Kerry to Campaign Heavily in Texas

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/643561.html

Texans could be seeing more of Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry -- even though the state is the home turf of President Bush.

A campaign aide says Kerry will seek votes and try to raise cash in Texas.

The Massachusetts senator easily won the Texas Democratic primary this week.

Kerry campaigned in Houston and San Antonio last Saturday.

more

[NewYorkerfromMass]

1. Well look how well redistricting has helped the GOP so far

and a lot of Texans were pissed about that. And what about Homeland Securitygate?... Delay's shenanigans?
I think at the very least Kerry is smart to raise funds there and work the discontent.

[Florida_Geek]

3. redistricting may put more Repug in the House

But it does not change the number of Democrats in the state.

from http://www.uselectionatlas.org./USPRESIDENT/frametextj.html

George W. Bush Richard Cheney Republican.......3,799,639 59.30% 32
Albert Gore Jr. Joseph Lieberman Democratic.....2,433,746 37.98% 0
Ralph Nader Winona LaDuke Green ..................137,994 2.15%

While bush beat Gore by a lot of votes, things have changed. I still think he will beat Kerry there, but not by the same numbers.

[pmbryant]

2. Sounds good for the Dem party here

I'm not sure it's good for Kerry. He'll never get enough votes to win here. (At least not without winning every single other state except maybe Utah, at which point, Texas would be irrelevant anyway.)

Probably is good for him, though, as long as he concentrates on the "raise cash" part. ;-)

Peter

[NNN0LHI]

4. Lot of time between now and November. Lot of things can happen

Never know what can happen. I would not rule out anything at this point.

Don

[lancdem]

6. I think Kerry is doing so well in the blue states

and swing states that he can spend time in hardcore GOP states like Texas just to embarrass Bush. This is a good sign, that his campaign isn't worried about having to shore up his base.

[efhmc]

28. Not having a real Democratic presence here in Texas during the last pres

election really hurt our grass root candidates. You couldn't even find G/L signs for your yard in small towns. I will be so HAPPY to see Kerry here. You have no idea what that investment in time will mean to the state Dem. Party and to our other candidates.

[leesa]

5. I sure hope he campaigns heavily in California. It would be such a

shame to lose California to the drooling conservatives. They will work hard to steal the election here.

[lancdem]

7. He won't lose California

He's ahead there by double digits. That being said, I'm sure he won't ignore it.

[Le Taz Hot]

19. I have it on good authority

that Kerry plans on spending virtually no time in California except to fly into L.A., San Diego and/or San Francisco for a fundraising event or two, then fly out. The DNC/Kerry campaign sees California as a "given" -- you know, like the recall defeat was a "given." :eyes:

[curse10]

8. Good! Let's get that bastard in his own backyard!!!!

:grr:

[Blue-Jay]

9. Although it's good that he's in Texas,

He'd better be planning on spending a lot of time in Ohio, Florida, & Tennessee. We're counting on him.

[blm]

13. They intend to contest Ohio BIGTIME.

No doubt about it.

[Blue-Jay]

15. I'm sure they do.

however, he needs to really hit the pavement here and hit it hard to energize the part-time voters. If we win Ohio, it's in the friggin' bag. Guaranteed.

[gulfcoastliberal]

10. No Open-Top Convertible Car Rides, Please... n/t

[bearfan454]

11. Let's give Kerry a big Tx howdy and Welcome Senator !

There are a lot of us here. bush has hurt this state along with every other state too.

[GOPisEvil]

12. Good! There's money to be raised here!

There's also plenty of pissed off Texans who can't stand Bush*.

If he comes to Austin, I'm there! :-)

[UpInArms]

14. from my

mother in Texas - I got this note:

Know this is big day there but wanted to tell you Texas results in the primary yesterday.

Altogether, for all the democrats on the ballot, the total number of votes were 730,100

For Bush, the total vote count was 584,535

If we can keep this up in the November election, we will definitely put Kerry in the white house and
maybe eventually get our state back to a two-party system.

that was a difference of 145,565

[NWHarkness]

16. The nominee has a responsibility to help build the party

even in states he doesn't expect to carry. I am glad to see Kerry taking that responsibility seriously.

[moondust]

17. Why?

Aren't there much better places to spend these precious days?

[mobuto]

18. Probably

It remains to be seen how much time and effort Kerry will spend in Texas.

