Doing My Part To Fight The Good Fight

July 23rd, 2008 by Jake Hatlin | Posted in The Machine | 1 Comment »

My main man, Phillip Martin, has embarked upon an interesting crusade to end the horrid stereotypes that gives us bloggers a bad name, something that even I can get behind.  Mr. Martin lists the specific stereotypes that he feels holds us under a glass ceiling, and while I agree, I think he came up short on saying what is truly on our minds and which stereotypes most make us feel like second class citizens.

So, always the one to be there for my brethren, I am offering some insightful additions to the list of stereotypes that Mr. Martin produced.  In no particular order here are the other damning perceptions of your modern blogger….

• He’s a geek
• He hasn’t had a girlfriend in years
• The last girl he talked to on the telephone required a credit card number
• During high school he cut holes in his underwear so that they would tear easier
• Only the co-ed community service fraternity gave him a bid
• Upon graduation he realized that his chosen degree qualified him for practically nothing
• He now has an inflated sense of self purpose
• He really thinks he is making a difference
• He proudly refers to his blog as “journalistic work”
• He finds that his parents’ basement suits his living needs just fine
• He won’t go to a bar unless it has free wifi
• He drinks daiquiris and wine coolers
• He is on a first name basis with all the employees at his local, non-corporate coffee shop
• He dresses…well, refer back to number 1
• He desperately needs a tan
• For some reason he still thinks that facial hair is cool
• His idea of a target rich environment is a bloggers’ convention
• One day, he’ll take great pride in showing his son how to blog
• He refers to the “Glory Days” as when his parents finally got the internet
• He prefers his small paycheck because it would be wrong to make more than others

I’m with you, Phillip.  Guys like you and I can not stand for this brand of oppression anymore.  You organize the march and I’ll be there at your side, singing We Shall Overcome!

Actually, now that I think about it, many of these stereotypes do apply to me.  In that case, if other bloggers out there feel the same then perhaps we would be better served to get the Lege to pass a law making us a protected class of citizens, don’t you think?
 

Fixing Our Broken System Of Financial Aid

July 23rd, 2008 by Jake Hatlin | Posted in The Machine | 3 Comments »

I usually don’t find myself engrossed in the Houston Chronicle.  I mean no ill will toward the metropolitan paper, it’s just never really turned me on before.  However, when I came across this article on proposed new rules that could make college financial aid based more on merit and less on financial portfolio, I couldn’t put it down.

Here’s a little upfront information about me.  I have not, do not, and will never buy into this theory that we should punish people for being “rich”.  Sorry, Senator Obama, I read your book and all, but I’m still not on board. 

Basically I find punishing the “rich” through either proportionately higher taxes or by excluding them from opportunities to be both a disincentive for one to want to better themselves and also to be firmly against our nation’s bedrock principle that if you succeed where others couldn’t, then you have rightfully earned the fruits of your labor.

I have always viewed our state’s system of distributing financial aid as a gross injustice.  No where in my perfect world should financial aid (loans or grants) be granted based on who “needs” it instead of who deserves it.  In a nutshell, here’s why…everyone needs it.

Frankly I find it very presumptuous for the state to assume that just because parents can afford to pay for their child’s college education that they will.  I know of many accomplished students from my college days whose well to do parents opted not to cover their total education expenses.  At the same time, these same students had trouble obtaining their desired level of state financial aid because of their family’s income status.  So as you can see, they needed it, too.

But probably easier to relate to is the fact that the income thresholds we have worked with in the past have been extremely unfair to middle class working families.  Teachers, nurses, police officers, firefighters, they all work hard to put food on the table, they all do not have the capabilities to pay for their children’s higher ed needs, and yet for some unexplainable reason, the state considers them all to be in such position.

And the children of these middle income families who perform so well in high school, who meet every academic standard, who prove to be a worthy investment, are left with nothing but empty pockets and an unfair system that says, sorry, merit doesn’t matter here.

I, personally, find it hard to swallow every time we look a top 5 percent student in the eye and tell them that they can’t qualify for college grants because their police officer dad and their teacher mother make too much money.  That student then gets saddled with loans that they didn’t deserve.  And furthermore, we teach them to start to question exactly what are they working so hard for. 

Merit should matter more.  In fact, I think merit should be the only thing that matters.  According to the HC, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board is starting to think so as well, and I applaud them for considering new rules that will put less emphasis on a student’s income background and more emphasis on their net-worth to the classroom.

