Posted on 03/16/2006 12:59:34 PM PST by Jacob Kell
SAN ANTONIO--More than one political venture has met an unseemly end in the hardscrabble landscape of South Texas. It was here, in 1948, that Box 13 gave Lyndon Johnson a dubious 87-vote primary victory, crushing former Gov. Coke Stevenson's Senate aspirations. It was here, two years ago, that a bitter primary fight for a House seat shattered a friendship between two Hispanic Democrats. And it was here, this month, in a rematch of that contest, that a blogger-led quest to defeat a mainstream Democrat and drive the party further to the left smashed head-on into the realities of local politics.
One figure in that contest was Henry Cuellar, a centrist Democratic lawmaker from Laredo. He'd figured prominently in the Republican Party's outreach to Texas Hispanics; he crossed party lines in 2000 to support then-Gov. George Bush's presidential candidacy and later served as secretary of state for Mr. Bush's successor, Rick Perry. That didn't prevent Mr. Cuellar, however, from running a highly competitive race in 2002 against GOP incumbent Henry Bonilla for the District 23 congressional seat. Mr. Cuellar received crucial support from Texas Democrats, including long-time friend Rep. Ciro Rodriguez of San Antonio, the incumbent in neighboring District 28.
Part of Tom DeLay's notorious Texas redistricting in 2003 sought to shore up Mr. Bonilla, the only Hispanic Republican in the state's congressional delegation. The controversial map, now under Supreme Court review, lopped off Laredo from District 23, moving it and Mr. Cuellar into District 28, which now reaches from the outskirts of Austin in the north, through parts of San Antonio to Laredo and a stretch along the Rio Grande. Its residents, largely rural, Hispanic and poor, characteristically are hardworking traditionalists.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
INteresting. Thank you.
Nope .. it smashed head on into the reality that a leftist blog led anything is ineffective.
I marvel when I sneak over to DU and the number of posts on their most active threads strains to reach triple digits. This writer seems to think that because they're using the same medium they're going to be just as effective.
It's the message, stupid ...not the medium.
Actually, you could make a case for saying that they have the potential for influence. They did raise $500k, after all.
The problem is their arrogance. If you want to run a lefty candidate, don't pick a conservative district with an obviously popular and capable incumbent. His controversial votes were clearly made with the interests of his district in mind.
It seems clear to me that just because Kos has a loyal readership and makes a few bucks from his blog, he thinks he's God. When your attitude is like that, you get out of touch and ignore reality, which I think is his real problem.
Fortunately, I have a hunch he's not going to listen to me :-).
D
Which means that money will still be going down inefficient rat holes.
Let'em keep tilting at windmills, it's good exercise
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