|
| Username: |
Karl-Thomas Musselman |
| PersonId: |
2 |
| Created: |
Wed Jan 18, 2006 at 07:22 PM CST |
Karl-Thomas Musselman's RSS Feed
 |
|
Tue Nov 17, 2009 at 08:00 PM CST
|
The first group of college Democrats in Texas to endorse a candidate in the upcoming United States Senate special election announced today that they are backing John Sharp. The club is the Stephen F. Austin Young Democrats in Nacogdoches.
"John Sharp's campaign is all about us," said Laura Barry, president of the Stephen F. Austin Young Democrats in Nacogdoches.
"John has our pledge to work just as hard as he is to give Texas a fresh voice in Washington," added Ms. Barry, who also serves as the political director of the Texas College Democrats, which has 34 chapters across the state. "He has the vision to lead us into the future - and we will be there with him every step of the way."
It is reasonable to note the timing of the endorsement as the University Democrats in Austin are set to vote on endorsing in the U.S. Senate primary as it stands this Thursday, a day after their major BLUEPrint for Texas fundraiser. The UT-Austin University Democrats were the 2008 College Democrats of American "Chapter of the Year" and are the largest College Democrats chapter in the nation with the activism to match.
+ DISTRIBUTING 42,000+ voter registration cards in key neighborhoods!
+ REGISTERING 11,565 students to vote TOTAL (Including 5,700+ in one day)!
+ KNOCKING on 40,000+ doors statewide for key candidates!
+ CALLING 12,233 voters on behalf of Texas Democrats!
+ MOBILIZING 18,000 students to early vote (a UT-Austin record)!
We'll be reporting Thursday night whether John Sharp will pick up a second College Democrats chapter's endorsement, or if Bill White will overpower Sharp's endorsement and earn the support of the arguably the biggest youth endorsement possible in Texas.
Update: It appears from a comment by one of the University Democrats that the club has cancelled the U.S. Senate endorsement meeting. No work yet on the reason, though it's reasonable to assume the recent pronouncements by Sen. Hutchison on her new belayed resignation timeline have cancelled the urgency to hold an endorsement meeting before the students are gone on break until late January. I expect it will be moved to the regular joint pre-primary endorsement meeting with the Central Austin Democrats held annually after the filing period.
|
|
Discuss
:: (8
Comments)
|
|
Tue Nov 17, 2009 at 07:00 PM CST
|
|
At the age of 96, former Austin Mayor Travis LaRue passed away over the weekend, becoming the second former mayor (after Roy Butler) of the Capital City to die in the last week.
As a historical aside, LaRue was the last non-elected Mayor of Austin, having served from 1969-1971 after being chosen by the City Council. In 1971, Austin held it's first direct election for mayor after moving to a council-manager form of government. And in a somewhat odd co-incidence, LaRue as a sitting Mayor was defeated handily in 1971 by none other than Roy Butler, who also passed away this past week.
Date of Election: April 3, 1971
Registered Voters: 93,597
Total Ballots Cast: 53,140
Percent Turnout: 56.78%
Mayor
Butler, Roy 34,099 65.29%
LaRue, Travis L. 7,871 15.07%
Montgomery, Jon 7,323 14.02%
Stopher, H. W. (Oat) 787 1.51%
Donley, Raymond (Jr.) 565 1.08%
Cole, Lorado 508 0.97%
Tune, Ray 462 0.88%
Damon, Jim 376 0.72%
Hickerson, Carl 232 0.44%
In a further electoral note, Lowell Lebermann, who passed away in July, won election that year, defeating 3 opponents including Royal Masset.
|
|
Discuss
:: (0
Comments)
|
|
Tue Nov 17, 2009 at 05:56 PM CST
|
|
In the battle between internal campaign polls there now appears to be agreement from both camps in Houston that Annise Parker is leading going into the December 12th runoff election.
Previously, it was leaked that Gene Locke's internal polling showed Annise with a 43%-39% lead and 18% undecided. Today, Parker's campaign released their internal poll showing a similar number of undecided voters, but a larger margin over Locke.
