Texas Campaign 2008

Message from Tom Love

2008-11-04T11:19:00.003-06:00

Posted by Faith for Tom Love for U.S. Congress District 24 Campaign - Nov. 4, 2008
As we enter the final stretch of this incredible race, I want to take a minute to thank you.

This nation is built on the hard work and "elbow grease" of the American people. I have traveled District 24, meeting my neighbors. I've seen the dedication of North Texans. Despite personal struggles, I've witnessed neighborhoods and communities come together to help neighbors and strangers. You solve problems, care for your families, and work for a living, while serving others - like those who had to evacuate the Texas Gulf Coast. For some this would seem heroic, but for the "extraordinary people here in North Texas, "it's normal -- it's what we do."

It is my honor to be the Democratic nominee for U.S. Congress for the 24th District. I have grown as I've traveled and listened and learned from you.

I give each voter, encourager, volunteer, and donor my heartfelt thanks. If the voters decide to send me to Washington, I will continue listening to you. Our nation is especially challenged right now but I am confident that the spirit which exists here in North Texas and the ingenuity and dedication of the people will prevail.

The polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. today. If you have not voted yet, PLEASE GO VOTE TODAY.

If you send me to Washington, I promise that I'll be the working man on the hill fighting for the good of the folks here in North Texas.

Thomas P. Love
Democratic Candidate for U.S. Congress District 24

Barnett Shale puts local focus on Texas Railroad Commission race

2008-10-22T15:06:00.002-05:00

By MIKE LEE - The Fort Worth Star Telegram - Oct. 22, 2008
The election for Texas Railroad Commissioner is usually a sleeper.

But in the midst of the Barnett Shale gas drilling boom, it’s a race to watch for North Texas residents.

The railroad commission, which no longer has anything to do with trains, has one job: regulating oil, gas and mining.

On issue after issue related to urban gas drilling — pipelines, saltwater disposal, well safety — residents have learned just how much authority the railroad commission has. And this year, the race features a Democratic challenger preaching about "corruption," and a rising Republican star who has his eye on higher office.

Michael Williams, the commission chairman, is the only African-American to hold a statewide office in Texas, and he got to make a prime-time speech at the Republican National Convention. He’s heard a lot of the complaints about the railroad commission, and he says he’s working on them.

"We’ll have a range of issues that are new to the state and new to the industry because of the Barnett Shale," he said.

The challenger, Mark Thompson, said he decided to run for office after learning about a series of pipeline explosions. He has hammered Williams for taking campaign contributions from the industry it regulates.

"The Republicans messed up the banking, the energy. They haven’t done their job," Thompson said. "They’ve been so busy getting themselves elected all the time, they haven’t thought about the people."

Thompson is not the railroad commission’s only critic. In the last two years, the agency has come under fire from several directions:

The state auditor’s office issued a scathing report about the commission’s inspection practices. Forty percent of the state’s 360,000 oil and gas wells have not been inspected in the last five years. In Tarrant County, the figure is 30 percent, according to railroad commission data. And the auditors reported that state inspectors routinely accepted gifts and free meals from companies they inspected.

A series of reports by WFAA/Channel 8 and The Dallas Morning News showed that the railroad commission was slow to act when it learned about faulty natural gas couplings that were linked to fire and explosions at several homes in North Texas.

A state appeals court ordered the commissioners to reconsider a case in which they allowed a saltwater disposal well on a rural road. The court ruled that the commissioners took too narrow a definition of "public interest" when they ignored complaints about the potential for truck traffic from the well. Commissioners said the disposal well was in the public interest because it would help produce oil and gas. The case is now being appealed to the Texas Supreme Court.

The railroad commission issues permits for natural gas pipeline companies, which have the power to condemn private property. But it does not review pipeline routes or exercise any significant control over the companies until after the lines are built.

Williams said he has pushed to shift inspectors to the Barnett Shale, and he has asked the Texas Legislature for more inspectors. But he said there will never be enough inspectors to do the kind of regular inspections that critics have pushed for. Instead, the agency will have to concentrate on the highest priorities.

"The greatest opportunity for harm is when you’re starting and finishing a well," he said. "We’re not like a restaurant, where you’re cooking every day."

On saltwater wells, Williams said, the commissioners believe that traffic and environmental issues are important, but "we just don’t have the authority to take that into consideration."

"If the Legislature wants to tell us we have jurisdiction over traffic issues, we’ll take over traffic issues," he said.

He said he also wants to encourage recycling of saltwater and other drilling waste, once the technology is viable.

Likewise, Williams said, it will take a new law to give cities and landowners more rights when dealing with pipeline companies.

"As a proponent of local control, I’m not opposed to that," he said.

Thompson had no political experience and voted only sporadically before he decided to run for office. He said he became interested in the railroad commission after a fatal natural gas explosion at a home in Garland, his hometown. The explosion was blamed on faulty natural gas couplings, and news reports showed that Williams and the other commissioners were slow to act on previous reports about the couplings.

"He didn’t do anything; those deaths were preventable," Thompson said in an interview.

Likewise, he said, the railroad commission should have hired more staff to prepare for the Barnett Shale boom.

"I’m surprised — all these rigs coming in and didn’t they know about it," he said. "How come it took so long to actually open an office here in Fort Worth. It’s like they finally get a clue."

Thompson got 48 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary and won the runoff with 59 percent. He said he’s successful because people are tired of the status quo.

Williams took more than $200,000 from oil and gas industry representatives in the last cycle, and accepted a pair of Super Bowl tickets from an electrical utility in 2004. He dismisses Thompson’s allegations.

Williams is open about his desire for another elected office, and he said taking campaign funds — even Super Bowl tickets — from oil and gas companies is legal.

He said he frequently votes against companies and people who have contributed to his campaign.

"The only way he [Thompson] knows about it is because it’s on my campaign report," Williams said.

He was asked what the companies want for their contributions.

"They just want good government," Williams said.

Texas Railroad Commission
The agency no longer has anything to do with trains or transportation. Its only function is regulating the oil, natural gas and mining industries in Texas. Commissioners are elected statewide for six-year terms and earn $137,000 annually.

Michael Williams (incumbent)

Party: Republican

Age: 55

Background: Williams, a lawyer, started his career in the U.S. Justice Department, where he prosecuted Ku Klux Klan members, among other cases. He later served in the U.S. Education Department and worked in the private sector before being appointed to the railroad commission by then-Gov. George W. Bush in 1999. He was re-elected in 2000 and 2002.

Goals: Williams wants to add more staff to the agency and promote clean energy such as wind and clean-burning coal. He also wants to promote compressed natural gas as a vehicle fuel and encourage young people to study science, math and engineering.

Unusual: Williams has twice turned down raises that the Legislature approved. He still earns the same pay, $99,000 a year, as when he was appointed.

Mark Thompson
Party: Democrat

Age: 49

Background: Thompson was a park and Capitol policeman in Austin before he quit law enforcement to become a counselor for blind people. He decided to run for railroad commissioner in 2007, after researching a home explosion that killed two people in Garland, his hometown. He believes that the railroad commission was slow to act after learning about previous explosions linked to the same cause and that some of the deaths were preventable.

Goals: Thompson has vowed not to take campaign contributions from energy industry political action committees. He wants the state to hire more inspectors and wants to encourage companies to recycle more of their saltwater waste.

We’ll have a range of issues that are new."
Michael Williams

Those deaths were preventable." Mark Thompson, on a fatal gas explosion in Garland.

Star Telegram endorses Chris Harris

2008-10-19T17:15:00.004-05:00

Fort Worth Star Telegram Editorial Board - Oct. 07, 2008

Chris Harris has more seniority than any other Republican in the Texas Senate. He sits on the Finance Committee, where he has influence over funding of projects and policy initiatives that are important to North Texas and the state as a whole.

His Democratic opponent, Melvyn Willms, is running for office because he wants to change laws that didn’t go his way in a 1996 lawsuit. Willms, who is not an attorney, represented himself in that suit and in subsequent appeals.

Harris has represented parts of Arlington in the Senate since 1991. Before that, he served six years in the Texas House. Willms has never been elected to public office.

Harris has a clear knowledge of the state’s needs in health and human services, transportation, education and criminal justice. He is a staunch supporter of The University of Texas at Arlington. Willms is still fighting his 12-year-old lawsuit.

The Star-Telegram recommends Chris Harris for Texas Senate District 9.

Read more in the Fort Worth Star Telegram

NOTE FROM FAITH CHATHAM:
Neither candidate has campaigned seriously in this district. I have received no campaign contacts from either Senator Harris nor his minimal Democratic challenger.

When weighing the options, on the plus side for Senator Harris is one of the most experienced, constituent responsive staffs in either the Texas House or Senate. Senator Harris's staff does not discriminate and "underserve" those who are not Republican. On numerous times, they have responded immediately and with expertie to my inquiries.

On the negative side, I wish that Senator Harris understood how detrimental toll fees on the scale planned in the RTC's 2030 plan will be on businesses, individuals and every facet of the North Central Texas economy. Like most Senators and State Representatives from the DFW metroplex, he voted to exempt this region from the 2 year moratorium on private public partnership toll roads. The citizens have been given no opportunity to approve or veto any specific toll project. Public outcry at public meetings did not slow down the projects. The only bright ray in the financial crisis is that foreign interests cooled to participating in public Private partnerships in this region, cost of financing increased, and transportation planners have been forced to return to the drawing board and try to find other solutions to this region's transportation needs.

It is my belief that there are less expensive transportation solutions than those proposed in the public private toll projects. It is regrettable that Senator Harris, and many of his colleagues in Austin, failed to demand that TxDOT find less costly transportation solutions several years ago instead of red-stamping Rick Perry's public infrastructure give-away.

Senate District 9 is a district which stretches from Arlington to Denton County. Hopefully, after the next census this district will be redrawn to to include fewer "parts of cities and parts of counties".

Star Telegram Hits the Mark Again

2008-10-19T17:10:00.003-05:00

RECOMMENDATION TEXAS HOUSE DISTRICT 97
Recommendation by Fort Worth Star Telegram Editorial Board - Sun, Oct. 19, 2008
The matchup in the Texas House District 97 race is familiar for voters in this southwest Fort Worth district.

Democrat Dan Barrett and Republican Mark Shelton are facing off — again. They were two of the seven candidates in the special election last Nov. 6 to replace the retiring state Rep. Anna Mowery, and moved on to the Dec. 18 runoff.

Barrett, 53, was victorious, as he should be on Nov. 4.

In the brief time he’s been state representative, Barrett has immersed himself in establishing contacts and building relationships with other Austin lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. His two interim committee assignments — Land and Resource Management and Pensions and Investments — have introduced the attorney to the mundane but important work of government, with issues ranging from eminent domain to contracts with the company that runs the state’s pharmacy benefits program.

Should voters return him to Austin, Barrett said, he will focus on the economic issues affecting the residents of District 97: reining in escalating homeowners insurance and utility rates, promoting programs that will decrease the transportation gridlock, and revisiting the state’s less-than-successful funding formula for public education.
It is on the issue of public education that Shelton, 51, is most disappointing. Moments after the physician said that he has "never been for vouchers in public schools," he told Editorial Board members that he "is in favor of 'parental choice.’ " When pressed to define that, Shelton said it is the use of vouchers for students in failing schools.

Libertarian Rodney Wingo, 60, is also running, but the Fort Worth contractor is little more than a placeholder.

The Star-Telegram recommends Dan Barrett for Texas House District 97.
Read more in the Fort Worth Star Telegram

This time the Star Telegram Gets It Right:

2008-10-19T16:57:00.004-05:00

STAR-TELEGRAM RECOMMENDATION: House District 96 — Chris Turner
By Star Telegram Editorial Board Endorsements - Fort Worth Star-Telegram - Wed, Oct. 01, 2008 October 01, 2008

Bill Zedler has had enough time and opportunity to shine as a Texas legislator. He hasn’t.

It’s time for a change in Texas House District 96, which stretches south of Interstate 20 from southwest Arlington to Crowley. Republican Bill Zedler has represented the district since 2003, and frankly he’s had time to be a better legislator than he is.

Zedler, 65, touts his membership in the Texas Conservative Coalition as a badge of honor, often using the collective “we” when speaking of the group’s 40-plus House members and their accomplishments in “free enterprise, limited government, limited taxes and family values.”

As slogans, those terms sound good, but in practice some of the legislation pushed by the coalition and its members has been downright bad. We’d rather have seen more evidence that the District 96 representative could think and act independently rather than simply support group causes.

In the coming session, Zedler says he wants to push more of the coalition’s goals.

He wants to require all local police departments to check the immigration status of people in their custody, without fully explaining how the state would have the authority to impose such a requirement or enforce it. He wants to train employers on how to recognize illegal immigrants and to require them to take steps to avoid being duped by fake documents used to gain employment. Putting the state in the role of chief immigration enforcer would be a legal and financial mistake.

Zedler joins the Conservative Coalition crowd in decrying the property tax appraisal system. He wants appraisers to have a freer hand to set property values lower than full market value. Doing so would result in an uneven and unfair tax system.

Opposing Zedler is Democrat Chris Turner, 35, of Burleson. Turner is young and untested, but he is smart and driven by a desire to improve the lives of the residents of District 96 and the rest of the state.

Turner looks at the Oct. 4 school property tax election and the $8.1 million in budget cuts at the Arlington school district this year and sees a common theme: The school funding plan adopted by the Legislature in 2006 has left local districts unable to meet increased costs without raising taxes or dangerously drawing down reserves.

He advocates construction of a North Texas regional commuter rail system. He recognizes funding such a system could be difficult, but the region and its 6.5 million residents are headed for traffic gridlock without it.

He also is focused on the need for transportation innovations and other measures to improve North Texas air quality.

Turner favors measures to enhance funding opportunities for The University of Texas at Arlington and other state higher education institutions.

The Star-Telegram recommends Chris Turner for state representative in District 96.

Read more in the Fort Worth Star Telegram

KENNEDY: Texas, taxes and schools
By BUD KENNEDY - Fort Worth Star Telegram - Oct. 10, 2008
Four weeks before Election Day in a campaign that is not going his party’s direction for now, you would think that Arlington Republican Bill Zedler would avoid picking a fight.

He just picked one — aiming at, of all people, public school leaders, including those in his districts of Arlington, Crowley, Kennedale and Mansfield.

Zedler is among conservatives behind a new "Pledge With Texans." It’s published by the Texas Conservative Coalition ( www.txcc.org) as sort of a state Contract with America, a to-do list for the next Texas Legislature.

Pledge No. 1: "Cut property taxes until they are eliminated" — and one tax in particular.

"Elimination of school district property taxes must be the long-term goal," the pledge reads.

Ouch.

We don’t have an income tax in Texas. Basically, we have two ways to pay for children’s education: property taxes and sales taxes.

"Certainly, we could look at that as an option," he said Thursday, saying lawmakers could "eliminate property tax and replace it with a sales tax."

It’s the only option. Unless he’s got a few billion stashed in a piggybank somewhere.

How much would the Texas Legislature have to raise the sales tax to pay for Texas schools?

"It would have to be an astronomically high sales tax," said Steve Brown, Arlington associate superintendent of finance.

The Arlington school district alone — one of the state’s most thrifty — needs $200 million a year in property taxes to teach kids.

By the time the state of Texas replaced that money, it would take an extra quarter-cent in sales tax statewide to cover the bill. And that’s just for Arlington.

When Weatherford Republican state Rep. Phil King suggested a school sales tax last year, Texas Monthly said the idea was a "scheme . . . to hurt the schools." The idea is a political gesture designed to shift control to Austin and stir up opposition to tax increases, the magazine’s Paul Burka wrote.

Crowley Superintendent Greg Gibson just got turned down by his own voters for a tax increase.

Imagine if every school in the state had to ask Austin for money to raise teacher salaries or pay higher electric bills.

"It’s pretty frustrating to me to hear about proposals like this when the state is funding schools so poorly," Gibson said. "It’s all rhetoric. The money’s not there."

Zedler, a three-term lawmaker, is the vice chairman of the Texas House Education Committee.

He has always returned calls. This was no exception.

"If you can reduce the property tax, then Texans will have more money to spend," he said. "That’ll be good for the economy. And it’ll also generate more sales tax."

The Conservative Coalition is hosting town halls to promote the Pledge With Texans.

Zedler will host a meeting at 7 p.m. Oct. 22 at Moore Elementary in Arlington.

"If you want to see what keeps people out of homes, a lot of it is the property tax," he said. He wants school districts to "do more with less," he said.

King, the originator, said he might agree to exempt low-income Texans from the sales tax. (A sales tax is often criticized because it’s like an income or property tax in reverse: The poorest Texans pay the highest percentage of their income.)

Zedler’s opponent, Burleson Democrat Chris Turner, said a school sales tax would be "a dangerous path." It wouldn’t produce enough money in the event of a sales recession, he said.

"It’s a horrible idea," he said.

Right or wrong, this is a horrible time to be talking about taxes.

Read more in the Fort Worth Star Telegram

Attacks ramp up in Texas Senate District 10 race

2008-10-19T10:26:00.002-05:00

By ANTHONY SPANGLER - The Fort Worth Star Telegram - Oct. 18, 2008
FORT WORTH — If you thought the attacks have been harsh in the
presidential race, get ready for some tough TV ads and biting
accusations by candidates vying for Texas Senate District 10.

Democratic challenger Wendy Davis started running TV advertisements
Friday that paint incumbent state Sen. Kim Brimer, R-Fort Worth, as a
servant to special interests and a deadbeat who defaulted on a loan.

A narrator uses the phrases "Brimer prefers the shadows to the
spotlight" and "The more we know, the worse it gets."

Just hours after airing its first TV commercials attacking Brimer, the
Davis campaign found itself Friday fending off allegations from Brimer’s
campaign staff and consultants that she is a "ghost employee" at
Republic Title in Fort Worth and that she was paid bonuses for steering
business to the company through her position on the Fort Worth City Council.

Surrounded by campaign workers at her camp’s Fort Worth headquarters,
Davis denied Brimer’s allegations, calling them blatant "lies."

"Kim Brimer is filing trumped-up legal charges and hiding from the
voters because he does not want to talk about his record," she said at
the news conference. "I am challenging you [Brimer] today to stop lying
and filing phony legal actions."

The complaint, mailed to the Texas Insurance Department by Brimer’s
campaign manager, Jarod Cox, contends that Davis was paid bonuses by
Republic Title that violate state law and that she does no work for
Republic Title. A spokesman for the department said the agency has not
received any complaints regarding Davis or Republic Title.

A vice president of the company who answered the phone Friday at a Fort
Worth office of Republic Title said that Davis is an employee and has a
direct extension but that it is easier to reach her on her cellular
phone or at her campaign headquarters.

According to documents obtained by the Star-Telegram, Davis had the
city’s law department review her contract as chief executive of
Republic Title’s Fort Worth division, including her $180,000 annual salary.

Fort Worth City Attorney Davis Yett wrote in a Nov. 9, 2004, letter
that Davis’ "employment agreement provides for compensation in the form
of salary, without any incentives or commissions."

Davis said she is the only executive at Republic Title in Fort Worth who
does not receive bonuses.

"I never accepted any commission or incentives from Republic Title, as
Brimer would have you believe," she said. "I revised my contract to
remove any commission or incentive payments on the advice of the [Fort
Worth] city attorney."

Although Brimer’s TV campaign ads focus on his endorsement by Fort Worth
Mayor Mike Moncrief and the 18 other mayors in the Senate district,
Davis said Friday that Brimer’s campaign has been full of negative
attacks in the form of "trumped-up complaints."

Davis also criticized the Brimer campaign for trying to remove her from
the ballot through a lawsuit challenging her eligibility as a candidate.
The case was rejected this month by a Dallas appeals court.

Brimer’s campaign officials say they are running a positive campaign.

"Ms. Davis’ actions today are kind of like a hubcap thief that steals
the hubcaps and then gets caught, comes back and puts them back on and
says there was no crime," Cox said. "We’ll let the complaint speak for
itself. If she wants to claim things at Republic Title were on the up
and up, then she should release those pay stubs going back to 2004. ..."

Read more in the Fort Worth Star Telegram

Dallas lawyer Fred Baron allowed to use experimental drug in cancer fight

2008-10-18T22:56:00.001-05:00

By JEFFREY WEISS - The Dallas Morning News - October 16, 2008

Dallas lawyer and Democratic Party fundraiser Fred Baron has won his fight to gain access to an experimental cancer drug, according to an e-mail sent out by his son late Thursday afternoon.
NEW YORK TIMES
NEW YORK TIMES
Lawyer Fred Baron in Dallas in September 2006.
View larger More photos Photo store

According to the e-mail from Andrew Baron, his father was given the drug, called Tysabri, in hopes that it would reverse what doctors say is an otherwise incurable case of multiple myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow.

Tysabri has been approved to treat multiple sclerosis and Crohn’s disease but not cancer. Researchers began preliminary clinical trials testing the drug on patients with multiple myeloma only six weeks ago and don’t yet know whether it works.

The drug is not available to other cancer patients without the permission of the manufacturer, Biogen Idec. As of Wednesday night, the company was refusing to give that permission. A Biogen spokeswoman said that allowing Mr. Baron to use the drug could jeopardize its use by thousands of other people.
Also Online

Link: Son's plea to drug company

But Mr. Baron’s family enlisted some of their well-known friends to lobby the company. The list included Lance Armstrong, the bicyclist and cancer survivor; Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton; Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass; and Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who has brain cancer.

Andrew Baron, founder of the Web video company Rocketboom, posted a letter with details of his father’s condition on his personal blog. His plea that his father be allowed to get Tysabri was picked up by the online technology community, which posted links on several other well-known blogs.

Andrew Baron sent out a brief note late Thursday afternoon:

“Thanks to the persistence and hard work of so many friends, Frederick has received Tysabri. The Mayo Clinic working with the FDA found a legal basis for this use. We have every expectation of a positive result.”

Access to the drug was not granted by Biogen, a company spokeswoman said.

“The FDA did notify us late yesterday they were working directly with the Mayo Clinic to try and resolve the situation,” Naomi Aoki said. “It wasn’t through us.”

Mayo Clinic officials declined to comment.

Neither members of the Baron family nor representatives of the FDA were available to provide additional details about how Mr. Baron obtained the drug.

Most prescription medications can be used for “off-label” treatments without additional approval. But Tysabri was pulled from the market once because of its connection to a rare brain infection, and any off-label use must be approved by Biogen.

Biogen officials said they feared that if Mr. Baron had bad side effects from the drug, the company would have difficulty getting approval for its use by other cancer patients. It also feared that doctors would become reluctant to prescribe the drug for MS and Crohn’s.

In his letter, Andrew Baron said that Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, head of the Food and Drug Administration, had given “special approval” for his father to get the drug. His letter also said that the FDA had agreed “that there would be no legal risk and no negative consequences” to Biogen if something went wrong.

An FDA spokesman said Biogen’s president had called Dr. Eschenbach but that no such immunity had been given to the company.

“FDA has provided no such assurance to the company,” Christopher DiFrancesco said in an e-mail. “We recognize and appreciate that expanded access programs involve less-controlled use of experimental treatments than the well-controlled environment of a clinical trial, and thus we would consider information that might be obtained in this instance within that context.”
Read more in the Dallas Morning News

2008-10-06T12:42:00.003-05:00

By GROMER JEFFERS JR. - The Dallas Morning News - Monday, October 6, 2008

John McCain doesn't plan on spending a cent to carry Texas: No offices, no staffers, no television commercials and no campaign appearances.
"Senator McCain is going to win Texas," said former Secretary of State Roger Williams, chairman of the statewide coordinated campaign effort led by the Texas Republican Party. "I can see why he isn't spending any time" in the state.

But for states not in the heat of the presidential fight, seeing the candidates at the top of the ticket offers more than just a glimpse at history. It helps down-ballot candidates and energizes party activists in the party.

So while Mr. McCain's absence signals that Texas is solidly red, it leaves local, more vulnerable GOP candidates to grind alone. He'd be the first GOP presidential candidate in years not to campaign here in the general election.

In contrast, Barack Obama, who acknowledges that he will probably lose Texas, has placed paid staffers in the state to work with thousands of volunteers. Many of them are being sent to battleground states to campaign.

"We are the Alamo, and I'm Col. Travis," said Dallas County Republican Chairman Jonathan Neerman, whose party was buried in a Democratic landslide in the 2006 election. "We don't have the benefit of Senator McCain campaigning here, but this is our county, and we have to take responsibility for winning it."

Confident of victory

The McCain campaign says that because it's confident of winning the state – and because the coordinated campaign has done such a good job – it doesn't plan on spending any money in the state.

"We're all working together, hand in hand," said Tom Kise, a McCain spokesman. "Every state is important, and Texas is going to be won by John McCain."

Mr. McCain had a much different view of the role of Texas when he visited Dallas for a June fundraiser at the Belo Mansion.

"I don't believe it's fair or appropriate to come here and ask for your money and then not campaign here," he said after promising to make regular visits to Texas. "I'll be back to the great state of Texas on several occasions. Not just for fundraising, but because I think it is an important state for the future of this nation."

Since his remarks, Mr. McCain has not been back to the state, nor have many of his surrogates. And he's had to reconsider his efforts in other states as well. Last week, the campaign said it was pulling up stakes in Michigan, conceding the state to Mr. Obama.

So Texas supporters must watch the campaign on television.

And when they want to participate by buying yard signs and other campaign gear, they must either drive to a battleground state, purchase it through Mr. McCain's Web site or rely on the local party's scarce stashes.

Mr. McCain is hardly the first Republican who didn't run an active campaign here.

In 2000 and 2004, George W. Bush didn't spend significant resources in Texas either.

Then, as now, the presidential ticket was pushed by a statewide campaign.

Mr. Williams said Texas Republicans are having success selling Mr. McCain, as well as state and local candidates.

"We're helping Senator McCain a lot," he said. "We're helping everybody else down the ballot."

There are "victory" operations in the Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Austin and San Antonio areas. Those campaigns are funded by the state party, with input from local Republicans.

In the past several months, they have had 50 sessions to train volunteers.

Hometown races

But unlike Mr. Obama, who sends many of his volunteers outside Texas, Republican volunteers are used almost exclusively for hometown races.

Mr. Neerman said the McCain campaign had pledged not to take valuable campaign workers out of Dallas County. He says he needs them to help with local races.

But Mr. Neerman and others were hoping for more, including public rallies by both Mr. McCain and vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

Ms. Palin visited Dallas on Friday for a fundraiser attended by more than 1,000 people.

And hundreds more lined the streets outside of the Fairmont Hotel and along the path of her motorcade.

The private luncheon allowed down-ballot candidates like former Irving Police Chief Lowell Cannaday to feel the energy brought by Ms. Palin's stardom.

He met her but didn't mention his race for sheriff against Democrat incumbent Lupe Valdez.

"That would not have been appropriate," he said. "It was her day."
Read more in the Dallas Morning News

OBAMA TRIED TO STALL GIS' IRAQ WITHDRAWAL

2008-09-16T10:26:00.002-05:00

By Amir Taheri - The NY Post - Sept. 15, 2008
WHILE campaigning in public for a speedy withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, Sen. Barack Obama has tried in private to persuade Iraqi leaders to delay an agreement on a draw-down of the American military presence.

According to Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, Obama made his demand for delay a key theme of his discussions with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad in July.

"He asked why we were not prepared to delay an agreement until after the US elections and the formation of a new administration in Washington," Zebari said in an interview.

Obama insisted that Congress should be involved in negotiations on the status of US troops - and that it was in the interests of both sides not to have an agreement negotiated by the Bush administration in its "state of weakness and political confusion."

"However, as an Iraqi, I prefer to have a security agreement that regulates the activities of foreign troops, rather than keeping the matter open." Zebari says.

Though Obama claims the US presence is "illegal," he suddenly remembered that Americans troops were in Iraq within the legal framework of a UN mandate. His advice was that, rather than reach an accord with the "weakened Bush administration," Iraq should seek an extension of the UN mandate.

