Repeating Dallas in Houston

No, not the traffic or the sprawl -- we already own that -- and not the success on the professional gridiron nor the failure on the diamond, though we're trying hard. Back to the local political scene for a moment.

Kristen Mack -- who wrote a truly atrocious report of John Edwards' Houston stop -- provides a pretty good update on Harris County's strategy to go blue in the next cycle:

Democrats in Harris County have been eyeing Dallas County since last November, when their counterparts recaptured every countywide seat. The locals hope to mirror that success here.

"I've had extensive conversations with Dallas about what their strategy was," Harris County Democratic Party Chair Gerald Birnberg said. "I believe we can replicate that here in Harris County and intend to do so."

Birnberg will likely call on Matt Angle, of Lone Star Project renown, to run the county's campaign, filling the local party office with at least one staff member tapped by the Angle/Martin Frost/Fred Baron brain trust. More on that later. Birnberg has been busy recruiting prospective candidates as well:

Former Houston Police Chief C.O. Bradford will take on GOP District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal. Houston City Councilman Adrian Garcia is eyeing a challenge to incumbent Sheriff Tommy Thomas. And former Houston City Councilman Vince Ryan will run against County Attorney Mike Stafford.

Former county Democratic Party Chair David Mincberg will run for county judge against whomever emerges from the GOP primary. The incumbent, Ed Emmett, is in. District Clerk Charles Bacarisse continues to test the water.

Pausing to address that last bit, former HCRP chair Gary Polland wrote in his "Conservative Stench" newsletter of the Bacarisse/Emmett spat:

Is It Time For The Bacarisse Campaign For
County Judge To Come Out Of The Closet?

Texas Conservative Review believes that everyone who wants to seek elective office should go for it. The present situation involving Charles Bacarisse and this shadow campaign for County Judge is not acceptable. He's not in and he's not out. Of course under the rules, a Harris County official must resign once they declare for another office.

Regardless of that fact, the Bacarisse exploratory campaign continues to snipe at Harris County government while he says nothing on the record. Those in the unofficial shadow campaign are only going to end up hurting the ultimate GOP nominee, be it Bacarisse or incumbent County Judge Ed Emmett, against a growing Democratic threat led by former Democrat County Chair David Mincberg.

If it's the goal of the Bacarisse exploratory committee to midwife a Democratic victory in November 2008, then they are off to a great start. If not, call off the sniping spokesman and get into the race now.

Heh.

Mack has more on the Bradford/Rosenthal "grudge match" (her words), too:

Bradford, who served as police chief in Mayor Lee Brown's administration, still has some battle scars.

Among them, a last-minute pay raise Brown gave Bradford that increased his pension, the crime lab debacle that began during his tenure, and an indictment on a perjury charge that eventually was dismissed by a trial judge.

Bradford was considering running for sheriff — going from the top cop in the city to the top officer in the county seems a more natural jump — but his strategists advised him that Thomas would be able to capitalize on each of those mishaps.

A matchup against Rosenthal would play like a grudge match, potentially giving Bradford some inoculation.

It was Rosenthal who prosecuted Bradford on the perjury charge, which a judge dismissed in mid-trial saying the case was weak. Rosenthal also holds some responsibility for the state of the crime lab.

Rosenthal questioned the former chief's credentials for the DA's job. Bradford has a law degree, but he's never practiced law. He has served as a senior associate at Brown Group International, the former mayor's consulting group, since leaving the city.

...

In the 2004 election, the last time Rosenthal's term was up, he garnered 55 percent of the vote to a relative unknown. Facing a well-known challenger, even one with baggage, is a different game.

This last point is significant also for this reason: so many Democrats came so close to winning, particularly judicial candidates like Jim Sharp and Mary Kay Green, that the average percentage for a Democrat on the ballot in Harris County was 48% (according to Birnberg).

We're flipping this county Democratic in 2008, and no amount of coordinated voter suppression tactics on the part of Republicans is going to be able to stop it.

Not even Matt Angle's minimalist strategy and maximist credit-taking for the results will be able to screw it up. I hope.

Number three thousand

Nineteen years ago

... I had been married for a year and a half, was the advertising director for the Plainview Daily Herald, and had no way to keep up with my Astros at all, so I didn't know any of this:

Nineteen years ago today, Craig Biggio took a red-eye flight from Tucson and walked into the Astrodome for the first time on almost no sleep. Clubhouse man Dennis Liborio found him a place to nap. He might have slept 10 minutes. Regardless, manager Hal Lanier woke him up and asked: ''Can you play?''

''Yes,'' Biggio said.

He caught Jim Deshaises that night, didn't get a hit but threw out two base runners. He didn't play much after that for awhile, and was sent back to the minors briefly when Alan Ashby returned from the disabled list. But that was the beginning for Craig Biggio.

