Saturday, July 14, 2007
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
WHY I SUPPORT MIKAL WATTS
by: leftshoe
Wed Jul 04, 2007 at 00:47:42 AM CDT [subscribe]
I have been frequently reading the Burnt Orange Report for going on about six months now. I have never felt the need to inject my opinion into the fray because A) I'm not as articulate as most, and B) Most of everything I would have said had already been said better than I would have said it. However, as we edge closer to 2008, I feel as though I finally have a point of view that isn't being adequately represented on this site. That point of view being the support of Mikal Watts in the upcoming Democratic Primary for the U.S. seat.
We are all aware that Watts is a pro-life Democrat (I am as well). We could go about in circles and generate arguments about this one issue for hours, and only accomplish one thing: to shift the focus away from the fact that we have a set of different, but wonderful candidates. So let us shift focus away from the divisive issue, and come together, with an open mind, to discuss the positives of a candidate that has given himself to the fight to unseat the money-shaking Bush lackey, John Cornyn.
So, what does Mikal Watts bring to the table? Besides a career of fighting for the little guy as a trial lawyer, he brings something to the table that we have to look at and accept as a must have; electability. For starters, regardless of how strongly we dislike the idea, money is necessary to wage a strong campaign. With his own personal funds, he has already matched, and then doubled what John Cornyn had in the bank. You combine this with the fund raising that could be done on his behalf, and Mikal Watts is a DEMOCRATIC, financial powerhouse. That is something that we don't get to say very often about Texas Democrats. A lot of people like to go back to the Tony Sanchez campaign, which was quite wealthy. The difference is that Sanchez made no effort to build Democratic infrastructure across the state of Texas, and rather spent the vast majority of his money on media efforts. Watts has declared that the former is his main priority, and while we can never be sure about the intentions of our candidates, I believe that the logic says that we should give the chance to the man in which it would not be financially difficult to pull off.
Another thing that opponents bring up when talking about Mikal Watts is that some of his money has went to Republican candidates for office. Most depressingly Rick Perry and David Dewhearst. This sort of thing happens, especially when you donate to PACs and the sort. However, if you are willing to overlook this and look into his Democratic loyalty, you will learn that his introduction into politics was through his grandmother, who did union work and was a hardcore Democrat. Also, you will learn that, through a fund raiser he organized, Watts raised something like 1.6 million for the national Democratic Party. Well over 90% of his money goes to Democratic candidates, so I am not going to condemn the man for a few odd donations.
Finally, I would like to bring up the Texas political landscape. I don't think that anyone would try to make the argument that Mikal Watts is at all more progressive than Rick Noriega. However, I think it should be rather obvious that Watts is more progressive than Cornyn, and thus, (most of us) would be much more satisfied with Watts in the senate than Cornyn. So, we have to at least take into consideration that Watts' more centrist political leaning offers him a somewhat more electable edge in center-right Texas than the more progressive Noriega. My main goal in this election is to kick out Cornyn, as I don't think we could do much worse. So, while Watts may not be the ideal candidate to some progressives, he has a leg up in kicking out the neoconservative, Bush puppet that Noriega might not have going into the election.
I am grateful that you guys have given me the chance to speak on behalf of my candidate and I hope the discussion can continue in the most friendly way possible. Regardless of who gets the nod, I hope that we can all rally around the candidate and make a much needed change in Washington. :)
by: leftshoe
Wed Jul 04, 2007 at 00:47:42 AM CDT [subscribe]
I have been frequently reading the Burnt Orange Report for going on about six months now. I have never felt the need to inject my opinion into the fray because A) I'm not as articulate as most, and B) Most of everything I would have said had already been said better than I would have said it. However, as we edge closer to 2008, I feel as though I finally have a point of view that isn't being adequately represented on this site. That point of view being the support of Mikal Watts in the upcoming Democratic Primary for the U.S. seat.
We are all aware that Watts is a pro-life Democrat (I am as well). We could go about in circles and generate arguments about this one issue for hours, and only accomplish one thing: to shift the focus away from the fact that we have a set of different, but wonderful candidates. So let us shift focus away from the divisive issue, and come together, with an open mind, to discuss the positives of a candidate that has given himself to the fight to unseat the money-shaking Bush lackey, John Cornyn.