While in Iraq, Obama also tried to persuade the US commanders, including Gen. David Petraeus, to suggest a "realistic withdrawal date." They declined.

Obama has made many contradictory statements with regard to Iraq. His latest position is that US combat troops should be out by 2010. Yet his effort to delay an agreement would make that withdrawal deadline impossible to meet.

Supposing he wins, Obama's administration wouldn't be fully operational before February - and naming a new ambassador to Baghdad and forming a new negotiation team might take longer still.

By then, Iraq will be in the throes of its own campaign season. Judging by the past two elections, forming a new coalition government may then take three months. So the Iraqi negotiating team might not be in place until next June.

Then, judging by how long the current talks have taken, restarting the process from scratch would leave the two sides needing at least six months to come up with a draft accord. That puts us at May 2010 for when the draft might be submitted to the Iraqi parliament - which might well need another six months to pass it into law.

Read more in the NY Post

OBAMA CAMPAIGN DENIES USING STALL TACTICS WITH IRAQ
By GEOFF EARLE - Post Correspondent - September 16, 2008

WASHINGTON - Barack Obama said yesterday he didn't urge Iraq to hold up an agreement with the Bush administration over the status of US troops serving in Iraq.

"Obama has never urged a delay in negotiations, nor has he urged a delay in immediately beginning a responsible drawdown of our combat brigades," said Wendy Morigi, an Obama spokeswoman in response to a column in yesterday's Post.

Morigi cited "outright distortions" in an column by Amir Taheri, but the Obama camp did not specifically dispute any of the quotes in the piece.

The article quoted Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari in an interview saying Obama said it might be better to delay an agreement.

"He asked why we were not prepared to delay an agreement until after the US elections and the formation of a new administration in Washington," Zebari said.

Zebari said Obama wanted congressional approval of a deal, and said it was better not to have the agreement negotiated while the administration was in a "state of weakness and political confusion."

John McCain's senior adviser, Randy Scheunemann, called Obama's statements "an egregious act of political interference by a presidential candidate seeking political advantage overseas," citing the "possibility" that Obama tried to undermine negotiations.

geoff.earle@nypost.com

Tarrant County: Judge Candidate

2008-09-11T10:12:00.003-05:00

Maureen Tolbert on "How Cases are Tried":

Tolbert on "How Tolbert is Different":

Tolbert on "How Judge is Referree":

New Media and the Presidential Campaign - The Aspen Institute

2008-09-09T12:44:00.005-05:00

Media in Campaign:

McCain's Poll Vault
By Jonathan Capehart - Washington Post - September 8, 2008
In July, I was on a panel at the Aspen Ideas Festival on the media and the 2008 presidential campaign. There was a bit of happy talk about Sen. Barack Obama and the campaign he'd run thus far, which rankled a few folks under the tent at the Aspen Meadows Resort. One asked if there was anything nice any of us could say about the Republican nominee for president. I leaned over to the moderator and said, "I'll take that one."

For those of you thirsty for some good news about John McCain, I said, here you go. Citing a May Washington Post-ABC News poll, I pointed out that 82 percent of respondents felt the nation was going in the wrong direction. I noted that the conventional wisdom among Democrats and Republicans alike, both inside and outside the Washington Beltway, was that the Democrats would expand their majorities in the House and the Senate. And I said that voters overwhelmingly favored Democrats over the GOP when asked who they trusted to address the war in Iraq, the economy and a whole host of other issues. Then came the good news for McCain: despite this tidal wave of bad news for Republicans, he was in a statistical dead-heat with Obama. I warned the Obama supporters to pay attention to this, especially since the senator from Illinois lost nine of the final 14 contests, including Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana, and was having a hard time winning over supporters of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Two months later, the situation is a tad more dire. Three polls out today spell trouble for Team Obama. While a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll has Obama and McCain tied at 48 percent, a USA Today/Gallup survey has McCain besting Obama 50-46 among registered voters. And a Washington Post/ABC News poll shows McCain leading among white women, 53-41.

This could be the traditional convention bounce for McCain. After all, these polls were done over the weekend, just after the Republican convention disbanded in St. Paul. Or it could be that McCain's pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate was the spark that the conservative base of the party, and white women, needed to finally show McCain some love. Or these numbers could represent growing resistance to Obama. Whatever the reason, Obama better figure out a way to turn those ugly numbers around lest he be the losing Democrat in a year of expected gains.

Some of the McCain Greenscreen Videos:
Make McCain Exciting Challenge: McCain on Jeopardy

Make McCain Exciting: McCain hosts the Colbert Report:

Make McCain Exciting - Cavewomen Catfighting:

McCaMake John McCain Exciting: Dinosaurs Fighting:

Make McCain Exciting: Wizard of Oz edition:

Make McCain Exciting: Blue Suede Shoes edition:

Make McCain Exciting: The Emperor edition:

See all forty Greenscreen Colbert challenge videos.

Gore and Clinton stronger against McCain than Obama

2008-08-15T16:28:00.006-05:00

In mid July, almost a month after Senator Clinton suspended her campaign, the Rasmussen poll shows Hillary Clinton is stronger than McCain, yet McCain leads Barack Obama in the poll.

However, McCain fares better against Obama than he does against two other prominent Democrats. New York Senator Hillary Clinton leads McCain by eight points, 50% to 42%. Former Vice President Al Gore, the Democratic presidential nominee in 2000, leads McCain 50% to 43%.

The same report states:

These numbers help explain why Election 2008 is competitive even though events so heavily favor the Democrats -- because the Republicans are on course to nominate their strongest possible general election candidate but the Democrats are not.

They summarize:

In all five hypothetical match-ups featured in this article, the Democrat leads the Republican among unaffiliated voters. In the match-up between the two presumptive nominees, McCain holds a slight edge over Obama among those voters.

Another poll shows:
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Friday, Aug. 15, 2008 shows Barack Obama attracting 44% of the vote while John McCain earns 41%. When "leaners" are included, it’s Obama 47% and McCain 45% (see recent daily results). Tracking Polls are released at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time each day.

National Survey of 1,000 Likely Voters
Conducted July 13, 2008
By Rasmussen Reports

2* Fine… what if the choice was between Republican John McCain or Democrat Al Gore? For whom would you vote?

43% McCain

50% Gore

4% Some other candidate

4% Not sure

4* Just two more… what if the choice was between Republican John McCain and Democrat Hillary Clinton? For whom would you vote?

42% McCain
50% Clinton

5% Some other candidate

3% Not sure
NOTE: Margin of Sampling Error, +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence

This week they polled on views of Hillary Clinton:
The August 15, 2008 Rasmussen Polls:

Seventy percent (70%) of Democrats have a favorable opinion of Clinton. Just 45% of African-Americans feel that way, however, while 52% offer a negative assessment.

Clinton To Be Nominated At Convention - It's official.

2008-08-14T23:03:00.004-05:00

By Elizabeth Benjamin - The NY Daily News - August 14, 2008

Word that a deal had been reached between the Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama campaigns to put both of their names into nomination at the convention in Denver has been percolating around the Web all morning.

Now there's a joint statement from the Obama and Clinton press offices that confirms the agreement.

Since June, Senators Obama and Clinton have been working together to ensure a Democratic victory this November. They are both committed to winning back the White House and to to ensuring that the voices of all 35 million people who participated in this historic primary election are respected and heard in Denver.

To honor and celebrate these voices and votes, both Senator Obama's and Senator Clinton's names will be placed in nomination.

“I am convinced that honoring Senator Clinton's historic campaign in this way will help us celebrate this defining moment in our history and bring the party together in a strong united fashion,” said Senator Barack Obama.

Senator Obama’s campaign encouraged Senator Clinton's name to be placed in nomination as a show of unity and in recognition of the historic race she ran and the fact that she was the first woman to compete in all of our nation’s primary contests.

“With every voice heard and the Party strongly united, we will elect Senator Obama President of the United States and put our nation on the path to peace and prosperity once again,” said Senator Hillary Clinton.

Senator Obama and Senator Clinton are looking forward to a convention unified behind Barack Obama as the Party’s nominee and to victory this fall for America.

Read more in The NY Daily News - Daily Politics

Clinton Will Be Nominated
by Steve Kornacki - The Politicker - August 14, 2008

Per Marc Ambinder, we now have formal word of an agreement between the Clinton and Obama campaigns that calls for both candidates’ names to be placed in nomination at the convention in order to “honor and celebrate” all of their supporters, according to a joint statement.

As I wrote yesterday, the Obama campaign didn’t have much choice here. The official purpose of a convention is to nominate a presidential candidate, and that can only be done two ways: by acclimation or by a roll call of the states.

If the Obama campaign had gone the acclimation route (as a way of avoiding a formal vote in which hundreds of Clinton delegates might dissent), the protests from Clinton’s die-hard delegates (there are many of them) would be deafening and would produce video clips that would be played over and over, completely defeating the purpose of an acclimation motion.

That left the roll call option, which is traditionally used (even when the nominee is unopposed). But even if Clinton had – as the Obama campaign would have liked – instructed her delegates not to nominate her (and refused to consent to being nominated if they went ahead and did so anyway), it would still be permissible for her delegates to vote for her in the roll call of the states. One way or another, the Clinton delegates who want to vote for her were going to be heard. With this compromise, the Obama campaign is finally recognizing this.

Now the questions will begin: Will Hillary explicitly urge her delegates to vote for Obama anyway, as a show of unity? And how many of them will listen if she does? And will any of this mollify the PUMA crowd, some of whom are still talking of wresting the nomination for Clinton in Denver? And, perhaps most importantly: Will we be talking about any of this once the convention is over?

Wolfson: Edwards' Cover-up Cost Clinton the Nomination -

2008-08-12T07:32:00.002-05:00

Aides Say She Would Have Won Iowa if Edwards Affair was Exposed
By BRIAN ROSS and JAKE TAPPER - ABC NEWS - August 11, 2008
Sen. Hillary Clinton would be the Democratic presidential nominee if John Edwards had been caught in his lie about an extramarital affair and forced out of the race last year, insists a top Clinton campaign aide, making a charge that could exacerbate previously existing tensions between the camps of Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama.

"I believe we would have won Iowa, and Clinton today would therefore have been the nominee," former Clinton Communications Director Howard Wolfson told ABCNews.com.

Clinton finished third in the Iowa caucuses barely behind Edwards in second place and Obama in first. The momentum of the insurgent Obama campaign beating two better-known candidates -- not to mention an African-American winning in such an overwhelmingly white state -- changed the dynamics of the race forever.

Obama won 37.6 per cent of the vote. Edwards won 29.7 per cent and Clinton won 29.5 per cent, according to results posted by the Iowa Democratic Party.

"Our voters and Edwards' voters were the same people," Wolfson said the Clinton polls showed. "They were older, pro-union. Not all, but maybe two-thirds of them would have been for us and we would have barely beaten Obama."

Two months earlier, Edwards had vociferously, but falsely, denied a story in the National Enquirer about the alleged affair last October, and few in the mainstream media even reported the denial.

Read more on ABC NEWS

All Votes Aren’t Equal: Texas Credentials Report Cites Evidence of Procedural Irregularities

2008-08-12T05:43:00.004-05:00

Crossposted on DAILY KOS and TEXAS KAOS
By Faith Chatham - DFWRCC - August 12, 2008
I just received a copy of the 2008 Texas Democratic Convention Credentials Committee's report from TDP Staffer Jim Boyton. The summary is below:

STATEMENT ON RULES AND PROCEDURES
The Committee heard heart-felt, dispiriting testimony from witnesses representing hundreds of challengers about improprieties at many county/senatorial district conventions. Even though the Committee could not always ascertain the factual predicate necessary to divine a remedy that would deny the fruits of the wrongdoing to the violators without harming the effort of welcoming participation by tens of thousands of new Democrats and beginning the healing process, the Committee implores the Party to take stringent steps to prevent recurrence of the following types of infractions:
• Abandoning the convention leadership’s responsibility to ensure credentials go only to those properly elected at the precinct conventions below as properly reflected on the precinct convention minutes returned in a timely manner;

• Allowing participation by alternates or visitors in the voting in precinct caucuses or the voting on the floor of the convention;

• Not recognizing delegates on the floor to challenge the approval of the nominating committee’s nominees for4 delegate-at-large without allowing individual challenges;

• Having one person serving in multiple positions, e.g. Chair of the Tabulations Committee, Rules Committee and Credentials Committee simultaneously as well as adopting and enforcing special rules;

• Claiming to suspend the rules or adopting special rules under the rubric of Robert’s Rules of Order in order to operate in direct violation of the Rules of the Texas Democratic Party;

• Holding joint conventions of different senatorial districts within a county, including joint Nominations or other committees;

• Not appointing members of the Credentials or other committees at the time and in the manner prescribed in the rules, including not in open meetings or not properly balanced;

• Ordering precinct conventions to be ignored and to be reheld without proper factual basis found by the appropriate authorities and without opportunity for sufficient notice to all potential precinct voters;

• Not having the precinct convention minutes and all exhibits made available in a timely manner to anyone wanting to use those materials for supporting any Democratic candidates;

• Not addressing the time frame for the credential verification and challenge processes so that those matters can be resolved sufficiently in advance of the opening of the conventions to avoid long delays in the convention before conducting their other business.

The Preamble of the 2008 Credentials Committee Report to the SDEC and Texas Democratic State Convention addresses the expectations of the 2.8 million Texas primary voters:

PREAMBLE
On March 4, 2008, some 2.8 million Texans exuberantly turned out to select the leaders that they wanted to carry forward the Democratic banner in the fall election. These people cast their votes to restore the levers of government in our county and state to those dedicated to implementing policies and democratic values in the best interest of all Americans.

An unprecedented million or so of those voters also participated in their precinct conventions in hopes of helping the presidential candidate of their choice obtain the Democratic nomination to lead that campaign in the fall. Those Democrats rightfully expected the convention process at both the precinct and the county/senatorial district convention levels to be conducted fairly and openly in accordance with the rules and laws applicable to the most important of all rights – the right to vote.

Acknowleding that many of the conventions were conducted fairly, they stated:

For the most part, the conventions were able to conduct their important business with due respect for the rules and the rights for all involved. The conventions did so in spite of the unprecedented numbers of participants, the vast majority of whom had never participated in their conventions beforehand, and cumbersome or arcane rules and procedures. The amazing success of the conventions is due to the dedication, patience and good faith of the scores of thousands involved.

They attributed some of the problems to:

However, constraints of time or facilities, misunderstanding of the rules, miscommunication between the people involved, or occasionally excess zeal in trying to advance the cause of a particular presidential candidate, caused improprieties or mistakes to be made in the process.

The Preamble explains the importance of the Challenge Process:

The Democratic Party devised the rules after decades of experience where those in positions of power often overrode the rights of others, sometimes even of the majority. The rules are designed to give everyone a fair opportunity to participate and any transgression of those rights, regardless of how well intentioned or innocent the cause of the transgression, is a serious matter. For that reason the Party has established the challenge process over which this Committee has been deliberating these past three weeks.

The committee acknowledged that they did not remedy all the challenges they affirmed and they did not enforce the rules to the fullest extent:

This report contains the recommendations of the committee to the SDEC as how to resolve all of the challenges that came before the Committee. The Committee recognizes that these recommendations do not always enforce the letter of the rules to the fullest. This is done consciously and advisedly.

Apportioning presidential delegates at the convention creates disunity:

In the heat of the convention process, where those supporting competing candidates vie for delegates, passions run high and feelings are often injured.

This year the high turn-out of convention attendees further exacerbated the divisions among Texas Democrats:

The unique obstacles created by trying to accommodate such unprecedented participation in inadequate facilities in such a short time for planning often exacerbated the sense of injury.

The Challenge Process is designed to facilitate healing among Democratic Convention participants:

The Committee strongly believes that it is crucial to our common pursuit of success in the fall elections to use the resolution of these challenges to commence the healing of those bruised feelings and the coming-back together of the factions. For that reason, the Committee suggested that the local participants involved always try to reach a mutual accommodation amongst themselves before forcing the Committee to rule on certain challenges. The Committee appreciates and commends those challengers and respondents in many senate districts that did so. The Committee has recommended approval of those agreements.

The Committee stated that they decided in some instances not to require full compliance with the rules, attempting "to balance" opposing sides and hopefully create ways for participants to work together in the future:

In other instances, the Committee has recommended resolution of challenges that balance the competing interests of not discouraging participation by those new to the process and insisting on full compliance with rules. In these instances, the Committee chose not apply the harshest relief available for these violations. These decisions are not made lightly and do not reflect in any regard a derogation of the good faith and hard effort of those bringing those challenges, often in the face of powerful interests or community pressures not to do so. The balanced resolutions are recommended not only because the available data is sometimes insufficient to tie a particular remedy to the appropriate person or the remedy may harm the potential participation in the state convention of those not involved in the violation of the rules; but also because the Committee feels these resolutions are appropriate to encourage those involved to look beyond their arguments for or against the particular challenge to see how they can begin working in harmony again for our common purpose in the fall.

In Texas All Votes Aren't Equal - Report of 2008 Texas State Democratic Credentials Committee Cites Evidence of Procedural Irregularities

2008-08-12T04:21:00.004-05:00

By Faith Chatham - DFWRCC - August 12, 2008
I just received a copy of the Report of 2008 Texas Democratic Convention Credentials Committee from TDP Staffer Jim Boyton.

The summary is below:
STATEMENT ON RULES AND PROCEDURES

The Committee heard heart-felt, dispiriting testimony from witnesses representing hundreds of challengers about improprieties at many county/senatorial district conventions. Even though the Committee could not always ascertain the factual predicate necessary to divine a remedy that would deny the fruits of the wrongdoing to the violators without harming the effort of welcoming participation by tens of thousands of new Democrats and beginning the healing process, the Committee implores the Party to take stringent steps to prevent recurrence of the following types of infractions:
• Abandoning the convention leadership’s responsibility to ensure credentials go only to those properly elected at the precinct conventions below as properly reflected on the precinct convention minutes returned in a timely manner;
• Allowing participation by alternates or visitors in the voting in precinct caucuses or the voting on the floor of the convention;
• Not recognizing delegates on the floor to challenge the approval of the nominating committee’s nominees for4 delegate-at-large without allowing individual challenges;
• Having one person serving in multiple positions, e.g. Chair of the Tabulations Committee, Rules Committee and Credentials Committee simultaneously as well as adopting and enforcing special rules;
• Claiming to suspend the rules or adopting special rules under the rubric of Robert’s Rules of Order in order to operate in direct violation of the Rules of the Texas Democratic Party;
• Holding joint conventions of different senatorial districts within a county, including joint Nominations or other committees;
• Not appointing members of the Credentials or other committees at the time and in the manner prescribed in the rules, including not in open meetings or not properly balanced;
• Ordering precinct conventions to be ignored and to be reheld without proper factual basis found by the appropriate authorities and without opportunity for sufficient notice to all potential precinct voters;
• Not having the precinct convention minutes and all exhibits made available in a timely manner to anyone wanting to use those materials for supporting any Democratic candidates;
• Not addressing the time frame for the credential verification and challenge processes so that those matters can be resolved sufficiently in advance of the opening of the conventions to avoid long delays in the convention before conducting their other business.

All voters do not count equally in Texas

2008-08-10T23:24:00.014-05:00

Crossposted on DAILY KOS
By Faith Chatham - DFWRCC - Aug. 10, 2008
"Overwhelmed", "chaotic", and "not complying with the election code or Texas Democratic Party Rules" is how many Texas Democratic Precinct and Senatorial Convention attendees describe the Texas Two-Step. Texas is the only state to apportion part (2/3rd) of their national presidential pledged delegates by the results of the Democratic Primary and the rest (1/3) by sign-ins at precinct convention caucuses.

This year 2.8 Texans voted in the Democratic Primary (2,874,986) for every registered voter who attended a Democratic Precinct Convention/Caucus. Only 1,000,000 Texans signed-in at Precinct Conventions to select the remaining 1/3 of the delegates.

If all the delegates had been selected using the percentage of vote cast in the Primary for each candidate, Senator Clinton would have 10 more national delegates than Senator Obama. However, because the percentage of sign-ins per candidate distributes 1/3 of the delegates based on the sign-in presidential preference of the 1,000,000 precinct convention attendees, after primary and convention numbers are tallied, Texas will be sending 5 more delegates pledged to Senator Obama than the number going for Senator Clinton. With nearly three Texans voting in the primary for every Texan attending the precinct conventions, many people think that the preferences of the majority of Texas Democratics should not be overruled by the preferences of many fewer convention attendees.

The Texas Secretary of State's Election Office received few reports of glitches in the Primary Election this year in which 2/3rd of the pledged presidential delegates were selected. However, the Democratic Party Credentials Committee received many complaints (challenges) documenting flawed flawed precinct and senatorial conventions where the remaining 1/3 of the pledged presidential delegates are chosen.

The Texas Democratic Party attempts to address and remedy irregularites in convention voting procedures. This year many senatorial district credentials committees and the Texas State Democratic Credentials Committee reported that they were unable to remedy many of the procedural challenges they reviewed.

Even if the precinct conventions business had been conducted flawlessly, the Texas 2-Step Hybrid Primary/Precinct Convention Caucus system of apportioning national pledged presidential delegates would still discriminate against many Texas registered voters.

>

NEWS 8 AUSTIN Texas 2 step West committee

Selection of 2/3rd of the delegates through the primary allows the disabled, elderly homebound, frail, and military personnel stationed away from their permanent voting residence to cast ballots by mail or at early voting. Texas election law and the Texas Democratic Party rules, however, forbids absentee or proxy voting at the precinct conventions. Unlike Maine, which allows registered voters to register their presidential preference by mail and it to be included in the apportionment of national convention delegates, Texas and other caucus states such as Iowa, makes no allowance for inclusion of persons unable to physically attend the precinct convention to be counted in selecting 1/3 of the delegates. The vote parents with small children, persons who have to work during the precinct convention, and persons in frail health who cannot remain long hours at precinct convention also only counted
2/3rd of neighbors who were able to attend the precinct conventions.

Birdseye view of problems at a North Dallas Precinct Convention/Caucus:

More precinct and senatorial district convention irregularies were reported through the "challenge process" in the DFW Metroplex than in the entire rest of the state combined. In most of the Senatorial Districts in Texas three or less challenges were filed. However, in the DFW Metroplex, 119 challenges were filed with the State Democratic Party Credentials Committee. In Collin county alone, over 145 pages of caucus irregularities were reported to the State Democratic Party. In Senate District 23, (Sen. Royce West's District), 35 challenges were filed. Senate District 10 (Fort Worth) had the second highest number of challenges: 29.

Click on image to enlarge.

Two other regions in Texas also reported high numbers of caucus irrgularites:
27 Challenges filed in the Houston area.
17 Challenges filed in Bexar County (San Antonio).

Inside the Texas 2-Step – taped in San Antonio March 4th at a Precinct Convention (Caucus):

Credentials committees frequently "remedied" proven irregularities to finalize the convention roll. They mediated disputes between delegates of different campaigns regarding which delegate to seat. However, they usually did not attempt to remedy proven instances of persons voting in the wrong precinct, unregistered voters signing in on convention sign-in sheets, incomplete information on sign-in sheets, failure of convention clerks verifying voter ID information and confirming that all attendees had voted in the Democratic Primary. Many precincts reported that they had not removed provisional voters from the sign-in sheets. In Tarrant County alone the Provisional Ballot Board rejected over 800 provisional ballots, yet none of the three Senatorial Districts in Tarrant County removed rejected provisional voters from the convention sign-in tally sheets before seating delegates at the Senatorial Conventions.

The National Democratic Delegate Selection Plan stipulates that all meetings pertaining to selection of delegates including precinct conventions, senatorial conventions and state conventions must begin and end at a reasonable time. However, numerous precinct convention caucuses, senatorial conventions, and district convention cacuses at the Texas State Convention where delegates were elected did not end before 10 p.m. The Senatorial 10 At Large Nominations Committee finished selecting national At-Large Pledged delegates at 4:30 a.m. Despite the impact on attendees (or possible attendees) in these meetings where delegates were chosen, these rules remain unenforced.

All Democratic Party meetings are supposed to comply with HAVA and ADA to accommodate the Handicapped. National Democratic Delegate Selection Rules stipulate that all meetings pertaining to the selection of national delegates must adhere to the same ADA accessibility standards as those prescribed for primary polling places. However, many conventions were held in venues which are not ADA compliant. Some precinct convetions were held in dimly lit parking lots hallways, and other inadequate places. At one precinct convention in Dallas, elderly attendees were trampled by other participants and three ambulances were called which transported the injured to the hospital.

Persons needing translators were rarely accommodated at the Precinct Conventions, even though the Election Law requires translators at most polling places. Few of the Senatorial Conventions provided translators for the hearing impaired or materials in Spanish. The visually handicapped and hearing impaired were not accommodated at conventions according to Federal Law and Democratic Party Rules. In Senatorial Districts 9 and 10 in Tarrant County, mobility impaired individuals were not seated on the ground floor, but were required to attempt to climb stairs to their seats. Several delegates elected to the District Conventions phoned the Tarrant County Democratic Headquarters complaining that they would be unable to attend the convention because of inadequate accommodations for the handicapped.

In many parts of the state, precinct conventions were conducted appropriately. The majority of Senatorial Conventions resulted in only one challenge (complaint) filed with the State Credentials Committee. However, in the DFW Metroplex, Bexar County and the Houston Metropolitan area, there were many reports of election workers and convention clerks/chairs instructing voters to go home before they voted for delegates.

Current Democratic Party Rules do not require persons running for Convention Permanent chair or Permanent Secretary to have ever attended a precinct convention or training by the county election office or Democratic Party. Frequently persons who brought a few
neighbors and relatives with them, were able to get elected Permanent Chair or Permanent Secretary at Precinct Conventions. Unfamiliar with Party Rules and Convention Procedures, they were unable to properly instruct other convention attendees. Many failed to properly complete convention minutes or turn in lists of both candidates delegates.

Some precinct convention permanent chairs placed zeal for their candidates over their responsibility to accurately record and report every attendees presidential preference. Obviously, many of the precinct conventions in three of the largest metropolitan areas in Texas were not conducted smoothly.

CURRENT SYSTEM WEIGHS VOTES OF PERSONS IN SOME DISTRICTS MORE THAN OTHER DISTRICTS:
However, even if the conventions had been conducted smoothly and had not discriminated against those who were unable to be present in person to cast their vote, the current process for apportioning delegates in Texas would result in the combined vote and precinct convention attendence of Texans living in different Senatoral Districts having a different weight in apportionment of national pledged presidential delegates.

The number of presidential delegates per senatorial district is based on a formula which grants more delegates to to districts which have higher voter turn-out in the previous Governor's election and less delegates to those which have lower numbers of voters during the previous governor's election. This year, Senator Obama benefits from the formula because more districts with higher numbers of African American residents voted Democratic in the previous governor's election than did residents of other districts with fewer African American residents. African American districts are the districts where the greatest percent of the residents support Senator Obama for president this year.

Coverage on Austin News:

The Texas Hybrid Two Step Process is under review by a committee chaired by Senator Royce West. The party is not expected to rectify the formular which grants more delegates to districts with higher voter turn-out. All votes do not weigh the same when apportioning delegates for nominating the Democratic Nominee for President. When Democrats who live in Senator Royce West's District vote in the primary or sign-in at their precinct convention, their vote goes toward election of more senatorial, state and national convention pledged presidential delegates than does a voter who lives in districts dominated by Republican voters. This year, the formular which distributes more delegates to district which cast the greatest number of votes for Chris Bell for Governor in 2006 than to other districts results in a formular which allows one vote cast in predominately African American district to count more than a vote cast in districts with less African American voters. Therefore, the racial demographics of your neighborhood, not your race or activism, determines how much your vote counts toward nominating the Democratic Presidential nominee.