Chris Bell - Texas Senate Or Bust

July 22nd, 2008 by Jake Hatlin | Posted in The Machine | No Comments »

So Chris Bell has made it official, he’s in.  It’s now the Texas Senate or bust.  And I say that literally, because after a failed re-election campaign to the US Congress and a failed run for Governor, if Mr. “I Lost to Mr. 39 Percent” (sorry, I had to do it once) loses this one then it’s practically over for him.

I won’t be supporting him, but I do admire Mr. Bell’s courage to push all of his last remaining chips into the pot on, at best, a 50-50 shot.  If he wins, Mr. Bell keeps his name at the top of the possible statewide candidates list.  If he loses, likely no one will even recruit him to run for dog catcher.

I also agree with Mr. Bell in that this is not a step down.  A seat in the Texas Senate is a very important post to serve from.  If he were to win and hang around, he would find himself with far more constituents than if he remained a Congressman.  And if changing Texas policy is what he truly wants, then this would be a better position to do it from.  Senators write the laws, all the Governor does is sign on the dotted line.

Mr. Bell’s participation gives this SD 17 special election instant rock star status.  First, he has name ID where his collection of Republican opponents don’t.  Heck, even I can only name one of them off of the top of my head.  Second, he’s a lone democrat candidate meaning his best case scenario is an outright win and his worst case scenario is a heads up run-off in what would likely be a very low turnout December Election Day.

The Republican Party now needs to really get geared up for this race, as the democrats have put themselves in the best possible position to win.  It will still be an uphill battle in a district that had Mr. Bell 7.5 points behind Governor Perry in ‘06, but my guess is that the money and the troops are going to pour in for the democrat candidate.

This begs the question, are we as Republicans prepared to man the wall and defend what has been ours?  I think so, but frankly, I am not 100 percent sure. 

Either way, we’ll find out soon enough.

The Honor Roll - Show Me The Money Part III

July 21st, 2008 by Jake Hatlin | Posted in Election Commentary | No Comments »

The fun we’ve had looking at those who raised their opponents to death, those incumbents who have dropped the ball, and those races that one way or another were made to sound like more than they really were.  Anyone who knows me knows that I do thinks in threes, and with this being the last installment in this series there is no better way to conclude it than with the Honor Roll.  So first we’ll take a glance at the races where both sides are holding on to the fundraising ball, and then briefly recap those who can effectively call themselves Fundraising Giants.

Juan Garcia v Todd Hunter

Strait up, these guys turned in some power numbers, combining for over 700K in contributions for the period.  I think it is easy to say that this is shaping up to be the most expensive race of the season. The challenger, Todd Hunter, did well for himself with 300K raised, but if I were to spot one fault in the armor it would be the cash out.  Frankly, without going into detail Mr. Hunter spent a little bit more money for the period than I am comfortable with.

This race will be fun to watch, with both sides already lobbing bombs.  The district is “Republican”, but it is riding that 57-58 percent threshold that most pollsters are saying equates no longer a stronghold for the GOP.  Mr. Garcia has won in the Devil’s backyard before, but lets be real, Todd Hunter is not carrying near the baggage that Gene Seamen was.

Joe Heflin v Isaac Castro

Ok, combined 99K raised versus 700K raised is not nearly as sexy, but we are talking about West Texas here.  Both candidates put up near identical contributions raised for the period, and despite the power of incumbency, Joe Heflin is only a mere 24K ahead in cash on hand.  A number that the Republican machine will make up and then some if they smell blood in the water. 

This race is going to be interesting as well.  Everyone said that former Speaker Laney’s seat was destine to go R once he was done, but Heflin pulled off the upset of upsets to keep that from happening.  But, he did it with a lot of help from the former Speaker.  Question is, will Laney be as involved in this race this time around, or will he see if the 1 term member can stand on his own feet.

Tony Goolsby v Carol Kent

Chairman Goolsby has a lot of bullets in his gun, 403 thousand of them to be exact.  But his challenger, Carol Kent, is showing up front that she is not opposed to playing catchup, pulling in 165K of her own and ending the period with 122K in the bank.

Mr. Goolsby was suppose to lose last cycle, but he flat out out-worked his opponent on his way to a victory.  I don’t doubt the incumbent’s work ethic this time around, but the flap he is catching for coming down on those with ghost employee hiring history while having some of the same history of his own does create a threat.  My guess is that more democrat money is going to pour in and that the troops are going to hit the ground, meaning that Mr. Goolsby is going to have to hit it hard again.

