Posted on 05/27/2014 5:24:19 AM PDT by cotton1706
Congress’s oldest member may be its first incumbent to lose his seat on Tuesday.
Rep. Ralph Hall (R-Texas), who recently turned 91, is facing a hard-fought runoff challenge from former U.S. Attorney John Ratcliffe (R).
Ratcliffe has given Hall the toughest race of his career, spending hundreds of thousands of his own money and racking up endorsements from a trio of national conservative groups that have given his campaign a late boost. Hall has stepped up his game since he was caught sleeping in the first round of voting, when Ratcliffe and other candidates held him to 45 percent, an outcome his campaign had confidently predicted wouldn’t happen.
The 17-term incumbent has spent more time back in his northeast Texas district since the runoff began and upped his fundraising, driven in large part by help from old friends in Congress and the Texas congressional delegation. But it’s unclear whether Hall has recovered fast enough to hold onto his seat for what he’s already said will be his last term in Congress.
Ratcliffe has been pounding Hall on his three decades in the House, blaming him for the growth in the federal deficit and for failing to stand up to GOP leadership. The insurgent has raced around the district to convince voters who know Hall well that he’s been there too long with little to show for it, painting himself as the more conservative alternative.
“If you want more of the same, Congressman Hall will certainly provide that. He's been there for 34 years and he wants two more years to provide more of the same,” Ratcliffe told The Hill. “People feel Washington has never been more broken and that they want a real fighter as opposed to someone who's just going to be a go along to get along politician.”
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
Why would a 91 year old run for re election to Congress - after being there 34 years?
I can come up with several answers, but there is no good answer to this question.
He loves having power over others lives?
or
The bribes and under the table money are just too good to give up?
or
He simply can’t understand that he’s near the end of his road?
All three possible - but at 91 - what is he going to spend the bribes on? Hot chicks? Speed boat? New condo in the USVI? Ferrari?
Lot of folks who work so late into life tend to die almost immediately after stopping work. Methinks he fears this.
I read an interesting quote recently.
“To enjoy your retirement,you must first give up your ambitions.”
He’s been in office since i was a kid. Sam Johnson too. Great men, but it’s time for them to step aside.
Correction ... Johnson assumed office after i had already begun voting. Again ... great man but time to go.
Ralph is a good guy but it is time to retire.
I’m sorry but how can any rational person believe that a 91 year old man is the person best equipped to watch out for the interests of the constituents?
2014
See also: Texas’ 4th Congressional District elections, 2014
Ratcliffe is running in the 2014 election for the U.S. House to represent Texas’ 4th District. Ratcliffe and incumbent Ralph Hall advanced past the Republican primary on March 4, 2014. They will face off in the runoff election on May 27, 2014.[4] The general election takes place November 4, 2014.
[hide]U.S. House, Texas District 4 Republican Primary, 2014
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngRalph Hall Incumbent 45.4% 29,848
Green check mark transparent.pngJohn Ratcliffe 28.8% 18,917
Lou Gigliotti 16.1% 10,601
John Stacy 4.3% 2,812
Brent Lawson 3.5% 2,290
Tony Arterburn 1.9% 1,252
Total Votes 65,720
Source: Texas Secretary of State
“Ralph is a good guy but it is time to retire.”
No one who has held the same office for 34 years is a “good guy.” He’s crapped on the notion the founding fathers had of the “citizen politician.” With all the good things happening in Texas, getting this guy out of office has to be high on the list.
He is a good guy.
In Tx All Politicians are forced to be citizens.
They keep their day jobs.
They keep their day jobs.
************
Isn’t his day job being a federal congress critter?
“In Tx All Politicians are forced to be citizens.
They keep their day jobs.”
What? Your US Congressmen and Senators play by the same rules as they do in any other state. Hall isn’t a State Politician, he’s a US Congressman. Maybe things are different at the state level, but not the Federal. I think Texas still has a “part time legislature (meets every other year),” so you are probably correct as it relates to your state legislators. BTW, never let those folks convince you that a full-time legislature is a good thing. That change here in CA was our undoing. We now pay these a$$holes year round six-figure salaries so they can write goofball laws 24/7! But just think, now a teenager can claim to be queer and have his/her choice of bathrooms at public scrawl.
“He is a good guy.”
So you are just another misinformed voter that guys like Hall have conned into giving him lifetime employment at the government tit! If you really believe that he’s fit to serve you for 34 years, you are part of the problem that we as a nation face. Everyone hates the Congress, but evidently like you, likes his own Congressman. Question: Does he still even own a home in his district?
From the article:
“John Ratcliffe, the Republican trying to unseat Hall, asserts his issue is not with Hall’s age but his tenure. A former U.S. attorney and small-town mayor, Ratcliffe said he is trying to make a point about citizen legislators and the need for change in Washington.
One of the problems in the country is we do have too many career politicians who stay too long and become part of the problem we’re trying to fix,” said Ratcliffe, who is 48 years old. “These are two-year terms for a reason. I don’t think our founders intended that someone serve 18 of them.”
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