Elected or Designated: Democratic Nominee in Historical Perspective

2008-08-08T15:51:00.005-05:00

OPINION: By Faith Chatham - DFWRCC - August 8, 2008
Howard Dean and some so called "party leaders" are demanding that Hillary Clinton not have her name entered into nomination. News pundits have referred to the prospect of her being nominated as "unprecedented." Others discuss how having her name in nomination will take the spot light off of Obama.

The voice of 18 million voters seems inconsequential to Howard Dean and those who are threatening Senator Clinton, trying to force her not to allow her voters to be represented democratically at the Democratic National Convention.

A look at historical data shows that the "presumed nominee" does not always win the nomination. In fact, the "underdog" sometimes goes straight to the White House.

Instead of splitting the party, entering her name into nomination and allowing her delegates to represent the preference of 18 million Democratic Voters will unify the party. Unless her name is entered into nomination, a signification number of her 18 million voters will either 1. sit the election out, 2. vote only for down ticket candidates, or 3. vote for a candidate of a different party.

Democratic voters demand that the party treat every candidate fairly. Neither Senator Obama nor Senator Clinton should be marginalized or discriminated against. A fair, legitimate, honest election at the National Democratic Convention is necessary to energize and sustain the party. Howard Dean should step down as chair of the DNC because he just does not understand the importance of upholding the sacred American principal of one person one vote.

1980:
Jimmy Carter - 1981 delegates
Ted Kennedy - 1225 delegates
Uncommitted - 122
No way Kennedy could win, but his name was placed in nomination.

2004:
John Kerry: 2192.5 Pledged delegates
Howard Dean: 114.5 Pledged delegates
Dean had already dropped out with no chance of winning, but his name was placed in nomination.

2008:
Barack Obama: 1766.5 Pledged delegates
Hillary Clinton: 1639.5 Pledged delegates
The contender is being told to shut up for the sake of the party.

In addition, Teddy Kennedy has had his name on that first ballot in 1968 (12 votes), 1972 (12 votes), 1976 (1 vote), 1980 (1150 - he lost some supporters along the way).

Jesse Jackson has had his name on that first ballot twice: 1984 (465 votes), 1988 (1218 votes).

Howard Dean fails to lead. Instead he dictates and manipulates. In addition to threatening viable candidates, he appointed a third of the members of both the Rules and By Laws Committee and the Credentials Committee. Decisions by these committees to strip her of a significant number of her delegates through imposition of penalties for A RULE VIOLATION while similar penalties have not been imposed on other states where there are MANY DOCUMENTED RULES VIOLATIONS created a false perception that Senator Obama is the inevitable Democratic Nominee for president.

These committees have violated the trust of the members of the Democratic Party. Their role is not to DETERMINE who the nominee will be but to insure that there is a fair and honest process which honors the votes of American citizens.

The Chair of the Democratic Party is not elected to be a "king maker." Howard Dean's actions during this election cycle more closely resemble that of Josef Stalin than of an American leader. Chairman Dean should retire. Democrats deserve better. The American people deserve better.

Every candidate deserves to be treated fairly and respectfully.
In order to "unify the party" the nominee must win FAIR AND SQUARE. The manipulations of the Democratic Party to curtain fair electoral processes representing all candidates at the Democratic Party violate the precepts upon which the party was created.

This op-ed was posted on Daily Kos and has attacted a lot of heated comments by Obama supporters. The attitude shown by many on that site is what many Clinton supporters face in the community. There is a lack of understanding of the process and a lack of respect for the process.
If you want to join in on the discussion, register as a user of Daily Kos. Twenty four hours after you register you can comment and post.

Forida Delegates may regain full voting strength

2008-08-04T15:11:00.004-05:00

By Faith Chatham - DFWRCC - August 4, 2008

Senator Obama wrote the co-chairs of the Democratic National Convention Credentials Committee this month requesting restoration of Full-voting strength for Florida and Michigan delegates:

"I believe party unity calls for the delegates from Florida and Michigan to be able to participate fully alongside the delegates from the other states and territories."

Senator Obama advocates that the Credential Committee pass a resolution restoring each delegate to a full-vote (from the current half vote imposed by the Rules and By Laws Committee earlier this year). The next meeting of the Credentials Committee is Aug. 24th.

The letter was written months after the DNC Rules and By Laws Committee stripped Michgan and Florida of half of their delegates' voting strength. Senator Obama's campaign objected to granting full voting strenght to Florida when the Rules and By Laws Committee met.

Combined, Michigan and Florida have 368 delegates. Enough delegates are in play between the two states to determine the nomination for president. Despite the Obama campaign, the DNC and many media outlets, declaring Senator Obama the presumptous Democratic Nominee for president, restoration of both Michigan and Florida's full voting strength to their delegates significantly narrows the the margin between the pledged delegates of Senator Obama and Senator Clinton. Clinton is the only candidate who has not conceded the race or released her national national delegates.

The Obama campaign counted endorsement from Unpledged Super Delegates in their delegate count when declaring him the winner. However, superdelegates are unpledged. Endorsements from super delegates are non-binding. Super delegates, unlike other national delegates, vote in secret. Historically, the votes actually cast by Super Delegates at Democratic National Convention frequently do not parallel their presidential endorsements. Some Super Delegates change their minds, without making public the candidate who actually gets their vote.

Click on image to enlarge.
Declaration of Senator Obama the presumptous Nominee before the National Convention is criticized as disenfranchising the voters.

For a candidate to legitimately be the "presumptous nominee", the threahold of 2118 delegates should be reached from pledged delegates selected from the 60% of delegates who are elected from the State Conventions without inclusion of any of the 40% of unpledged Super Delegates in the total delegate count. Some Democratic activists believe the DNC, media and Obama campaign have misreperesented the nomination process to the public, causing many to believe that including unpledged delegates with the pledged delegate count gives a reliable indicator of the outcome of the election at the Convention. Despite many unity events and cooperation by Senator Hillary Clinton, belief that the Obama campaign and the DNC are resisting entrance of Senator Clinton's name into nomination at the convention, and conduction of a fair, democratic election for the Democratic Presidential Nominee where both Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama's names appear on the ballot and there is a recorded roll call vote is believed by many to be contributing to Sen. Obama's favorable ratings remaining soft and reflections in the polls that he continues to be unable to energize Democrats who are not already his supporters.

Without leadership from the Clinton Campaign (which was suspended in June), a network of activist groups continues to lobby, demonstrate, and stage visibility events working toward restoration of the full voting strength of the Florida and Michigan delegates, and entrance of Sen. Clinton's name in nomination in Denver.

Prospects for the General Election:
In November, Michigan and Florida will be key battleground states. Numerous visits to Florida and Michigan have not "sealed" the election for either Sen. Obama or Sen. McCain in those states. In Florida this past week, the Quinnipiac poll released Thursday morning (July 31), lists Florida as "officially too close to call". Senator Obama's slight lead over Sen. John McCain is disappearing. In June, Obama led McCain in Florida by 47 to 43. This last poll shows that lead narrowed with Obama leading only 46 to 44 for Sen. McCain among likely General Election voters. This is within the margin of error. Obama's championing restoration of the delegates voting strength, even though it comes rather late, may help improve his ratings in Florida which is rich in Electoral Votes.

McCain beats Obama among white voters in Florida. In Florida, Obama's strength is with African American and Hispanic voters. He needs to make better inroads with progressive white voters. Read more in Central Florida 13 News.

Disgruntled Floridians who resent the DNC for having reduced the weight of their primary votes half could definitely determine the outcome of the General Election. Flordia may ultimately determine who is the next occupant of the White House.

Months after the DNC's decision by the Rules and By Laws Committee, the "Count Every Vote movement" continues to exert pressure, demanding that the DNC restores the delegates of Michigan and Florida and allows them to represent the voters.

Nationwide, in a syndicated story on NPR News August 2, 2008, "New polls show that the presidential race is looking close nationally and in swing states. Although Charles Cook of the Cook Political Report says it is too early to predict the outcome of the race, he says that the Electoral College vote will be closer than the popular vote.

Swing State Voters In Flordia and Michigan Seen as Crucial to Winning in November:

Florida has a total of 208 Delegates to the Democratic National Convention. Of these delegates, 182 are pledged and 26 are unpledged Super Delegates. If they are granted full voting strength, Senator Clinton has earned 105 of Florida's pledged delegates, Sen. Edwards, 12, and Sen. Obama, 65 pledged delegates. Even though Sen. Edwards has withdrawn and endorsed Senator Obama, his delegates are not obligated to vote for Senator Obama.

If the DNC restores full voting strength to Florida's delegates, Senator Clinton will gain 65 pledged delegates for a total of 1693 pledged delegates. Her pledged delegates will give her 80% of the delegates necessary for nomination. Senator Obama will gain 33 pledged delegates (total of 1793) giving him 84.7% of the pledged delegates necessary for nomination.

The nomination will be determined at the National Democratic Convention by the secret ballots of 825 UNPLEDGED Super Delegates. Super Delegates' endorsements of candidates are not reliable indicators of how they will actually vote at the Convention. Historically, some Super Delegates who declare for a candidate prior to the convention change their minds. Frequently they do not release who they voted for after the Convention. This year 14% to 20% of the delegates necessary for nominating a presidential candidate will come from the vote of unpledged Super Delegates who cast secret ballots at the National Convention.

Polls consistently show that Florida will be a pivotal swing state in this year's General Election. Senator Obama's hardline resistance to granting Florida delegates full voting status has not enabled him to poll significantly higher than Sen. McCain among likely voters in Florida. His numbers remain softer in other states than they should considering the high unfavorable ratings of many Republican incumbents and the George W. Bush administration. The DNC's violation of the principles of one person one vote in penalizing Florida and Michigan is a firestorm which has not died down among activists across the nation.

A fair, Democratic convention where Senator Clinton's name is entered into nomination, and appears on the ballot at the National Convention are demands which consistently are made by her supporters. Unless her supporters see that a fair election for Presidential Nominee is conducted at the National Democratic Convention, a significant number of the voters and donors necessary for a Democratic Nominee winning in November remain defiant and unconvinced. Senator Obama's letter to the DNC urging that they restore Michigan and Florida delegates full voting status at the Convention is a step toward real unification instead of empty rhetoric.

Clinton Diehards Want Convention Vote

2008-08-04T11:12:00.006-05:00

By Shawn Zeller - CQ Weekly Staff - July 13, 2008
She may have given up, but a few of Hillary Rodham Clinton ’s people haven’t.

The senator from New York is said to be negotiating a respectful presence followed by a graceful exit from next month’s Democratic convention, and last week the party announced that Barack Obama would formally accept the party’s nomination in the stadium built for the Denver Broncos. But there are Clinton supporters clinging to the hope that if her name is placed in nomination and the roll call of the states is conducted, she might — might — still win.

Heidi Li Feldman, a Georgetown University law professor, insists there’s still “no way of predicting” the outcome should there be a fair vote. That’s because Obama has not secured enough pledged delegates to ensure the magic number of 2,118 needed to claim victory; the Illinois senator has gone past that benchmark only with the pledges of about 390 superdelegates — and they can change their minds at any time up to the moment they cast their ballots.

“If they had a meaningful vote, I have no idea who would win,” Feldman says. “But I know that if Sen. Obama were sure he would win, there wouldn’t be a negotiation” about Clinton’s role at the convention.

So Feldman, who says she has raised about $100,000 for Clinton, has turned her prowess to raising money for advertising demanding a convention vote, and she has teamed with a fellow pro-Clinton blogger, Marc Rubin, to form the Denver Group to lobby the Democratic National Committee, much of the staff of which has already moved from Washington to Chicago to work for Obama.

Feldman says she won’t vote for Obama if Clinton doesn’t get a convention vote. Rubin says he might not. Both say they aren’t worried that their efforts will continue to divide Democrats at a time when they should be uniting to take on Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona. In fact, they argue, many Democrats might stay home if they feel Clinton gets short shrift.

“What they have to do is make it possible for people to say to themselves that there was a fair and correct process,” Feldman says.

Read more in the QC Politics.

Click on Image to enlarge

Hillary Speaks July 31st about the Race for President and the 2008 Democratic National Convention

2008-08-02T12:13:00.004-05:00

(Video by Simone P. DuBois and Toni Alves)
Taped Thursday July 31, 2008 around 5 p.m. at a "Unity" event held to help pay off Hillary's debt. The event took place at a private home in Los Altos, CA.
Hillary on Being Nominated at Convention:

Hillary on Choice of Vice President:

Obama's Women Problem

2008-07-30T22:53:00.002-05:00

By Dick Morris - Real Clear Politics - July 30, 2008

If soccer moms determined the outcome of the 1996 presidential race and security moms tipped the balance in 2004, it is beginning to look as if older moms are the key to the 2008 contest. Obama has a problem among women over 40 and a big problem among women over 50. These groups, normally the staunchest of Democratic supporters, are showing a propensity to back McCain and a disinclination to support Obama.

According to the latest Fox News survey, Obama is winning among women under 40 by 13 points, but McCain is winning among women aged 41-45 by four points. Among women 50 and over, McCain is three points ahead. Obama's 48-35 lead among women under 40 is normal for a Democrat, but to trail among women in their 40s by 45-41 and by women over 50 by 38-35 is extraordinary.

The problem is that older women don't like Obama as much as younger women do. While 70 percent of women under 40 have a favorable opinion of the Democratic candidate, only 58 percent of women in their 40s feel the same way, and only 52 percent of those over 50 see him favorably.

For a Democrat to be losing among women over 40 is without precedent in the past 20 years.

In fact, the gap between male and female voting preference in this election is far lower than it normally is. Among people under 40, men back Obama by eight points and women support him by 13. Among those in their 40s, men back McCain by 11 points and women support him by four. And for those over 50, men vote for the Republican by a nine-point margin while women prefer him by three points.

Usually, the gender gap runs at least 10 points in each age group and, more usually, averages a 15-point differential. The lower gap in this race does not indicate any special popularity for McCain or negatives on Obama among men. Men are voting the way they usually do. It's women who are making the big difference and keeping this race tied.

Part of the problem may stem from Obama's defeat of Hillary Clinton during the primaries. Hillary drew her strongest support from older women who still remembered the sexism of their youth and their struggles to pierce the glass ceiling. For younger women, sexism has much less personal relevance and they were less drawn to her candidacy.

But a bigger problem may be a cultural alienation older white women feel toward Obama. The Rev. Jeremiah Wright may linger as a worry in their increasingly gray heads as they contemplate an Obama presidency. This fear of the unknown and the gap they seem to feel with Obama is so strong that it is overcoming their normal proclivity to back Democrats.

Of course, McCain is a uniquely attractive candidate to the Democratic and independent base. Long regarded as a maverick Republican, he attracts these swing voters and is ideally positioned to exploit the estrangement between older women and Barack Obama.

Would choosing Hillary as a running mate assuage the concerns of older white women? It might.

They could get enthusiastic, one would think, about seeing a woman sitting a few feet away from the president in the Oval Office (again!).

But Hillary would bring with her a different set of problems. Her candidacy would invite scrutiny of Bill's financial dealings, most recently exposed in The Wall Street Journal's coverage of the incredible corruption of his buddy the president of Kazakhstan.

The problem is Obama. And it can only be solved by Obama, not by his running mate. For his part, McCain should take dead aim at this demographic, perhaps by selecting a female running mate who would appeal to them.

The current favorite, Mitt Romney, does him no earthly good with these folks, and his Mormonism is likely to be a big turnoff. But McCain could choose Condi Rice or any number of other Republican women (like Kay Bailey Hutchison, the Texas senator) and attract these dissident women.

Morris, a former political adviser to Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and President Bill Clinton, is the author of “Outrage.”
To get all of Dick Morris’s and Eileen McGann’s columns for free by email, go to www.dickmorris.com.

Read more in REAL CLEAR POLITICS

Contentious Conventions Sometimes Give Us the Strongest Presidents

2008-07-30T10:20:00.004-05:00

Cllick on Image to enlarge.

Advertisment ran in the Congressional Quarterly Daily July 17th, 2008 targeting Hill Democrats and other major DC players.
Read more on the Denver Group website.

Many political scientists contend that, with exceptions in Virginia and Florida, the Democrats' deficit in the South is too big for Obama to overcome

2008-07-28T10:29:00.004-05:00

By Alec MacGillis and Jennifer Agiesta - Washington Post Staff Writers - Monday, July 28, 2008

MACON, Ga. -- Amanda Bass, a volunteer for Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign, had already tried once to get Wilmer Gray to register to vote. But when she glimpsed him in a black T-shirt and White Sox cap again on a recent weekday at the main bus stop here, she was determined to give it another try.

This time, Gray, 21, agreed -- but his bus pulled up before he could fill out the form. Bass jumped onboard and persuaded the driver to wait.

"He was someone I'd worked hard to get," said Bass, 19. "I couldn't let him go, not after seeing how far he'd come."

At the heart of the Obama campaign's strategy is a national effort to increase registration and turnout among the millions of Democratic-inclined Americans who have not been voting, particularly younger people and African Americans. The push began during the primaries but expanded this month to a nationwide registration drive led by 3,000 volunteers dispatched around the country.

Gaining greater African American support could well put Obama over the top in states where Democrats have come close in the past two elections, and could also help him retain the big swing states of Pennsylvania and Michigan.

If 95 percent of black voters support Obama in November, in line with a recent Washington Post-ABC News national poll, he can win Florida if he increases black turnout by 23 percent over 2004, assuming he performs at the same levels that Democratic candidate John F. Kerry did with other voters that year.

Obama can win Nevada if he increases black turnout by 8 percent. Ohio was so close in 2004 that if Obama wins 95 percent of the black vote, more than Kerry did, he will win the state without a single extra voter. But an increase in overall black turnout could help offset a poorer performance among other voters.

The push has also raised Democrats' hopes of reclaiming Southern states with large black populations, such as Georgia and North Carolina, where low turnout among voters of all races has left much more untapped potential than in traditionally competitive states such as Ohio. Obama, who himself led a huge voter-registration drive in Chicago in 1992, has said he could compete in states such as Mississippi by increasing black turnout by 30 percent.

A Post analysis suggests it will take more than that to win across the South. If Obama matches Kerry's performance among white voters and increases Democrats' share of black voters to 95 percent, he will still need to increase black turnout in Georgia by 64 percent and in Mississippi by 51 percent to win. Virginia and North Carolina would be in closer reach, requiring increases of 30 and 36 percent, respectively.

The drive is unprecedented in scale and exemplifies Obama's call for government that works "from the bottom up." But as Bass's efforts in Georgia show, the undertaking is laden with challenges, raising questions about the kind of return the campaign will get on its big investment of manpower.

Black turnout overall does not lag behind the national average by much, and Obama's rise already inspired many blacks to get involved for the first time during the primaries.

That means that in seeking to further drive up black turnout, the campaign is in many places reaching out to a disconnected segment of the population that long ago gave up hope in politics.

For many of these disengaged people, racial solidarity with Obama does not automatically trump apathy or despair. Even if volunteers manage to get them registered, it will require intensive follow-up to make sure they know where to vote, have the necessary identification and then turn out. So as Bass, a black Amherst College sophomore from the Chicago suburbs, worked in 93-degree heat to canvass the bus stop in Macon -- which sits in front of a defunct railroad station that still has the words "Colored Waiting Room" etched above an archway -- she had to deploy a full range of tools. She linked the election to local issues such as rising bus fares. She chatted up people even after they said no, hoping to establish a connection for later. She deftly turned the flirtations of young men back to the task at hand.

Latasha Edwards, 20, a college student in lime flip-flops, flatly said that her vote would not make a difference. "There are a million other people on Earth," she said.

But Bass won her over by stressing an inequity in Macon that she said Obama will address: the gap in quality between public schools and the private schools where many white families send their children.

Lorrie Miller, 25, a mother of four who works in the mailroom of the local newspaper, was mostly uninformed about voting, saying she had last voted in the seventh grade, confusing a mock election held in school with the real thing.

Several others averted Bass's gaze, gave her a cold stare when she approached or signaled with a curt "I can't vote" that they are felons, who under Georgia law are not allowed to cast ballots. Bass reminded them that they can register after they finish probation.

She asked Dontrell Rozier, 20, who signed up the week before, how his efforts to register his friends were going. Not well. "Most of my people believe their votes don't count," he said, citing the 2000 election recount in Florida.

Bass's last sign-up of the afternoon was Anthony Harris, 40, a beer deliveryman who said he has never voted because "I'm a religious type. My god can make a positive change for mankind, but I've never seen a politician make a positive change. There's still starvation; there's still war." It took five minutes before he relented.

In three hours, Bass collected 20 registrations -- a good haul. After a month, she and two other volunteers have collected more than 700.

In the area around Macon, an estimated 40,000 African Americans are eligible to vote but are not on the rolls, out of about 600,000 black people in the state who are eligible but unregistered. The campaign's goal is to sign up at least 4,000 in Macon.

With months to go before the Oct. 6 registration deadline, there was an increase of 367 black registered voters in Macon's congressional district in June, compared with 24 white voters. Statewide, the rate of registered African American voters is 28.1 percent, up from 27.2 percent in January.

Bass is aware of the hurdles ahead in turning the registrations into votes, though the campaign has signed up 300 Macon volunteers to assist with that. "It's a monumental challenge," she said. "You see how mentally shackled and jaded people are, because they've seen politicians let them down in the past."

Many political scientists contend that, with exceptions in Virginia and Florida, the Democrats' deficit in the South is too big for Obama to overcome even with a huge increase in black turnout, unless he can also improve on the performance of past Democrats among white Southerners. While Obama is likely to do well among younger whites, they say, the prospect of a surge in black turnout may stoke higher turnout among whites for Sen. John McCain, his Republican rival.

On the Money Trail, Twice the Challenge

2008-07-27T10:46:00.003-05:00

By Anne E. Kornblut and Matthew Mosk - Washington Post Staff Writers - Sunday, July 27, 2008

Most of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's former campaign advisers have returned to their old lives, taken extended vacations or moved on to something new. But not Jonathan Mantz.

COUNTDOWN: A Time to Gain, a Time to Lose
Mantz is still Clinton's national finance director, a once-illustrious job that now carries the responsibility for a grab bag of thankless chores. He must help retire $25 million in campaign debt, and is piecing together a schedule of fundraising events -- no picnic in the best of times -- for a candidate who has lost but who needs new donors because so many of her earlier contributors gave the legal limit.

And he is in charge of persuading cranky Clinton donors, many of them still bitter about the way she lost, to open their checkbooks for Sen. Barack Obama, while he endures the doubts of Obama supporters suspicious of how much Clinton is doing for herself rather than for the presumptive Democratic nominee.

Mantz's agenda is in some ways a reflection of the challenges Clinton faces as she eases back into the public eye and prepares for her next chapter. Moving on is not possible with a debt to pay off and a sensitive merger between her fundraising operation and Obama's incomplete.

Clinton raised $500,000 for Obama over the course of two days in mid-July, and she has held about a dozen conference calls, with as many as 4,000 people listening in at a given time as she urged them to write checks to Obama. And aides said Clinton is putting together an aggressive fundraising schedule, to be ramped up this fall, as she travels for her own coffer and on behalf of congressional candidates and Obama.

Top Clinton supporters have formed new alliances to help the Obama campaign: The group Lawyers for Hillary, which raised $2 million for Clinton during the primaries and advised her campaign on legal issues, has recast itself as the Obama Lawyers Unity Fund, with nearly 75 members helping Obama raise money. (The group is working with, but distinct from, the Lawyers for Obama committee, which has been part of the Obama organization from the start).

On Wednesday night, two prominent Clinton supporters in Florida held a fundraiser for Obama featuring his wife, Michelle, that raised between $500,000 and $600,0000, aides said.

All together, Mantz said, Clinton has raised an unspecified but large amount -- "I would think it's several million already, and millions to go," he said -- and his counterpart, Obama finance director Julianna Smoot, agreed.

"She's been great," Smoot said in an interview, listing the joint events in which Clinton has participated.

An analysis by The Washington Post found that more than 2,200 Clinton donors became first-time Obama donors in June, giving him $1.8 million of the $52 million he raised last month. Of those, 355 contributed at least $2,000, for a total of $1 million. That leaves a long way to go for Clinton and her contributors to be considered a prime source of cash, but it represents what Obama advisers believe is the beginning of a real rapprochement.

Though a few election cycles have passed since former rivals had to help each other in this way, there are historical examples of the kind of partnership Clinton and Obama are trying to develop: Former president Jimmy Carter and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy helped each other retire debt after the 1980 presidential race, as did Sens. Gary Hart and Walter F. Mondale after the 1984 contest.

This year, the level of cooperation between the two campaigns' donors has varied, in part based on geography. In such places as New England, Georgia and Florida, top fundraisers for Clinton and Obama had relationships that predated the campaign, and they reported finding it relatively easy to unite after the primary race.

The Florida event with Michelle Obama on Wednesday night was an example of comity: held at the South Beach home of Abigail and F.J. Pollack -- who were once top-dollar bundlers for Clinton, with Abigail Pollack estimated to have raised more than $1 million for Clinton during the primaries -- the party pulled in more than Clinton herself did during her stops in New York earlier in the month.

Beforehand, Chris Korge, a national finance chairman for Clinton, and others held a $100-per-person event for Obama that was aimed at women and was modeled on the women's events Clinton's campaign held. About 900 people attended, raising another $100,000 for Obama.

"We have a track record together," Korge said of working with Obama's people, whom he has known for years. Still, he said: "A lot of our donors, we have a long way to go with them. They really need Hillary to come in here." Clinton, he said, "has been pushing for more" fundraising for Obama and is expected to return to Florida in August.

In New York and California, though, tensions have simmered longer. One top California finance consultant described hearing from a number of major Clinton donors who were upset that they had not received phone calls from the Obama campaign.

An Obama fundraiser on the East Coast said he had faced strong resistance from top contributors when it came to giving money to Clinton, in part because of an erroneous belief that the money would go into Clinton's own pockets (Clinton has said she is working to retire the $13 million or so that she owes vendors, rather than the remaining $12 million or so she lent herself).

Robert Zimmerman, a longtime Clinton supporter in New York, said the mutual suspiciousness has diminished in recent weeks, in part because Obama has shown interest in helping Clinton.

"He's stepped up his calls and his outreach," Zimmerman said. Referring to Obama's finance chairwoman, he added: "Barack Obama, Penny Pritzker and his campaign have made a very personal effort to bring in the Clinton campaign. And frankly, it has come quicker than in past Democratic campaigns."

Read more in the Washington Post

Obama reneages on raising money for Texas Democrats

2008-07-19T13:47:00.002-05:00

Time may keep Obama from honoring pledge
By GROMER JEFFERS JR. - The Dallas Morning News - Saturday, July 19, 2008

Long before he clinched the presidential nomination, Barack Obama promised Texas Democrats that he would return to help them raise money for state and local races.

That, state party officials say privately, meant appearing at at least one fundraiser in Texas.

Mr. Obama will be in Houston for a July 31 fundraiser, his campaign told The Dallas Morning News on Friday. But it's for his national campaign, not the Texas party.

Dallas Democrats are also expecting Mr. Obama to make a visit here, perhaps on the same date or in early August.

Texas Democrats have been long annoyed by national party leaders who turn the state into a giant ATM, taking money to campaign elsewhere while leaving local candidates to scrap for the remaining resources.

Mr. Obama campaigned in Texas before the March 4 primary and attended a fundraiser for the state party in February. He's already promised to send staffers to Texas and help down-ballot candidates get elected. But he hasn't said when he'll return to raise money.

Former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk, Mr. Obama's point-man in Texas, said he was aware of the agreement but didn't know how it would be honored.

Mr. Kirk said the realities of running for president have trumped all other endeavors.

"Our first priority is making sure he has the resources for his campaign," Mr. Kirk said.
Read more in the Dallas Morning News

Poll Finds Obama’s Run Isn’t Closing Divide on Race

2008-07-16T09:49:00.003-05:00

By ADAM NAGOURNEY and MEGAN THEE - The New York Times - July 16, 2008
Americans are sharply divided by race heading into the first election in which an African-American will be a major-party presidential nominee, with blacks and whites holding vastly different views of Senator Barack Obama, the state of race relations and how black Americans are treated by society, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

The results of the poll, conducted against the backdrop of a campaign in which race has been a constant if not always overt issue, suggested that Mr. Obama’s candidacy, while generating high levels of enthusiasm among black voters, is not seen by them as evidence of significant improvement in race relations.

