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Since I can't do much else lately, let's try to unravel the mystery of the Greater Harris County Democrats, a phantom group with unknown mystery members and a website that popped up onto the internets on Saturday. The intrigue!
This only relates to CenTex because on its website, the Greater Harris County Democrats endorses Larry Joe Doherty in his race for the CD 10 Democratic nomination. He's running against Dan Grant in the primary. The district reaches from Eastern Travis County to Tomball. (It's the dumbbell-shaped district.)
Anyway, there's already the well-established Harris County Democrats. That group also did endorsements and backed Grant. Now we have startup group Greater Harris County Democrats, and it's not clear who's actually IN the group.
Harris County consultant Kyle Johnston said he built the site, but won't say who hired him to do it.
"I know some of the folks that are part of this club or who have formed the club," Johnston said. "Longtime Democrats in Harris County. But they have not put that on the website yet. I shouldn't say say anything until they're ready to tell people who they are."
When I asked him why the club members want to remain incognito, Johnston said he didn't know but that he hopes they will reveal themselves soon so people will stop calling him.
"The club hired us to put together a website for them. I don't think I'm obligated to tell anybody who they are," he said.
Johnston said this was a one time job and that several people emailed him with ideas about what they wanted included on the phantom club's website. The site went up on Saturday but he says he started building it a few days before that. Johnston says the club members can be reached through the site's email address, so I guess that's my next course of action.
Congressional candidate Larry Joe Doherty is getting out his 4th quarter fundraising totals ahead of the FEC website. His campaign says he reported $151,115 in the 4th quarter. The average donation size was $490.63.
His cash-on-hand is $267,475.
US senate candidate Rick Noriega joked about borrowing money from sitting Senator John Cornyn. Perhaps LJD has a few thousand to spare?
State Rep Dawnna Dukes, D-Austin, isn't the only candidate using CraigsList to find campaign workers.
Congressional candidate Larry Joe Doherty is also advertising on trusty CraigsList. LJD is in a Democratic primary battle against Dan Grant for a chance to take on US Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, for his seat.
We know Dukes is offering $8/hr, but LJD's ad says to call for compensation details. Hope it's a competitive rate, canvassers seem to be in demand.
Larry Joe Doherty*, congressional candidate in the race for US Rep. Michael McCaul's seat, is hoping McCaul will vote to override President Bush's veto of SCHIP legislation tomorrow. (Probably not going to happen, but the Democrats are hammering sitting Republicans on their SCHIP votes every which way.) Here's some of LJD's letter: Dear Mr. McCaul,
Tomorrow, the House of Representatives is scheduled to vote again to override the President’s veto of SCHIP, giving you a second chance to do what’s right for over 300,000 low-income children in Texas.
Health care costs are rising. The economy is stagnating. It hasn't escaped the attention of the voters I'm talking to that you'll jump for the one Texan who lives on Pennsylvania Avenue, while you turn a cold shoulder to thousands of Texas families back home.
HR 3963 was passed by large majorities in both the House and the Senate. You’ve shown your support for George Bush, now it’s time to show your support for all Texans. Supporting access to healthcare is the right thing to do for Texas children, and make no mistake about it, SCHIP saves money — money for families, money for businesses, and it saves taxpayers money as well. If you are unwilling to vote with your heart, then please vote with Texas taxpayers’ wallets in mind. This sounds pretty much like it could have been written by any of the candidates running against a sitting Texas GOP congressmember, but it's been slow today and I haven't given much coverage to the TX-10 candidates, so there you are.
*LJD is the candidate who once confused me for City Councilmember Jennifer Kim, even though I had met him twice before that. He has since apologized for the mistake, so it won't be mentioned again.
"File" photo. Get it?!?! I kill myself. Anyway, more than one candidate filed paperwork to get on the Texas ballot today, and the candidates kindly invited the cameras along for some free press. Or you could call this a photo essay of how I spent my day:
 U.S. Reps John Carter and Kay Granger file on behalf of Mitt Romney |
 John Sharp, Gonzalo Barrientos and Sylvia Romo file for Bill Richardson |
 US Rep Lloyd Doggett files for himself and brings his fam along |
Kay Bailey Hutchison faced a barrage of questions in Washington this afternoon, now that she's sending stronger signals she will run for Texas guvnah in 2010.
Watch the raw video of Hutchison's latest comments
It all started with Evan Smith's post last week about his interview with her, in which she left open the possibility of resigning the senate by 2009 (her term doesn't end until 2012).
"I walked out of that interview almost certain that she was gonna run, and I walked out from it more certain than ever before that she might not serve her term out," Smith told me today.