But a few things:

1. There are a lot of Democrats in Texas. A lot of rich Democrats too. At this point, Kerry needs money more than anything.

2. Texas will almost certainly go for Bush. But if Bush ever feels he's forced to campaign there, the race is over.

[yardwork]

20. W has been spending a lot of time in Texas lately.

He must be worried about something.

[moondust]

21. I'd rather see him in Missouri, Arizona, Tennessee, NC, WV, etc.

Texas is a lost cause. Campaigning "heavily" there may bring in some money but that may be all it's good for.

[mobuto]

23. Agreed

However bringing in some money isn't a small issue. I think Kerry may also be trying to send the message that he's prepared to contest the South, and there's no better place to send that message than from Bush's backyard. But no, it doesn't make sense for Kerry to burn resources in a state he's not going to win anyway. Its like Bush campaigning in California a week before the 2000 election.

[PATRICK]

25. Agree with all comparisons

It is a good opener and more effective than anything Bush is doing or HAS done along those lines. Support for the beleaguered Texas House members is also a necessary first step in the second battle of 2004, the harder task of retaking Congress.

But this is early to plan his entire itinerary. It not only is a good opener it IS tempting to lend credibility to the possibilities there.

Anything that gets under their skins is very good from now on.

[efhmc]

29. I strongly disagree. By having a good showing, if not winning, we can

go a long way toward getting control back in Texas. There are LOTS of angry people here. Many in thise small town are gaving money on line. At our last precinct chair meeting (of surely not many, if any, wealthy people) it was suggested that we could raise $5,000 or more for Kerry. Hope that is true. If nothing else the energy in feeling that we have some control as citizens somewhere will be great for democracy.

[Ilsa]

22. Yeah! I bet there might be enough

angry Texans to put Texas in play! And there's lots of money to be raised.

My brother in Las Colinas told me a couple of days ago that shrub's support there is getting soft.

Last night Lou Dobbs ran a news story about hte police dept in Plano (north of Dallas) being upset that W.'s new budget cuts $1.5 billion from police funding next year. Said Dallas and other large cities are still getting their money, but the smaller cities (250,000 live in Plano, home to JC Penney, ARCO, EDS, Frito-Lay, etc) are expecting budget cuts, and citizens should expect crime increases.

[Dover]

24. Another good reason to invite Doggett to be VP...that would REALLY

upset the nest....

[Bridget Burke]

26. Texas Democrats have always contributed lots of money

to the party. All too often, the state is written off as a lost cause & totally ignored by the national candidates. Realism or a self-fulfilling prophecy?

A few visits would at least help the chances of Texas Democratic candidates. And the more votes against Bush the better--even if our electoral votes will probably go to the yankee who pretends he's a Texan. (Actually, I was born farther north than Connecticut, but I've lived in Texas most of my life & have never felt the need to buy a pig farm.)

Juanita, proprietress of the Worlds Most Dangerous Beauty Salon, Inc., covered the primaries in Fort Bend County (home of Tom DeLay). Among the mostly local details, this point stands out: "From the 1992 primary, Republican voting countywide is down by about 3,000 votes, but the Democratic voting is up about 1,000 votes."

www.brazosriver.com/electionselection.htm

[sonias]

27. bring it on

I would love to see Kerry campaign more in the south and not write us off. Even if he doesn't win Texas, showing the south he cares enough to campaign here is good party re-building. Things could change in the next four years and of course the money is good. We good Dems are trapped in this state, so we would welcome him.

Sonia

[DeepModem Mom]

30. I think it shows Kerry is not afraid to challenge Bush anywhere --

He should campaign strategically, but he's got time to mount an inclusive, nationwide effort -- and help heal some of the division that Bush exacerbates.

[jamesinca]

31. I am happy to see he is going into the south

One thing I heard was a lot of fallout from the southern Dems that Gore basically gave the south away and made only a token appearance in FL. Also if you look back into the S.F Chronicle in the time leading up to and including the week of the recall out here in CA, a lot of people that are taken for granted to lean one way or the other were pissed. I remember one story of a Chinese man that was not particularly happen with politicians because they took his vote for granted and for that reason he will not vote for them, or he will vote for anybody but the incumbent. They went around to several different ethnic groups and socio-economic classes and did the reports from their point of view. Very interesting and very telling. I think if Kerry wants this thing he needs to work until he feels like his eyes are going to bleed and then 10 minutes longer.