After years of growing political polarization, much of the divide in American politics is partisan. But Americans’ perceptions of the fall presidential election between Mr. Obama, Democrat of Illinois, and Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, also underlined the racial discord that the poll found. More than 80 percent of black voters said they had a favorable opinion of Mr. Obama; about 30 percent of white voters said they had a favorable opinion of him.

Nearly 60 percent of black respondents said race relations were generally bad, compared with 34 percent of whites. Four in 10 blacks say that there has been no progress in recent years in eliminating racial discrimination; fewer than 2 in 10 whites say the same thing. And about one-quarter of white respondents said they thought that too much had been made of racial barriers facing black people, while one-half of black respondents said not enough had been made of racial impediments faced by blacks.

The survey suggests that even as the nation crosses a racial threshold when it comes to politics — Mr. Obama, a Democrat, is the son of a black father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas — many of the racial patterns in society remain unchanged in recent years.

Indeed, the poll showed markedly little change in the racial components of people’s daily lives since 2000, when The Times examined race relations in an extensive series of articles called “How Race Is Lived in America.”

As it was eight years ago, few Americans have regular contact with people of other races, and few say their own workplaces or their own neighborhoods are integrated. In this latest poll, over 40 percent of blacks said they believed they had been stopped by the police because of their race, the same figure as eight years ago; 7 percent of whites said the same thing.

Nearly 70 percent of blacks said they had encountered a specific instance of discrimination based on their race, compared with 62 percent in 2000; 26 percent of whites said they had been the victim of racial discrimination. (Over 50 percent of Hispanics said they had been the victim of racial discrimination.)

And when asked whether blacks or whites had a better chance of getting ahead in today’s society, 64 percent of black respondents said that whites did. That figure was slightly higher even than the 57 percent of blacks who said so in a 2000 poll by The Times. And the number of blacks who described racial conditions as generally bad in this survey was almost identical to poll responses in 2000 and 1990.

“Basically it’s the same old problem, the desire for power,” Macie Mitchell, a Pennsylvania Democrat from Erie County, who is black, said in a follow-up interview after participating in the poll. “People get so obsessed with power and don’t want to share it. There are people who are not used to blacks being on top.”

White perceptions, by contrast, improved markedly from 1990 to 2000, but have remained steady since. This month’s poll found that 55 percent of whites said race relations were good, almost double the figure for blacks.

The nationwide telephone poll was conducted July 7-14 with 1,796 adults, and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points. In an effort to measure views of different races, the survey included larger-than-usual minority samples — 297 blacks and 246 Hispanics — with a margin of sampling error of six percentage points for each subgroup.

Black and white Americans agree that America is ready to elect a black president, but disagree on almost every other question about race in the poll.

Black voters were far more likely than whites to say that Mr. Obama cares about the needs and problems of people like them, and more likely to describe him as patriotic. Whites were more likely than blacks to say that Mr. Obama says what he thinks people want to hear, rather than what he truly believes. And about half of black voters said race relations would improve in an Obama administration, compared with 29 percent of whites.
About 40 percent of blacks said that Mr. McCain, if elected president, would favor whites over blacks should he win the election.

There was even racial dissension over Mr. Obama’s wife, Michelle: She was viewed favorably by 58 percent of black voters, compared with 24 percent of white voters

Among black voters, who are overwhelmingly Democrats, Mr. Obama draws support from 89 percent, compared with 2 percent for Mr. McCain. Among whites, Mr. Obama has 37 percent of the vote, compared with 46 percent for Mr. McCain.

After a Democratic primary season in which Mr. Obama had difficulty competing for Hispanic votes against Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Mr. Obama leads Mr. McCain among Hispanic voters in the likely general election matchup by 62 to 23 percent. Mr. Obama is viewed favorably by more than half of Hispanic Americans, compared with Mr. McCain, whose favorability rating is just under one-quarter. By significant margins, these voters believe that Mr. Obama will do a better job of dealing with immigration; Mr. McCain has been trying to distance himself from Republicans who have advocated a tough policy on permitting illegal immigrants to stay in the country.

Over all, Mr. Obama leads Mr. McCain among all registered voters by 45 percent to 39 percent.

White voters, much more so than black voters, are divided in their political loyalties. Mr. Obama draws significant support among white Democrats. Yet still, among just Democrats, blacks were more apt than whites in the poll to express positive views of Mr. Obama across a range of questions. For example, black Democrats were 24 points more likely than white Democrats to have a favorable opinion of Mr. Obama.

“I don’t like some of his policies, like on energy,” said Bob Beidelman, 69, a white Democrat from York, Pa., about Mr. Obama. “Also I don’t like statements his wife made. She seems like a spoiled brat to me.”

He added: “I’m one of those white people who clings to guns and the Bible, and those things that Barack said kind of turned me off,” he said. “This isn’t a black and white thing. If a conservative African-American like former Congressman J. C. Watts was running, I’d have bumper stickers plastered all over my car supporting him.”

The survey found extensive excitement among African-Americans about the prospect of Mr. Obama’s candidacy, a factor that could prove important in pushing voter turnout. The poll found that 72 percent of black voters said they expected Mr. Obama to win.

The high levels of enthusiasm for Mr. Obama among black Americans suggested that there was less of a divide among them about his candidacy than suggested by occasional tension among black leaders. Last week, Mr. Obama was criticized by the Rev. Jesse Jackson as “talking down to black people” by going before black audiences and urging parents to take more responsibility for their children.

“He’s got all these enthusiastic young people working for him,” said James Wilson, 75, a property manager from Philadelphia who is black. “I’m a person who would never give money and they called on the phone and got me to give.”

The poll found that Mr. McCain is yoked to the legacy of President Bush — majorities believe that Mr. McCain, as president, would continue Mr. Bush’s policies in Iraq and on the economy. Mr. Bush’s approval rating on the economy is as low as it has been in his presidency, 20 percent; and even while there has been an increase in the number of Americans who think the war is going well, there has been no change in the significantly large number of people who think it was a mistake to have invaded.

Kevin Sack, Dalia Sussman and Marina Stefan contributed reporting.
Read more in The New York Times

PUMAs in the Park July 19th

2008-07-12T14:01:00.002-05:00

Click on image to enlarge

The Denver Group Speaking out for Democracy in the Democratic Party

2008-07-12T13:48:00.002-05:00

Click on image to enlarge.

This is being posted here as a public service and is not paid political advertising. The ad has been placed by the Denver Group in the Chicago Tribune on July 11, 2008. For more information about the Denver Group.

CNN Poll Shows Barack Obama Losing Support From Registered Democrats

2008-07-06T12:35:00.001-05:00

Obama received rate discount in loan for Chicago mansion

2008-07-02T16:02:00.001-05:00

By Boston Globe - July 2, 2008

WASHINGTON - Shortly after joining the US Senate and while enjoying a surge in income, Barack Obama bought a $1.65 million restored Georgian mansion in an upscale Chicago neighborhood. To finance the purchase, he secured a $1.32 million loan from Northern Trust in Illinois.

The freshman Democratic senator received a discount. He locked in an interest rate of 5.625 percent on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, below the average for such loans at the time in Chicago. The loan was unusually large, known in banker lingo as a "super super jumbo." Obama paid no origination fee or discount points, as some consumers do to reduce their interest rates.

Compared with the average terms offered at the time in Chicago, Obama's rate could have saved him more than $300 per month.

Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt said the rate was adjusted to account for a competing offer from another lender and other factors. "The Obamas have since had as much as $3 million invested through Northern Trust," he said in a statement.

Modest adjustments in mortgage rates are common among financial institutions as they compete for business or develop relationships with wealthy families. But amid a national housing crisis, news of discounts offered to Senators Christopher Dodd, a Democrat from Connecticut and chairman of the banking committee, and Kent Conrad, a North Dakota Democrat, by another lender, Countrywide Financial, has increased scrutiny to the practice and has resulted in a preliminary Senate ethics committee inquiry into the Dodd and Conrad loans.

Within Obama's presidential campaign organization, former Fannie Mae chief executive James Johnson resigned abruptly as head of the vice presidential search committee after his favorable Countrywide loan became public.

Driving the recent debate is concern that public officials, knowingly or unknowingly, may receive special treatment from lenders and that the discounts could constitute gifts prohibited by law.

"The real question is: Were congressmen getting unique treatment that others weren't getting?" associate law professor Adam Levitin, a credit specialist at Georgetown University Law Center, said about the Countrywide loans. "Do they do business like that for people who are not congressmen? If they don't, that's a problem."

Under financial disclosure rules, members of Congress are not obliged to disclose debts owed to financial institutions for personal residences.

Last week, during debate on a bill to help homeowners caught in the foreclosure crisis, members of the Senate ethics committee proposed an amendment to require that lawmakers disclose their mortgage lenders and terms in financial forms starting next year.
Read more in the Boston Globe

Coalition of Millions

2008-07-02T10:10:00.001-05:00

CNN Hillary Supports Aren't Falling In Line for Obama

2008-06-28T22:07:00.002-05:00

Deja Vote

2008-06-28T21:07:00.000-05:00

Obama's unscrupulous grab for power started in 1996

2008-06-28T10:47:00.001-05:00

Clinton backer challenges Texas delegates

2008-06-25T16:53:00.003-05:00

By AMAN BATHEJ - Fort Worth Star Telegram - June 24, 2008A local Hillary Clinton supporter has filed a written challenge to 126 Texas delegates elected to attend the National Democratic Convention in Denver.

Fort Worth lawyer Jason Smith sent a credentials challenge to the Democratic National Committee Rules and Bylaws committee last week charging that the makeup of the Texas delegation violated a DNC rule.

The Texas Democratic Party allocated its delegates in part by the results of the March 4 primary and partly by the results of precinct caucuses held around the state that evening.

That arrangement is counter to a DNC rule requiring that delegate selection "fairly reflects" the presidential preference of primary voters, Smith said.

Hillary Clinton won the primary vote in Texas but Barack Obama did better in the precinct caucuses. Texas delegates going to the national convention are split 99 for Obama and 94 for Clinton.

Texas Democratic Party spokesman Hector Nieto said the state's delegate allocation plan was approved by the DNC.

Smith said he's not filing the challenge in some last-ditch bid to boost Clinton. Rather, he wants to see an end to the so-called Texas Two-Step. He estimated that Clinton would gain six delegates if the state's delegation were altered to reflect the results of the Texas primary.

"This isn't anti-Obama," Smith said. "This is anti-caucus process."

Complaints about Texas' crowded and chaotic primary process have spurred the state party to launch a committee to recommend changes.

In April, Smith filed several challenges to the results of local Senate district conventions that elected delegates to the state convention in Austin.

DNC spokeswoman Natalie Wyeth declined to comment Monday on the number of challenges received regarding the upcoming convention.

Read more in the Fort Worth Star Telegram

The Two Obamas

2008-06-22T10:03:00.002-05:00

By DAVID BROOKS - Op-Ed Columnist New York Times - June 20, 2008
God, Republicans are saps. They think that they’re running against some academic liberal who wouldn’t wear flag pins on his lapel, whose wife isn’t proud of America and who went to some liberationist church where the pastor damned his own country. They think they’re running against some naïve university-town dreamer, the second coming of Adlai Stevenson.

But as recent weeks have made clear, Barack Obama is the most split-personality politician in the country today. On the one hand, there is Dr. Barack, the high-minded, Niebuhr-quoting speechifier who spent this past winter thrilling the Scarlett Johansson set and feeling the fierce urgency of now. But then on the other side, there’s Fast Eddie Obama, the promise-breaking, tough-minded Chicago pol who’d throw you under the truck for votes.

This guy is the whole Chicago package: an idealistic, lakefront liberal fronting a sharp-elbowed machine operator. He’s the only politician of our lifetime who is underestimated because he’s too intelligent. He speaks so calmly and polysyllabically that people fail to appreciate the Machiavellian ambition inside.
But he’s been giving us an education, for anybody who cares to pay attention. Just try to imagine Mister Rogers playing the agent Ari in “Entourage” and it all falls into place.

Back when he was in the Illinois State Senate, Dr. Barack could have taken positions on politically uncomfortable issues. But Fast Eddie Obama voted “present” nearly 130 times. From time to time, he threw his voting power under the truck.

Dr. Barack said he could no more disown the Rev. Jeremiah Wright than disown his own grandmother. Then the political costs of Rev. Wright escalated and Fast Eddie Obama threw Wright under the truck.

Dr. Barack could have been a workhorse senator. But primary candidates don’t do tough votes, so Fast Eddie Obama threw the workhorse duties under the truck.
Dr. Barack could have changed the way presidential campaigning works. John McCain offered to have a series of extended town-hall meetings around the country. But favored candidates don’t go in for unscripted free-range conversations. Fast Eddie Obama threw the new-politics mantra under the truck.

And then on Thursday, Fast Eddie Obama had his finest hour. Barack Obama has worked on political reform more than any other issue. He aspires to be to political reform what Bono is to fighting disease in Africa. He’s spent much of his career talking about how much he believes in public financing. In January 2007, he told Larry King that the public-financing system works. In February 2007, he challenged Republicans to limit their spending and vowed to do so along with them if he were the nominee. In February 2008, he said he would aggressively pursue spending limits. He answered a Midwest Democracy Network questionnaire by reminding everyone that he has been a longtime advocate of the public-financing system.

But Thursday, at the first breath of political inconvenience, Fast Eddie Obama threw public financing under the truck. In so doing, he probably dealt a death-blow to the cause of campaign-finance reform. And the only thing that changed between Thursday and when he lauded the system is that Obama’s got more money now.
And Fast Eddie Obama didn’t just sell out the primary cause of his life. He did it with style. He did it with a video so risibly insincere that somewhere down in the shadow world, Lee Atwater is gaping and applauding. Obama blamed the (so far marginal) Republican 527s. He claimed that private donations are really public financing. He made a cut-throat political calculation seem like Mother Teresa’s final steps to sainthood.

The media and the activists won’t care (they were only interested in campaign-finance reform only when the Republicans had more money). Meanwhile, Obama’s money is forever. He’s got an army of small donors and a phalanx of big money bundlers, including, according to The Washington Post, Kenneth Griffin of the Citadel Investment Group; Kirk Wager, a Florida trial lawyer; James Crown, a director of General Dynamics; and Neil Bluhm, a hotel, office and casino developer.

I have to admit, I’m ambivalent watching all this. On the one hand, Obama did sell out the primary cause of his professional life, all for a tiny political advantage. If he’ll sell that out, what won’t he sell out? On the other hand, global affairs ain’t beanbag. If we’re going to have a president who is going to go toe to toe with the likes of Vladimir Putin, maybe it is better that he should have a ruthlessly opportunist Fast Eddie Obama lurking inside.

All I know for sure is that this guy is no liberal goo-goo. Republicans keep calling him naïve. But naïve is the last word I’d use to describe Barack Obama. He’s the most effectively political creature we’ve seen in decades. Even Bill Clinton wasn’t smart enough to succeed in politics by pretending to renounce politics.

Read more in the New York Times

Clinton wins in Puerto Rico, CNN projects

2008-06-01T18:17:00.001-05:00

CNN - Sunday, June 1, 2008SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (CNN) -- Sen. Hillary Clinton will win Puerto Rico's Democratic primary by a wide margin, CNN projects, giving her the larger share of the territory's 55 delegates.

With about 70 percent of precincts reporting, Clinton was leading Sen. Barack Obama by more than a 2-1 margin.

Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe said Puerto Rico was "another great win" for the New York senator.

Clinton swept Obama in every major demographic group, including groups Obama generally wins, such as younger voters and higher income voters, according to CNN's exit polls.

Clinton's campaign has been arguing that a landslide victory would push her ahead in the popular vote and help her convince superdelegates to pick her instead of Obama.

To cross that threshold, she would need to win 65 percent of the vote with a turnout of at least 2 million people.

But Luis Hector, an elections official, said only 1.5 million ballots were printed.

CNN estimates turnout will be between 325,000 and 425,000.

"Most people in Puerto Rico, I would venture to guess, they are not even aware that there's a primary going on," said Luis Pabón-Roca, a local political analyst.

He said the political atmosphere on the island this week is subdued compared to the fever that sweeps the island before local elections.

Some poll workers in small towns started abandoning the polling stations because turnout was so low, he said.

Part of the reason for the lack of interest, he said, is because voters feel the primary isn't meaningful since Puerto Ricans cannot vote in the general election.

The Democratic and Republican parties run the primaries and caucuses, and they allow U.S. territories, such as the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, to take part in the process.

DNC Decision on Seating MI and FL Delegates

2008-06-01T08:24:00.003-05:00

Harold Ickes and Tina Flournoy of the Hillary Clinton Campaign made the following statement regarding the May 31, 2008 decision by the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee:

Today’s results are a victory for the people of Florida who will have a voice in selecting our Party’s nominee and will see its delegates seated at our party’s convention. The decision by the Rules and Bylaws Committee honors the votes that were cast by the people of Florida and allocates the delegates accordingly.

We strongly object to the Committee’s decision to undercut its own rules in seating Michigan’s delegates without reflecting the votes of the people of Michigan.

The Committee awarded to Senator Obama not only the delegates won by Uncommitted, but four of the delegates won by Senator Clinton. This decision violates the bedrock principles of our democracy and our Party.

We reserve the right to challenge this decision before the Credentials Committee and appeal for a fair allocation of Michigan’s delegates that actually reflect the votes as they were cast.

Texas Democratic Party Temporary Credentials Committee makes recommendations

2008-05-31T10:04:00.007-05:00

By Faith Chatham - DFWRCC - May 31, 2008
Members of the Texas Democratic Party's 2008 Convention Temporary Credentials Committee met in Austin Wednesday, in Grand Prairie Thursday, and Houston on Friday. They heard challenges stemming from procedural irregularities at precinct and senatorial conventions.

The committee is evenly split between Obama and Clinton supporters. In Grand Prairie they heard testimony continuously from 10 a.m. until after 11 p.m. The hearings are open to the public and at least 120 people were in the UAW Hall observing and testifying throughout the day and evening.

The Committee did not hear all of the challenges in each region which were filed by the offical filing deadline. They elected to hear challenges involving specific delegates and alternates. Hesitant to disenfranchise entire delegations based on violations of party rules, they tabled decisions which could impact seating of entire delegations until the committee reconveynes in Austin prior to the convention. Aware that the DNC Rules Committee is meeting Sat. May 31st in Washington, D.C. to decide whether to seat delegates from Florida and Michigan or to refuse them seats because the timing of those state's primaries violated party rules, the committee deferred making similar decisions regarding Texas senatorial district delegations until more evidence can be presented.

Tarrant 10, Tarrant 9, Dallas 23, Collin County and Denton 12 are some of the districts in North Texas which procedural violations of party rules and state election code are reported to be severe enough to have resulted in skewed distribution of delegates between presidential preferences and denial of voting rights to registered voters who attempted to participate in precinct and/or senatorial conventions and have their presidential preference accurately reflected in the distribution of delegates.

Collin County challengers presented evidence of violation of party rules and the Texas Election Code by the convention being held on a date other than that prescribed by law. The county chair and convention chair will be given time to present additional evidence in Austin before the committee rules on this challenge.

A large contingency of Denton County residents presented evidence or supported challenger Ann Franklin in complaints about the conduct of the Denton county conventions by the Democratic Chair. Ms. Franklin also presented the committee with 40 additional pages of affadivits from Denton county demorcrats complaining about the Democratic Chair. Ms. Franklin alledged that the chair refused access to minutes and sign-in sheets. The chair refuted her claim but a large group in the audience verbally affirmed the validity of Ms. Franklin's assertions. Gary Horton, co-chair of the State Temporary Rules Committee urged the county chair to provide the requested documents to Ms. Franklin and others who might request them prior to the committee reconveyning in Austin next week.

Testimony was heard from Senatorial 9 and 10, Tarrant County regarding non-compliance with ADA and discrimination toward elderly, frail and handicapped registered voters in the precinct and senatorial conventions. Jason Smith, Faith Chatham and Harriet Varnum Irby cited instances of specific non-ADA compliance. The committee acknowledged the realities but saw no remedy the committee could offer. Gary Horton, co-chair of the committee, recommended the petitioners to present evidence to the Temporary Rules Committee.

In Tarrant 9 the committee recommended changing four alternates. Eddie and Mercedes Conway, Obama supporters who signed the permanent roll of the Senatorial Convention as Obama were removed from the roll of Clinton at-large Alternates and Lorisa Wheeler and Robert W. Johnson, (Clinton). The committee affirmed that the vacancy in pct. 2190 for alternate should have been filled as an at large position to balance the delegation, to meet affirmative action goals and to enable the delegation to reflect the percentages of delegates/alternates as the percentage of presidential preference registered by the delegates who signed the permanent roll. Therefore, Ms. Cathie Hawkins was removed as an alternate from pct. 2190 and Mr. Raymond Martinez (Clinton) was added as alternate at large.

In Precinct 2488 Tarrant County Sen. District 9, the committee replaced Cynthia Blake (Obama) with Clinton supporter Vivian Dial as alterate. Democratic Party Rules stipulate that ties for delegate or alternate are to be broken by an act of chance (drawing straws or flipping a coin). The Clinton caucus in that precinct wanted to flip a coin but the Obama group insisted that the "rules called for a re-vote". When the Clinton group held firm, the Obama group revoted and selected two alternates. The committee voted to replace the Obama alternate of the same gender as the candidate for alternate from the Clinton caucus because Ms. Dial was prevented from having an opportunity to compete fairly in either a coin toss or by drawing straws, the methods designated in Party Rules for breaking a tie.

Dorrie Crenshaw, former Dallas City Council Member and Democratic precinct chair in Dallas testified that the Obama delegates from her precinct to the State Convention were not lawfully elected because they were not legally elected as delegates to the Senatorial Convention at her precinct convention. At her precinct election night there were many people who Ms. Crenshaw said did not live in her precinct who showed up and attempted to register and vote in the precinct. They did not have the official forms so she had people sign in on spiral ring notebooks. Violence broke out in the caucus, people were injured, several elderly persons were trampled and three ambulances were called to the scene. When Ms. Crenshaw left the voting place, some of the people who Ms. Crenshaw characterized as "the troublemakers, ringleaders" followed her. Instead of going home, she led them to the police station. The police detained her for over two hours until Darlene Ewing, Dallas County Democratic Chair, detained her. Ms. Crenshaw reported to the committee that two of the police officers are under investigation for unlawfully detaining her. She has never been given the sign-in sheets (notebooks) or allowed to make a photocopy.

To date, despite many hours of testimony and much deliberation, the committee has only made a few changes to the roll of the convention. All challenges which could make greater impact on the convention have been deferred until next week.

Democrats Meet Over Fla., Mich. in Late-Night Session

2008-05-31T09:58:00.004-05:00

By Katharine Q. Seelye - New York Times - May 31, 2008
Outside the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting in Washington on Saturday. (Photo: Jason Reed/Reuters)
WASHINGTON — Democratic Party officials met privately for five and a half hours late Friday night to discuss the Michigan and Florida delegations to the party’s convention but did not resolve their differences.
The officials, who are members of the party’s rules committee, are to begin an all-day public session Saturday to try to settle one of the most contentious issues that has developed during the presidential primaries between Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton — whether to seat the delegations from Michigan and Florida and if so, in what proportion.
During the private meeting, Harold Ickes, who is Mrs. Clinton’s chief delegate counter, repeatedly pressed the Clinton view that the full delegations from both states be seated, with full votes, committee members said. They also said that Allan Katz, a lawyer from Florida, emerged as the chief advocate for Mr. Obama, who has said he wants the delegates seated, but has not specified how or in what proportion.
“It was a full discussion, we’ll see what happens,” Mr. Ickes said afterward. “And I think there was some agreement on some issues and still some disagreement on others.”
Mr. Katz told reporters: “There’s a strong push from the Clinton campaign to try and make believe that those primaries were real primaries, that everyone competed in them like they did in everything else. And there’s a strong push back from the Obama campaigns that, well, the rules were that this is not how we were going to select the delegates.”

They took a few straw votes, but those votes were “so close as to be meaningless,” one committee member said.
One of the biggest points of dispute, committee members said, was over how to apportion the delegates from Michigan, where Mr. Obama’s name was not on the ballot.
The committee is also wrestling with how to bring voters from these two battleground states into the party fold while still upholding party rules and signaling to other states that they will be punished if they don’t abide by the calendar.

The private dinner, at a hotel here, stretched from 8 p.m. Friday to 1:30 a.m. Saturday. Of the 30 members of the committee, 28 attended the dinner, as did Howard Dean, the party chairman.

Some told reporters they expected to reconcile their differences during the public session on Saturday, but they offered little evidence of how they would do so.
“There are some really, really tough issues across the board,” said Martha Fuller Clark, a committee member who is a state senator from New Hampshire and backs Mr. Obama.

She said they discussed their options and the implications of them, adding, “there was no clear pathway at the end of this evening.”
The discussions left them bleary-eyed and somewhat bedraggled. After more than three hours, they took a break and a few of them could be seen hugging each other in a hallway.

Told later that the meeting lasted for five and a half hours, Thomas Hynes, a lawyer from Illinois who supports Mr. Obama, said, “It felt like five and a half weeks.”
He said that discussion ranged from barring the two states from seating any delegates to seating their delegations in full.

“A consensus has not been forged,” he said, but said he expected it would be on Saturday. The lengthy private session “gave us a chance to find out where everyone was,” he said.

James Roosevelt Jr., one of the co-chairmen, called the meeting “productive,” adding, “it was not unpleasant or heated.” He said it gave the committee members a chance to step back and examine the implications of the various options.
“I can’t predict that it will be unanimous,” he said of any decisions reached on Saturday, “but I can predict that it will be unifying for the party.”
At the Saturday session, representatives from Florida and Michigan will present their cases, as will the two campaigns, which had originally both agreed to the decision to strip the two states of their delegates. The committee then expects to break for lunch and begin its own discussions in the afternoon

DNC Rules & Bylaws Committee to Meet Saturday, May 31st

2008-05-23T08:46:00.003-05:00

Press Release
For Immediate Release
May 21, 2008

***Media Advisory***

DNC Rules & Bylaws Committee to Meet Saturday, May 31st

WASHINGTON - The Democratic National Committee's Rules & Bylaws Committee will meet on Saturday May 31, 2008 in Washington, DC. The Rules and Bylaws Committee will consider the two challenges that have been filed pursuant to Rule 20.B of the 2008 Delegate Selection Rules and Regulation 3 of the Regulations of the Rules and Bylaws Committee concerning the seating of delegations from Florida and Michigan.

Pursuant to Section 3.4(N) of the Committee's Regulations, each challenger will be entitled to present an Oral Argument before the RBC prior to Committee consideration for a period of 15 minutes each. A representative from each state party and from each presidential campaign will also have an opportunity to address the committee
regarding each of the challenges. Oral arguments from the parties will be heard during the committee's morning session. Following a lunch break, committee members will consider and debate the challenges.

What: DNC Rules & Bylaws Committee Meeting
When: May 31, 2008 - 9:30 AM

* Morning Session: Oral Arguments
* Afternoon Session: Consideration and Debate

Where: Marriott Wardman Park Hotel - Salon I
2660 Woodley Road NW, Washington, DC

A Note on Public Participation

This meeting is open to the public, however due to space constraints, guests are being asked to pre-register their attendance. Registration will open online at 10:00 AM on Tuesday, May 27. Members of the public wishing to register should fill out the form at the following link: http://www.democrat s.org/rbcmeeting . Those lacking Internet accesswho would like to pre-register can do so by calling 202-479-5137.

Guest credentials are limited to one per person. For those who register, a confirmation message will be sent to the e-mail address indicated on the registration form. Registrants must bring that confirmation e-mail, along with a photo ID, in order to pick up their guest credential.

