Pacquiao - Cotto not quite one for the ages

Thrilling but one-sided.

(Manny) Pacquiao knocked (Miguel) Cotto down once in the third round and again in the fourth, pummeled him repeatedly and easily lifted the World Boxing Organization welterweight belt from the Puerto Rican with a 12th-round stoppage. The time was 55 seconds into the final round, as referee Kenny Bayless leaped between the fighters to save Cotto a more savage beating and ignominious end.

Some observers thought Cotto would defeat Pac-man late because of his size advantage (10 pounds), reach, and equivalent quickness and defenses.

Not so much.

My friend Waterman was quite a bit closer ...

Still, although no outcome will surprise me, I tend to favor Manny by TKO somewhere around the 8th or 9th round. The biggest factor, in my opinion, will be his advantage in hand speed. Pacquiao is a crisp puncher at welterweight, and Cotto’s eyebrows will not hold up. The reduction in his field of vision will make it easier for Pacquiao to deliver punches that Miguel does not see coming. And Cotto has a history of being hurt by fast punches that he doesn’t see coming – not only in the Ricardo Torres fight, but more importantly, even against Malignaggi.

Pacquiao owned Cotto from about the thrid round on and the fight was nearly stopped at the end of the ninth by Cotto's corner. It should have been. I have prepared tenderized skirt steaks that weren't as rough as Cotto's face by the twelfth, when it finally and mercifully was.

I followed the fight on Twitter and blow-by-blow online at Yahoo and ESPN simultaneously. Twitter was by far the lousiest way to do this; besides there being fifteen morons feeding the stream -- some calling action in Round 6 at the same time others were giving the Round 4 decision -- a couple of comedians would post lame jokes like "I beat Manny at Pac-Man" and such. The stream being too full, too slow, and too many repetitive tweets occurring out of chronological sequence makes this medium impossible for me to enjoy. (This same stew of fact, conjecture and rumor rushes out like a firehouse at times like the Ft. Hood shooting and the "Balloon Boy" caper. I would rather be locked in a room with fifty people all talking at me at once. Twitter is excellent for a blogger or two reporting details from a meeting, speech, dinner or some such, but not at all for breaking news.)

The Yahoo guys live-chatting the fight were way too slow on the uptake. Minutes behind the action most of the time, and that's useless when you're "live-blogging" three-minute fight rounds and one minute in-between. ESPN was by far the best. Their punch-by-punch updates were right on time, and they snapped out good summaries between the rounds.

Kay Bailey dithers on being with Dick next week

The woman just has not made a promise she can keep. Never made a commitment she hasn't waffled on.

U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said in Galveston today that she hasn’t yet determined whether she’ll be able to make a Tuesday appearance and fundraiser in Houston with former Vice President Dick Cheney.

The full Senate’s first major procedural vote on health-care legislation could come Tuesday.

Hutchison has made the fight against health care the main rationale behind her decision not to resign from the Senate before her March primary against Gov. Rick Perry. At the same time, the Cheney appearance is one of the most important events of her campaign.

“We’re working on it,” Hutchison said this morning in her first interview since her campaign announced she would not resign the Senate seat before the primary. “That’s going to be a tough situation. But again, I’ll make the judgment call.”

No you won't, Kay. Next Tuesday morning, you'll take your makeup out of the refridgerator, spackle your mug, hand your purse to one of the boys whose sole job is to carry it for you, adjust your wretched-looking coiffure, prance over to the Capitol, hope a TV reporter asks you for a comment, then hang out all day in your office waiting for something to happen, someone to call you. A purse boy will bring you a salad for lunch and you'll make a few phone calls to your lickspittles here -- just to be meddlesome and overbearing -- who are organizing the Dick event.

You'll get the post-event cash wrangle report by phone on your way home, have a martini and pass out at ten p.m. (Eastern time).

This is how you get Dick's help without having to pose for a picture with him. That, naturally, might help maintain the "Democratic cross-over vote" sham you hold as your last fading hope for defeating the worst governor in the history of the state of Texas.

Good luck with both the vote and the fund-raiser, you loser.

Gene Locke plays the hate card

I told you he wasn't a Democrat.

A cluster of socially conservative Houstonians is planning a campaign to discourage voters from choosing City Controller Annise Parker in the December mayoral runoff because she is a lesbian, according to multiple ministers and conservatives involved in the effort.