Allen Vaught v Bill Keffer

Talk about neck and neck.  Mr. Vaught is showing 111K in the bank, and the challenger this time around, Bill Keffer, is showing slightly better footing at 117K.  But for all practical purposes, it’s a fundraising dead heat with both parties turning in impressive showings thus far.

It is no secret that had Bill Keffer worked this hard last time out that he would have held on to his seat and be working toward his 4th term in office.  So this time around Bill Keffer should be ok, right?  Not so fast.  He may have his head on strait this time, but now Mr. Vaught has the power of incumbency and a rising star status amongst his party that the democrats are going to throw the kitchen sink at to protect.  Vaught v Keffer round two is living up to the hype, and could be a less than 500 vote margin race.

Jim Murphy v Kristi Thibaut

Who had this race on their radar?  I will bet you that Jim Murphy didn’t, but likewise I will wager that he does now given that his opponent turned in 116K in total donations and just south of 100K in cash on hand.  Not to be outdone, though, Mr. Murphy pulled in 130K of his own and is showing 171K hanging around to play around with.

This is a rematch from 2006 when Murphy beat the challenging Thibaut by 14 points.  But don’t be so quick to write this one off.  Mr. Murphy finds his district surrounded by much of the opposition, usually meaning that you’re about to come under attack.  And Ms. Thibaut’s July report indicates that she’s in this race to be taken seriously.

Hubert Vo v Greg Meyers

Call this one the weak link on the Honor Roll, but to me it still has characteristics worth discussing.  Neither candidate raised an eye opening amount for the period, but in this case the challenger (Mr. Meyers) did out-raise the incumbent nearly 3 to 1.  To be fair to Mr. Vo, though, he is still holding on to the cash on hand advantage.

I suspect this race will be tighter than it was in ‘06, when Vo beat down the bumbling Mr. Heflin.  This race, too, is riding that threshold of it should be Republican but might not be in real life.  The real question at this point is how much is the slum lord status that Vo is holding on to going to hurt him come the fall.

Mark Homer v Kirby Hollingsworth

Talk about perplexing.  This is a solidly R district that suddenly becomes solidly D once voters get to the State Representative race.  Despite Republican statewides crushing their counterparts in ‘06, Mark Homer beat back Mr. Hollingsworth by 5,500 votes. 

But now they are back, and Mr. Hollingsworth is giving this rematch his all, raising 88K and keeping 86K of it around.  But despite his past success, Mr. Homer is in it to run hard also, posting fundraising numbers that has him very close to 200K cash on hand.  This one is probably a D victory, but who knows.  Stranger things have happened.

Individual Honor Roll

I would hate to punish someone by keeping them off the Honor Roll list just because their counterpart in the fall isn’t out there fundraising themselves, so in no particular order, here is my Individual Honor Roll.

1. John Zerwas - Freshman incumbent pulls in 92K in contributions without any major opposition in the fall.  Not bad for a newbie.
2. Patrick Rose - 285K raised for the period and over 800K cash on hand.  3rd term member might find himself in the million dollar club come next report.
3. Valinda Bolton - 120K raised?  I really didn’t think she had it in her.
4. Donna Howard - Ditto to her 161K raised.
5. Diana Maldonado - Her 139K raised has kept the democrat hopes alive in this usual strong Republican district.
6. Burt Solomons - Now up to 846K, which he will have to put in a Senate race once Senator Harris decides to turn in.
7. Ken Paxton - I was seriously surprised to see 440K cash on hand.  Not bad, Mr. Paxton.
8. Paula Pierson - 104K cash on hand is not bad for a freshman member of the minority party.
9. Chris Turner - His 240K raised brings 1 word to mind…damn.
10. Dan Branch - 603K in the bank is nice for a future higher run.  Lets hope he doesn’t have to spend too much of it this time around fighting off a no name opponent riding nothing but a prayer and a movement.
11. Joe Straus - Only two terms and already at 585K in the bank.  Quite impressive.
12. Ellen Cohen - Clearly she is distinguishing herself as the real fundraiser from this freshmen class.  Though there are those that would argue that she is a benefactor of the district she represents.
13. Joel Redmond - Hat tip to Reid for bringing this to my attention.  Had I been aware of this a week ago, Mr. Redmond’s fundraising number would have warranted me putting his Republican opponent on my wake up call list.