A recent Lake Research Partners survey of likely voters in Houston's upcoming mayoral runoff shows that City Controller Annise Parker holds a strong lead over former City Attorney and lobbyist Gene Locke. In our recent survey, among likely voters with previous participation in past city runoff elections, Parker leads with 47 percent (37 percent strong) to 34 percent for Locke (27 percent strong). A fifth of voters (19 percent) remains
undecided.
Parker holds this large lead even though the poll simulated high turnout among African American voters. The sample was comprised of 54 percent Anglos, 30 percent African Americans, and 12 percent Latinos. Parker remains the best-known and liked candidate in the race and she maintains her lead even under a simulated attack.
Only a substantially negative campaign from Locke can interrupt her momentum. Sixty-seven percent of voters have a favorable impression of Parker and 62 percent think she has done either an excellent (21 percent) or good job (41 percent) as City Controller. Fifty-seven percent of voters hold a favorable view of Locke.
Further details of the poll are available in the release posted on Parker's campaign website.
|
|
Discuss
:: (1
Comments)
|
|
Tue Nov 17, 2009 at 04:45 PM CST
|
It's a first not only for the campaign of Hank Gilbert, but for any of the Democratic hopefuls for Texas Governor- the addition of a senior staff level position as an Asian & Pacific Islander American Outreach Director. Justin Gillenwater writes more at the Asian American Action Fund blog.
Hank Gilbert has enlisted political dynamo Geeyung Li to serve as APIA Outreach Director. Gilbert is the first candidate to create and fill an APIA outreach position for the 2010 Democratic gubernatorial primary. With the selection of Li, Gilbert has doubly demonstrated his valuing of the Asian American community.
Li is not only the first Outreach Director (of any identity group) for the Gilbert Campaign, but Li is also the first Asian American enlisted to a senior position in any of the 2010 Democratic gubernatorial campaigns. The Schieffer campaign has an Asian American on the campaign committee, but otherwise only has Asian Americans in low-level volunteer positions. The Shami campaign has yet to formally launch and therefore has no Asian American in any position. The Friedman campaign had the, for lack of a better word, "best" response to my query:
While we have a Jew, a Palestinian, and a redneck, we do not yet have any Asian-American staffers.
We have not considered race, ethnicity, gender or sex in our hiring at this time, but would expect our campaign and a Kinky administration to look like Texas.
When reached for comment about his joining the Gilbert campaign, Li said:
I am excited and humbled by the opportunity to serve the Asian American community. I believe the focus and outreach that Hank Gilbert has is the right step towards not only identifying and communicating the tangible needs that exist within such a diverse ethnic group, but also in building a group of civically engaged Asians that can have a permanent voice on the state level. I hope we can move forward on that, even if it is a small step, during this election cycle.
|
|
Discuss
:: (0
Comments)
|
|
Tue Nov 17, 2009 at 04:05 PM CST
|
It's time for a new Burnt Orange Report poll, which means the close of our last one in which BOR readers proved themselves seers in divining the intent of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.
When will Sen. Hutchison resign to run for Governor?
* Never, & she loses to Perry - 63 votes (57.8%)
* Only after she defeats Perry - 30 votes (27.52%)
* December - 9 votes (8.26%)
* January - 4 votes (3.67%)
* October - 2 votes (1.83%)
* February - 1 votes (0.92%)
* November - 0 votes (0%)
Total votes: 109
Only 2 voters out of 109 thought that KBH would have resigned from office by now, leaving over 98% of voters correct so far! And given Hutchison's statement that she won't consider resigning until after the March primary, I'd argue that the 85% of BOR voters who chose one of the top two leading options are both still correct.
>> New BOR Poll
Who do you support in the Houston Mayoral run-off? Vote here. Burnt Orange Report will reconsider the runoff field and issue an endorsement so we appreciate getting a quick read of where our readers stand.
|
|
Discuss
:: (1
Comments)
|
|
Tue Nov 17, 2009 at 03:28 PM CST
|
|
I don't often like to post about organizational events or fundraisers, especially if they are specific to just one city in the state, but we wouldn't be the Burnt Orange Report without the University Democrats at UT-Austin.