He got his first hit off Orel Hershiser, a line-drive single. ''No break from the official scorer,'' he said. He got his first home run off Goose Gossage, a game-winner.

''I'm like, 'Yes!''' he remembered

Those early months are still etched in his mind, especially those days in the bullpen when he'd sit and listen to Danny Darwin, Dave Smith, etc., tell their stories. This week, the memories have come rushing back. Small things like how Nolan Ryan would bring fried pies from Alvin on the days he pitched. He remembered Glenn Davis would hoard pies to take home.

He smiled the other day recalling the day Alex Trevino failed to tag the runner after a Nolan Ryan strikeout bounced in the dirt. He simply rolled the ball back to the mound and headed for the dugout as the runner took off to first.

''Nolan was one angry Texan,'' Biggio said.

There was the day Doug Harvey told him a pitch caught the plate by "an eighth of an inch.'' He has remembered countless acts of kindness by John McMullen and the emptiness he felt at Ken Caminiti's passing.

We're left with a sorry ballclub that needs reconstructive surgery, but those are stories for another day. This week belongs to Craig Biggio.

As I finished this post, Biggio slapped #2,998 to left field. History to be made for the little catcher/second baseman and the franchise, maybe later tonight.

How time flies

Just one week ago, the headlines were: Bush vetoes the stem cell research legislation, Michael Bloomberg dumps the Republicans, and Fred Thompson flirts a little harder with running.

I could have spent this week writing about Dick Cheney's bullshit, or Ann Coulter's horse shit. Too bad I was too busy.

I did take time yesterday to go to Melissa Noreiga's reception and John Edwards' appearance in Houston, but since others wrote and photographed it already, I'll skip that, too.

A few hours ago the Senate defeated immigration reform, sending nativists, bigots, and xenophobes across the country into orgasmic frenzy. Yawn. No one except the vilest conservatives give a damn about immigration anyway.

Speaking of racial, there's a Democratic presidential debate coming up shortly that will feature some of the issues that concern African-Americans. This comes hot on the heels of the Supreme Court's decision which disfavors public education's efforts to achieve racial diversity. Guess what the candidates will be talking about?

I may watch, but at the moment I'm tuned to the Astros and Craig Biggio's chase for 3,000 hits, along with the NBA draft.

Priorities. For sanity's sake.

Sunday Funnies

Stem cell research vetoes and the willful ignorance of conservatives

DarkSyde:

=========

In the wake of Bush's rejection of the stem cell bill, it's important to acknowledge there are loyal conservatives who are well informed, who do employ critical analysis, and who unsurprisingly come to the obvious conclusion that the President's veto and his rationale for it makes no sense. For the dwindling remainder who still cling desperately to Bush’s nonsense, you'll see several interlocking themes crop up: transparent hypocrisy, blatant, comical, and seemingly willful ignorance, misrepresentation of alternatives, almost pathological cruelty, and blind, partisan hatred. Here’s one of the better written examples which utilizes some of those tactics:

Redstate -- Since the Democrat Congress did not heed the president’s veto warning when it passed its legislation, the president will now show them how stem cell research can be conducted without destroying embryos and without creating human life for the purpose of harvesting its parts.

This poster neglected to stress that the material was created by In Vitro Fertilization Clinics for the express purpose of treating infertility and ultimately going to be discarded. He chose instead to state it would be 'created for the purpose of harvesting its parts,' and clearly left the impression that Bush prevented that from happening. In fact, part B (1) of the SCREA states, "The stem cells were derived from human embryos that have been donated from in vitro fertilization clinics, were created for the purposes of fertility treatment, and were in excess of the clinical need of the individuals seeking such treatment."

We can perhaps forgive those conservatives who don't know better, and who inherently trust that their more informed comrades will provide them with sound information and honest assessment. But unless the RS author and others like him are sloppy or ignorant to a point that defies plausibility, they know exactly what they're doing. They are intentionally deceiving their readers to excuse one of the many unpopular and inexcusable failures of George Bush, with no thought for those they're potentially condemning to a lifetime of misery or death, and they deserve every bit of scorn that comes their way because of it.

==========

I'm 48 years old, with a type II diabetes diagnosis now three and one-half years old, so I have a little self-interest in seeing medical science make some advancements in these arenas. And on the day that Michael Moore's SiCKO is slated for sneak preview, let me say that one of the things corporate medicine is very good at is maximizing their profit opportunities. And with the explosion of diabetes in the United States, even among children, corporate medicine is highly motivated to develop the latest treatments.

Here in Houston -- indeed, less than five minutes away from where I sit typing -- is one of the finest medical centers in the world, with world-renowned experts hard at work researching and devising treatments, battling and even curing the most insidious diseases known to man.

But they remain hamstrung by the religious and moral zealots still clinging to control in our government.