Hell Has Frozen Over

July 21st, 2008 by Jake Hatlin | Posted in Getting After The Left, OGR On Other Blogs | 7 Comments »

I’m not kidding.  The end of the world is upon us.  How do I know, you ask?  Simple, a liberal blogger has slammed the Austin American Statesman for being unfair to a democrat politician.

I don’t know if I should laugh or cry.  I’ll pass on both and instead say, Hey, BOR, welcome to our world.

Phillip Martin writes this post, in which he really comes down hard on the AAS because a writer covering their precious netroots liberal bloggers having nothing else better to do with their lives conference took a jab at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi by emphasizing that she is - brace yourself - a liberal.

How dare the AAS?  I mean, there’s taking the gloves off and then there’s pointing out that Speaker Pelosi bats from the left. 

Let me give Mr. Martin some advise…all these years and all the bias coverage, you’re going to have to come at me with more than this weak noise to convince me that the AAS has switched sides and now finds itself leaning toward the right.

How bad did the AAS get underneath Mr. Martin’s skin?  Check out this direct quote:

However, the article they ran as “reporting” in Sunday’s paper shouldn’t just offend me — it should offend all readers. It is, without a doubt, the single worst piece of “journalism” I’ve ever encountered in my hometown paper.

I really don’t mean Mr. Martin too much ill will, but the idea of a liberal blogger thinking that the AAS is unfairly sticking it to their party was way to funny to pass on.

So the media is no longer on the side of the left.  How ever will they win elections now? 

The Races That Weren’t Meant To Be - Show Me The Money Part II

July 18th, 2008 by Jake Hatlin | Posted in Election Commentary | No Comments »

I think that we are all familiar with the phrase, not living up to the hype.  Well, consider that the theme of this post, as I will be commenting on the races that - one way or another - we were lead to believe would be in play, yet the early on fundraising numbers dictate otherwise.

Specifically, I’m talking about the HD 134’s of the world, where some would say Republicans were going to make a push to get that seat back.  However, after Ellen Cohen posted impressive numbers that concluded with 231K cash on hand and her opponent, Joe Agris, is showing less on hand than what I make in a month (3K), I think we can move this race into the foregone conclusion category.

Lets move on.  How about Truitt v Moffatt round 3?  Who amongst us wasn’t quietly hoping for a good old fashion cat fight here?  Well, I hate to disappoint but it does not look like it is going to happen.  Vicki Truitt is holding on to better than 175K cash on hand, and Nancy Moffat literally does not have enough cash (35 dollars) to buy a tank of gas.  Total shame, this one could have been fun to watch.

I’ve also heard crazy theories that a favorite son of ours, Dan Branch, could quietly be in trouble.  Let me quickly put those rumors to rest for good.  Mr. Branch pulled in better than 200K for the period, putting his total cash on hand north of 600K.  His opponent, not so much.  That dude with the funny last name has only 18K in the bank, which won’t buy him as much as a charity spot in the Dallas media market.  And as an added side note, given that Mr. Branch quadrupled his contributions received for the period when compared to this time last cycle, he is showing that he can (and will) climb the fundraising ladder along with the legislative one.

So what of Travis County?  Absolutely nothing.  Though it pains me to say, hats off to Valinda Bolton and Donna Howard who posted cash on hand of 86K and 161K respectively.  Their opponents combined have only 45K in their pockets to spend.  Likewise, it does not appear as though we will see the white pick-up truck magic from Victor Morales either.  His 3K cash on hand is not ready to compete with the likes of Betty Brown, even though she is only showing 46K in the bank.

All of you who were saying that Myra Crownover was the sleeper of the cycle can now bow your heads in disgrace, at least after her opponent showed 2K in the bank compared to her 166K.  Seriously, 2K?  I guess that Where Is Myra add didn’t quite have the buzz effect that it was going for.  And this one is for you, McBlogger.  Don’t think I have forgotten your comments on how Phil King will lose in the general.  Well, if that is to be, then his opponent is going to have to raise more than the 330 total dollars that he did for this 6 month period.  For real, you can get more than that selling Girl Scout cookies.

Moving down the list we see that would be vulnerable freshman Kelly Hancock’s opponent posted only 2K in the bank, compared to his 93K.  Again, another race that the liberal bloggers tried to create.  In his quest to go after a democrat freshman, Bill Burch posted a disappointing 14K raised and only 20K in the bank.  Frankly, that is not going to play against Paula Pierson’s 104K cash on hand.