So, what does Mikal Watts bring to the table? Besides a career of fighting for the little guy as a trial lawyer, he brings something to the table that we have to look at and accept as a must have; electability. For starters, regardless of how strongly we dislike the idea, money is necessary to wage a strong campaign. With his own personal funds, he has already matched, and then doubled what John Cornyn had in the bank. You combine this with the fund raising that could be done on his behalf, and Mikal Watts is a DEMOCRATIC, financial powerhouse. That is something that we don't get to say very often about Texas Democrats. A lot of people like to go back to the Tony Sanchez campaign, which was quite wealthy. The difference is that Sanchez made no effort to build Democratic infrastructure across the state of Texas, and rather spent the vast majority of his money on media efforts. Watts has declared that the former is his main priority, and while we can never be sure about the intentions of our candidates, I believe that the logic says that we should give the chance to the man in which it would not be financially difficult to pull off.
Another thing that opponents bring up when talking about Mikal Watts is that some of his money has went to Republican candidates for office. Most depressingly Rick Perry and David Dewhearst. This sort of thing happens, especially when you donate to PACs and the sort. However, if you are willing to overlook this and look into his Democratic loyalty, you will learn that his introduction into politics was through his grandmother, who did union work and was a hardcore Democrat. Also, you will learn that, through a fund raiser he organized, Watts raised something like 1.6 million for the national Democratic Party. Well over 90% of his money goes to Democratic candidates, so I am not going to condemn the man for a few odd donations.
Finally, I would like to bring up the Texas political landscape. I don't think that anyone would try to make the argument that Mikal Watts is at all more progressive than Rick Noriega. However, I think it should be rather obvious that Watts is more progressive than Cornyn, and thus, (most of us) would be much more satisfied with Watts in the senate than Cornyn. So, we have to at least take into consideration that Watts' more centrist political leaning offers him a somewhat more electable edge in center-right Texas than the more progressive Noriega. My main goal in this election is to kick out Cornyn, as I don't think we could do much worse. So, while Watts may not be the ideal candidate to some progressives, he has a leg up in kicking out the neoconservative, Bush puppet that Noriega might not have going into the election.
I am grateful that you guys have given me the chance to speak on behalf of my candidate and I hope the discussion can continue in the most friendly way possible. Regardless of who gets the nod, I hope that we can all rally around the candidate and make a much needed change in Washington. :)
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Call Out The Instigator
 clipped from www.commondreams.org
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DEMS BEATING UP ON DEMS
Thought you might find this interesting. it is posted on burnt orange report.here is the letter written by Sarah White.
Go to BOR to read the comments this letter has generated.
Dear Mikal Watts,
Hi! We've never met, but I felt like I needed to talk to you about something. You see, I follow celebrities a lot -- I love reading celebrity gossip, reading celebrity blogs, etc. One thing that celebrities often need is an "intervention" to get them to calm down. So consider this my own attempt at an internvetion: I will give you $5 to calm down and stop throwing your money around.
Why $5? Well, yesterday I read (and even wrote a little) about all the Rick Noriega stuff going on. Pretty exciting -- seems a lot of the blogs are for him, and I got to admit, I like his pro-choice record. After reading so much on Noriega, I wanted to learn more about you. Here's what I found on Yahoo! News:
Watts has also filed a statement with the U.S. Senate indicating he intends to expend personal funds totaling $10 million. He listed $3,810,661.81 for the primary and $6,189,333.19 for the General Election, totaling $9,999,995.
Dang! $9,999,995!! That's a whole lot of money, man. I think you've got a spending problem -- and I guess I'm worried about what that spending problem could do both to you, and other Texas progressives like myself. So I'm offering $5 -- to bump you up to a clean $10 million -- if you just take a breath, slow down, and realize money isn't everything.
You see, we've been down this road before. It is called "Tony Sanchez Parkway" and it's a dead-end street. I found this cool piece from the Texas Observer that talked all about the failed campaign Sanchez ran in 2002. I'm worried you're heading down the same path, and you don't need to. From what I've read by Eddie at BOR and some other places, you seem like an all right guy (though I'd laugh in your face if you ever gave me that quasi-pro life explanation in person). So why all the money?
It seems to me -- and this is just little old $5 Sarah talking -- that a lot of folks aren't that impressed with your endless cash-flow. If those online folks are really serious about supporting Noriega, they could easily raise $2-3 million. And which is more impressive -- personally loaning $9,999,995 to yourself, or raising a lot of money independently from the grassroots? All we have to do is look at how successful Obama was this past quarter to know the answer to that question.