But KBH insists she didn't really say anything that she hasn't said before, and that we're all overanalyzing this. What? Political nerds? Overanalyze???
Some of her latest comments, from her press gaggle in DC:
"I would not be interested in seeking re-election in 2012, so there's nothing new there. The governor's race is an option. It's been speculated on before, and I hold it out as an option."
What she says about telling Evan Smith she'd consider an early departure:
Maybe I'm too forthcoming in answering questions. I'm not too good at not saying what seems to be obvious to me, and maybe it's not obvious to everyone... I try to answer the questions.
Regarding questions about stepping down by 2009:
I've made no decision so there's really no reason to talk about an upside or downside. So much has to come together.
Her message to all of us:
There's just too much talk about it right now, because it's so far away. And I think anyone in politics who talks about something three years out is probably not very experienced in politics.
Ah, there's the rub. She is probably a VERY GOOD politician, so she's talking about it but not talking about it. It's a non-announcement announcement. Political consultant Chuck McDonald -- and sources on background -- say it was probably not an accident. She needed to get it out there to shore up support from her big GOP donors.
The campaign to garner enough congressional votes to override the President's veto of SCHIP is headed for the airwaves. A bunch of groups with a bunch of acronyms -- AFL-CIO, AFSCME, SEIU, Moveon, Americans United for Change, USAction and True Majority are paying for a national TV, online and grassroots campaign to "save children's healthcare". The TV ads begin running Monday.
Click to see the ad, "Abby"
You won't see in in Austin. The commercials will only air in ads in key Republican U.S. House districts, and one of those districts is that of Republican Representative Kay Granger (TX-12) up in Fort Worth.
It's an effort to put pressure on the 15 to 20 members of Congress needed to override the veto. More is planned for the week of the veto override vote (Oct 15th), including vigils across the country. The full list of members being targeted to override the veto are after the jump.
Continue reading "Target: Kay Granger" »
I usually don't take notes during my middle-of-the-night C-SPAN/C-SPAN 2 viewing. It's what I do for leisure, not for work. But late last night, C-SPAN was re-airing the press conferences of the bipartisan Senate supporters of S-CHIP and the House Republicans talking about frustration with "politicking" by the Democrats.
Enter Texas US Rep Joe Barton. He voted against the SCHIP expansion and urged the Democratic leadership to hurry up and vote to sustain the Bush veto (since the House doesn't have the votes to override it.) He says this would allow them to work on a bill that House Republicans weren't getting at the last minute, and a bill that the President would actually sign. Then, when talking about his opposition to the current SCHIP bill, he said it's plausible that his adult daughter could qualify and that's not what the program should be doing.
Barton, in his own words:
"The Democrats really want to play politics by waiting two weeks [to vote on the bill again] and browbeat Republicans into changing their minds on the override, which they won't.
Not one House Republican has been asked to participate in any meaningful negotiation on SCHIP. We WANT to insure every child in America that is below 200% poverty, period. We think you should be covered. But some states cover more adults than children. SCHIP should be about children, not adults.
My daughter Kristen is 25 years old and lives in New York City. I don't know how much she maker, she's never told me. But it's possible, depending on how much she makes, that under the Democrats version of this bill, she could qualify for SCHIP."
There's going to be drama worthy of The West Wing on Capitol Hill in the next few weeks, as the House Democrats work to get the at least 15 votes they need to override President Bush's veto today of the SCHIP Reauthorization. The U.S. Senate already has the 67 votes needed to override the veto. (Lots of R's have voted with D's in favor of the expansion, which will be paid for by an increase in the tobacco tax.)
A breakdown of Texas Reps and how they voted on final passage of the $35 billion expansion of the health insurance program for low-income children last week:
Texas US Reps - Yea
Henry Cuellar, Lloyd Doggett, Chet Edwards, Charles Gonzalez, Gene Green, Al Green, Rubén Hinojosa, Sheila Jackson-Lee, Nicholas Lampson, Solomon Ortiz, Silvestre Reyes, Ciro Rodriguez
Texas US Reps - Nay
Joe Barton, Kevin Brady, Michael Burgess, John Carter, Michael Conaway, John Culberson, Louie Gohmert, Kay Granger, Ralph Hall, Jeb Hensarling, Sam Johnson, Kenny Marchant, Michael McCaul, Randy Neugebauer, Ron Paul, Pete Sessions, Lamar Smith, Mac Thornberry
Texas US Reps Not Voting
Eddie Bernice Johnson, Ted Poe
The WaPo's Votes Database
What the bloggers are saying:
The Red State
Capitol Annex
Burnt Orange Report
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