This one is on me.  I am the one who said that Linda Harper-Brown could be the sleeper.  Well, if that is to be then her opponent is going to have to do that from the cheap seats, as Bob Romano only shows 13K on hand, compared to her 85K.  And likewise, if Karen Wiegman is to get back the seat that Kirk England stole from Republicans when he switched sides, she’s going to have to vastly improve on her 12K in the bank.  Currently, she finds herself better than 100K in the hole.  I don’t care if your polling numbers show you in a dead heat with Mr. England.  If you don’t have the funds to carry your race all the way to November then you’re a lost cause.

And that goes for the rest of you in this post who were victims to my ugly humor.  For all practical purposes, your races are dead to me. 

Quick question for the audience, though.  If one underfunded candidate from this list was to win in November, who do you think it will be?

Let ‘em Play

July 17th, 2008 by Jake Hatlin | Posted in Talking Policy | No Comments »

Alright, full disclosure, Jake Hatlin once roamed up and down the UIL playing fields in high school (many…many moons ago).  I never scored 4 touchdowns in one game like the famous Al Bundy, but I saw my fair share of success on both the football field and elsewhere.  So when I came across this article in the Austin American Statesman, it both sent me back to the Glory Days and sparked my interest as a person who greatly values the UIL experience.

I have to admit that I was not aware that the Lege’s recently passed curriculum guidelines was going to put athletic participants in academic jeopardy.  Thankfully, though, others are keeping a watchful eye and Brenhan coach Craig Angew spotted where the 4 x 4 plan (mandated 4 years of the 4 core classes) could prove to be a hurdle for those students who involve themselves in athletic competition.

From the article itself:

In all, the number of credits needed to get a diploma will increase from 24 to 26 starting with 2011 graduates.

Agnew said the new standards allow students to get four years of credit for activities such as band, choir, dance team, theater and Junior ROTC but not football, basketball, baseball and other sports.

“This is discriminatory against athletics and student athletes,” Agnew told the board in a letter.

In short, coach Agnew is arguing that only allowing 4 year athletes 2 years worth of credit for their athletic participation will make it harder for athletes to graduate under the new guidelines, and thus act as a disincentive for students to play sports.  Frankly, I could not agree more in his sense of the harm that this could bring to student athletes’ overall high school betterment. 

I went through public high school as a four year athlete, and I enjoyed every minute of it (except for when the Seniors crammed me into a locker).  My experiences in organized athletics afforded me as much knowledge about what it took to succeed in life as the classroom did, bottom line.  Academic instruction in fine and necessary, but academic instruction teaches the fundamentals of an education whereas UIL activities build on that knowledge by teaching a person how to take those fundamentals and put them to work in real world scenarios.

Perhaps I’m going off the deep end here (after all, it is late and I have had a cocktail or two), but I honestly think that UIL participation has put me in a greater place in life.  That is because athletic competition taught me valuable lessons that the classroom couldn’t.  Such as: leadership, team work, goal attainment, responsibility, what it means to be held accountable, how to overcome adversity, and many more.  Athletics gives young children who are trying to find their place in the world a sense of direction, a sense of discipline, and most importantly, a sense of purpose. 

As a student, I remember what came of my peers who chose to not involve themselves in athletic activities.  I have seen the paths that their lives have taken.  While some of them have found success in their endeavors, I know that - on the whole - my path and the guidance I received as a young man who engaged himself in team sports has put me in a better position to succeed where some of my peers have faltered.

If the 4 x 4 rule is in fact a hurdle for student athletes, then it needs to be addressed.  We need to be giving students every ample opportunity to further round their education experiences by taking their activities beyond the classrooms and into constructive outside endeavors. 

That’s how you really get an education.  That’s how you really better yourself.

Ah, the glory days, what a wonderful time they were.  Now if only I could pin point exactly what went wrong beyond that.  After all, lets be real here, I grew up to be a blogger.

Par For The Course

July 16th, 2008 by Jake Hatlin | Posted in OGR On Other Blogs | No Comments »

I’ve reported in the past about how the fine folks over at burnt orange report has previously taken in revenue from a political action committee that, on multiple occasions, they encouraged their readers to contribute to.  My point was that it was a conflict of interest, very similar to a candidate raising money and then employing their spouse with campaign dollars, which is against the law.