Credentials must be picked up at registration tables located outside the meeting room between 8:00-9:30 AM on May 31st in order to guarantee a seat. If reserved credentials are not picked up by 9:30 AM, they will be released and given out to other members of the public.

Same Day Registration

If a member of the general public is unable to pre-register, limited same-day registration will be available. Same-day guest credentials will be distributed on a first-come first-serve basis and are limited to one per person. Individuals with a same day guest credential will be allowed into the meeting as space permits.

Additional Information

In order to maintain the decorum of the meeting, banners, posters, signs, handouts, and noisemakers of any kind are strictly prohibited. Also, please be advised that the agenda for the meeting does notinclude time for questions from the general public.

News Release Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee,
http://www.democrat s.org This communication is not authorized by any
candidate or candidate's committee.

Judge sides with Texas Democratic Party in flap over delegates

2008-05-23T08:27:00.003-05:00

Dallas Morning News - Associated Press - Thursday, May 22, 2008
AUSTIN – A federal judge sided with the Texas Democratic Party on Thursday in a lawsuit filed by Latino voter advocates who claimed the party's method for apportioning presidential delegates is discriminatory.

U.S. District Judge Fred Biery in San Antonio ruled that the spirit and intent of the federal Voting Rights Act, which protects minority voters, was not violated, as the League of United Latin American Citizens and other plaintiffs alleged.

Biery dismissed the case. He ruled that the Voting Rights Act does not dictate to political parties how to decide on their presidential nominees as long as everyone has the right to participate.

The Latino voter advocates claimed the complicated Texas delegate system – which included a March 4 primary and caucus and senate district caucuses March 29 – unfairly dilutes Latino votes by allotting fewer presidential delegates to heavily Hispanic areas.

Nearly all the delegates are apportioned based on Democratic voter turnout numbers in state senate districts in previous elections. This year, that meant that some predominantly Hispanic districts, where turnout was low in 2004 and 2006, got fewer delegates than others, particularly urban, predominantly black districts where Democratic turnout was higher.

Latino districts favored Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in this spring's primary and caucuses; black districts favored Sen. Barack Obama.

Democratic leaders contend their state delegate system is fair and that it rewards those areas that strongly support the party.

"We are pleased with Judge Biery's ruling, but it is important to remember that both the Texas Democratic Party and LULAC respect the importance of the Voting Rights Act and encourage participation by Texans from all walks of life in the electoral process," Texas Democratic Party chairman Boyd Richie said.

Jose Garza, an attorney for the Latino voter advocates, said it's likely the plaintiffs will appeal the opinion to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, though a final decision hasn't been made.

He said there may be an appeal because of the important issues at stake in the case and the "fairly devastating scope of the decision." Garza declined to say anything further until discussing it with his clients.

The plaintiffs were not contesting to whom the delegates were awarded, but rather how the allotment is made.

The judge wrote that the plaintiffs never alleged that Latino voters were "intimidated, threatened or otherwise kept from voting." He said if they had gone to the polls in greater numbers in previous elections they would have benefited.

"The adage remains 'no vote, no voice,"' he wrote.

The case was filed earlier this month. Both sides were pushing for a ruling before the party's state convention in Austin on June 6-7, where the final decision on caucus delegates to the national convention for Clinton and Obama will be made.

Texas will send 228 delegates to the national convention. Of those, 126 were determined by primary results, while 67 others are pledged delegates distributed through a series of caucuses, culminating with the upcoming state convention. There are 32 superdelegates who can make their own decision on which candidate to support, and three others will be named by the state party chairman.

Democratic Party officials had noted that the general system for selecting Texas presidential delegates has been in place for 20 years.

Biery agreed, and said the reason it got such notice this year was because of the close presidential race. The judge also mentioned his own background as a Democrat and the fact that he was appointed by former President Bill Clinton in the 1990s.

He wrote: "Notes of full disclosure: Senator Clinton's husband nominated me to the federal bench, and I hope to shoot baskets some day with Senator Obama."
Read more in the Dallas Morning News

Texas Demos file 150 county convention challenges

2008-05-19T23:59:00.002-05:00

By Ramon Bracamontes - El Paso Times - 5/15/2008

The challenge filed by El Pasoans supporting Sen. Barack Obama's presidential nomination that questions whether the county Democratic Party properly seated its delegates is one of about 150 challenges pending in Texas, officials said Wednesday.

Hector Nieto, spokesman for the Texas Democratic Party, said most of the challenges come from the state's major cities and all allege that rules were not followed at the county conventions.

"We received 50 challenges from Tarrant County alone," Nieto said. "Every one will be considered and resolved right before the convention starts."

El Paso's challenge to the way delegates were seated was filed in April, a week after the county convention, by El Paso lawyer Don Williams. He is alleging that local democrats appointed too many delegates to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to the state convention. The challenge is asking that 37 Clinton-supporting delegates be changed to Obama.

If the change is not made, then El Paso should not be allowed to participate at the state convention, the challenge states.

Williams said he expected his challenge to be upheld, thus giving Obama 37 more El Paso delegates.
"If we have to change delegates right before, we are ready," Williams said. "We will have enough Obama delegates in Austin."

Democratic precinct chairwoman and state delegate Rita Sariñana said she was not worried about being able to participate in the state convention.

"I was elected from my precinct, by my neighbors," she said. "My seat is not in question."

The makeup of the state's delegates remains controversial because neither Clinton nor Obama has secured the 2,025 delegates needed to win the party's presidential nomination, and Texas still has 67 delegates to allocate. How those 67 delegates get split will be decided at the state convention.

The state convention will begin June 6.

Ramon Bracamontes may be reached at rbracamontes@elpasotimes.com; 546-6142.

Read more in the El Paso Times

LULAC sued Texas Democratic Party over primary delegates

2008-05-19T18:39:00.003-05:00

By MICHELLE ROBERTS - Associated Press Writer - May 9, 2008
Article Launched: 05/09/2008 02:04:36 PM MDT

SAN ANTONIO—The Texas Democratic Party was sued Friday by Latino advocacy groups that contend the complicated primary and caucus system used in the March 4 presidential primary unfairly diluted Latino votes.
The League of United Latin American Citizens of Texas and the Mexican American Bar Association of Houston sued in federal court, arguing the party failed to seek clearance required by the U.S. Justice Department for the so-called "Texas Two Step." The groups also argue the system effectively discriminates against Latino voters by giving them fewer delegates.

Texas Democrats distribute the state's 193 delegates using both a primary election and a caucus, but the distribution favors state Senate districts that had high voter turnout in the last presidential and gubernatorial elections.

In the March 4 election, that meant predominantly Hispanic districts, where turnout was low in 2004 and 2006, got fewer delegates than others, particularly urban, predominantly black districts. Latino districts favored Hillary Clinton; black districts favored Barack Obama.

"The manner used to allocate the delegates ... undervalues Latino Democratic voters and does not provide Latino voters with an equal opportunity to participate in the nominating process and to elect candidates of their choice," the lawsuit says.

Obama and Clinton remained locked in a pitched battle over delegates to secure the nomination.

Clinton won more delegates in the primary, though Obama is expected to end up with more delegates when caucus numbers are settled in June.
LULAC is not seeking to stop Texas delegates from being seated at the Democratic convention, however.

"This is not a lawsuit about Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama," said LULAC attorney Jose Garza. "We think this has an adverse effect on the Latino community, and it seems to us that it's a fairly simple fix."

LULAC wants the delegates reallocated to give Latino-majority areas a stronger voice, and he said several methods could achieve that.

Because of the close election and the proportional distribution of delegates, any change in the total number going to each candidate is likely to be relatively incremental, Garza said.

State Democratic Party spokesman Hector Nieto the primary election system was not submitted to the DOJ for clearance but that the party was only required to get approval from its state convention attendees and the Democratic National Committee.

He had not seen the lawsuit Friday afternoon and declined to comment on specifics. But he noted that any Democrat is free to offer resolutions to change the operation.

"At any point in time, any Democrat can offer to make changes to that plan, and those changes happen at our state convention," he said.

Several resolutions related to the presidential primary system have been submitted for the convention on June 6-7 in Austin.

Read more in the El Paso Times

Presidential race turned into $1 milllion mini-boom for Austin

2008-05-18T07:38:00.001-05:00

By Jason Embry - AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF - Sunday, May 18, 2008

Austin businesses from Tex-Mex restaurants to high-end hotels cashed in when the Democratic presidential primary swung through Texas this year.

A few Austin-based consultants and fundraisers stand to benefit any time there's a presidential election. But March's unusually active Texas primary allowed a whole new class of businesses to reap the rewards.

All told, the three remaining candidates from the major parties have spent more than $1.2 million at businesses since the campaign began in January 2007.

Most of the money went to hotels, production companies, event sites and political professionals such as fundraisers and television ad buyers.

The spending reports also reflect the on-the-fly nature of the campaigns, as workers dropped money at Home Depot, Whole Foods and Party Pig Superstore for office supplies or event materials. Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign spent $12 at Wal-Mart, the company some Democrats love to hate.

Sen. Barack Obama was the biggest spender, dropping almost $700,000 directly with Austin businesses, while fellow Democrat Clinton spent about $400,000. Sen. John McCain, who had all but wrapped up the Republican nomination by the March 4 Texas primaries, spent about $200,000.

Those totals include only direct payments to businesses, not salaries or reimbursements paid to campaign workers here. Also, advertising time on Austin television stations probably was paid through some out-of-town firms that then cut checks to the Austin stations.

For all of 2007 and the first month of this year, Texas was largely a place where presidential candidates flew in to raise money and, on occasion, hold public events or news conferences. But when the Democratic primary continued past Super Tuesday on Feb. 5, the Texas primaries became crucial. Or so it seemed at the time.

The general election isn't likely to be as competitive in Texas, so Austin businesses might not see as much of a campaign impact this fall.

According to campaign reports filed to the Federal Election Commission in late April, all of the remaining campaigns used numerous hotels around Austin. The Obama campaign was most loyal to the Hyatt on Barton Springs Road.

But the Obama campaign also spent more than $10,000 at the lush Barton Creek Resort and Spa, and the senator himself stayed there some of the time, said Obama campaign spokesman Josh Earnest.

"Some of it may have had to do with logistical concerns, and it may have had something to do with availability," Earnest said. "Between staff, Secret Service and the traveling press corps, it's more convenient if they can stay where he does."

The Clinton campaign stayed at hotels all over Austin, including the Four Seasons, the Radisson on Cesar Chavez Street and the Doubletree just east of Interstate 35 downtown.

Hotels weren't the only beneficiaries. The Obama campaign paid more than $200,000 for staging, sound and lighting to Austin-based C3 Presents, which produces the Austin City Limits Music Festival and Lollapalooza.

Earnest, the Obama spokesman, said finding local businesses to help with campaign events was often up to the advance staff, the team of campaign workers who arrive in a town early to plan an event.

"Many of them had done events in Austin before, and so they had personal relationships," Earnest said.

It's personal relationships that made Bill Records of Austin the go-to guy for Republicans who want their picture taken while campaigning in Texas.

More than a decade ago, Records met political consultant Karl Rove, whose wife Records had worked with on some commercial photography projects. Rove asked him if he wanted to shoot photos for a client who was running for governor. Records signed up and became George W. Bush's personal photographer during Bush's run as Texas governor.

Through the Bush team, Records met other Republican candidates and was hired to shoot photos of them when they came through Texas for Web sites, campaign push cards and the like.

During the current presidential campaign, he worked for McCain, Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani when they came to Texas to campaign.

"It's not comfortable work," Records said. "You're on the go, and you have to wear a coat and tie, and it's 104 degrees, and you're jumping in and out of airplanes. But those nice little gigs at the Four Seasons are nice. And you're watching history being made."

The wonders of Mexican food in Austin apparently weren't lost on the presidential campaign workers.

El Sol y La Luna, a Mexican eatery on South Congress Avenue, picked up $300 from the Clinton campaign and $100 from Obama's camp.

Nilda de la Llata, one of the restaurant's owners, said she catered a Clinton fundraiser with "Ugly Betty" star America Ferrera at a friend's house, while a group with the Obama campaign, including comedian George Lopez, came in for lunch one day.

"My name always pops up when people are in need of something quick," she said.

Perhaps the best thing de la Llata can do for politicians is promote them on the El Sol marquee, as she sometimes does for local candidates. Although she said she will support the Democratic nominee, neither candidate made the marquee during the hot Texas primary.

"I couldn't," de la Llata said. "I had too many friends on both sides."
Read more in the Austin American Statesman

Hillary Scores Decisive Victory in West Virginia; Obama and McCain rejected by voters

2008-05-14T09:05:00.011-05:00

By Faith Chatham - May 14, 2008
Despite political pundits declaring Obama the presumptive nominee, West Virginia Democratic voters cast over three votes against Obama for every vote he received in Tuesday's West Virginia Democratic Primary. Voter turn-out was light for the Republican Primary. Of the 475,167 votes cast Tuesday (combined voters in all party primaries), Hillary Clinton was the resounding choice of West Virginia Voters.

Over four West Virginians voted against Barak Obama for every voter that selected him. John McCain trailed Barak Obama's numbers by 1,998 votes. No Democratic Presidential Candidate has won a general election since 1916 without carrying West Virginia.

West Virginia Primary May 13, 2008

U.S. President
Party Candidate Votes
DEM Hillary Rodham Clinton 239187
DEM Barack Hussein Obama 91663
DEM John Reid Edwards 26181
TOTAL VOTES CAST IN DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY 357,031

REP Willard Mitt Romney 5195
REP John Sidney McCain III 89654
REP Ronald Ernest Paul 6112
REP Rudolph William Giuliani 2839
REP Jerry Ralph Curry 728
REP Michael Dale Huckabee 12184
REP Alan L. Keyes 1424
TOTAL VOTES CAST IN REPUBLICAN PRIM 125,123

TOTAL VOTES CAST IN BOTH DEMOCRATIC AND REPUBLICAN PRIMARIES 475,167

SOURCE: West Virginia Secretary of State Election Division 100% of counties reporting

Clinton's victory inspired CNN's headline: "ANALYSIS: Clinton crushes Obama across the board".
By Alan Silverleib - CNN

(CNN) -- After enduring a week of political obituaries, Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign proved Tuesday that it still has some life.

Clinton, as expected, trounced Democratic front-runner Sen. Barack Obama in the West Virginia primary. In the process, she underscored Obama's weakness with blue-collar, working-class white voters -- a segment of the electorate that may prove pivotal in November.

Buoyed by her landslide margin, Clinton vowed to continue what has become a longshot campaign, telling supporters at a Charleston rally that she is "more determined than ever to carry on this campaign until everyone has had a chance to make their voices heard."

Clinton's victory in West Virginia was decisive. She won men and women. She carried a majority of voters in every age group. She captured liberals, moderates, and conservatives. She took a majority in every income bracket.Clinton's largest margins, as expected, were registered among voters at the lower end of the socioeconomic ladder. Among white voters without a college degree, Clinton defeated Obama by 50 points. Among white voters making less than $30,000 a year, Clinton's margin of victory was more than 60 points.

Older voters and white women -- part of Clinton's core constituency -- also rallied strongly to her beleaguered campaign. Voters age 65 and older supported her by a 38-point margin. White women backed her by 51 points.

Clinton's proposal to suspend the 18.4-cent-per-gallon federal gasoline tax for the summer -- an idea belittled by most economists and rejected by Obama as a political gimmick -- proved to be a winner in West Virginia. Voters supported the gas tax suspension by an almost 2-to-1 margin. Those voters who supported suspending the gas tax broke for Clinton, 74 to 19 percent.
Read more on line at CNN

Evaluation: Obama's Lead in Delegates May Not Be a Good Thing
Obama campaign strategist identified weaknesses in the Democratic primary caucus system which discriminates against handicapped, the elderly and workers who cannot physically attend precinct caucuses. Many caucus states, such as Iowa and Texas, prohibit absentee or proxy voting in caucuses. No allowances are made for registered voters who are homebound, or frail, and unable to participate at nightime party caucuses. Some caucus states, such as Maine, allow certified by mail voters to register their presidential preference and their preference to be includes in the math to derive the distribution of delegates between presidential preferences. Most caucus states, unlike Maine, exclude all voters who cannot physically show up to their precinct party caucus from helping to select their party's nominee for President. Texas is the only state which has both a caucus and a primary. In Texas, significant differences emerged across the state in precincts between the percentages in the popular vote (primary voters) per candidate and causus registrants per candidate. Texas awards 25% of the delegates through party caucus's and 75% by primary voters (popular vote). The Texas system favors those who are healthier, able to drive after dark, not homebound, elderly or too frail to stay until late at night when the delegates were chosen in many precinct caucues. The presidential preference of workers who cannot get off work on caucus nights but in the primary, like their more frail elderly or handicapped neighbors, only count 75% of what their younger, healthier neighbors who were able to show up at the caucus after the polls closed on primary night. Chaos and non-compliance with Democratic Party Rules and Texas and Federal Election codes further pollulated the outcome of many precinct and senatorial Democratic Conventions.

Election Process Discriminates
Although the Help Americans Vote Act stipulates how Americans with disabilities are to be accommodated at polling places, guidelines for accommodations at party precinct and senatorial conventions are vague. Disabled supporters of both leading presidential candidates will join forces this year for the first time in Austin at State Convention in a new issues caucus. Democrats with Disabilities is the first disability caucus in the Texas Democratic Party. It will meet from 11 A.M. to 12:30 P.M. Friday, June 6th at the 2008 Texas Democratic Party State Convention. Founding members are split between presidential preferences but agree that the current process discriminates against persons with disabilities and needs to be corrected.

Non ADA Compliance in Senatorial District Conventions to be Reviewed by the Credentials Committee at State Convention

In Tarrant County, Harriet Varnum Irby, former SDEC Committee Woman from Senatorial 10, objected to the choice of the antiquated Will Rogers Colesium as the Senatorial 10 Convention site when it was chosen. Irby says she went to Tarrant County Party Headquarters when she learned that Will Rogers was the proposed site and told them that it was unsuitable because it is not ADA compliant. A landmark built before ADA laws were passed by Congress, the arena is exempt from having to eliminate many of the barriers required in newer buildings. Tarrant County Democratic Party Executive Director Keith Annis announced to the members of the Senatorial 10 Nominations Committee that "we got numerous calls from people who said they were delegates but could not attend if the convention was at Will Rogers because they were handicapped." Fort Worth attorney Jason Smith filed a challenge to the distribution of delegates per presidential preference at the Senatorial 10 Convention at Will Rogers to the State Democratic Party's Credentials Committee based on non-ADA compliance at the Senatorial Convention which discriminated against the elderly, frail and handicapped.

In neighboring East Tarrant County, at the Tarrant County Community College East Campus in Arlington, the Senatorial 9 Tarrant County Democratic Convention also failed to accommodate the handicapped. Although the college meets architecture requirements for ADA, campus security blockaded the drive restricting handicapped persons from utilizing parking near the entrance of the main building where the convention was held. Instead of being allowed to drive up to the building where handitran buses usually pick-up and discharge passengers, blockades were positioned at the entrance of the main drive, about the distance of a a city block from the main building. The Main ballrooom, where over half of the delegates were seated, was on one level and provided few barriers for the mobility challenged. However, many delegates and all alternates and guests were seated in the Theatre which has at least 8 steep steps at the entrance and 18 steps inside the theatre. The college accommodates persons in wheelchairs in the front row of the theatre and allows them entrance through a side door which has not steps. On Convention day, the side entrance was closed and all delegates and alternates were forced to enter and exit using the front steps. At County Senatorial 9 Convention at TCCC.

It is ironic that some view the nomination of Barak Obama, an African-American, as rectification of some of the discrimination in America, while others say that the campaign strategy of the Obama which has given him a lead in the delegate count (acquired mainly through his lead in caucus states) exploits flaws in the Democratic process which discriminates against registered voters who are handicapped, frail, elderly, transportation restricted or forced to work on the night of their party caucus. Even if Obama strategists did not purposely set out to discriminate against the handicapped, their emphasis on caucus states which do not allow absentee or proxy voting by certified mail registered voters, has resulted in greater discrimination against elderly and handicapped voters than occurs in states where delegates are awarded by popular vote in primaries or at caucuses which allow proxy or absentee/ by mail voting to distribute delegates between presidential preferences.

Examination of the profiles of each candidates voters this year shows that the average age of Obama's voter and caucus supporter is younger than that of Senator Clinton. Although she draws voters from all age groups, her strongest segment is among women over 50 years of age. Although both have drawn out first-time voters of all ages, a significant number of Senator Obama's supporters are young people who have registered to vote for the first time. Senator Clinton consistently surpasses Senator Obama in attracting voters who have voted in more than one Democratic Primary. Some precinct chairs were concerned to note than many of their double and triple D's (persons who have voted in 2 or 3 Democratic Primaries) were not participants at their Democratic Precinct Caucuses. Although they are faithful to vote, frequently at early voting during the day or by mail, their vote only counted 1/4 of first time voters who were able to attend the precinct caucuses.

If delegates awarded in caucues properly reflected the demographics of registered voters who participated in the primaries, the distribution of delegates at caucuses between candidates would mirror the popular vote in primary states. However, in Texas, (the only state which has both primary popular votes and percinct caucuses) the distribution of delegates between presidential preferences at precinct caucuses differed significantly from the percentages of votes per candidate at the same precinct primary elections. This discrepancy further highlights the difference between the distribution of delegates between candidates and the preferences of voters on election day.

Some Question if Obama's Lead in Delegates May Result in a Democratic Losses in November

Delegate counts which do not mirror the opinions of registered voters who habitually cast votes in Presidential elections can give a false reading. In West Virginia, despite Obama outspending Clinton by 3 to 1, she beat him in every county. He was stuck in the low 20's while she whopping 67% of the votes cast. Senator John Edwards, who has withdrawn from the race, received 26,181 votes (17%); Senator Barak Obama received 91,663 votes (26%). Senator Clinton got 269,187 votes (67%). She lead Obama by by a 41 points by defeating him by drawing more support from every age group, socio-economic level and category of voter.

West Virginia is an important state for Democratic Presidential candidates. No Democratic Presidential candidate has won a general election without winning West Virginia since 1916.

Super Delegate Delimma
As Obama swept through caucus states and surged ahead in the delegate count, Super Delegates who are supposed to be a party check and balance which helps the party select the strongest candidate to win against the Republicans in the General Election, added to his delegate total. Clinton continues to add key swing state victories. Crucial to any presidential win for any party, white working class voters continue to vote more heavily for Senator Hillary Clinton than for either McCain or Obama in most presidential primaries. Many question whether Senator Obama will be able to defeat McCain in the fall. Most feel that without Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Party's surge in voter turn-out will be diminished by another Republican win.

On-line Petitions
The level of disgust expressed by thousands of citizens through on-line petitions shows that many Democratic voters will not fall in line and vote for the "other candidate" if their candidate is not the Presidential nominee or at least on the ticket as VP. Over 5000 citizens have signed and commented on a petition to the Super Delegates urging them to select Senator Clinton as the nominee. In a few days over 800 citizens signed the "Quiet Riot" petition which says that Clinton's supporters will not "fall in line" and support Barak Obama. These petitions can be read and signed at http://ipetitions.com/'petition/quietriot/ and at http:/www.ipetitions.com/petitions/supportinghillary/

Grassroots Rallies for Hillary Across the Nation
While Senator Clinton and Senator Obama campaign in Missouri, Kentucky, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Montana and South Dakota, Clinton supporters are rallying in states which have already voted to show solidarity with Hillary and to raise money for her campaign. From the grassroots rallies are being organized by supporters. In Pantego (between Arlington and Fort Worth) a rally called "STAND WTH HILLARY" Saturday, May 17th (1-4 p.m.) at Pantego Bi-Centennial Park (3200 Smith Barry Road, Pantego, TX 76013) will feature speeches by VIPs and grassroots activists such as Teresa Meza, President of the Lulac Council and Clinton Texas State Convention Delegate. There will be laptops with internet access where people can sign three on-line petitions urging superdelegates to vote for Hillary and the DNC to honor the vote of citizens in the Florida and Michigan primaries. A similar event will be hosted by grassroots Clinton supporters Saturday in Longview at Teague Park.

DELEGATE MATH
For months political reporters have reported the delegate count without clarifying for the public that until the national convention delegates are elected at state party conventions, and those electors show up at the Democratic National Convention and sign-in for their candidates, all so-called "pledged delegate counts" are speculative. Endorsements from superdelegates are even more speculative than pledged delegates. Superdelegates endorsments will not necessarily reflect the way they will actually vote at the National Democratic Convention. Superdelegates habitually switch sides as the prevailing wind blows. They are charged with deciding for the candidate who has the best chance of beating the Republican candidate for President in November. If Senator Obama continues to show that he cannot win key swing states or the vital block of white working class voters, it is probable that we will see some of his current super delegate endorsements shift to Senator Clinton before the National Convention.

Citizen outrage, expressed by registered Democratic voters from all states, expressed in petitions, against the exclusion of delegates from Florida and Michigan may result in a further erosion of Senator Obama's lead in the delegate count. If only half (142) of Obama's current Super Delegates (284) switched to Senator Clinton, she would lead him today without inclusion of Florida or Michigan delegates or delegates from the remaining primaries in Montana, Kentucky, Puerto Rico, Missouri or Oregon.

Stand With Hillary Rally in Pantego Saturday, May 17th

2008-05-13T20:15:00.002-05:00

Click to see larger image

Delegate challenges concerning Florida, Michigan to be heard

2008-04-26T08:37:00.003-05:00

By NEDRA PICKLER - Associated Press Writer - April 26, 2008
WASHINGTON - A plan to award half-delegates for the disputed Michigan and Florida Democratic presidential primaries will get a hearing before party leaders

The co-chairs of the Democratic National Committee's Rules and Bylaws committee sent members a memo Friday announcing a meeting May 31 to consider the idea.

The committee stripped Michigan and Florida of their national convention delegates because they held primaries too early. DNC members in Michigan and Florida have filed challenges to restore the delegates.

Under the challenges, all superdelegates from both states would get to vote. The pledged delegates would only count for half votes.

Hillary Rodham Clinton won both contests and has been pushing for the delegates to be seated.

Her rival Barack Obama has said it isn't fair to award delegates based on the votes because all the candidates agreed to boycott the contests and his name wasn't on Michigan's ballot. Most of the Democratic candidates had their names removed, but Clinton left hers on. Forty percent of Michigan voters chose "uncommitted" rather than vote for Clinton.

Obama's supporters have suggested splitting the delegates evenly would be a fair way to handle it, since all sides want to see delegates from the two important swing states participate in the convention.

Both states, knowing the potential penalty, held their primaries earlier than party rules allowed to try have more influence in the nominating process that long has been dominated by early voters in Iowa and New Hampshire. Few figured the campaign would last as long as it has, and now that Clinton and Obama are so close in the delegate race, both states want to help choose the nominee.

Michigan lost 128 pledged delegates and 28 superdelegates, for a total of 156.

Florida lost 185 pledged and 25 superdelegates, or a total of 210.

If it were valid, Florida's election would have given Clinton 105 delegates to Obama's 67. Michigan's would have given Clinton 73 delegates, while 55 were uncommitted. That means awarding half-delegates would give Clinton 89 more delegates and Obama 33.5, with 27.5 uncommitted.

The plan would narrow Obama's lead among the pledged delegates won in primaries and caucuses. But Clinton still would not catch him in the remaining primaries.

Obama has a 154-delegate lead among pledged delegates.

The challenges were presented by DNC members Joel Ferguson of Michigan and Jon Ausman of Florida, who also are superdelegates because of their positions with the party. Ferguson supports Clinton, Ausman is uncommitted.

Ferguson and Ausman said in telephone interviews that they think half-delegates should be seated based on the outcome of the state's primary elections. That is not spelled out in their challenges and the Rules and Bylaws Committee could determine how many delegates each campaign is awarded.

"I think the allocation should be solely based on the returns on January 29," Ausman said.