The group is motivated by concerns about a “gay takeover” of City Hall, given that two other candidates in the five remaining City Council races are also openly gay, as well as national interest driven by the possibility that Houston could become the first major U.S. city to elect an openly gay woman.

Another primary concern is that Parker or other elected officials would seek to overturn a 2001 city charter amendment that prohibits the city from providing benefits to the domestic partners of gay and lesbian employees.

"The bottom line is that we didn't pick the battle, she did, when she made her agenda and sexual preference a central part of her campaign,” said Dave Welch, executive director of the Houston Area Pastor Council, numbering more than 200 senior pastors in the Greater Houston area. “National gay and lesbian activists see this as a historic opportunity. The reality is that's because they're promoting an agenda which we believe to be contrary to the concerns of the community and destructive to the family.”

So at this point you may be wondering, what does a good Democrat (sic) like Gene Locke have to do with this slime?

(Locke) strongly distanced himself from a previous anti-gay attack against her that ultimately proved to have been a hoax. But he has made recent efforts to court some of the staunch social conservatives who are either actively planning on attacking Parker's sexuality or strongly considering it.

He appeared at the Pastor Council's annual gala last Friday and was encouraged several times by State Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, a featured speaker, to stand for conservative values.

Locke has also met with and sought the endorsement of Dr. Steven Hotze, a longtime local kingmaker in conservative politics and author of the Straight Slate in 1985, a coterie of eight City Council candidates he recruited who ran on an anti-gay platform. ...

Republican consultant Allen Blakemore, a longtime Hotze associate who spoke on his behalf, said he is considering mailing out a slate of endorsed runoff candidates, and Parker's sexuality is a “key factor” in his decision.

Ah, the exquisite stench emanating from Harris County's freak right: Stephen Hotze, Dan Patrick, Allen Blakemore. And all of their minions. Did I forget to mention Paul Bettencourt? Although he thinks Locke isn't coming out forcefully enough against gay rights.

Former Harris County Tax Assessor Collector Paul Bettencourt, another Republican close to Hotze, said that if Locke wishes to unite a strong African-American base with social conservatives, they will need his assurance that he will not seek to overturn the charter amendment.

Responding to the same debate question as Parker last month, Locke said same-sex benefits allow governments and businesses “a competitive advantage” and said he “would favor that,” although it would not be the first thing on his plate.

“That's not going to motivate us to come out and vote for somebody,” Bettencourt said of social conservatives. “You cannot get the positive good conservative turnout if you're trying to undo charter amendments. It's a line drawn in the sand. You just can't have it both ways.”

Kuffner and Muse have more to say about this development. Locke's campaign is also doing something funny with Democratic precinct chairs' e-mail addresses, which is a far cry from gay-baiting the electorate but in keeping with a organization so desperate to win that they will do whatever it takes -- lie, cheat, steal, misinform, obfuscate, smear, and fear-monger.

Epic fail.

Crazy talk good for ten points in the past month

Secession, "Willingham was a monster", Washington DC is a disaster, we have a senator who is AWOL, Ill Eagles, blah blah blah.

And he's added ten points to his polling in the past thirty days among GOP primary voters.


Who is it that's drinking Kool-Aid?

Schechter announces for Harris County Clerk

From her press release ...

Sue Smith Schechter today officially announced her plans to run as a candidate for the position of Harris County Clerk in the Democratic Primary in 2010.

...

Schechter, an attorney, has been involved in politics for more than 20 years. She has served in the Texas House of Representatives representing District 134 (1991-1995), managed multiple campaigns for Democratic candidates running for various positions and also has served as Harris County Democratic Party Chair (1998-2003). Schechter is also an active participant in the non-profit community, taking leadership roles on various board and organization initiatives.

...

Among Schechter’s supporters are Congressman Al Green, State Representatives Alma Allen, Ellen Cohen, Garnet Coleman, Harold Dutton, Kristi Thibaut and Sylvester Turner; former State Representatives Rick Noriega and Sissy Farenthold, former Texas Democratic Party Chair Molly Beth Malcolm, former Harris County Democratic Party Chair David Mincberg, HISD Trustee Carol Mims Galloway, Houston City Councilmember Ronald C. Green and former Councilmembers Ada Edwards and Gordon Quan, Rev. William Lawson, Ambassador Arthur Schechter, Roland Garcia, Bobby Singh, Gerald Womack and many more.