But BOR sees it differently.  They don’t seem to have any problem urging people to donate money for the greater good of their cause, and then using those donations to help pad their wallets.

On this last reporting period, the Too Close To Craddick PAC (a favorite of BOR) had two very interesting separate 200 dollar expenditures.  One was to Matt Glazer - the Editor-In-Chief of BOR - for the daunting task of sending out e-mails.  Seriously?  I send out e-mails all day long and no one pays me?  Matt - drop me a line sometime and lets get coffee.  I need to tap into your revenue strategy.

The second 200 dollar payment went to Karl-Thomas Musselman - the top dog at BOR - for website design.  Karl, drop me a line also.  The guy who designed this website did it for peanuts and I’d love to hook you up with him so that you can save that money.

Well, the Too Close To Craddick PAC didn’t do much in the way of thinning the number of Democrat supporters for Speaker Tom Craddick, but the silver lining in the dark cloud is that at least this PAC did manage to throw some work BOR’s way.

Way to go guys.  Your mothers can sleep at night knowing that you are employed.

And if you happened to miss my previous calling out of this behavior, you can find it right here.

Show Me The Money

July 16th, 2008 by Jake Hatlin | Posted in Election Commentary, Keeping The Right In Line | 6 Comments »

Seriously, is there anything better than diving through campaign finance reports to see who raised how much? Actually, there is. It’s called the All Star game, which is why I am a day late and (ha ha ha) a dollar short with this post.

But Jake’s back and ready to roll so lets get this party started the only way we know how, with the Senate.

God bless the sane chamber. If you ever want a lesson in the good that comes from not eating your own, check out the Texas Senate. However, it’s not all milk and cookies in the upper chamber, there will be some name calling and mud throwing come this fall, so lets take a look and see who has the most ammunition in their pocket.

Wendy Davis posted some promising numbers in her quest to put Senator in front of her name. She raised 421K for the period and had 392K still on hand at the deadline. I’m not behind her, but I can recognize a good start when I see one. However, Ms. Davis still has an uphill battle before her, seeing as Senator Brimer pulled in 500K for the period and is currently holding on to 1.4 million. Ouch. Better keep crying, Wendy, you’re going to need all the free media you can get your hands on.

That brings us to Senator Jackson, who packed in 358K of his own and is holding on to an impressive 1.2 million. The incumbent Senator’s numbers were good, but his challenger’s weren’t bad either. Specifically, Joe Jaworski took in a quarter mil and ended the period with just north of 400K cash on hand. This, to me, might shape up to be more interesting than Brimer/Davis, for reasons that I may profile at a later date.

This brings us to the House, and where to start? How about with a little game I like to call…Wake-up Call.

Yes, it is true, there are some Republican candidates for the lower chamber that desperately need their wake-up calls. Well this is it. So if your name falls on this list, time to get out of bed, knock the dust off, do some stretches, and get to work because as you rise from your slumber, you’re probably now behind in your race.

Bill Zedler

Oh man, if ever there was the Republican House member that might want to start thinking about exit strategy, I’m afraid to say that it would be Bill Zedler. Poor Mr. Zedler has a lot going against him. For starters, his district is going to be highly politically charged and Mr. Zedler’s numbers were not that great in ‘06 when voters were looking the other way. A lot of District 96 overlaps with the Brimer/Davis Senate race, and don’t think that democrats haven’t taken notice of that. If the D vote turns out big for Ms. Davis, it could spell trouble for Mr. Zedler.

The record to run on is a bit of a problem for Mr. Zedler as well. Taking a look at his bill package from the 80th, I see a lot of bills filed and only 1 bill passed. That kind of performance is not expected from a 3rd term member in the majority party.

And now to Mr. Zedler’s problems we can add that he just got out-fundraised, almost to death. Mr. Zedler took in 83K in donations over the period, boosting him to 157K cash on hand. On the surface it’s not bad. There’s just one problem, Chris Turner raised a super-human 240K for the period and left 173K of it still in the bank. Not only did Mr. Zedler get out-raised for the period, but his power of incumbency is now practically gone, with his opponent now holding on to more cash than he.

But the good news for Mr. Zedler is that he is not dead…yet. But it’s time to go to work. Mr. Zelder, if you’re not knocking on doors then you need to be dialing for dollars. And if at any point you find yourself filling the hours otherwise, go ahead and start packing up your office because your race will be flatlined.