Michigan's case is trickier, since Obama didn't get any votes in the state's Jan. 15 primary. Ferguson said all the uncommitted votes should count for Obama.

"The only thing that hurts my challenge is that I declared that I'm for Clinton, but this has nothing to do with Clinton," Ferguson said. "This has to do with making common sense."

He said it's only fair that the superdelegates be fully restored since they aren't bound by election results any way. The challenges argue that the party doesn't have the authority to strip superdelegates of their votes.

Ausman said as for the pledged delegates, it would be acceptable for the committee either to strip half of Florida's pledged delegates and send the other half to the convention, or to send all and give them half-votes.

The Convention Credentials Committee resolves issues about the seating of delegates, but doesn't meet until later in the summer after all the state nominating contests are over.

The co-chairs of the Rules and Bylaws Committee did not respond to messages left at their offices Friday. Party officials said it's unclear whether they will make a decision and vote on the challenges at the May 31 meeting or just discuss them.

The Clinton and Obama campaigns did not respond to requests for comment.

Read more on Yahoo News

Lawsuit bid to take Denton mayor, two others off ballot fails

2008-04-25T12:53:00.002-05:00

By LOWELL BROWN - Denton Record-Chronicle - April 22, 2008

A district judge on Monday allowed Denton Mayor Perry McNeill and two other candidates to remain on the May 10 ballot, after a lawsuit challenged their eligibility.

Visiting Judge David Evans said he would not intervene in an election that is under way. Early voting in the City Council races starts Monday, but city officials said they already sent out two absentee ballots.

The judge did not rule on the merits of the lawsuit, which alleges that Mr. McNeill, Mayor Pro Tem Pete Kamp and former council member Mark Burroughs would violate the city's term limits by winning another term.
The charter prevents council members from being elected to more than three consecutive two-year terms. But city attorneys say term limits do not carry over to council members who run for a different seat, including mayor, or sit out a term.

Judge Evans said future hearings could address broader issues in the case, such as how to interpret the city charter's three-term limit.

Also, the judge's decision would not prevent candidates from contesting the election after votes are cast, as the state election code allows.

Michael Whitten, an attorney for the city, said the decision did not surprise him.

"I felt all along that the law was such that no judge would have taken these candidates off the ballot," Mr. Whitten said.

Mike Sutton, Ms. Kamp's opponent for at-large District 5, expressed frustration over the decision. Mr. Sutton, who is one of five plaintiffs in the case, filed separate litigation last week challenging Ms. Kamp's eligibility. That case is pending before the 2nd Court of Appeals in Fort Worth.

Media bashes Clinton despite win

2008-04-24T10:41:00.001-05:00

It's worth watching the short commercial to hear this exchange about what the media is saying about Hillary staying in the races? Is the media biased? What is their motivation?

The Pennsylvania Presidential Debate

2008-04-18T22:48:00.001-05:00

Obama tied to lobbyists, but boasts of not taking money

2008-04-17T10:10:00.002-05:00

District convention results challenged

2008-04-15T17:51:00.002-05:00

By AMAN BATHEJA - Fort Worth Star Telegram - April 15, 2008
Local Hillary Clinton supporters have filed more than 35 written challenges to the results of the Senate district conventions that chose presidential delegates March 29.

The challenges question the legitimacy of some delegates who were elected during muddled Senate district conventions statewide. The deadline for filing challenges was Monday.

The state convention, scheduled for June 5-7, is the final step of the Texas Democratic Party's complicated caucus process, in which 67 of the state's 193 pledged delegates are doled out. The remaining 126 pledged delegates were elected based on the March 4 primary vote: Clinton won 65, Obama 61.

The Clinton campaign has acknowledged that she likely gained fewer delegates than Barack Obama at the Senate district conventions but has not conceded a majority of the state's overall delegates, who also include 35 superdelegates.

Obama appeared to gain more delegates at all three district conventions in Tarrant County.

Most of the challenges allege that proper parliamentary procedure was not followed or that some delegates were improperly elected.

Clinton supporter Jason Smith of Fort Worth filed several challenges. He said that problems at the district conventions, as well as at the precinct conventions on the night of the primary, disenfranchised too many voters to be accepted as valid.

"Any process that allows some people to vote twice while denying that same opportunity to the disabled and to those who work nights is a constitutionally invalid system," Smith said. "Any constitutional law professor like Barack Obama could tell you that."

Faith Chatham of Arlington sat on the credentials committee for the Senate District 9 convention in Arlington, which was assigned to verify delegates' eligibility. She said there were so many violations of state party rules that the results shouldn't count.

"We should throw out the delegates and go with the primary vote," said Chatham, a Clinton supporter who filed several challenges.

State Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, an Obama supporter, said the Clinton challenges amount to grasping at straws.

"They're beginning to come off like poor losers," Burnam said.

Hector Nieto, spokesman for the state party, said Monday that the party had received more than 50 challenges from both sides but could not give a precise estimate.

A credentials committee will resolve the challenges before the state convention, he said.
Read more in the Fort Worth Star Telegram

More than mere candidates

2008-03-11T08:18:00.001-05:00

By Faith Chatham - DFWRCC - March 11, 2008
Crossposted on Texas Kaos

Once in a lifetime a candidate comes along who embodies the hopes and dreams of a gender or race. That's happened on both counts in this election year.
It's too bad that one or the other couldn't have waited to run another time, because each means so much to the voters who believe in them. Neither should be sacrificed to the other; when one of them loses, as one must, it will be like a death in the family.

Politics has moved from the realm of casual interest among voters to a visceral feeling that it's now or never. How did we get this way? It's simple: a backlash against the horrible situation into which George W. Bush has put this country, like a bad case of food poisoning.

Not just any candidate would do, either. They had to stir the hearts of voters. Hillary Clinton represents all that women ever hoped to achieve, and Barack Obama represents the equality of African-Americans.
There will be sadness in the country when the dust has settled in the Democratic Party - not just because of voter fraud and disenfranchisement, and not because someone had to win and someone had to lose, but because the hopes and dreams of what the loser represented will be gone.

- Shirley Bumbalough, Watauga

Shirley's letter was published in the Fort Worth Star Telegram and shared with friends. I think it expresses realities which we, as Democrats, need to remember as we face off with our friends and neighbors in Senatorial and State Conventions and discuss politics in our homes and workplaces.

I was amazed at my reaction this election cycle. I have never voted for or against a candidate because of race or gender. This year, I found myself thinking that when the woman is more qualified or as qualified, shouldn't she get the job! I was honored to be a Jesse Jackson delegate to State Convention when he ran for U.S. President. This year I shared with my precinct that this is the first time I've had the opportunity to be a delegate for a qualified woman for president.

I don't think we should vote for or against a candidate based on race or gender, yet this year, many people are voting that way. This year it is much more personal for many than ever before. As Americans, many of us seem to be seeking a "rite of passage", an untettering from the discrimination and marginalization of our childhood and years in the community and work place.

I believe that we need to be more respectful of our neighbors who support "the other candidate" this year than in years past. For most folks, it is truly, as Shirley so eloquently expressed, more than merely politics.

Northern Dallas suburbs overwhelmed by Democratic turnout

2008-03-08T03:34:00.004-06:00

Longtime Republican bastion breached by huge Democratic turnout during primary

By THEODORE KIM - The Dallas Morning News - Saturday, March 8, 2008
PLANO – Dallas' northern suburbs have long been Republican fortresses. But Tuesday, for the first time in nearly a quarter-century, Democrats showed muscle.

Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton received more than 72,000 votes in Collin County's presidential primary – the most outside of Texas' major urban centers and 20,000 more than the Republican candidates combined despite record GOP turnout.

The numbers were as dramatic in neighboring Denton County, where the overwhelming edge went to Democrats even though both parties set turnout records.

The enthusiasm was hardly limited to those two counties. Overall, about 2.9 million Texans cast votes in this year's Democratic primary, up from about 840,000 in 2004.

Still, the results are startling in this part of the state, which before the GOP dominance was once the base of operations for powerful Democratic U.S. House Speaker Sam Rayburn.

Democrats say the results offer hope for a party that has been all but irrelevant here. They say the political complexion of Dallas' suburbs is changing, a trend evidenced by the numbers.

National experts say the statistics point to a broader Democratic energy and GOP malaise evidenced in vote totals, fundraising and attendance at political rallies.

Republican observers disagree. They say the up-for-grabs Democratic primary helped fuel artificially high vote totals, drawing independent and Republican voters who saw their own primary clinched by John McCain.

"Tuesday's race had nothing to do with the general elections as far as our turnout and Democrat turnout," said Kathy Ward, chairwoman of the Collin County Republican Party. "People were just energized that Texas was even on the [primary] map."

Long lines

No Democrats hold partisan elected offices in Collin and Denton counties, and party leaders often struggle to find viable candidates.

Meanwhile, Republican Mike Huckabee, who ran as the standard-bearer for diehard evangelical conservatives, did well in Collin County and almost beat Mr. McCain in Denton County – a sign of evangelical conservative strength here.

But Democratic leaders say they saw a surge Tuesday.

In Collin County, voters seeking to cast Democratic ballots formed long lines at many precincts, creating a shortage of voting machines in places, said Dan Dodd, the county's Democratic chairman.

In fact, more Collin residents voted in Tuesday's Democratic primary than the 69,000 who voted for Democrat John Kerry in the 2004 general election. The total is staggering given that primaries typically draw far fewer voters than general elections. About 6,500 people voted in the party's primary four years ago.

"People were at the polls [Tuesday] looking around and saying, 'I'm not the only Democrat here,' " Mr. Dodd said.

Denton County also showed signs of Democratic momentum. Precincts across the county, even those in staunch Republican areas, witnessed high Democratic turnout, said Neil Durrance, the county's Democratic Party chairman. Nearly 55,000 people voted Democratic versus almost 39,000 in the GOP races.

Some national analysts say the high turnout is a reflection of a general shift.

"The numbers of people identifying themselves as Republican are down," said Charlie Cook, publisher of the Cook Political Report. "The public preference for the GOP holding the White House has dropped, and GOP enthusiasm is down. Primary turnout is a reflection of all of these things."

Battleground

The battleground for that shift is in affluent, brisk-growing suburbs like Collin and Denton counties, experts say.

Since 1990, the combined population of the two counties has more than doubled to 1.3 million. While the counties have skewed Republican for years, growth has brought diversity and more diverse politics.

"The conventional wisdom has been: 'If you move to Collin County and you drink the water, then you become a Republican," said Michael McConachie, a political science professor at Collin College in Plano. "I don't think that's necessarily true anymore."

The numbers seen here mirrored the Democratic turnout in suburbs across Texas, such as Williamson County near Austin, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties near Houston and Comal County near San Antonio, said Democratic strategist Matt Angle.

Similar shifts have occurred recently in GOP-leaning suburban communities elsewhere, such as in parts of North Carolina and the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., Mr. Angle said.

"These are people who are raising families, making mortgage payments and paying utility bills," he said. "They quickly relate challenges of their own life to the political leadership. We're finding out these are households that are willing to look at the two parties."

GOP leaders dismiss the notion that the political terrain is changing. On the whole, they say Dallas' northern suburbs remain overwhelmingly Republican and will stay that way for years to come.

President Bush, for instance, captured nearly 175,000 votes in the 2004 general election in Collin County – more than double the total that Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton received in the primary combined.

Longtime Republican U.S. Rep. Sam Johnson, who is running for re-election in the 3rd Congressional District, said he expected Collin County to vote heavily Republican in the general election.

He believed many Republicans had voted in the Democratic primary and would switch back in November. He pointed out that a large number of people who voted for Mr. Obama or Mrs. Clinton in Collin County did not continue down the ballot to vote in the local races – evidence that voters crossed party lines.

"I think you'll see the same result in the general [election] that you saw last time," Mr. Johnson said. "People will support John McCain."

Democratic organizers disagree, saying the high turnout is a sign of successes to come.

Mr. Durrance noted the Republican Party in Denton and Collin counties and many other places saw record primary turnouts just as the Democratic Party did. If many Republicans voted in the opposite primary, GOP turnout probably would have dipped, he said.

"This is a definite rising Democratic tide," he said. "What we're seeing is a shift in the public electorate."

Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said the general election in November would make clear whether the Democratic turnout is a blip in history or evidence of a trend.

"Will it last until November and beyond?" he asked. "As we all know, human enthusiasm can wane rather quickly."

Compared with recent primaries, Collin and Denton county voter turnout in Tuesday's election skyrocketed, particularly among Democrats:

Collin County
2000
Democrats 3,735
Republicans 31,835

2004
Democrats 6,493
Republicans 16,374

2008
Democrats 72,543
Republicans 51,768

Denton County
2000
Democrats 3,532
Republicans 26,538

2004
Democrats 4,679
Republicans 14,922

2008
Democrats 54,674
Republicans 38,491

Read more in the Dallas Morning News

Hillary packed'em in by the thousands at the Stockyard

2008-03-02T10:01:00.010-06:00

By Faith Chatham - March 2, 2008 Crossposted on Texas Kaos
Tarrant County was Clinton Country Saturday when Senator Hillary Clinton arrived at the Fort Worth Stockyard. The crowd has been estimated between 10,000 to 14,000.

Photo used by permission. Copyright Lydia Foster 2008

Young, old, healthy, frail, all races stood in line for hours to be screened and admitted to the rally area on Exchange Avenue near the Stockyard's Hotel. Secret Service and the Fort Worth Police Department controlled access. Swat team snipers were positioned on all the roof tops. Attendees, including the handicapped, entered behind Billy Bob's, through the cattle walks and allies before they were screened to enter the rally grounds. Organizers grossly underestimated the size of the crowd. Most attendees never got close enough to see Senator Clinton, yet the enthusiasm was not dampened by the long wait.

Accompanied by Henry Ciscernos and the Mayor of Los Angeles, with former Speaker Jim Wright in attendence, Senator Clinton charmed the crowd with her warmth, straight talking and deep comprehension of what truly challenges us. She speaks straight to the people. Her stump speech is not littered with slogans or platitudes. She doesn't place herself on some loftier plane than the people. She has poise and confidence which comes from years of hard work and preparation and service.

Photo used by permission. Copyright Lydia Foster 2008

She has a dry wit and does not try to capture the audience with humor, yet her warmth is infectious. Her style is different from Ann Richards, yet I found myself thinking of Governor Richards frequently during Senator Clinton's stump speech. Ann Richards made middle of the night unannounced visits to nursing homes to protect the weak, frail and vulnerable. Hillary Clinton possesses the same passion for people that Governor Richards possessed.

When Senator Clinton shook my hand I told her: "I'll be as honored to call you Madam President as I was to call Ann Richards' Governor." She shot me a smile which told me that she understood that she was receiving one of the highest compliments I could give.

Photo used by permission. Copyright Lydia Foster 2008

The Obama campaign spends weeks preparing and promoting large rallies. Most of Senator Clinton's rallies are planned and promoted only 24 to 48 hours before the event. This rally was the first one in North Texas where the Clinton campaign gvae citizens 5 days advance notice. Saturday, at the Fort Worth Stockyards, it was proven that given a little notice, Texans will come by the thousands to see, hear, meet Hillary Clinton.

Tuesday we'll learn how many of the thousands of people who are voting Democrat are choosing Obama or Hillary.

To find a pre-precinct convention caucus meeting near you go to www.hillaryclinton.com
Click on TAKE ACTION and choose FIND PARTY/EVENT.

Art Hall Accepts Thousands From Valero PAC, Employees

2008-02-28T07:34:00.000-06:00

Hall Previously Claimed Valero Told Him His Wife's Position With The Firm Constituted No Conflict Of Interest
Vince Leibowitz - February 28, 2008

AUSTIN--Former San Antonio City Councilman Art Hall has accepted more than $5,000 in contributions from Valero Energy's political action committee and several of its employees, according to records from the Texas Ethics Commission.

On February 8, Hall received a $5,000 contribution from the Valero Political Action Committee, a PAC notorious for giving thousands of dollars to Texas' most conservative Republicans-- and Railroad Commissioner Michael L. Williams, the man Hall and Dale Henry (D-Lampasas) seek to replace in the November general election.

In addition to the $5,000 from Valero's PAC, Hall also took more than $2,000 from Valero employees and attorneys in late January and February. According to Hall's most recent filing with the Texas Ethics Commission, he received the following contributions from Valero employees and attorneys:

Robert Bower, Valero Attorney, $500 2/23
Theodore Guidry, Valero employee, $500, 1/26
Diane Hirsch, Valero Attorney, $300, 2/23
Martin Loeber, Valero Attorney, $500, 2/23
Rich Walsh, Valero Attorney, $1,500, 2/23
Parker Wilson, Valero Attorney, $500, 2/23

"The money that Art Hall has accepted from Valero's PAC and its employees is especially troubling given the fact that he is very connected to Valero through the fact that his wife is an attorney for Valero," said Vince Leibowitz, campaign director for Dale Henry, Hall's principal opponent.

According to Hall's Personal Financial Statement on file with the Texas Ethics Commission, Hall's wife owns between 5,000 and 9,999 shares of stock in Valero which, if sold, would represent a net gain of $10,000 to $24,999.

"All of this is especially disturbing given the fact that Art Hall is actually getting advice from Valero on what constitutes a conflict of interest for his campaign," said Leibowitz.

At a forum in Decatur on January 29, Hall was asked if he believed it constituted a conflict of interest that his wife, Stephanie Hall, is an attorney for Valero considering the Railroad Commission regulates the oil and gas industry. Hall told the audience that he had contacted Valero and that he was advised by the company that her work would not constitute a conflict of interest for him.

"Art Hall is getting ethics advice and money from Valero energy. What else is he getting from them? Are they advising him on energy policy as well? Art Hall represents no departure from the current rubber-stamp culture at the Texas Railroad Commission where Commissioners take thousands of dollars from oil company PACs and their employees and then give them whatever they want without regard for the best interest of Texas consumers or the environment," Leibowitz said.

"Valero's PAC is notorious for giving large sums of money to Republicans and pet conservative causes," Leibowitz said. "Valero has given Railroad Commissioner Michael L. Williams $20,000. Now Art Hall is taking Valero's money and telling Texans that he will bring 'balance' to the Texas Railroad Commission. What kind of 'balance' is that, exactly? The kind of 'balance' where Hall will simply be another hand out taking money from the oil industry? That's not 'balance,' that is merely more of the same," Leibowitz continued.

Valero has given incumbent Railroad Commissioner Michael L. Williams $10,000 on two occasions: once less than a year ago on June 28, 2007, and once on June 7, 2002. Valero has also contributed to some of Texans most anti-consumer, counter-progressive Republicans and Republican causes.

The company's PAC gave $15,000 to Tom Craddick's "Stars Over Texas" Leadership PAC ($10,000 on 10/11/06 and $5,000 on 10/25/04), and $30,000 to Speaker Craddick's personal campaign account since 2004 ($10,000 on 11/08/05 and $10,000 on 11/5/07, and $10,000 on 11/10/04). A small sampling of Valero's contributions to Republicans include:

Texas Conservative Coalition ($2,500 on 9/10/07)
Former State Rep. Joe Nixon ($1,000 on 3/5/04)
Lt. Governor David Dewhurst ($10,000 on 11/6/03)
Attorney General Greg Abbott ($10,000 on 7/11/03)
Railroad Commissioner Victor Carrillo ($5,000 on 1/29/04)
U.S. Senator John Cornyn ($2,500 while Cornyn was Texas' AG on 11/7/2000)
State Rep. Phil King ($2,500 on 10/23/07)
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples ($5,000 on 11/27/07)
Former State Rep. Talmadge Heflin ($1,000 on 11/9/04)

The Valero-tied contributions aren't the only suspect contributions Hall has received as a candidate. While on the San Antonio City Council, Hall accepted money from executives and employees of the HB Zachry company, a San Antonio-based company which has paired with Spanish company Cintra and, in March 2005, signed a comprehensive development agreement authorizing $3.5 million in planning for the first phase of the controversial Trans-Texas Corridor. Hall accepted a $500 contribution from HB Zachry on April 26, 2005 and a $250 contribution from J.P. Zachry on August 8, 2005. As a San Antonio City Councilman, Hall also took money from Valero's PAC on May 3, 2005 ($500).

At the January 29 forum in Decatur, Hall also failed to state a position on a question that asked whether or not he favored continued development of the Trans-Texas Corridor, which will include "designated utility zones" which will facilitate the transport of oil and natural gas and could have a significant negative impact on Texas' environment and groundwater.

Henry faces Art Hall of San Antonio and Mark Thompson of Hamilton in the March 4 Democratic Primary. The winner of the March 4 Democratic Primary will face Commissioner Michael L. Williams in the general election.

Bill stumps for Hillary in Arlington Sunday

2008-02-25T17:07:00.006-06:00

By Faith Chatham - DFWRCC - Feb. 25, 2008
Several thousand North Texans turned out with little advance notice to hear former President Bill Clinton address the public at a Get our the Vote Rally in Vandergriff Park in Arlington Sunday morning.

PHOTO BY BRENDA MARTINEZ copyright 2008

President Clinton was introduced by Tarrant County Constable Sergio de Leon (pictured below), who President Clinton said he'd known in Arkansas. The president said: "I've known him since he was a little boy." He told the crowds: "I'm so proud of him. I have watched him grow up!"

PHOTO BY BRENDA MARTINEZ copyright 2008

PHOTO BY BRENDA MARTINEZ copyright 2008

PHOTO BY BRENDA MARTINEZ copyright 2008

PHOTO BY BRENDA MARTINEZ copyright 2008
Faith Chatham, co-founder of DFW Regional Concerned Citizens, discusses NAFTA and toll roads with President Clinton. He said NAFTA hasn't turned out like we intended. We need to revise it. He was surprised when she told him that there are plans to build 675 miles of toll roads in the DFW Metroplex alone. He wanted to know "Why? and "Who's puahing it?"

About this year's Presidential race, Bill Clinton asked:

"Which is more important to you: Should we make a new beginning with somebody not involved in either the problems of this decade or the progress of last ... or should we make a new beginning with a change-maker who knows when to compromise and when to stand stong firm?"

Prior to the rally in Arlington Sunday, President Clinton worshipped at the Potter's House in Oak Cliff with Bishop T.D. Jakes.

President Bill Clinton will return to the DFW metroplex for a Tuesday morning event at Mountain View College in Dallas and a Tuesday evening event (5:00 p.m.) in the Marine Park on Fort Worth's north side near the stockyards.

Chelsea Clinton spoke at three area University campuses earlier this month. Senator Hillary Clinton appeared at a rally in Oak Cliff Friday and cancelled her Fort Worth Rally that same day in respect for the police officer who was killed in an accident while escorting her motorcade Friday.

U-TUBE VIDEO by JELATOV

President Bill Clinton in Arlington - Part 2

U-TUBE VIDEO by JELATOV

Hillary Clinton's campaign has visited Arlington twice this month. Chelsea spoke at UTA during her three university speaking tour earlier this month for her mother's campaign. Husband Bill returned to Arlington to speak for his wife. Usually ignored by national Democratic political campaign as being "too expensive and too Republican" to merit expenditure of campaign resources, Arlington has defied the "RED" label this year. At all five early voting sites Arlington Democratic voters outnumbered Republican early voters during each of the first five days of early voting. Larger percentages of Democrats are voting early and larger percentages of Republicans are staying home.

See WFAA Coverage

See story by Anna Tinsley of the Fort Worth Star Telegram

See DMN Story

Obama in Fort Worth Thursday, Feb. 28

2008-02-25T11:02:00.003-06:00

By Barack Obama Campaign - Feb. 25, 2008

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28 FORT WORTH STAND FOR CHANGE RALLY
Thursday evening, details TBA

This event is free and open to the public. Go to texas.barackobama.com to RSVP and receive updates.

Media Coverage: The event is open to the press. For credentials, please RSVP at http://www.barackobama.com/mediarsvp.

Both Texas Democratic Governor Candidates Endorse Hillary Clinton

2008-02-24T14:38:00.002-06:00

By Texans for Hillary - 2/21/2008

Former U.S. Congressman Chris Bell Endorses Hillary for President
Houston, TX –Former U.S. Representative Chris Bell today announced his endorsement of Hillary Clinton for President.

"It is no longer about being a great candidate - because of the many challenges we face, it's now about being a great president on day one," Bell said. "Hillary Clinton is the only candidate who has the experience, passion and vision to start turning our dreams of change into a reality on her first day in the oval office. She is also the only candidate who has faced the right-wing smear machine head on and lived to tell the tale. We need a battle tested nominee."

Bell, the Democratic nominee for governor of Texas in 2006, says he plans to appeal to his supporters throughout the state on behalf of Senator Clinton.

"Chris Bell has been a strong voice for Texans and I am so proud to have his support of my candidacy," Clinton said. "From the economy, to education, to health care, Congressman Bell knows it will take experience and strength to make change happen in the White House. I look forward to having his help in spreading our message across Texas."

Born in Abilene, Bell represented a Houston area U.S. House district from 2003 to 2005. He was also a member of the Houston City Council from 1997 to 2001. In the race for governor, he received over a million votes, trouncing two well funded independents and coming within nine percentage points of defeating the incumbent Republican.

Congressman Bell is a strong advocate for health care reform, public school education and a passionate supporter of stem cell research. He has long fought for issues important to Texans, including comprehensive immigration reform and improving transportation.

BOB GAMMAGE ENDORSES HILLARY

Former U.S. Congressman Bob Gammage Endorses Hillary for President
Austin, TX - Today the Clinton campaign announced that former U.S. Congressman and Texas Supreme Court Justice Bob Gammage is endorsing Hillary Clinton for President, demonstrating its continued momentum across the Lone Star State.

"Texas knows Hillary and Hillary knows Texas," said Gammage. "Hillary has a proven track record fighting for Texans that dates back more than three decades. Her leadership and experience are unparalleled and I am confident that she is the best candidate to lead this nation. On March 4, Texans will play a critical role in determining not only the Democratic nominee, but also the next President of the United States and I encourage all Texans to get to the polls for this important election."

Bob Gammage is a native of Houston, Texas. He served 25 years in public office in the Lone Star State. Gammage won his first race for office, for the Texas House of Representatives, in 1970. He went on to serve in the Texas State Senate, the United States House of Representatives, and as a Justice on the Texas Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of Texas. He also served as an Assistant Attorney General of Texas and as a Special Consultant to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Gammage has been setting the campaign trail ablaze for Hillary. As a Veteran for Hillary, he made two trips to Iowa to stump for her in the snow. Here in Texas, he worked with other supporters to secure her Texas state headquarters in Austin and spoke at its opening rally. He is also assisting the campaign in arranging Chelsea's visits to some Texas university campuses.

Supporting Hillary is a family affair for the Gammage family. Gammage’s wife, Lynda, is helping to coordinate housing for many of the out-of-state staffers and volunteers, and their son Sam, a Texas State University student, is volunteering at the Austin headquarters.

The Clinton campaign continues to gain support throughout Texas as Hillary’s message of change and experience resonates with people across the state. More than 100,000 Texans have signed up to volunteer for Hillary and 4,700 people attended a campaign rally with former President Bill Clinton at the Clinton campaign’s Austin Headquarters last weekend.

More Democrats vote in Arlington and Tarrant County all of first five days of early voting

2008-02-24T08:27:00.001-06:00

By Faith Chatham - DFWRCC - Feb. 24, 2008

In Arlington, Democratic voters outnumbered Republican voters at all five polling places for each of the first five days of Early Voting. Countywide, over twice the number of Democrats voted early or by mail than Republicans.

In Arlington this year, larger numbers of Democrats are voting than Republicans. Democratic turnout at the five Arlington early voting sites exceeded Republican turnout for the first time in decades. In Arlington, known as a "Republican stronghold", 1033 votes were cast the first day of Early Voting in the Democratic primary while only 496 Republican votes were cast.
County wide, 5,733 Democrats voted early the first day; 2,606 Republicans voted early in Tarrant County on Tuesday.

