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March 17, 2006
Other Texas Politics
Texas Governor Rick Perry made quite the splash at the CPAC (Conservative Political Action Committee) conference in Tennessee recently. Supposedly he was the speaker most in tune with conservative anger over GOP budget problems and its generally lackadaisical approach to conservative issues like border control. I have not been terribly impressed with Perry, but he has not done much as governor to be disappointed in either. Here is the Dallas Morning News take on it:
Texas Gov. Rick Perry complained to a major gathering of conservatives Friday that federal spending has exploded and the border has been left "neglected and unprotected" under Republican leadership."We cannot objectively say that all is well with the Republican majority," he said. "America needs more leaders who are willing to govern, and not just campaign, as conservatives."...
...He accused Congress of stuffing spending bills with special interest outlays, crowding out higher priorities. "How many more Border Patrol agents could have been placed on the border if Congress lived with just 13,000 earmarks instead of the 14,000 contained in legislation in 2004?" he said, one of many lines that drew applause from the hundreds of activists in a hotel ballroom.
The other major recent Texas news was the victory of Democrat Henry Cuellar after a primary challenge sponsored in large part by the raving left wing of the Democratic Party, spurned on by blogs like Daily Kos. Cuellar is in the district next to mine and I would probably have voted for him if he were my in my district. Instead, I am stuck with Democrat Charlie Gonzales and before the redistricting was stuck with Republican Lamar Smith, both of whom leave much to be desired Jonathan Gurwitz has a good article about Cuellar in the Wall Street Journal:
Once in Washington, Mr. Cuellar continued to display the independence and bipartisanship that had distinguished him in Texas. He is among a handful of Democrats who voted for repealing the estate tax, against meritless lawsuits and for the Central American Free Trade Agreement--a vote that made perfect sense to the son of a city that has enjoyed an economic boom from free trade. But what made perfect sense in Laredo was merely more evidence of his perfidy to Democrats who hadn't forgiven him for taking down Mr. Rodriguez. Where Mr. Rodriguez's legal fight against the results of the 2004 primary ended, his campaign to regain his old House seat in 2006 began.The campaign was long on sentiment but short on funds. By the end of December, Mr. Rodriguez had raised only $170,000 to Mr. Cuellar's $655,000. Then, in January, the conservative Club for Growth endorsed Mr. Cuellar, its first ever Democratic endorsement. And as President Bush entered the House chamber for the State of the Union address, cameras captured his hearty embrace of Mr. Cuellar. The endorsement and the image were widely disseminated, igniting a nationwide liberal campaign to defeat Mr. Cuellar. Influential bloggers Markos "Kos" Moulitsas and Duncan "Atrios" Black led the charge, joined by kindred Web sites. As much as $500,000 poured into Mr. Rodriguez's coffers during the final six weeks of electioneering. Liberals touted the effort as the ultimate mobilization of the "netroots"--the indomitable synthesis of grassroots organization with digital potency.
In the March 7 primary, Mr. Cuellar won with 53% of the vote to Mr. Rodriguez's 41% (a third candidate taking the rest). He increased his margin of victory over Mr. Rodriguez in 2004 in 10 out of 11 counties, besting his principal opponent by nearly 5,600 votes--despite the efforts of the netroots activists. "A lot of energy and money was wasted in the Democratic primary that could have been used to defeat Republicans in November," says Colin Strother, a general consultant for Mr. Cuellar's campaign. "The netroots people took their eyes off the ball--taking the House back from the Republicans," he says. "They only knew one picture . . They knew nothing about the district."
Posted by Pete at March 17, 2006 05:44 PM
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