The University Democrats, established in 1953, is the largest and oldest political organization at The University of Texas at Austin and the leading force of progressive student activism in the state of Texas. Today, they are the largest College Democrats chapter in the country - working to bring democratic ideals to UT, the state of Texas, and the entire nation.
Last year they broke records by registering 12,000+ young voters across the state and mobilizing an entire generation of young Texas activists to blockwalk, phonebank, and elect strong Democrats to the County Court House, the State House, and the White House. After the elections, they continued to be at the forefront of the youth movement in Texas by organizing students to be the voice on important legislative issues like tuition relief, gun-free schools, tax-free textbooks, and the disenfranchising voter ID bill.
This year they have pledged to be at the forefront of the movement to turn Texas blue. University Democrats has built a large and committed team of extraordinary student activists who are ready to organize young people to bring change to our state. With a plan, BLUEPrint for Texas, the mission is to turn Texas blue from the ground up by mobilizing student activists to:
• TRAVEL to swing districts across Texas to work for candidates.
• DISTRIBUTE voter registration cards in key neighborhoods.
• REGISTER new voters.
• KNOCK on doors for key candidates.
• CALL households on behalf of Texas Democrats.
• MOBILIZE young people to vote early.
In order to be effective in mobilizing students for change in Texas, Unversity Democrats needs the resources and support from community leaders like you! Please support them by making a donation at their fundraiser this Wednesday. I know I'll be writing them a check.
University Democrats: BLUEPrint for Texas
8:00 p.m. Wednesday, November 18th, 2009
UT-Austin Business School Special Events Room (CBA 3.304)
($40 minimum donation to attend please)
$50= ground breaker
$100=contractor
$250=developer
$500=master developer
$1000=architect
$2000=master architect
|
|
Discuss
:: (0
Comments)
|
|
Tue Nov 17, 2009 at 01:00 PM CST
|
Julian Castro, the new mayor of San Antonio and the youngest mayor among the top 50 American cities, will be hosting a virtual town house tonight. Our San Antonio readers and others interested around Texas are invited to tune in to www.mayorcastro.com tonight at 7pm.
WHAT: Mayor to fulfill campaign commitment and hold first "Virtual" Town Hall meeting with bloggers and cyber community
WHO: Mayor Julián Castro
WHEN: TUESDAY, Nov. 17, 7 p.m.-8 p.m.
WHERE: Live webcast from Trinity University, Northrup Hall, Room 040
MORE: Mayor Castro will answer questions posed directly by the community via e-mail, a live chat room at www.mayorcastro.com and from a studio audience. Media parking available in visitor's lot outside Northrup Hall or in Alamo Stadium parking lot.
|
|
Discuss
:: (0
Comments)
|
|
Tue Nov 17, 2009 at 10:00 AM CST
|
|
If you haven't noticed by now, Bill White is doing some cool stuff with online advertising. Here on Burnt Orange Report, and a number of other Texas political blogs, White has been running blog ads. They have also been running more premium banner ads, both here on BOR, and targeted to Texas on a number of other national political sites that also use Common Sense Media ads. (For more information on CSM ads, including here at BOR, click here.) But what is smart is the campaign is also adapting our ads to what's going on day-to-day.
So for example, the other day, the ads changed over to promoting their Jerry Jeff Walker contest. All people have to do to enter is text JJW to TEXAS (83927) or enter their cell number at www.billwhitefortexas.com/JJW. Texting could be a big part of the outreach and GOTV efforts that will be especially vital to a special election. If the campaign wants to reach people where they are, whether that's reading the Burnt Orange Report, on their cell phones, or in person at a events all over the state, then updating their advertising to be timely to help build these lists and relationships is smart.
And people are noticing. See Twitter updates like the ones below.
>> Just noticed Houston Mayor Bill White has web ads up for his Senate campaign. Go Bill! We need a D win in a TX statewide election.
>> Anyone notice @BillWhiteforTX ads popping up all over the Internet? Oh, and yesterday he told us he is NOT running for Gov.
The campaign says they got nearly 1200 text signups in a matter of hours the last time they coordinated their ad & email conversation.