The same question asked of those who ignited a civil war in the Middle East over a series of lies can be posed to those who would thwart the doctors trying to defeat cancer, multiple sclerosis, and diabetes:

How many more people have to die before you extremists will get the hell out of the way?

Saturday Postpourri

Indian reservations will get FEMA trailers

As many as 30,000 have a new, untreatable form of tuberculosis

Precedents start falling under Roberts-led Supreme Court

Ashcroft contradicts Gonzales, saying top administration officials fought over wiretapping

Tony Soprano didn't just get whacked, he got a funeral

Border fence's proposed route cuts South Texas university in half

McAllen chamber president calls for wall around D.C.

Requested delay in Houston smog cleanup would extend non-compliance again from regulations first proposed in 1975

Kay Bailey doesn't heart Dubya any more

Q. What's the difference between the senior senator from Texas and a washing machine?


A. A washing machine doesn't follow George W Bush around for weeks after he dumps a load in it.

And if the President had known that all it would take was a little immigration reform legislation for Senator Perjury Technicality to get off his bandwagon ...

... he would have proposed it sooner.

Kronberg: "A Hispanic with charisma (and money) will transform Texas politics"

Last week I attended a town hall forum with the editor of Quorum Report, Harvey Kronberg, sponsored by my previous state representative and my current one. Truth to tell, I went mostly to see and hear them. I respect what Kronberg does, I just think there are a few of us New Media types -- such as Charles and Vince -- who do what he does better and without the annoying $300 subscription.

Let me first say that I left with a tremendously increased respect for Kronberg, who after 18 years of following the Lege is probably better connected than anyone. Better than Burka, better than Selby, better than Radcliffe. What I never really got from him before were the insights from all of that history. Most of you know I'm a history buff; "lessons/doomed to repeat" and all that.

In an evening filled with one cogent analysis after another -- at one point I saw even Rep. Cohen taking notes -- the one that kept my ears ringing a week later is the one in the headline. But I'll come back to it in a moment.

Kronberg doesn't get back to Houston all that often apparently, and speaks to the public even less frequently, but the Kaplan Theatre at the Jewish Community Center in Meyerland holds a special place for him. He grew up in Houston, went to Bellaire High School, and his first summer job was as a projectionist "up there", as he pointed to the booth over our heads. He also noted that he was perhaps the only journalist who is also a "practicing capitalist" -- as the owner of two flag and flagpole businesses, in Austin (where he lives) and Houston -- so he knows about the challenges of making payroll, meeting the onerous small business regulations, and so on. This appears to give him, in his media role, the philosophical ability to cross seamlessly from one side of the aisle to the other, keeping amiable acquaintance with both D's and R's while at the same time buffing his non-partisan credentials.

The first observation I noted was that redistricting marginalizes the general election voter. Every two years the voters get to choose their representative, and every ten years (or less) the representatives choose their voters. With the inherently polarizing nature of the redistricting/gerrymandering sausage-making, the end result is that a successful politician is compelled to accede to the wishes of his district's most active voters, i.e. his or her "base", also known as the Democratic and Republican primary voters. These people are not renowned to be moderate or centrist. In fact, quite the opposite. Because the districts have been specifically populated to elect and re-elect a Democrat or a Republican, then the real electoral challenge comes -- you guessed it -- in the primary. Thus, in November many contests between the parties are viewed as no contest.

What kind of politician does this produce? The kind viewed as "extreme" -- by both ends of the political spectrum.

The second observation Kronberg made was of the Republican Party at large, not just in Texas -- the social, libertarian, and economic wings of the GOP are splintering, and thus their dominance of government is coming to an end.

He's dead solid perfect in this analysis. Just look at how the xenophobic crackers, the base of the party for too long now, are abandoning Bush and the rest of the Republicans who are pushing for the compromise Senate legislation on immigration.

One of this coffin's final nails will be driven in 2008 by a neoconservative third-party presidential challenge from the likes of Tom Tancrazy or another of that ilk. And the popularity of Ron Paul's quixotic bid among a Kucinich-sized segment of Republicans points out how, *ahem*, "diverse" the GOP is suddenly becoming.

The announcement yesterday of Michael Bloomberg's resignation from the Republican Party -- meant to fuel his own political ambition -- is an example of the moderate conservatives getting out from under the GOP's tent. (I predict we will very shortly see a similar announcement from Joe Lieberman. The only difference is that he stopped being a Democrat years before Bloomberg did.)

Abortion, taxes, property taxes at the state level -- all issues that the social or libertarian or economic zealots feel strongly about, but their respective counterparts grimace in distaste over. That spells doom for the legislative coalition that Jerry Falwell and Ralph Reed and Newt Gingrich cobbled together almost twenty years ago.

(Good riddance to bad rubbish, I say.)

