Still getting back up to speed after Christmas, so here are a few links that I’ve been squirreling away like nuts for winter:
Additional hat tips to Insta and Ace.
LinkSwarm for December 26, 2011
December 26th, 2011Dropping Like Flies
December 25th, 2011On December 19, I reported two additional Democrats, Eric Roberson and John Morton, joining the Senate race because their names appeared on the official list of Democratic candidates, bringing the total of Democratic candidates to seven.
However, the next day, Eric Roberson would be off the list, having filed for another race.
Strangely enough, today the name of John Morton is no longer found on the official list of Democratic candidates. No explanation for his disappearance, though I have sent a query to the Texas Democratic Party for clarification.
That leaves five democratic candidates: Sean Hubbard, Daniel Boone, Jason Gibson, Paul Sadler, and Addie Dainell Allen.
At the current rate, all Democratic candidates will be off the ballot by mid-January…
From The Nanotechnological Violins Department
December 21st, 2011
“Your liberal organization isn’t sustainable!”
MoveOn.org says it needs $400,000 or it will have to close its doors.
Of course, this is probably just a fundraising ploy. Surely the organization born with the express purpose of sweeping Bill Clinton’s perjury under the rug can depend on Bubba leaning on a few cronies to throw them some scratch, And there’s always George Soros, assuming he’s not tapped out from helping other arms of the Democratic Party like Media Matters, Barack Obama, and The Texas Tribune.
But it would be quite satisfying to see Nutroots Patient Zero (as far as I know; feel free to offer better candidates in the comments) go the way of Geocities and John Edwards’ political career…
(Hat tip: Sipsey Street.)
Texas Senate Race Update for December 20, 2011
December 20th, 2011With all the coming and the going and the filing and the GLAVEN, it’s been a crazy few days keeping up with the Texas senate race. I even went back today to see if their were any stragglers who hadn’t been updated on the Republican and Democratic candidate websites yesterday. There were no additions but, interestingly, there was one subtraction (see below).
Of course, there may be another scramble when the filing period opens up again next year after a Supreme Court decision on redistricting. Keep watching the skies…
A Few Words With Republican Senate Candidate Dr. Joe Agris
December 20th, 2011I spent a few minutes on the phone yesterday and today with Dr. Joe Agris, who recently filed as a Republican for the Texas Senate race.
As previously mentioned, Dr. Agris is a plastic surgeon who has done numerous good works, many in association with late Houston broadcasting legend Marvin Zindler (who frequently made use of Dr. Agris services). Dr. Agris waged a campaign for Texas House District 134 in 2008, losing in the general election. “That was Obama’s year. All Republicans in Harris County lost.”
I asked why he was running. He said that voters will “trust a doctor” more than politicians, who he accused of having “constipation of thought and diarrhea of words.” He said his biggest issue was the budget deficit. “The federal government needs a balanced budget amendment.”
ObamaCare was also a particular target of the doctor’s ire: “This Obama medical bill is just an atrocity. We have to get rid of it. The medical care in this country is just going downhill.”
He also had some stinging criticisms of the current state of American healthcare, noting how rules might require a patient to undergo an increasingly expensive series of tests, when only the first and last may be necessary. “If you don’t do things step by step, Medicare and insurance won’t pay for it. 50% of the doctors in my hospital don’t take Medicare. If these cuts go through in February, it will be closer to 100%.”
Dr. Agris also complained about the short-sighted nature of the federal government. “China is our biggest threat. They have plans out to 100 years, and we can’t plan out two weeks. We just have knee-jerk responses. We need 1-year, 2-year, 5- or 10-year plans.”
Given his concern over the deficit, I asked him which programs would he cut. That gave him pause. He finally named foreign aid and military deployments overseas.
He was particularly critical of our efforts in an area he’s visited many times. “I just got back from Afghanistan and Pakistan. We’re not doing any good over there. They just want to take our money.”
Dr. Agris said he had the financial resources to wage a serious senate campaign. “I’ll self-fund some, and we’ll raise some.”
Dr. Agris sounds like an interesting guy, and might have more resources to campaign with than some other longshots. But he’s entered the race very late indeed, he’s virtually unknown outside of Houston, he’s facing three well-organized, well-funded candidates who have been running hard most of the year (plus a fourth, Craig James, who has much higher name recognition than Dr. Agris), and so far it does not sound like he’s thought through the intellectual and organizational demands it takes to run a serious Senate campaign in state as large as Texas. And the good doctor’s Brooklyn accent may not play well statewide.
But I do thank Dr. Agris, both for his many previous good works and for taking the time to speak with me.
And Two More Democrats Join the Texas Senate Race
December 19th, 2011And right after I post on new Senate candidate, I update the page and see two more:
More information (like websites) when I have it.
Brief Candidate Profile: Jason A. Gibson, Pistol Packing…Democrat?
December 19th, 2011I just got off the phone with newly-filed Texas Democratic senate candidate Jason A. Gibson. (I called when his law firm’s email bounced for some reason.) He says his website, www.jasongibson2012.com, will be up live in a day or two.
I asked him why he was running. He said he was “tired of Washington being dysfunctional” and “tired of being on the sidelines.” He also said “I get things done.”
He says his family has a long history in the Democratic Party, and that his grandfather a union organizer. However, when I noted that my blog was on the conservative side of the spectrum, he mentioned support for two policies not often voiced among modern Democratic candidates: lower taxes and the right to bear arms. Indeed, he said he was a Texas CHL holder, which must surely be an uncommon thing among Democrats these days.
There was a time, of course, when the Texas Democratic Party had numerous conservative politicians among their ranks. But by the 1980s, the party that had once been home to Allan Shivers and John Connally found itself to be captive to the ideological likes of Jim Hightower and Lloyd Doggett, causing the exodus of conservative Democrats like Phil Gramm, Kent Hance and Rick Perry to the Republican Party, which goes a long way toward explaining why it’s been over a decade since the Democrats held a single statewide office in Texas. The majority of Democratic partisans at both the state and national level have nothing but contempt for “Blue Dog Democrats,” and I doubt Gibson can buck the trend.
But we’ll see.
Three New Democrats Join The Senate Race
December 19th, 2011In the wake of Ricardo Sanchez leaving the race, three new names have popped up on the official list of Democratic Senate candidates:
I’ve written the first two asking if they have websites. I let you know when I find out.
Craig James Joins the Senate Race
December 19th, 2011Craig James has made it official, and his name now appears on the list of Republican candidates which have filed.
James now has 12 days to raise money for Q4. Anything less than a million dollars and he’s not a serious candidate.
Can’t find an official website yet; I’ll post it when I do.
A week ago it looked like the race was on both sides. Now things have gotten very interesting indeed…