On Wednesday Feb. 20, in Arlington, 1112 Democrats voted early; 463 Republicans voted early at the five early voting sites in Arlington.

On Thursday, Feb. 21, in Arlington, 846 Democrats voted early; 421 Republicans voted Thursday in Arlington.

On Friday, Feb. 22, in Arlington, 1,164 Democrats voted early; 557 Republicans voted early Friday in Arlington.

On Saturday, Feb. 23, in Arlington, 1,259 Democrats voted early; 431 Republicans voted early Friday in Arlington.

During the first five days of early voting in Arlington, 2,423 Democrats voted early and 988 Republicans voted early in Arlington during the first five days of early voting.

TARRANT COUNTY

County Wide on Tuesday Feb. 19, 5,732 Democrats voted and 2,607 Republicans voted.
County Wide on Wednedsay Feb. 20, 5,602 Democrats voted and 2,583 Republicans voted.
County Wide on Thursday, Feb. 21, 4,554 Democrats voted and 2,204 Republicans voted.
Wednesday. 5603 Democrats voted early and 2583 Republicans cast early ballots.
County Wide on Friday, Feb. 22, 5,992 Democrats voted and 2,985 Republicans voted early.
County Wide on Saturday, Feb. 23, 6,979 Democrats cast early ballots and 2,514 Republicans voted early.

During the first three days of Early Voting this year in Tarrant County 15,888 Democrats voted early and 7,394 Republicans voted early.

MAIL BALLOTS

By the second day of early voting, Tarrant County Elections reported a total of 2,146Democratic Primary mail ballots had been received and 1,982 Democratic Primary Vote by Mail ballots were still unvoted; 536 Republican Primary voters have returned Vote by Mail Ballots; 849 Republican Vote by Mail ballots remained to be voted at the close of the second day of Early Voting.
By Saturday, Feb. 23rd, 2,579 Democratic Vote by Mail Ballots had been returned and 893 Democratic Vote By Mail Ballots remained unvoted; 714 Republican Vote By Mail Ballots had been returned by Thursday and 888 Republican Vote By Mail Ballots remianed out and unvoted.

Democrats outpaced Republicans at the polls in Tarrant County on each of the first five days of Early Voting. Arlington, formerly thought of my many as a Red city, and discounted by most national Democratic campaigns as too expensive to work and too Republican to merit expenditure of resources, continues to turn out over two Democratic voters for every Republican. Democratic turnout has attracted the Presidential Campaigns. Chelsea Clinton appeared at UTA earlier this month. Her father, President Bill Clinton, will be 'stumpin'' for his wife at a rally this morning, (Sunday, Feb. 24) from 9:30-noon at Vandergriff Park. Arlington, noted as a city with a large number of Republican donors, has attracted Republican Presidential candidates in past years and some statewide Democratic candidates. This year, instead of fundraisers, the campaigns are holding rallies open to the public. Retail politics has arrived in Arlington

COMPARISON OF TARRANT COUNTY EARLY VOTERS BY DAY
FOR LAST THREE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

DAY 1 EARLY VOTING
Tarrant County - 2000:
Democratic Voters: 372 - Republican Voters: 1,558
Tarrant County - 2004:
Democratic Voters: 396 - Republican Voters: 286
Tarrant County - 2008:
Democratic Voters: 5,732 - Republican Voters: 2,607

DAY 2 EARLY VOTING
Tarrant County - 2000:
Democratic Voters: 558 - Republican Voters:2,518
Tarrant County - 2004:
Democratic Voters: 464 - Republican Voters: 387
Tarrant County - 2008:
Democratic Voters: 5,602 - Republican Voters: 2,583

DAY 3 EARLY VOTING
Tarrant County - 2000:
Democratic Voters: 713 - Republican Voters: 3,319
Tarrant County - 2004:
Democratic Voters: 591 - Republican Voters: 496
Tarrant County - 2008:
Democratic Voters: 4,554 - Republican Voters: 2,204

DAY 4 EARLY VOTING
Tarrant County - 2000:
Democratic Voters: 983 - Republican Voters: 4,665
Tarrant County - 2004:
Democratic Voters: 610 - Republican Voters: 538
Tarrant County - 2008:
Democratic Voters: 5,992 - Republican Voters: 2,985

DAY 5 EARLY VOTING
Tarrant County - 2000:
Democratic Voters: 1,205 - Republican Voters: 5,788
Tarrant County - 2004:
Democratic Voters: 542 - Republican Voters: 372
Tarrant County - 2008:
Democratic Voters: 6,979 - Republican Voters: 2,514

SOURCE: Tarrant County Election 3-4-2008 Primary Elections Combined Early Voting posted Sunday, Feb. 24, 2008

President Bill Clinton to appear in Arlington Sunday, Feb. 24th

2008-02-23T18:31:00.002-06:00

Join President Bill Clinton for an "Early Vote Rally" in Arlington!
Sunday, February 24, 2008 at 9:30 AM - 12:00 PM
at Vandergriff Park
2800 South Center Street
Arlington, TX 76014
General Area: Near the Bob Duncan Community Center (an early voting site).

(This park is between I-20 and Pioneer Parkway. There is also an entrance on Matlock Road.)

Vote early for Hillary and then join President Bill Clinton for a rally in Arlington! Voting for Hillary early takes us one step closer to getting our country back on track. To find the early vote location nearest you.
For more information see website:
http://www.hillaryclinton.com/action/txearlyvote/

Host: Texas For Hillary

For decades most national Democratic campaigns have bypassed Arlington as too Republican and too costly to work.

Sandwiched between the Dallas and Fort Worth media markets, Arlington is viewed as one of the most costly cities to reach voters. Usually campaigns bypass Arlington and concentrate their dollars in communities which are viewed as less red.
Shifting demographics continue to make Arlington more attractive to Democratic campaigns. This year both the Clinton and Obama campaigns have devoted resources to reaching Arlington voters. Earlier this month Chelsea Clinton appeared at UTA and President Bill Clinton is scheduled to appear at a rally in Arlington tomorrow, Sunday, Feb. 24rd.

During the first three days of early voting, more voters have voted in the Democratic Primary at all Arlington early voting sites than in the Republican Primary in Arlington. Democratic turnout Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 19, 20, 21 in Arlington has exceeded the highest turnout of any party in the past decade.

Tarrant County Democratic Voters outpace Republican early voters during first three days of early voting

2008-02-22T18:10:00.001-06:00

By Faith Chatham - DFWRCC - Feb. 22, 2008

On the third day of Early Voting, all Tarrant County voting sites except two reported more Democratic Voters than Republican Primary Voters.
At Benbrook City Hall 104 Republicans voted early on Thursday and 98 Democrats voted early. At Nance Elementary 16 Republicans voted early and 10 Democrats voted early. A significant number more Democrats than Republicans voted Thursday at all other Tarrant County Early Voting sites.

County wide, 5,733 Democrats voted early on Tuesday while only 2,605 Repubicans voted early. This year both parties in Tarrant County have exceeded the number of voters participating in their primaries during the first and second days of early voting in the 2000 and 2004 Primaries. On the third day, Republican turn-out was less than in 2000; Democratic turnout on the Third Day in Tarrant County this year is over 6 1/2 times greater than 2000 Day three turnout and over 7 1/2 times greater than in the 2004 Presidential Democratic Primary.

In Arlington this year, larger numbers of Democrats are voting than Republicans. Democratic turnout at the five Arlington early voting sites exceeded Republican turnout for the first time in decades. In Arlington, known as a "Republican stronghold", 1033 votes were cast the first day of Early Voting in the Democratic primary while only 496 Republican votes were cast.
County wide, 5,733 Democrats voted early the first day; 2,606 Republicans voted early in Tarrant County on Tuesday.

On Wednesday Feb. 20, in Arlington, 1112 Democrats voted early; 463 Republicans voted early at the five early voting sites in Arlington.

On Thursday, Feb. 21, in Arlington, 846 Democrats voted early; 421 Republicans voted Thursday in Arlington.

County Wide on Tuesday Feb. 19, 5,732 Democrats voted and 2,607 Republicans voted.
County Wide on Wednedsay Feb. 20, 5,602 Democrats voted and 2,583 Republicans voted.
County Wide on Thursday, Feb. 21, 4,554 Democrats voted and 2,204 Republicans voted.
Wednesday. 5603 Democrats voted early; 2583 Republicans cast early ballots.

During the first three days of Early Voting this year in Tarrant County 15,888 Democrats voted early and 7,394 Republicans voted early.

MAIL BALLOTS

By the second day of early voting, Tarrant County Elections reported a total of 2,146Democratic Primary mail ballots had been received and 1,982 Democratic Primary Vote by Mail ballots were still unvoted; 536 Republican Primary voters have returned Vote by Mail Ballots; 849 Republican Vote by Mail ballots remained to be voted at the close of the second day of Early Voting.
By Thursday, Feb. 21st, 2,324 Democratic Vote by Mail Ballots had been returned and 1,935 Democratic Vote By Mail Ballots remained unvoted; 584 Republican Vote By Mail Ballots had been returned by Thursday and 856 Republican Vote By Mail Ballots remianed out and unvoted.

At the close of the third day of early voting 15,888 Democrats had voted early (in person and by mail) and 7,394 Republicans had voted early. In Tarrant County on each of the first three days of early voting, over twice the number of Democrats cast early votes than Republicans.

In 2000 in Tarrant County more Republicans voted early than Democrats during the first three days of Early Voting; In 2004 more Democrats voted early during the first three days of early voting than Republicans. However, this year a much higher percentage of Democrats are voting early than in 2004.

DAY 1 EARLY VOTING
Tarrant County - 2000:
Democratic Voters: 372 - Republican Voters: 1,558
Tarrant County - 2004:
Democratic Voters: 396 - Republican Voters: 286
Tarrant County - 2008:
Democratic Voters: 5,732 - Republican Voters: 2,607

DAY 2 EARLY VOTING
Tarrant County - 2000:
Democratic Voters: 558 - Republican Voters:2,518
Tarrant County - 2004:
Democratic Voters: 464 - Republican Voters: 387
Tarrant County - 2008:
Democratic Voters: 5,602 - Republican Voters: 2,583

DAY 3 EARLY VOTING
Tarrant County - 2000:
Democratic Voters: 713 - Republican Voters: 3,319
Tarrant County - 2004:
Democratic Voters: 591 - Republican Voters: 496
Tarrant County - 2008:
Democratic Voters: 4,554 - Republican Voters: 2,204

SOURCE: Tarrant County Election 3-4-2008 Primary Elections Combined Early Voting posted Friday, Feb. 22, 2008

Denton County Commission candidates

2008-02-21T11:48:00.006-06:00

By DMN - Thursday, February 21, 2008

Hugh Coleman

Age: 40

Education: Bachelor's degree from Trinity University; law degree from University of Tulsa

Occupation: Attorney for Hayes, Berry, White & Vanzant

Years living in Denton County: eight

Total campaign contributions (including in-kind contributions): $22,049

Money spent: $16,211

Cynthia White

Age: 45

Education: Bachelor's degree from University of North Texas; work on master's degree from UNT

Occupation: Precinct 1 county commissioner since 2000

Years living in Denton County: 22

Total campaign contributions (including in-kind contributions): $28,849

Money spent: $15,735

WHITE, COLEMAN ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE ROADS
Republican candidates for Precinct 1 commissioners clash on cash, structure
By Dan X. McGraw - Denton Record-Chronicle Staff Writer - Wed., Feb. 20, 2008
The local spotlight has turned on the Precinct 1 county commissioner’s race as the Republican candidates continue to one-up each other and the March primary draws closer.

Hugh Coleman
Through campaign fodder and forums, Commissioner Cynthia White and her opponent Hugh Coleman have criticized each other, both for their campaign contributions and for their philosophies on the county’s road and bridge system in a mostly rural precinct.

White, 45, who serves as an ex-officio road commissioner, has contended that the system should remain as is because it provides residents more benefits than the old system.

“This [change] has been phenomenal for residents,” White said. “We finally have a system that puts an elected official directly responsible for the roads. We have also paved more roads and increased customer service.”

Coleman, 40, a former Denton County assistant district attorney, has advocated for returning to a county engineer system that would centralize the department under one building. He would also put a certified public engineer in place.

Under that system, Coleman said, the department would be free of influence from developers and campaign contributors, and run more efficiently.

ALSO ONLINE
Precinct 1 Commissioner's Race
“I want to take the politics out of roads,” he said. “My opponent de-evolved the system. I want to take this county into the future. We need someone who is certified by the state. We don’t need amateurs.”

By putting a county engineer in place, Coleman said, the county could save taxpayer dollars by eliminating contracts to Teague, Nall & Perkins and Innovative Transportation Solutions.

The county pays more than $14,000 per month to Teague, Nall & Perkins for engineering work, and Innovative Transportation Solutions has a yearly contract for more than $300,000 for consulting work.

White has said that Innovative Transportation Solutions is invaluable for the county, and that the county is working to hire a county engineer.

While the road issue has become the most debated topic, the candidates have exchanged blows to one another about political contributions.

Coleman has pledged not to take money from developers or vendors to ensure that his decisions wouldn’t be influenced if he is elected. Coleman has criticized White for taking $7,000 from developers and vendors.

“It colors your opinion,” he said.

Responding to allegations that she is too close to developers and vendors, White said her decisions are not affected. The county works to partner with those developers, and they get no benefits from her or the rest of the Commissioners Court, she said.

White pointed to a developer’s request to change the name of Byran and Fields roads, which she voted against.

Using the same argument on contributions, White has criticized Coleman for being backed by court-appointed attorneys. In past forums, she has called it illogical to not see a problem with those contributions.

However, Coleman said the judges, not the Commissioners Court, determine the attorneys’ pay, so those contributions could not influence how he served as commissioner.

Coleman has also questioned White’s desire to increase public safety in the county, and if elected, he said he would like to increase patrols and extend them to freshwater supply districts.

White refuted that comment by pointing to dozens of positions allocated to the sheriff’s office, but she cannot force how the sheriff uses them, she said. Coleman criticized that argument.

While the race has taken its twists and turns, it won’t end in March. Whoever comes out of the Republican primary will face Democratic candidate Phyllis Wolper in the general election.

The winner of that race will take office Jan. 1, 2009.

DAN X. McGRAW can be reached at 940-566-6875. His e-mail address is dmcgraw@dentonrc.com .

CANDIDATE BACKGROUNDS

HUGH COLEMAN

Age: 40

Education: Bachelor’s degree from Trinity University; law degree from University of Tulsa

Occupation: Attorney for Hayes, Berry, White & Vanzant

Years living in the county: Eight

CYNTHIA WHITE

Age: 45

Education: Bachelor’s degree from University of North Texas; work on master’s degree from UNT.

Occupation: Precinct 1 county commissioner

Years living in the county: 22

FUNDING GLANCE

Through the first months of their campaigns, Hugh Coleman and Cynthia White have gone different directions to build their campaign war chests. Here is a breakdown of how much money the candidates have, who their biggest contributors are and how much they’ve spent.

Hugh Coleman

Fund total: $31,369.19

Total contributions (including in-kind contributions): $22,049.59

Money spent: $16,211.07

Top contributors: $1,500 from Bruce Isaacks*; $1,000 from Douglas Coleman; $900 from Randall Hearne; $850 from Leslie Hudson; $500 from nine others

* includes an in-kind contribution

Cynthia White

Fund total: $15,180.09

Total contributions (including in-kind contributions): $28,849.50

Money spent: $15,735.25

Top contributors: $2,500 from Phil Huffines; $2,500 from Don Huffines; $2,000 from the Texas Realtors Association; $1,000 from eight others

Read more in the
Denton Record-Chronicle

Tarrant County Democratic Voters Outnumber Republicans at Early Voting

2008-02-21T08:45:00.010-06:00

By Faith Chatham - DFWRCC - Feb. 21, 2008 - Updated Feb. 22, 2008
More Democrats cast early ballots during the first day of early voting at every Tarrant County early voting site. Democratic Primary voters exceeded the the number of Republicans voting even at sites which normally draw more Republican early primary voters than Democrats. County wide 5733 Democrats voted early on Tuesday while only 2605 Repubicans voted early.

Both parties have exceeded the number of voters participating in their primaries during the first and second days of early voting in the 2000 and 2004 Primaries. This year, larger numbers of Democrats are voting than Republicans.

Democratic turnout at the five Arlington early voting sites exceeded Republican turnout for the first time in decades. In Arlington, known as a "Republican stronghold", 1033 votes were cast the first day of Early Voting in the Democratic primary while only 496 Republican votes were cast. County wide, 5,733 Democrats voted early the first day; 2,606 Republicans voted early in Tarrant County on Tuesday.

Heavy Democratic voting trends continued on the second day of Early Voting with Democratic voters exceeded the number of Republican Primary voters at all Tarrant County Early Voting sites. On Wednesday Feb. 20, 5603 Democrats voted early; 2583 Republicans cast early ballots. During the first two days of early voting 11,336 Democrats voted early and 5189 Republicans voted early.

By the second day of early voting, Tarrant County Elections reported a total of 2,146Democratic Primary mail ballots had been received and 1,982 Democratic Primary Vote by Mail ballots were still unvoted; 536 Republican Primary voters have returned Vote by Mail Ballots; 849 Republican Vote by Mail ballots remained to be voted at the close of the second day of Early Voting.

At the close of the second day of early voting 15,464 Democrats had voted early (in person and by mail) and 6,574 Republicans had voted early. Democratic voters still have over twice the number of VOTE BY MAIL Ballots out than Republican Primary Voters.

Tarrant County Elections reports show early voting sties in Arlington, noted as a predominately Republican voting city, registered consistently high Democratic turnout at all five early voting sites during both of the first two days of Early voting. At Bob Duncan Community Center 550 Democratics voted; 204 Republicans voted. At Arlington City Hall 504 Democrats voted early; 225 Republican voted early. At Elzie Odum Recreation Center 325 Democrats voted early; 128 Republicans voted early. At the Arlington Fire Training Center 185 Democrats voted early; 113 Republicans voted early. At the South Service Center 581 Democrats voted early; 288 Republicans voted early.

In 2000 in Tarrant County more Republicans voted early than Democrats during the first two days of Early Voting; In 2004 more Democrats voted early during the first two days of early voting than Republicans. However, this year a much higher percentage of Democrats are voting early than in 2004.

DAY 1 EARLY VOTING
Tarrant County - 2000:
Democratic Voters: 372 - Republican Voters: 105
Tarrant County - 2004:
Democratic Voters: 464 - Republican Voters: 387
Tarrant County - 2008:
Democratic Voters: 5,733 - Republican Voters: 2,606

DAY 2 EARLY VOTING
Tarrant County - 2000:
Democratic Voters: 558 - Republican Voters: 2,519
Tarrant County - 2004:
Democratic Voters: 372 - Republican Voters: 105
Tarrant County - 2008:
Democratic Voters: 5,603 - Republican Voters: 2.583

Resolutions for Precinct Convention

2008-02-19T10:23:00.005-06:00

By Terri Hall - TURF - Feb. 18, 2008

PLAN TO GO TO YOUR PRECINCT CONVENTION WHEN THE POLLS CLOSE
Resolutions to bring to precinct convention / caucuses that convene at your precinct immediately after the polls close on March 4:

- Eminent Domain -

RESOLUTION
Against the eminent domain abuse for toll roads

Whereas, private Texas land can be taken through eminent domain for roadways; and

Whereas, the Texas Transportation Commission, the Texas Department of Transportation, the Texas Turnpike Authority, and Regional Mobility Authorities in
the State of Texas have proposed and signed Comprehensive Development
Agreements (CDAs), also known as public-private partnerships, that would allow
land taken through eminent domain to be leased by private companies including
foreign consortiums/entities, for private and/or commercial gain; and

Whereas, the existing Texas eminent domain law has so many loopholes andexceptions that any new or existing public roadway and road right of way canbecome part of a public-private partnership (CDA) leased and operated by
private companies, including foreign consortiums/entities, for private and/or
commercial gain;

Now, therefore, be it:
Resolved, that we urge the Legislature to close any loopholes in our
eminent domain laws that allows ANY government agency to take our private land for toll roads to be operated, leased, or managed by private companies, including foreign companies, for profit; and further be it

Resolved, that the laws of the State of Texas should be amended to, without exception, prohibit the use of any portion of any new or existing, publicly-owned roadway facility or right of way to be operated, leased, or managed by private
companies, including foreign companies, for profit.

Adopted this ____day of _______, 20_ _ , at the Precinct Convention of Precinct

#_______,_ ____________ County of the__________________Party of Texas.

________________________________________
Name of Officer

________________________________________
Signature

- Tolling Existing Roads -

RESOLUTION
Against the Tolling of Existing Roadways in Texas

Whereas, we have already paid for our public roads and public road rights of way through the various local, State and federal taxes spent on road construction and maintenance; and

Whereas, the Texas Transportation Commission, the Texas Department of Transportation, the Texas Turnpike Authority, and Regional Mobility Authorities in
the State of Texas have proposed the conversion of portions of existing road
facilities and/or rights of way into tolled road facilities and rights-of-way; and
Whereas, existing Texas law has so many loopholes and exceptions that any existing public roadway and road right of way can be tolled without a vote of the citizens of the county in which the facility or right of way is located; and

Whereas, the conversion of any portion of an existing public road or road right of way into a tolled roadway constitutes the double taxation of the Citizens of the State of Texas;

Now, therefore, be it:
Resolved, that we oppose the tolling of any portion of any existing, publicly owned roadway facility or right of way; and further be it

Resolved, that the laws of the State of Texas should be amended to, without exception, prohibit the use of any portion of any existing, publicly-owned roadway facility or right of way as part of a tolled roadway facility and/or tolled right of way without the majority vote of the citizens in the county in which the existing public roadway facility or right of way is located; and further be it
Resolved, that this measure be applied immediately to ANY and ALL roadways not currently open to traffic as a toll road to prevent any proposed conversions from occurring without such a vote of the residents of the affected county.

Adopted this ____day of _______, 20_, at the Precinct Convention of Precinct

#_______,_____________County of the__________________Party of Texas.

________________________________________
Name of Officer

________________________________________
Signature

________________________________________________________________

- Market-based tolling - download resolution

RESOLUTION
Repeal Market-Based Tolling

Whereas, market-based tolls determine the highest possible toll “the market can bear;” and

Whereas, market-based tolls do not determine the toll rate based on the actual cost of construction, maintenance, and debt retirement but rather on how much profit the government can make off a given roadway; and

Whereas, this method of tolling allows the government to siphon money from motorists on one road segment to pay for other road segments;

Whereas, this method of tolling essentially applies the same problematic provisions as private equity toll roads (that are currently under a moratorium in Texas) to government toll roads by having private companies determine how much money the government can make off a roadway as if a private firm were
tolling the road;

Whereas, this method of tolling is to maximize revenue and gouge motorists with unnecessarily high toll taxation rather than about providing transportation;

Now, therefore, be it:
Resolved, that we oppose market-based tolling; and further be it
Resolved, that the laws of the State of Texas should be amended to, without exception, prohibit the use of “market valuation” and any form of market-based
tolls; and further be it

Resolved, that this measure be applied immediately to all roads where bonds have not already been sold.

Adopted this ____day of _______, 20_ _ , at the Precinct Convention of Precinct

_______,_ ____________ County of the__________________Party of Texas.

________________________________________

Name of Officer________________________________________
Signature

- Privately-controlled toll roads -

RESOLUTION
Against the Ownership, Leasing, Operation, and Management of
Public Facilities by Private Entities

Whereas, the public facilities owned by the agencies and units of government of the State of Texas are owned, in fact, by the citizens of Texas; and

Whereas, proposals have been made to turn over the ownership, leasing, operation and/or management of existing and future public facilities in Texas to agencies, companies and/or private consortiums which are lead and primarily owned by private entities; and

Whereas, we believe that the collective public and private resources exist within the United States of America to safely, securely and efficiently own, operate and manage the public facilities owned by the citizens of the State of Texas; and

Whereas, we see no need for private firms and governments to profit from the public facilities owned by the citizens of Texas; and

Whereas, turning over for lease or ownership, the operation or management of public facilities to privately-controlled organizations represents an unnecessary financial and security risk to the citizens of the State of Texas;

Now, therefore, be it:
Resolved, that we oppose any contract between any agency or unit of government of the State of Texas and any private company or government or any private consortium including foreign firms; and further be it Resolved, that the laws of the State of Texas should be amended to, without exception, to prohibit agencies and units of government of the State of Texas from entering into any contract with any private company or government or any private consortium including foreign firms for the purposes of transferring the ownership, leasing, operation and/or management of any Texas public facility;

and further be it
Resolved, that this measure be applied immediately to prevent any such contracts under consideration from being executed and to cancel any such existing contracts.

Adopted this ____day of _______, 20_ ____ , at the Precinct Convention of Precinct

#_______,_ ______________ County of

the__________________Party of Texas.

____________________
Name of Officer

________________________________________
Signature

Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom (TURF) Primary Election Good Guy / Bad Guy Report Card

2008-02-19T09:53:00.003-06:00

By Terri Hall - TURF - Feb. 18, 2008
Early Voting February 19-29
Primary Election Day: March 4

We based our Good Guy / Bad Guy List upon who voted FOR and AGAINST the Governor’s counterfeit private toll moratorium bill, SB 792. It not only didn’t stop the Trans Texas Corridor (TTC-69 was taken out of the moratorium in SB 792), it unleashed “market valuation” where the government now looks at a toll road the way a private toll operator does, which is seeing how much money they can make off the road. All traditional turnpikes have now been replaced with a market-based model.

Market-based tolls determine the highest possible toll “the market can bear.” Market-based tolls do not determine the toll rate based on the actual cost of construction, maintenance, and debt retirement but rather on how much profit the government can make off a given roadway. This method of tolling allows the government to siphon money from motorists on one road segment to pay for other road segments.

This method of tolling is to maximize revenue and gouge motorists with unnecessarily high toll taxation. It’s also a way to cut loose the controversial privatization model and replace it with a public one that essentially does the same thing under a different name. Market-based tolls are a way for the Governor to create a cash cow to fund the segments of the Trans Texas Corridor that aren’t toll viable.

Find out where every candidate stands on the issues of toll roads and the Trans Texas Corridor before you vote. Press them on specifics, don't let them just tell you they're opposed. How are they going to stop the Trans Texas Corridor and how will they give the taxpayers veto power (like a public vote on ALL toll projects) and rein-in the mess at TxDOT? The time for tough talk and no action is over!

Exceptional Good Guys

Rep. Garnet Coleman, Dist 147 (Houston) (has primary opponent)
Rep. David Leibowitz, Dist 117 (San Antonio) (has General Election opponent in the fall)
Rep. Nathan Macias, Dist 73 (Hill Country north of San Antonio) (has both primary and general election opponents)
Rep. Ken Paxton, Dist 70 (North TX, Collin County) (no opponent)

Good Guys - Good Guys with both primary and general election opponents
Jessica Farrar, Dist 148 (Harris County)

Good Guys with General Election opponents –
Good Guys with General Election opponents –
Lon Burnam, Dist 90 (Tarrant County)
Ana Hernandez , Dist 143 (Harris County)
Joe Farias, Dist 118 (San Antonio)
Stephen Frost, Dist 1 (Northeast TX)
Sid Miller, Dist 59 (Stephenville area)
Senfronia Thompson, Dist 141 (Harris County)

Good Guys Running unopposed –
Joaquin Castro, Dist 125 (San Antonio)
Jodie Laubenberg, Dist 89 (North TX, Collin County)
Trey Martinez Fischer, Dist (San Antonio)
Ruth McClendon, Dist (San Antonio)
Joe Straus, Dist (San Antonio)
Marc Veasey, Dist 95 (Tarrant County)
Mike Villarreal, Dist (San Antonio)

Mixed Bag
Rep. Joe Pickett (voted for SB 792, but fights for accountability at TxDOT, insists toll roads more expensive than free roads, outspoken critic of TxDOT) (no opponent)

Rep. Lois Kolkhorst (voted for SB 792, but pushed the people’s moratorium bill, HB 1892, against TTC but says she’s not against toll roads) (no opponent)

Sen. Glen Hegar (voted for SB 792, but fights for accountability at TxDOT and sits on the Sunset Advisory Committee) (not up for re-election)

Sen. Robert Nichols (voted for SB 792, but authored and pushed the people’s moratorium bill, HB 1892; opposes tolls on existing roads, but for some toll roads) (not up for re-election)

Sen. Dan Patrick (he voted for SB 792 and is generally for toll roads, but he called for Dewhurst to investigate TxDOT’s misuse of taxpayer money for an ad campaign and illegal lobbying with a study committee that will report back to the Senate) (not up for re-election)

Bad Guys
- Every Senator voted for market-based tolls and the Governor’s counterfeit moratorium bill, SB 792
- Every State Rep voted for market-based tolls and the Governor’s counterfeit moratorium bill, SB 792, except for 19. Those still holding or running for office are listed above.