As Kuffner notes, Sue Lovell, recently believed to be the leading Democratic contender for the job, is hamstrung in a December run-off for her city council seat and can no longer be considered the favorite after all the heavy hitters that have now lined up for Schechter. It's also not good news for another Chosen One with no name recognition he hasn't "earned" on his own.

Kay Bailey now says she'll sit tight until after primary

From Quorum Report this afternoon, Kay Bailey has announced she will not resign from the Senate until after the March 2010 primary.

In a written statement, KBH said: "These issues are too important to leave the fight to a newly appointed freshman senator“A newly appointed senator would be selected in the midst of a political storm. And will need on-the-job training in the midst of a crisis.”

“I know that keeping my Senate responsibilities while running for governor may not be the best thing for my campaign,” Hutchison said. “Some have told me that for the sake of political expedience I should quit the Senate now to focus on winning the primary. To them I say, perhaps it's time we elect a governor who puts a little less priority on what is politically expedient.”

Governor Perry's campaign responded, "We appreciate that Senator Hutchison has taken the governor's advice and finally decided to make a decision to stay in Washington. Hopefully this will allow her to be a full-time senator for the people of Texas."

Exactly one month ago, when she was asked if she intended to stay through the primary, she said: ""Well, a lot of people are suggesting that. That’s not what I want to do. That’s not what I intend to do but... right now I want to just see what comes next. ..."

RG Ratcliffe excerpts remarks she plans to give in Galveston tomorrow:

I am more determined than ever to become the 48th Governor of the great state of Texas. But at the same time I must put what's best for my campaign aside and do what is best for our state. That is why I must stay in the Senate while running for the Republican nomination for Governor.

Assuming the senator means what she says this time, all the players lined up behind her are now frozen in place. That should also squelch the rumors of people switching races ...

U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's announcement that she will retain her Senate seat through next March's GOP primary led to renewed speculation that Houston Mayor Bill White would drop his own Senate bid to jump into the Democratic gubernatorial primary.

But White spokeswoman Katy Bacon said that will not happen.

"A resignation in March would still mean a May special election, and Bill is running for the United States Senate," Bacon said.

Update: More from the TexTrib...

"She will resign the Senate when the cap-and-trade and health care debates are over," said spokesman Joe Pounder. He said she will resign at that point even if she loses the primary for governor. Democratic leaders in the U.S. Senate have said they think the debate on health care will come in January.

The filing deadline for next year's elections is January 4. Waiting until after that date effectively forces everyone else on the ballot to run as if the dominoes won't fall.

Rasmussen confirms Tribune's GOP polling: Perry leads 46-35

Evan Smith would have to be feeling quite a bit better after seeing this:

Rasmussen Reports this morning is reporting a new poll showing Gov. Rick Perry leading U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison 46 percent to 35 percent in the Texas GOP primary for governor. Activist Debra Medina had 4 percent support.

Perry led Hutchison by 10 percentage points in a July Rasmussen survey, but he held only a 40 percent to 38 percent lead in September shortly after Hutchison's formal announcement for governor.

You may recall that the Texas Tribune released a similar result on Election Day that many people questioned, including myself. More from RG Ratcliffe ...

One of the more interesting factoids in the poll is that by a margin of 60 percent to 26 percent, primary voters believe Hutchison should stay in the Senate while she challenges Perry.

Despite having an important vote next week scheduled the same day as her big endorsement event with Deadeye Dick here next week, I believe sitting tight in the Senate would be the course of action a self-indulgent self-preservationist such as Kay Bailey would prudently take. After a caveat about interpreting polls results, more again from Ratcliffe ...

Hutchison's campaign has not fully engaged Perry so far. While she has been campaigning in Texas, she has only fitfully done things to get free coverage from the state's news media. Instead, she has concentrated on appearing on cable television shows that reinforces the idea that she is a Washington insider.

Is that a failing reflected by his lead, or did she demonstrate in September that when she does engage and gets state media attention that she can quickly close the gap? If the latter is the case, then the strategy of putting the race off until the final two months makes some sense.

Also, all three polls have had Perry at 46 percent support or less. Is that his ceiling? Most of the time, an incumbent with re-elect numbers below 50 percent is viewed as vulnerable.

Spot on with all of that. Here we are mid-November and still no indication from KBH when she will "come home" and begin working on earning her 'promotion', and her gubernatorial prospects continue to head south . I believe she's got until Christmas to get it turned around or give it up.

Whatever she decides, Perry remains in control of his destiny. And comments like these in Midland may even be helping him with the freak-right base who votes in Republican primaries here.