The remaining observations I scribbled down were more Texas-centric but no less accurate: that members in both chambers pushed back successfully against their leadership. Lt. Gov. Dewhurst stepped into a big pile of his own dookie when his office released the letter that was hyper-critical of the Senate's efforts to throttle the voter ID bill. Kronberg noted something that he found to be one of the most profound developments in his tenure of covering the Lege, and that was the Senate's virtual unseating of its leader for a two-week period following the dustup.

Senators, Kronberg noted, operate almost as chief executives of their regions. They have, for example, a near-gubernatorial power to veto the governor's appointments of people -- judges, state commissions, etc. -- who happen to reside within their district's boundaries. Dewhurst, after all those years presiding over the Senate, simply forgot or perhaps ignored the fact that he serves as their leader at their pleasure. And they pointedly reminded him of that fact.

Speaker Craddick's self-inflicted troubles are already well-documented, of course.

One other politically astute thing Kronberg pointed out was the percentage of voters within a statehouse district who opposed Proposition 2 -- the one banning gay marriage, in 2005, which passed with 76% of the statewide vote -- might indicate a district that could be ready to flip from red to blue ... if that percentage was somewhat closer to 50%.

And finally, to the Q&A:

-- Kronberg anticipates a special legislative session over property taxes. And after that, perhaps one on Voter ID.

-- Harvey does not agree with me that Hillary Clinton is bad for Texas Democrats down the ballot in 2008. He says, and I quote as nearly verbatim as possible, that "there are already too many districts voting R at the top and D down-ballot" for this to be a problem.

-- And to the headline, as well as to both the voter ID and the immigration brouhaha, Kronberg noted that he was puzzled by the conservative hysteria over both issues. "Texas Latinos who are legal now and don't vote make up more than 50% of the state's population. The numbers are huge in west Texas." With that comment I suddenly flashed on my experience in Plainview -- hardly "west" Texas, between Lubbock and Amarillo -- as a Junior Achievement counselor at the high school there, and a remark made by one of the school's administrators: that over 50% of the children in grades K-12 were Hispanic. This was in 1988.

Texas, you may recall, became a majority-minority state in 2004.

The Hispanic vote, statewide and nationwide, is apparently waiting to be motivated by the right candidate -- probably irrespective of party affiliation. They will be an electoral tsunami, completely altering the political landscape, once the tide finally reaches the shore. Who will be the candidate that does this? Will it be Bill Richardson?

Or Rick Noriega, perhaps?

And starring Hillary Clinton as Tony Soprano

"Sheer brilliance"? Gee, I suppose -- if handing your opponents a loaded shotgun falls in the same category:

Hillary walks into the Mount Kisco diner in Westchester, N.Y., and takes a seat. Seconds later in comes Bill, dressed in a short-sleeved, untucked shirt. "No onion rings?" Bill asks when he sees that his wife has ordered a bowl of carrots. "I'm looking out for you," replies Hillary, who peruses the diner's jukebox selections, the same tunes voted on by her campaign supporters. Tina Turner's "The Best." KT Tunstall's "Suddenly I See." Smash Mouth's "I'm a Believer." Bill says he thinks Smash Mouth will win. "We'll see," Hillary says.

Then the camera fades to black.

You don't suppose this is the end for her campaign, do you?

Naaahh. We couldn't be so lucky.

Clinton's camp is pushing hard for video cred, and yesterday's effort is proof. Forget that the self-inflicted analogy -- the Clintons as the Sopranos -- might be too irresistible for her detractors.

Guilty, Your Honor.

And for hard-core fans, the video might bring to mind the Monica Lewinsky scandal. In the show's third season, Carmela, wife of the philandering Tony, talks about her admiration for how Hillary handled her marital woes. "She's a role model for all of us," Carmela tells her gussied-up gal pals.

Another association the junior senator from New York couldn't have missed.

"It shows that Hillary Clinton is very adeptly using the Internet to humanize herself."

As if the Clintons haven't been "humanized" enough as it is.

"Yet the jury's out on whether everybody finds it charming that they're self-effacing or that they are in fact drawing a parallel that is really ironic and not flattering regarding what's seen as the liabilities of the Clintons. That they're very aggressive in trying to scare away donors from other campaigns. The perception that they engage in strong-arm tactics. Still, you have to hand it to Hillary. You can't get more Joe Sixpack than Tony Soprano."

Then again, nothing is more anti-Tony Soprano than Celine Dion.

Bada bing.

Update: Firedoglake has a response to a truly unhinged right-wing reaction to the video.

Update II (6/21): Prairie Weather:

Maybe the "vast right-wing conspiracy" stuffed the electronic ballot box with votes for a tune by a French-Canadian diva most famous for presiding, musically speaking, over the sinking of the Titanic.