A few quick updates for things too important to sit on over the weekend:
Texas Senate Race Update for December 16, 2011
December 16th, 2011Another of My Evil Schemes Thwarted!
December 16th, 2011Instapundit Glenn Reynolds notes that he’s “not going to reward lies with traffic.”
Well there goes my plans for reporting his sordid love triangle with Scarlett Johansson and Megan Fox…
LinkSwarm for December 16, 2011
December 16th, 2011I get the impression that this “Christmas” thing you hear so much about is getting close. I should probably do something about that. In the meantime, some links:
Christopher Hitchens, RIP
December 16th, 2011Not unexpected, but still sad news to report the passing of one of our more interesting writers. And one of the few “public intellectuals” worthy of the term.
Conservative Commune has still more, including a wide variety of links to other tributes.
Texas Senate Race Update for December 15, 2011
December 15th, 2011The big news in the Senate race is a change to the filing deadlines:
Craig James: Not Universally Loved
December 14th, 2011I know this may comes as a shock to some of you, seeing as how I occasionally write about sports for my other blog, but I don’t have cable, and thus have no first-hand experience of Craig James’ ESPN broadcasting prowess.
However, news of James’ possible Senate candidacy has been racing around the worlds of both politics and sports, and from the commentary there, I think it safe to assert that James is not universally loved:
The same liberal bitterness over any public Republican figure? Maybe, but I’m not getting that vibe reading the comments. And hard-core liberals don’t usually hang out at Big Government.
More James news:
Craig James to Jump Into Republican Senate Race?
December 13th, 2011So says The Dallas Morning News, citing “sources close to his developing campaign.”
I don’t know why he would. I don’t see a lot of running room (no pun intended), it will be very hard to raise money, it’s been a long time since James was top of the football heap, and ESPN analyst is probably not a high-enough profile job for the requisite level of fame you’d need to win the race jumping in this late. And he’s not nearly rich enough to self-fund like David Dewhurst (unless the pre-death penalty SMU football program was even more generous with athlete payouts than we’ve been lead to realize).
If he does get in, he probably hurts Tom Leppert the most, due to the same geographic base in the Metroplex.
Welcoming Eric Holder to Austin
December 13th, 2011Several Austin bloggers are suggesting that people gather to “welcome” Eric Holder to Austin, where he’ll be speaking at the LBJ Library on UT campus. I won’t be able to, due to commitments with my new job, but I encourage others to do so if it fits into their schedule.
And here’s a related cartoon from Frugal Cafe:
Where’s Ricardo? (Plus: A New Democratic Challenger Appears)
December 12th, 2011There’s some news on the Democratic side of the Texas Senate race.
First of all, the name of the DNC’s handpicked candidate, Ricardo Sanchez, does not appear on the list of candidates who have filed for the Texas Senate race.
Well, the deadline is Thursday. No worries. Assuming he wants to run, there’s plenty of time for Sanchez to file for the race.
But what if he doesn’t?
After all, even before his house burned down, there was precious little evidence Sanchez was really interested in running for the Senate. His fundraising is abysmal, his media appearances are rare, his campaign stops even rarer (Ted Cruz and Glenn Addison do more campaigning in a day than Sanchez manages in a month), his social media footprint miniscule, and his buzz factor is non-existent.
Other signs of the moribund nature of Sanchez’s campaign: DSCC chair Patty Murray drawing audible laughs when asked about Democratic chances in Texas. “After being initially hailed as a pick-up opportunity, Texas is off the radar for Democrats. DSCC executive director Guy Cecil suggested as much last month. Murray didn’t even mention Ricardo Sanchez’s name.”
Sanchez peaked when he announced for the race. Ever since then it’s been a long, painful slog, with his only reward the prospect of being slaughtered by Ted Cruz or David Dewhurst in the general election. Is there a serious non-partisan observer anywhere who looks at Sanchez’s dismal campaign and thinks he can win?
Is this how Sanchez pictured his retirement? He seems for all the world like someone just going through the motions.
However, there is one Democratic candidate who has filed for the U.S. Senate race: Daniel Boone! I believe Texans will be favorably impressed with his trackin’ and bear-killin’ skills, and thus might be willing to overlook his Missouri residency and the fact the he’s been dead 191 years.
Sadly for Democrats, the “rippin’est, roarin’est, fightin’est man the frontier ever knew” is not the one running, but rather a retired Air Force Lt. Colonel (which sets up a nice “flyboy vs. grunt” inter-service rivalry if Sanchez does run).
He has a website and a Facebook page. His campaign platform is vague Democratic boilerplate.
But a famous namesake isn’t enough to overcome Ricardo Sanchez, right?
Think again.
Remember Gene Kelly? The perennial office-seeker whose only notable attribute was the name of the famous dancing movie star? He won the 2000 Democratic primary runoff for this very Senate seat (then occupied by Kay Baily Hutchison) over former state legislator Charles Gandy with 58.43% of the vote.
Want to guess what Kelly’s background was?
Would you believe retired Air Force Colonel?
It would be tempting to use the “history repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce” line, but here the first time was farce.
If Sanchez declines the race, I would say that Boone automatically becomes the frontrunner. And so far Sanchez has run such a lackluster campaign that high name recognition (even misrecognition) might be enough to beat him…