Bryan Daniel

Like Mr. Zedler, Bryan Daniel has a lot working against him. You can start with the fact that thanks to Mike Krusee, the democrats put this race at the top of their charts even before Mr. Daniel announced his candidacy. The fact that nothing seems to be brewing out of Travis County means that the media and liberal activists will now have the chance to turn their attention north, and the geography is not in Mr. Daniel’s favor either.

Mr. Daniel calls Georgetown his home. Georgetown already has a State Rep from the neighborhood (Dan Gattis), and don’t think that notion will escape Round Rock voters when they go to the polls. Also, there has been talk that his camp might not have it together as far as being organized for large scale volunteer activities.

Well, now Bryan Daniel has 97,000 more reasons working against him, because that is how much he now finds himself trailing in the money race. After a dismal 47K raised, Mr. Daniel posted 53K cash on hand, far…far behind Diana Maldonado’s 139K raised and 129K still in the bank. I’ve written about this race before and my thought has always been that despite the hype, it was ours to lose. Well, this is exactly how you go about losing it.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought we got passed Krusee so that we could put up a candidate ready to run?

John Davis

This one is a painful name to put on the list, but sometimes the truth hurts. Yes, this is a rematch from ‘06 that Mr. Davis won by a wide margin, but I am uncomfortable with the fact that Sherrie Matula is out to the early fundraising lead. Currently, she is holding on to 73K to carryover from this period, while Mr. Davis only has 66K in the bank.

Run scared or don’t run at all, Mr. Davis. I would sincerely hate to see a possible (and well deserved) Chairmanship get derailed because you were asleep at the wheel.

Conclusion

So, Republican big-wigs, if you are looking toward where you need to be worried, I’d start with the three before mentioned (the first two more than the third). As for the rest of the House fundraising? Fear not, gentle reader. In a second installment we’ll talk about the other battlegrounds and those who can just flat-out flex the fundraising muscles.

Until then, see you on the flip side.

The Crying Game

July 13th, 2008 by Jake Hatlin | Posted in Election Commentary, Getting After The Left | 4 Comments »

First Juan Garica threw a 6 year old temper tantrum on the playground after someone stomped all over his sand castle, and now Wendy Davis is following suit. It is now growing very apparent (at least to this blogger) that the democrat game plan for this November is to cry their way to victory.

For those who have not followed, Ms. Davis is red in the face because incumbent Senator Kim Brimer has filed a lawsuit questioning the legality of her candidacy, citing that she violated our state’s resign to run laws. A similar lawsuit filed by firefighters from the area was thrown out by a Judge who concluded that it was only Mr. Brimer’s place to question her candidacy, so here we are. And as to be expected, Ms. Davis is bawling like a newborn baby.

Consider the following comments by Ms. Davis:

“This is the latest example of Kim Brimer’s brand of loophole leadership that has left voters frustrated and hungry for positive change.”

“Senator Brimer, I stand here with the very people you ignore while in Austin and now seek to silence at the ballot box. We are ready! We ask you to stop hiding behind lawyers and political consultants and step forward to demand that this lawsuit is handled immediately so that we can address the issues important to Tarrant County families.”

Man, after this I sure would hate to see Ms. Davis after her bills don’t see the light of day. No one is turned on by runny mascara, so here’s my advice to Ms. Davis…chill out, have a drink (maybe two), get a massage, and most importantly…stop your temper tantrum.

You got your quick hearing date, July 22, so this whole thing will be over and behind us in time to get back to “the issues important to Tarrant County families”. Plus, you’re probably going to win this lawsuit. And that’s fine. Personally, I would rather lose this seat than win it this way. So relax, go to the movies, read a good book in a hot bath, do whatever it is you do to unwind.

The hearing date is set, and given the precedence set by the Bill Dingus ruling, I really don’t think that Ms. Davis has much to worry about. But the number one reason that she needs to quit her crying…Ms. Davis brought this on herself. After all, if she would have more closely consulted the resign to run laws, this all would have been avoided by her not creating the appearance of possibly violating the law.

So Ms. Davis, a little personal responsibility here. You called upon Senator Brimer to come forward in favor of a quick hearing. Now I call upon you to come forward and admit that this is - in part - your own doing.

Because, for all the posturing you do for the “voters”, I don’t think the “voters” are too interested in electing someone whose going to pass the buck to cover up their own short comings.

Bottom line, no one likes a crybaby, so please, end the crying game.