So here's what I'm offering: $5 to calm down. $5 to take a step back, develop your issues, rebuild that crappy website you have up right now, and rethink your approach to this campaign. Be cause the more it looks like you're just trying to buy a seat in the U.S. Senate, the more people like me are going to run away from your campaign.
Cross-posted from my blog.
Go to BOR to read the comments this letter has generated.
Dear Mikal Watts,
Hi! We've never met, but I felt like I needed to talk to you about something. You see, I follow celebrities a lot -- I love reading celebrity gossip, reading celebrity blogs, etc. One thing that celebrities often need is an "intervention" to get them to calm down. So consider this my own attempt at an internvetion: I will give you $5 to calm down and stop throwing your money around.
Why $5? Well, yesterday I read (and even wrote a little) about all the Rick Noriega stuff going on. Pretty exciting -- seems a lot of the blogs are for him, and I got to admit, I like his pro-choice record. After reading so much on Noriega, I wanted to learn more about you. Here's what I found on Yahoo! News:
Watts has also filed a statement with the U.S. Senate indicating he intends to expend personal funds totaling $10 million. He listed $3,810,661.81 for the primary and $6,189,333.19 for the General Election, totaling $9,999,995.
Dang! $9,999,995!! That's a whole lot of money, man. I think you've got a spending problem -- and I guess I'm worried about what that spending problem could do both to you, and other Texas progressives like myself. So I'm offering $5 -- to bump you up to a clean $10 million -- if you just take a breath, slow down, and realize money isn't everything.
You see, we've been down this road before. It is called "Tony Sanchez Parkway" and it's a dead-end street. I found this cool piece from the Texas Observer that talked all about the failed campaign Sanchez ran in 2002. I'm worried you're heading down the same path, and you don't need to. From what I've read by Eddie at BOR and some other places, you seem like an all right guy (though I'd laugh in your face if you ever gave me that quasi-pro life explanation in person). So why all the money?
It seems to me -- and this is just little old $5 Sarah talking -- that a lot of folks aren't that impressed with your endless cash-flow. If those online folks are really serious about supporting Noriega, they could easily raise $2-3 million. And which is more impressive -- personally loaning $9,999,995 to yourself, or raising a lot of money independently from the grassroots? All we have to do is look at how successful Obama was this past quarter to know the answer to that question.
So here's what I'm offering: $5 to calm down. $5 to take a step back, develop your issues, rebuild that crappy website you have up right now, and rethink your approach to this campaign. Be cause the more it looks like you're just trying to buy a seat in the U.S. Senate, the more people like me are going to run away from your campaign.
Cross-posted from my blog.
South Texas Chisme Reports
This is from STC .read the whole story there.BUT the real reason I want you to read the post is that you can see that their reports are very one cited (Pun intended-Whose puppet-mouth piece are they?)
Maurice Caceres, a 23-year-old recent graduate of the University of Texas-Pan American, stood up and asked [Mikal Watts] about abortion, gay marriage and Social Security. Mr. Watts tackled the last subject at such length that he never got to the first two. [You can guess why.]
Afterward, an aide told Ms. Caceres that the campaign would e-mail her his position on the issues.
This is what who ever writes for STC wrote.
Excuse me! Watts' position merely opposing discrimination does not line up with the Democratic nominees! Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards support civil unions.
Maurice Caceres, a 23-year-old recent graduate of the University of Texas-Pan American, stood up and asked [Mikal Watts] about abortion, gay marriage and Social Security. Mr. Watts tackled the last subject at such length that he never got to the first two. [You can guess why.]
Afterward, an aide told Ms. Caceres that the campaign would e-mail her his position on the issues.
This is what who ever writes for STC wrote.
Excuse me! Watts' position merely opposing discrimination does not line up with the Democratic nominees! Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards support civil unions.
WHY THE NAME DOSDAMDEMS?
About 30 years when started I getting involved in Politics I worked for a County Commisioner in Alice, Tx. Several of the other Commisiners were Republican male Ranchers.(The one I worked for was a Hispanic Female).Anyway things were obviously changing in Alice ,Tx. because this one Commisioner(his nickname was Red) always used to go around muttering DOSDAMDEMS.
Dosdamdems
Welcome to my blog.The reason I created it is because I stated posting on other blogs but if they didnt like what i said they would ban me and not post my comments. So I created my own and I swear as a good Democrat that I will not do that.
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