Hopefully we'll see more Democratic campaigns make smart use of their money with targeted message and advertising online. There's no reason to cede that territory to Republicans in Texas who have made use of it more effectively in past general election cycles.
|
|
Discuss
:: (0
Comments)
|
|
Tue Nov 17, 2009 at 08:00 AM CST
|
- Farouk Shami is going to announce his Democratic primary bid for Texas Governor on Thursday...at the CHI USA headquarters.
- Sue Schechter, former state representative, Harris County Democratic Party Chair, and former Rick Noriega for US Senate campaign manager, has announced she is running for Harris County Clerk.
- Is retiring El Paso state senator Eliot Shapleigh thinking about a run for Governor? Here's to hoping that he adds a "Lieutenant" in front of that before running.
- Raise the gas tax? Sounds like lawmakers agree with Hank Gilbert. Speaking of that, Hank Gilbert is getting noticed for his bold policy proposals, and getting good reviews of them.
- No Trail of Lights for Austin this year.
- There are petitioners in El Paso trying to overturn the city's recently adopted unmarried partner benefits program. I'm guessing these people aren't concerned because of the fiscal impact.
The city spends about $35 million each year on health benefits for its 6,000 employees and their families. Extending coverage to the unmarried partners of city employees could cost another $287,000 annually.
|
|
Discuss
:: (0
Comments)
|
|
Mon Nov 16, 2009 at 09:53 PM CST
|
It was bound to start up again at some point- attacks on Houston Mayoral candidate Annise Parker, not based on any critique of her policy positions or campaign plans, but on her being a lesbian. Granted, Annise has been an out elected official for multiple elections and has hardly made the issue anywhere close to central as part of her campaign this year, but that won't stop the anti-gay forces from spinning a web of lies.
Houston Chronicle: A cluster of socially conservative Houstonians is planning a campaign to discourage voters from choosing City Controller Annise Parker in the December mayoral runoff because she is a lesbian, according to multiple ministers and conservatives involved in the effort.
The group is motivated by concerns about a "gay takeover" of City Hall, given that two other candidates in the five remaining City Council races are also openly gay, as well as national interest driven by the possibility that Houston could become the first major U.S. city to elect an openly gay woman.
Another primary concern is that Parker or other elected officials would seek to overturn a 2001 city charter amendment that prohibits the city from providing benefits to the domestic partners of gay and lesbian employees.
"The bottom line is that we didn't pick the battle, she did, when she made her agenda and sexual preference a central part of her campaign," said Dave Welch, executive director of the Houston Area Pastor Council, numbering more than 200 senior pastors in the Greater Houston area. "National gay and lesbian activists see this as a historic opportunity. The reality is that's because they're promoting an agenda which we believe to be contrary to the concerns of the community and destructive to the family."
Eye roll.
The worst part is her opponent Gene Locke is courting the same awful people.
He appeared at the Pastor Council's annual gala last Friday and was encouraged several times by State Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, a featured speaker, to stand for conservative values.
Locke has also met with and sought the endorsement of Dr. Steven Hotze, a longtime local kingmaker in conservative politics and author of the Straight Slate in 1985, a coterie of eight City Council candidates he recruited who ran on an anti-gay platform.
It's nice to see the Houston Chronicle editorialize against these hate-mongering forces.
Houston deserves better. Our city has a well-earned reputation for tolerance and openness. We don't need inflammatory appeals to folks' worst instincts.
We've been here before. In 1997 a small-minded ballot initiative would have ended the city's affirmative action program that helped minority and women contractors. Mayor Bob Lanier went on the air in an ad that bluntly stated his opposition to a proposal that would "turn back the clock to the days when guys who look like me got all the city's business."
Lanier couldn't have been more clear: Discrimination is just not right.
It was a powerful moment of leadership. The referendum went down to defeat, and news outlets around the country marveled that a "wealthy white developer" had taken the lead on affirmative action.
It's time for another such moment of leadership.
...
The rhetoric of people like Steven Hotze and Dave Welch carries a high cost. Their support should not be purchased at the price of bigotry.
|
|
Discuss
:: (4
Comments)
|
|
|
|
|
| Poll |
| Who do you support in the Houston Mayoral Run-off? |
|
|
|
Results
|
|