ENDORSEMENT

2008-02-19T01:40:00.004-06:00

ENDORSEMENT OF VALINDA HATHCOX
FOR U.S. CONGRESS, DISTRICT 4
by María Luisa Alvarado
February 16, 2008

The people of Texas and America will gain exceptional representation in Washington D.C. from VaLinda Hathcox as the next United States Representative for District 4 of Texas. Let me explain. I believe my campaign experience in 2006 afforded me an opportunity to get to know the heart of other candidates on the campaign trail. As candidate for Texas Land Commissioner, VaLinda Hathcox was an inspiration to me in that the truth to her was not to be compromised for popularity. The people and the land of Texas are vast in diversity but for the most part they are solid and true. That is the character of VaLinda Hathcox, and is the desperate need in Congress.

However, it is not enough to rely solely on the character that our elected officials take to our Nation’s Capitol. VaLinda Hathcox takes to Washington D.C. a proven record of public service as an attorney in the defense and protection of health services for the poor, as well as administration of legal judgments and education on tax matters. There is much work ahead to restore this nation that her hands‐on experience on solving issues will be an advantage for us all.

This election year, the people of Texas and Americans across the country will judge for themselves what change and how much change our country can sustain after 8 years of poor performance from our Federal government. It is not enough to believe that a new President in the White House will begin to solve ourproblems. As proof, let us just look back to the presidential campaign promises of 2000 “a uniter, not a divider”, and of 2004 “safer world, and more hopeful America.” One President alone cannot restore a nation. We live in a representative democracy and so who we send to Congress is just as, if not more, important. The character and the type of experience of those we elect to Congress must be that which will further the causes of the American people. I believe VaLinda Hathcox to be a strong and unyielding voice that will speak for those of us in Texas, and America.

For Democrats, Independents, and Republicans, VaLinda Hathcox is one change in Washington D.C. that will increase our opportunity for representation that has been long overdue. Please join me in supporting VaLinda Hathcox by casting your vote for her on March 4th, and visiting her campaign website at http://www.VaLindahathcox.com to contribute further.

Texas Railroad Commission approved millions of questionable expenditures for Atmos Energy - Costs passed through to consumers

2008-02-18T09:26:00.001-06:00

By R.A. DYER - Fort Worth Star-Telegram Staff Writer - Mon, Feb. 18, 2008

AUSTIN -- Even as Atmos Energy was removing luxurious hotel stays and limousine rides from a natural gas rate case last year, its attorneys and consultants litigating the issue were running up more bills at fancy hotels and spending more than $100 for restaurant meals, according to documents obtained by the Star-Telegram.

North Texas customers of the gas utility will have to foot the bills -- plus about $1.7 million more in questionable expenditures -- because the three members of the Texas Railroad Commission gave them their approval last week.
Among the questionable charges are more than $16,400 in bills at expensive hotels, more than $3,000 for meals at pricey restaurants, and mileage reimbursements by at least one Atmos official that is almost double the federal standard.

"As it now stands ... the parties have not established the reasonableness of certain expenses included in the reimbursement requests," an agency hearings examiner says in a Feb. 5 report.

All the charges were accrued by attorneys and regulatory experts involved in a 2007 Atmos rate case. Most of the controversial costs were charged by the North Texas utility, although one of the cities opposing Atmos also failed to sufficiently document some expensive consultant charges, according to the report.

In the 2007 case, Atmos tried to charge its ratepayers for the cost of hotel stays of over $900 per night, expensive cases of wine, extravagant meals and limousine service. The utility removed those expenditures after they were reported by the Star-Telegram.

The cost of litigation

By state law, expenses associated with litigating rate cases -- whether those expenses are incurred by utility attorneys, or by attorneys representing ratepayer interests -- typically get passed onto customer bills. The controversial charges cited in the expert's report were included in a compromise settlement on legal costs from last year's case, and which was approved Tuesday by the three members of the Railroad Commission.

But commission Chairman Michael Williams stressed that the agency expert did not find that any of the legal bills were definitively out of bounds -- only that some could bear more scrutiny.
Williams also noted that the agency's expert recommended approval of the legal expenditures because further scrutiny would only drive up costs more.

"What the hearing examiner has to say is that, on first blush, these items could raise concern -- however, he's also recommending approval," Williams said. "This [settlement] is in the best interest of cities. There is an argument that we could have thrown it out, and forced them to [have a trial to prove their expenses] -- but that would not have served the ratepayers."

What are some of expenditures raising concern? According to the findings from the hearings examiner:

Atmos attorneys and consultants submitted $16,410.94 in hotel charges that could be considered excessive. Although the examiner's report did not break down the calculation, it said charges above $172.50 per night -- that is, $150 plus tax -- could be considered a luxury. "Other parties had no trouble staying at motels that were under $150 per night on most occasions," the examiner wrote, adding, "The State of Texas limits its motel travel expense to a maximum reimbursed rate of $85 per night, plus tax."

The Feb. 5 report identified $3,143.75 in questionable Atmos meal expenses. A "review of the invoices of Atmos Mid-Texas for meals from consultants' shows 88 occurrences of meals in excess of $100," the hearings examiner said.

The hearings examiner cited $3,888 in questionable mileage expenses by Atmos and noted that one of the utility's consultants billed for mileage reimbursement of 85 cents per mile. "There is nothing in the record to support the reasonableness of this amount," the examiner said, adding that the Internal Revenue Service considers 44.5 cents per mile a reasonable allowance for reimbursement.

More than $365,000 in charges associated with a technical billing issue raised may have been unwarranted because an expert witness for the utility was found to be unfamiliar with the company's billing practices.

Atmos attorneys have said the company can defend each expenditure. In a statement, the utility noted that all parties in the rate case agreed to the legal costs.

"This cooperative and collaborative approach to negotiation and compromise has allowed the parties in this proceeding to avoid a protracted legal battle that would have increased costs and expenses exponentially," the company said

.

The hearings examiner also identified $186,750 in consultant charges from Dallas that lacked sufficient backup documentation. Norman Gordon, an attorney representing Dallas in the rate case, said the municipality could have easily provided the documentation had it become necessary.

$9.7 million in legal bills

In total, attorneys for Atmos and various city groups and others opposing the company ran up about $9.7 million in legal bills in the rate case. Of those overall legal costs, Atmos attorneys and legal consultants will bill ratepayers for about $6.6 million, and various city groups and others opposing Atmos will bill for $3.1 million.

Atmos has sought to increase rates in that case by about $56.9 million annually. City attorneys had sought to lower rates by about $37 million. The Texas Railroad Commission ultimately awarded a $4.8 million increase and a one-time refund of $2.2 million to customers.
Read more in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram

William McKenzie: For Texas Dems, only name remains same

2008-02-16T10:36:00.001-06:00

By William McKenzie - Dallas Morning News Columnist - Tuesday, February 12, 2008

There's a Clinton on the ballot again, but that's about all that's similar to 1992, the last time Texas Democrats had a bona-fide presidential primary.

Texas grew so Republican in the intervening years that it's almost impossible to remember that 16 years ago, we had a Democrat as governor in Ann Richards, a Democrat as senator in Lloyd Bentsen, a Democrat as lieutenant governor in Bob Bullock, a Democrat as Texas House speaker in Gib Lewis, and a bevy of white male Democrats playing key roles in the Legislature like Pete Laney, David Cain and Rob Junell.

As it happened, the party was on its last legs; two years later, Republicans would start sweeping statewide races. But Democrats still dominated state politics when the 1992 presidential primary was in full swing.

One reason was because they had plenty of those white male Democrats, or WMDs. They made up a majority of the Texas congressional delegation. And most WMD voters were to the right of the national party and products of corporate offices or the farms of East and West Texas.

Coming from nearby Arkansas, Bill Clinton won their votes. But the WMDs made it possible for a conservative Democrat like Massachusetts Sen. Paul Tsongas to have a voice in the 1992 primary. He was Mr. Clinton's top opponent when the race hit Texas in March 1992. And thanks to Mr. Tsongas, a deficit hawk among deficit hawks, the Democratic contest focused on controlling spending as much as rolling out new investments.

Mr. Clinton loved to yammer about investing in roads and bridges and middle-class tax cuts, all parts of his bridge to tomorrow. Mr. Tsongas would counter with piles of statistics showing how we were eating our children's future by failing to control entitlement spending.

Heck, in his book, A Call to Economic Arms, which I still have in my bookcase at work, he wrote that he wanted Congress to spend 1 percent less than the annual cost of living adjustment that programs like Social Security receive. It's not everyday that you hear any politician, much less a government-friendly Democrat, advocate for reducing entitlement spending.

You sure won't hear that this year, sad to say. There's little upside for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama to talk about fiscal responsibility. There are too few conservative Democrats to win over. The ones who used to elect Tory Democrats like Mr. Bentsen or Charlie Stenholm have moved out of the party.

What has come in their place is a growing Latino influence on the Democrats. Hispanics are on course to become Texas' dominant population segment by 2020 or 2030. Whites will slip to No. 2, while blacks will be third.

This shift is having quite an effect on Texas' politics and culture. One way you see it is in the changing way race is discussed these days.

The historic black/white discussion continues, but when it comes to demographic issues like where new schools should go, the debate is as likely to be between Latinos and African-Americans.

It will be interesting to see how well Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama manage this tension. She's banking her Texas strategy on turning out Latino voters; he naturally has support among African-Americans.

Who will scramble the equation and win large numbers of both minority groups? The answer will help us understand who can best build coalitions.

This year's primary will play out in our cities, more than old Democratic strongholds like East Texas. The Democratic resurgence today is found in places like Dallas and Houston, once GOP bastions. And it matches up with large Democratic populations in El Paso and San Antonio.

That will make it easy for the candidates to skip between cities. And they can reach many of their voters through the state's big media markets.

Here's one final difference from 1992: The feeling then was of an inevitable Republican rise. Today, you get the sense that Texas Democrats are only a few years from returning as a powerhouse. Texas Monthly even declared that state Rep. Rafael Anchia, a Dallas Democrat, would become the state's first Hispanic governor – in 2018.

So, the campaign Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama wage in the coming weeks may presage future Democratic campaigns in our state. Instead of leading to an end of an era, this primary could give us a taste of the beginning of a new one.

Read more in the Dallas Morning News

Kaufman County sheriff candidate indicted on oppression charges - Kaufman County sheriff hopeful indicted on 3 allegations as police chief

2008-02-14T09:47:00.003-06:00

By RICHARD ABSHIRE - The Dallas Morning News - Tuesday, February 12, 2008
rabshire@dallasnews.com

A candidate for sheriff in Kaufman County has been indicted on three charges of official oppression while serving as chief of police in Pelican Bay.

One indictment charges Eddie Frankum with unlawful "mistreatment, arrest or detention." The other two allege sexual harassment. Each charge is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by one year in jail and/or a $4,000 fine.

Mr. Frankum called it "dirty tricks" in January when a warrant was issued for his arrest in a separate case based on allegations that he had stolen police equipment from his former department.

Mr. Frankum, who was expected to turn himself in on Monday, did not return calls for comment.

David Montague, spokesman for the Tarrant County district attorney's office, confirmed Monday that a grand jury on Feb. 7 indicted Mr. Frankum on three counts involving two complainants, whom Mr. Montague declined to identify.

Mr. Montague said he did not know when the original complaints that led to the indictments were made or whether they originated with an agency other than the district attorney's office.

All the incidents allegedly happened between February and August 2006 while Mr. Frankum was employed by the Police Department in Pelican Bay, a town of about 1,600 northwest of Fort Worth in Tarrant County.

"The investigation was done by the district attorney's office," said Gilbert Towns Jr., who succeeded Mr. Frankum as chief of the Pelican Bay Police Department.

Chief Towns said the investigation was already under way before he took over as chief in July 2007.

Mr. Frankum is challenging incumbent Sheriff David Byrnes in the March 4 Kaufman County Republican primary
Read more in the Dallas Morning News

ISSUES IN THE TEXAS SUPREME COURT RACE

2008-02-13T11:15:00.005-06:00

By Faith Chatham - Feb. 13, 2008
Judge Susan Criss's dad, Lloyd Criss, is proud of his daughter's performance on the bench. He sent me these statistics:

Texas Supreme Court - 100% Republican - 9 Jurists - delivered 144 Opinions

13th Court of Appeals - Predominately Democrat - 9 Jurists - 864 Opinions
Very large backlog. Justice Yanez wrote on 72 (highest performing of cases) and admits to largest backlog on the Court.)

212th District Court - 100% Democrat - 1 Judge (Susan Criss) - 1400 Cases

Lloyd Criss is proud that his daughter does not require "injured Texans to wait years for justice in her court."

Williams' Acceptance Of Super Bowl Tickets Highlights Need For Contribution Reform For RRC

2008-02-13T08:11:00.001-06:00

By Vince Leibowitz - Dale Henry Campaign - Feb. 13, 2008

AUSTIN--Following revelations by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that Railroad Commissioner Michael L. Williams accepted free Super Bowl tickets from a lobbyist for CenterPoint Energy in 2004, the Dale Henry Campaign released the following statement:
"This episode highlights the need for real campaign finance reform for the Texas Railroad Commission," said Dale Henry (D-Lampasas).

"The Texas Railroad Commissioners should not have such a cozy relationship with the industries they regulate. It just promotes the continued rubber-stamp culture of the Commission. Of course, given the culture of the Texas Railroad Commission, I suppose it should come as no surprise to us that a sitting Railroad Commissioner would take Super Bowl tickets from a CenterPoint Energy Lobbyist and then turn around and vote on cost-of-service rate increases that are passed on directly to consumers," said Vince Leibowitz, Campaign Director.

"This is exactly why I've proposed my "Texans First Campaign Finance Reform" package," said Henry. "The members of the Texas Railroad Commission should not take money from--and should not be beholden to--the industries they regulate. This is why I plan to, as Railroad Commissioner, ask the Texas Legislature to pass a campaign finance bill that will prohibit the practice of Railroad Commissioners accepting money from the industries they regulate," Henry said.

Dale Henry, a petroleum engineer with more than four decades of experience in the oil and gas service industry, is the most experienced candidate in the race for Texas Railroad Commission. Henry is endorsed by State Rep. Garnet Coleman (D-Houston), the Stonewall Democrats of San Antonio, The Harris County Democrats, the Houston GLBT Political Caucus, The Austin GLBT Political Caucus, Stonewall Democrats of Austin, longtime progressive leader David Van Os and other individuals listed on his campaign website.

Henry faces Art Hall of San Antonio and Mark Thompson of Hamilton in the March 4 Democratic Primary. The winner of the March 4 Democratic Primary will face Commissioner Michael L. Williams in the general election.

Water preservation key issue for Railroad Commission candidate

2008-02-12T12:09:00.000-06:00

By Sandra Cason - The Marshall News Messenger - Friday, February 08, 2008

It's all about water, said Dale Henry, Democratic candidate for Texas Railroad Commission.

"My campaign is important for one reason," Henry said, "and that is because the state of Texas is running out of water. It is an abused natural resource and the Railroad Commission has done nothing about it for the past 106 years."

If he is elected in this, his third bid for the seat, Henry said he will be the first commissioner with hands-on experience in oil and gas exploration, the industry for which the commission provides oversight.

Henry faces Art Hall and Mark Thompson in the March 4 Democratic Primary. If he is the party nominee, Henry will face Republican incumbent Michael Williams in the November general election.

A resident of Lampasas, 50 miles west of Austin, and a graduate of University of Texas, Henry is a retired employee of Schlumber J company, having worked in the oil fields of Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf.

"I spent a number of years in research and development and I hold several fracturing patents," Henry said.

"I've been out there and seen it all," he added.

While many people may not stop to think about it that way, Henry pointed out that oil and gas drilling operations have a tremendous impact on ground water.

"Oil and gas activity inherently produces a lot of water," Henry said. "Water is what is used to bring it to the surface, but on its way, the water accumulates contaminated materials."

A common disposal method for the liquid is "to put it back in the ground."

Henry said he learned of a DeBerry preacher whose church hasn't had water in a number of years. "One well was drilled too close to his church and all the wells in the area are contaminated with salt water. You can drill a hundred good ones, but it takes just one bad well to create a whole bunch of problems," Henry said.

Good drilling practices are particularly important at this point in time because so many production companies are now using a horizontal approach.

"There's an area called the Barnett Shale," Henry said. "It is a very thick layer of stone and breaking through it has never made the effort worthwhile until horizontal drilling. That's the key."

In this method, the pipeline goes down for a distance, "turns a corner," and goes under the stone, Henry explained.

This type of drilling uses "millions of gallons of water per day. Sometimes it will be as much as 275,000 gallons," Henry added.

With such large quantities to be disposed of, Henry said it is more important than ever that the Railroad Commission check all drilling permit applications thoroughly, a practice he claims is not currently followed.

"This rubber-stamping has to stop," he said.

Use of environmentally safe drilling practices are especially important to this area because of Caddo Lake, Henry said.

"I've done hands-on work for the Railroad Commission in Caddo — the plugging of abandoned wells. Ninety percent of those I plugged had not be plugged by Railroad Commission rules and regulations the first time around.

"I will make protecting our water a priority for the Texas Railroad Commission," Henry said in a promotional brochure.

"In dry West Texas, the ranchers have to work hard at salvaging water to grow grass with which to feed cattle and produce beef. At the ranch my wife and I have operated for years, we cut the number of production acres needed per cow and calf from 25 acres to 2.5 acres by getting our water to the right place.

"Water's my passion. I know how to do it," Henry said.

"I'm not a politician and I shouldn't have to be involved in this, but the oil and gas companies are polluting our water, soil, and air, and the Railroad Commission simply turns its back and lets it happen.

"Instead of regulating these industries, the three commissioners are raking in campaign contributions from their executives and political action committees and are burying their heads in the sand.

"It's time for change," Henry said. "I need to bring the knowledge I have back to the people, if they'd like me to share it.

"I can do the job. I want the job.

"The petroleum industry is a great benefit to our state's economy, but that should not come at the expense of our environment or our fresh water supply," he said.

Read more in the Marshall News Messenger

Tx RR Commission Candidate - Dale Henry: Protecting state's water a priority

2008-02-12T11:26:00.000-06:00

By RANDY ROSS - Longview News-Journal - Friday, February 08, 2008

Protecting the waters of Texas is a priority for Dale Henry.

The 76-year-old Democratic candidate for the Texas Railroad Commission said the production of oil and gas in Texas does not matter if the industry destroys Texas' natural water sources.

"We have to stop wasting and contaminating our water," Henry said.

Henry faces Art Hall of San Antonio and Mark Thompson of Hamilton in the Democratic primary election on March 4.

Henry has more than 40 years of experience working in the oil and natural gas fields in the United States and abroad, according to his campaign Web site. He has a bachelor of science degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.

"I've been hands-on from the top to the bottom," Henry said. "I more or less speak the language of the oilfield."

The Railroad Commission is the state agency that regulates the oil and gas industry, gas utilities, pipeline safety, safety in the liquefied petroleum gas industry and the surface mining of coal. Established by the Legislature in 1891, the commission is the state's oldest regulatory agency, according to the agency's Web site.

The self-described environmentalist from Lampasas is a former city manager and county commissioner. He also founded 4 Arrows, the first cementing service company contracted by the railroad commission.

Henry said his experience in the oil and gas industry make him an ideal candidate for the commission. He said he knows the commission's rules and regulations from working as a contractor, and he would be able to begin working on his first day.

The oil and gas industry has a strong economic impact on the state, he said. That impact has come at a cost to the public, he said.

Henry said the commission has for many years considered the economics of the industry more important than public safety. He said that philosophy has changed in recent years, but it needs to continue to change. He said the commission must consider what is in the public's best interest.

"Environmentally, we have a problem," Henry said.

He said companies often cut corners when installing casing in wells to save money. As time erodes sealing and concrete shifts, water begins flowing and drawing out contaminants.

By forcing companies to install casing properly, Henry said companies would save more money in the long-term by avoiding remedial and repair work.

"These are serious matters," Henry said.

Attempts to reach Republican incumbent Michael Williams for comment were unsuccessful Thursday.

Read more in the Longview News-Journal

US HOUSE TX 4 and TX 3: Republican incumbents top fundraising in Collin-area congressional races

2008-02-10T08:24:00.000-06:00

From Staff Reports - The Dallas Morning News - Sunday, February 3, 2008

The Republican incumbents in two Collin County-area congressional races have amassed far more money than any of their challengers, according to a recent round of campaign finance reports filed by the candidates with the Federal Election Commission.

Among the reports' highlights:

•In District 4, U.S. Rep. Ralph Hall of Rockwall has received about 45 percent of his receipts from political action committees, which strongly tend to support incumbents.

•Among Mr. Hall's GOP challengers, Gene Christensen of Celina has raised and spent the most. But much of that money has come in the form of loans to himself. Most of the money given to Kathy Seei of Frisco came from contributions.

•In District 3, contributions to U.S. Rep. Sam Johnson have dwarfed the amount collected by the lone reporting candidate in the Democratic primary, Tom Daley of McKinney. Beyond that, Mr. Johnson has nearly $800,000 cash on hand and no debt.

Mr. Johnson's district includes parts of northern Dallas and southern Collin counties, while Mr. Hall's district includes a large swath that stretches east from Collin County to Texarkana.

CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS

The following net amounts were collected by congressional candidates through 2007, according to reports that were filed Thursday:

DISTRICT 3

Republicans

Wayne Avellanet, Plano: $0*
Sam Johnson (i), Plano: $564,968

Democrats

Tom Daley, McKinney: $1,400
Ron Minkow, Plano: $0*

DISTRICT 4

Republicans

Gene Christensen, Celina: $289,815
Kevin George, Celina: $11,965

Ralph Hall (i), Rockwall: $547,195

Joshua Kowert, Sherman: $3,239

Kathy Seei, Frisco: $54,490

Democrats

VaLinda Hathcox, Sulphur Springs: $0*
Glenn Melancon, Sherman: $21,252

*According to the FEC. Candidates receiving less than $5,000 are not required to file reports.

Electoral Votes 2008 by Date of Primaries and Caucuses

2008-01-26T20:15:00.000-06:00

Electoral Congress - from General Election

U.S. Electoral College 2008 - List Of States And Votes
Total: 538; Majority Needed to Elect: 270

Electoral Votes
7 - January 3 Iowa D&R Caucuses

3 - January 5 - Wyoming R County Convention; March 8 Wyoming D Caucuses

4 - January 8 - New Hampshire D&R Primary

17 - January 15 - Michigan D&R Primary

5 - January 19 - Nevada D&R Caucuses

8 - January 19 - South Carolina R Primary; January 26 - South Carolina D Primary

4 - January 25 - Hawaii R Caucuses (1/25-2/7; February 19 Hawaii D Caucuses

27 - January 29 - Florida D&R Primary

4 - February 1 Maine R Caucuses (2/1-2/3); February 10 Maine D Caucuses

9 - February 5 Alabama D&R Primary

3 - February 5 Alaska D&R Caucuses

10 - February 5 Arizona D&R Primary

6 - February 5 Arkansas D&R Primary

55 - February 5 California D&R Primary

9 - February 5 Colorado D&R Caucuses

7 - February 5 Connecticut D&R Primary

3 - February 5 Delaware D&R Primary

15 - February 5 Georgia D&R Primary

4 - February 5 Idaho D Caucuses; May 27 Idaho D&R D-Non-binding primary; R-Primary

21 - February 5 Illinois D&R Primary

6 - February 5 Kansas D Caucuses; February 9 Kansas R Caucses

12 - February 5 Massachusetts D&R Primary

10 - February 5 Minnesota D&R Caucuses

11 - February 5 Missouri D&R Primary

3 - February 5 Montana R Caucuses; June 3 Montana D Primary

15 - February 5 New Jersey D&R Primary

5 - February 5 New Mexico D Primary; June 3 New Mexico R Primary

31 - February 5 New York D&R Primary

3 - February 5 North Dakota D&R Caucuses;

7 - February 5 Oklahoma D&R Primary

11 - February 5 Tennessee D&R Primary

5 - February 5 Utah D&R Primary

5 - February 5 West Virginia R State convention; May 13 West Virginia D Primary

9 - February 9 Louisiana D&R D-Primary; R-Caucuses

5 - February 9 Nebraska D Caucuses; May 13 Nebraska R Advisory-only primary; June 28 Nebraska R State Convention

11 - February 9 Washington D&R Caucuses

3 - February 12 District of Columbia D&R D-Caucuses; R-Primary

10 - February 12 Maryland D&R Primary

13 - February 12 Virginia D&R Primary

10 - February 19 Wisconsin D&R Primary

4 - March 4 Rhode Island D&R Primary

20 - March 4 Ohio D&R Primary

34 - March 4 Texas D&R Primary

3 - March 4 Vermont D&R Primary

6 - March 11 Mississippi D&R Primary

21 - April 22 Pennsylvania D&R Primary

11 - May 6 Indiana D&R Primary

15 - May 6 North Carolina D&R Primary

8 - May 20 Kentucky D&R Primary

7 - May 20 Oregon D&R Primary

3 - June 3 South Dakota D&R Primary

Source: United States National Archives & Records Administration
http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/ele ...

Source: All data gathered by NCSL from state election officials, state parties, selected press coverage, and http://www.thegreenpapers.com/.

Democratic U.S. Congress Candidates in Texas 2008 Primary

2008-01-26T16:22:00.000-06:00

By Faith Chatham - DFWRCC - Jan. 28, 2008
Source: Texas Democratic Party Website
U.S. Congress
All U.S. Representatives serve two year terms and all 32 Congressional seats in Texas are up in 2008. The following candidates have qualified for a place on the March 4th Democratic Primary ballot (current Democratic Congressmen are listed in bold):

District 3 - Tom Daley ( (campaign website)) and Ron Minkow

District 4 - VaLinda Hathcox (campaign website) vand Glenn Melancon (campaign website)

District 6 - Steve Bush (campaign website) and Ludwig Otto (campaign website)

District 7 - Michael Skelly

District 8 - Kent Hargett

District 9 - Al Green (congressional website)

District 10 - Larry Joe Doherty (campaign website) and Dan Grant (campaign website)

District 12 - Tracey Smith

District 13 - Roger James Waun (campaign website)

District 15 - Rubén Hinojosa (campaign website)

District 16 - Silvestre Reyes (campaign website)

District 17 - Chet Edwards (campaign website)

District 18 - Sheila Jackson Lee (campaign website)

District 19 - Dwight Fullingim (campaign website) and Rufus Mark

District 20 - Charlie Gonzalez (campaign website)

District 22 - Nick Lampson (campaign website)

District 23 - Ciro D. Rodriguez (campaign website)

District 24 - Tom Love (campaign website)

District 25 - Lloyd Doggett (campaign website)

District 26 - Ken Leach (campaign website)

District 27 - Solomon P. Ortiz (campaign website)

District 28 - Henry Cuellar (campaign website)

District 29 - Gene Green (congressional website)

District 30 - Eddie Bernice Johnson (campaign website)

District 31 - Brian Ruiz (campaign website)

District 32 - Steve Love (campaign website) and Eric Roberson (campaign website)