I thought that the recent lovefest for Tom DeLay would generate some campaign material. Mary Beth Harrell is first out of the box with a critique of Carter’s gushing.
Carter took time out of his busy schedule to show up one more time to defend and support Travis County Defendant Tom DeLay, but Carter could not find the time to come back to his own district to visit the veterans at the VA hospital in Temple for their Valentine’s Day tribute to the vets.
[…]
Carter’s office did send a representative to the VA event to speak for Carter. Carter’s rep told us that the Congressman was busy in D.C. and couldn’t be there. Carter’s rep told us that he must be real busy because he wouldn’t normally miss the opportunity to meet and escort Miss Texas on a tour of the VA hospital.
I’m thinking that if DeLay does get convicted in Travis County, or if he gets fingered in the Abramoff investigation, there’s going to be a lot of Texas Congressfolk with some explaining to do to their voters.
Who would have expected that Ciro Rodriguez would have more cash on hand at this point of the primary race than Henry Cuellar?
The most aggressive fundraising leading up to the March 7 primary was posted by freshman Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar and former Rep. Ciro D. Rodriguez, who are waging a rematch of a 2004 primary that Cuellar won by 58 votes.
Cuellar reported raising $319,000 in the first six weeks of the year — in large part because of a slew of contributions from supporters of the Club for Growth, an organization that promotes fiscal restraint and tax cuts. Cuellar has $208,000 left to spend.
The Club endorsed Cuellar last month — its first ever endorsement of a Democrat. Rodriguez says that proves his point that the conservative-leaning Cuellar is a disloyal Democrat.
The reports show that Rodriguez is having some late success in attracting new donors. Rodriguez reported raising $272,000 between Jan. 1 and Feb. 15, which was more than he had previously raised in all of 2005. He had $257,000 left to spend.
Most of Rodriguez’s itemized contributions came from Texas, though he also counted contributors from 15 other states and the District of Columbia. The FEC requires all donations of at least $200 to be itemized.
Rodriguez got a big boost from the liberal political action committee ActBlue, which transmitted about $96,000 to Rodriguez’s campaign from individual donors. Another $28,000 was earmarked from supporters of the liberal political organization Democracy for America, which has argued that Cuellar is a “DINO†— a Democrat In Name Only.
Cuellar’s campaign said its operation is fully-funded and fully-paid and argued that the uptick in funds for Rodriguez is too little and too late.
“Ciro and his special interest friends have arrived at the 11th hour and we think there will be a strong voter backlash to their vitriol,†said Colin Strother, the general consultant to Cuellar’s campaign.
Got that? Everyone who kicked into Ciro’s fund at ActBlue is a “special interest”, but the Club for Growth, why they’re just plain ol’ folks. Link via Kos. Oh, and to answer my own question, Henry Cuellar certainly didn’t expect this.
In the other hot San Antonio-area primary, Frank Madla’s spending habits made it into the Express News. Link via Matt. Remember: Carlos Uresti is the choice here.
Did Carole Keeton Strayhorn vote for Donna Howard last week? PerryVsWorld reads this story and thinks maybe she did. Well, she was a Dem once, and she needs Dems to vote for her now, so who knows?
Take a picture of a Larry Stallings push card out in the wild and win a prize!
Special Election Day in HD106 is this Tuesday. Katy Hubener gives a statement for her candidacy at BOR.
Who will earn the coveted In the Pink Texas endorsement for President in 2008, Joe Biden or Mark Warner. Click and see for yourself. Do Presidential candidates only come in one height these days, or does the Pink Lady adjust herself for those photos? Only her cameraman knows for sure, I guess.
Finally, Anna reports on the continuing pie fight in the GOP primary in HD94, where top DeLay lieutenant Kent Gruesendorf is going against Texas Parent PAC-backed challenger Diane Patrick. As I said before, the House Speakership will ride on races like this one. The Dems do have a contestant, a fellow named David Pillows, but in all likelihood the GOP primary will be the determinant. Keep an eye on that one.