And then, there were two--in TX-32, there will be a runoff election between Steve Love and Eric Roberson on April 8.
For once, the numbers are on our side. In looking at the polling numbers from
http://dalcoelections.org/ "> Dallas County Elections, I found that Pete Sessions got 28,718 votes in the Republican primary. The Love-Burns-Roberson team got 44,628 votes! In the primary, anyway, TX-32 Democrats have finally outpolled Republicans!
Now, it's up to us to think strategically and pick the candidate who can stand up to Pete Sessions in a debate, challenge him on his supposed "strengths," (patriotism, family values, et al), and beat the living crap out of him in November.
I run the blog
http://sessionswatch.blogspot.com/ "> Sessions Watch, and have promised the candidates that I will stay impartial in this race.
So I'll leave the decision up to you, the voter, as to which one of the remaining candidates has the better chance to beat Pete Sessions in November.
Let's take a look again at the websites of the two remaining candidates, keeping in mind that our district is so hopelessly gerrymandered that we'll have to sway about 11% of Republicans to crossover and vote with us in November.
http://www.stevelove.com/ "> Steve Love is a really nice guy. I've talked to him and his wife at several "meet the candidate" events, and they're really nice people. Steve Love is a self-described "life-long Democrat and union member." He's in favor of some issues I care about, like universal health care and a living wage amendment. The only problem is, he's 74 years old and has never held public office before. He's a retired Methodist minister, which is why he's so well-spoken, and why he cares about issues like health care and immigration. I just have one concern about him--is he realistically up to the challenge of serving in the U.S. Congress? To me, age is not a consideration. If Walter Mondale or George McGovern showed up and wanted to run for congress in TX-32, I'd say hell yeah! Either one of those octogenarians could mop the floor with Pete Sessions, and go on to Washington to serve our district, because they've served before. I don't have that same confidence in a 74-year-old who has never served.
Did I mention that he doesn't know what a push-card is? At one campaign event, he was complimenting Eric Roberson on his cards (another thing I just "love" about Steve--he's very nice to his opponents). He said, "That'll fit nice in a legal envelope." Eric explained that these are push cards" and Steve Love admitted he'd never heard of that. Steve Love's strategy is for him and his wife to put full-page fliers on cars in church parking lots on Sunday. Hey, it got him second-place in the primary, right? But is it as effective as assembling a core group of volunteers to hand out push cards at polling places? Pete Sessions sure knows what push cards are, and will be out in full force, come November. (I checked Steve Love's website for a list of endorsements, and didn't see one. If anyone has information on Steve Love's endorsements, please post them--thanks!)
http://ericroberson.org/ "> Eric Roberson is upfront about the fact that he's an ex-Republican. I talked to him at length about his former political affiliation at a "meet the candidate" event at North Oak Cliff Library. Eric gave an interesting and detailed account of what it's like to be a moderate in a party that's gone totally right-wing. For one thing, he's pro-choice--contrary to disinformation put out via robo-call by one of his primary opponents. He worked on the campaign of a pro-choice Republican, helping her keep her job from a right-wing challenger. On the
http://ericroberson.org/Issues.html "> "issues" page of his website, he clearly states that Roe v Wade is "settled law" and that abortion opponents should support funding for real sex education and pre-natal care.
Upon leaving school and getting out into the real world, Eric Roberson knew he had more in common with Democrats, but was urged to stay in the Republican Party by one of his legal professional associations, which needed every moderate it could get. The final straw was when the Republican Party put him in charge of "affirmative action outreach," but didn't give him one iota of support.
Eric Roberson also wants to end the war in Iraq. As a veteran, he's well-suited to debate Pete "chickenhawk" Sessions on the errors we've made in Iraq, and how we can bring troops home in 12-18 months. He can also debate Pete Sessions on the subject of torture. As part of his military trainng, Eric Roberson actually volunteered to be waterboarded. He knows that waterboarding is torture, and that the U.S. should not be engaged in interrogation techniques of this kind.
Another thing that impresses me about Eric Roberson--not that I'm taking sides, or anything--is his grasp of economic policy in the U.S. Corporate greed, for instance. As a lawyer, he's defended and won cases for "the little guy" against huge corporations, and knows that our current situation, with CEOs and shareholders making huge profits while workers get laid off, is not sustainable.
As I said, I'm remaining neutral in this race, and I believe if Democrats take a good look at both candidates, we'll pick the right person in the runoff who's not only smart enough to beat Pete Sessions in November, but has the stamina to serve in Congress on our behalf. A list of endorsements is available at
http://ericroberson.org/Endorsements.html "> this link
Early voting for the runoff election starts March 31, and runs through April 4. Election Day is April 8.
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