite is to page 15)
But these old tricks don't have to work -- we'll tell you below about how you can fight back.
