This is good news.
Rep. Ralph Hall is in a class of his own. He has betrayed his Party, his District and his honor.
Among the Abramoff 65, Ralph Hall stands out as the guy who included an attack on a teenage rape victim as part of his deliverables for Abramoff and his Chinese-sweatshop-owning-patrons. And Hall entered the attack into the Congressional Record.
In the TX-04, there is a scrappy, under-funded Democrat running against Ralph Hall. His name is Glenn Melancon. And like many races in this cycle, Glenn has little funding and very little support outside of the district.
Today, Melancon released an internal poll that shows him puling to within SEVEN points of Hall among likely voters.
TPM Election Central has the details of this 48(R) to 41(D) race.
We need to tell this story.
To the jump...
This is yet another seat we can force the Republicans to spend resources to protect. And with just a little bit of help,
Glenn Melancon may beat one of the biggest weasels in Congress.
Here is what Glenn announced in his press release:
"These poll results are stunning and give us all great hope," said Glenn Melancon, Democratic candidate for US Congress. "With the support of hundreds of terrific volunteers, I have fought hard over the last year to bring my positive message to Texas families, and the people are responding favorably. They're demanding accountability and a hopeful change. With one mighty voice they're saying, `We've had enough already.'" [snip]
Hall (R) | Melancon (D) | Other | Don't Know |
48% | 41% | 1% | 10% |
(Margin of Error +/- 5.2%)
Hall received 68% of the vote in 2004. He has lost 20% of his base and is dropping farther. At the beginning of this campaign, no political expert expected a major difference this election cycle. [snip]
"Rarely do we get an opportunity to change the course of American history. Can you imagine a more important time in your voting life? Are you ready to stand up and be counted? This is the time. This is the place. Early voting has begun. Hunting season is open. Let's start restoring America's dignity today," Melancon said.
Glenn Melancon of Sherman is the Democratic candidate in Texas' 4th Congressional District, the famous district of Sam Rayburn.
Glenn hit it on the head.
"Rarely do we get an opportunity to change the course of American history. Can you imagine a more important time in your voting life?"
Please support Glenn with your donations so he has the resources to hold Hall accountable through November.
He has taken the fight to Hall with his Web site, Ralph Hall of Shame. He has gotten some local press and the attention of local GOP thugs. It is a rough and tumble campaign. It is very impressive that a scrappy campaign can take on one of the most entrenched Members of Congress and move them below 50 percent.
TPM Election Central laid out the importance of this effort:
Few observers would ever have dreamed that GOP Rep. Ralph Hall's Texas seat is anything but completely safe. He's occupied it for more than a quarter-century. CQ Politics rates it "Safe Republican." And the district, which is around 100 miles from Hall's friend President Bush's Crawford ranch, is deep red: Seventy percent of its voters went for Bush in 2004. But now a new poll obtained by Election Central which was commissioned by Hall's Dem foe, history professor Glenn Melancon, suggests that Hall may be vulnerable after all. [snip]
Presuming for the moment the poll is within striking distance of the candidates' actual levels of support, what could account for such a drop? Hall's committed a few unsightly gaffes of late. He recently stumbled badly in efforts to explain away his ties to lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Meanwhile, Melancon has been blasting Hall for a statement he placed in the Congressional Record in 1997, when he slandered a teen sex slave.
Hall, who's 83, also recently insisted that he'd take his controversial trip to the Marianas with Abramoff all over again, and he continues to be dogged by a comment he made some time ago in which he suggested that Baghdad should have been leveled so Iraqis knew they were whipped. Those comments, plus stances such as his refusal to require Congress to pay for tax cuts, cost Hall the backing of the Dallas Morning News, which refused to endorse a candidate in the race.
TPM Muckraker has more details on Ralph Hall. Check them out.
A little bit of support would go a long way in this district. So far Glenn has raised $4,781.79 from 61 donors on his Act Blue page. Let's help this hard scrabble campaign. They are taking the fight to the GOP.
They will continue without any help, but with some resources they just might ride a wave to victory.
The Abramoff 65 is listed in the Tip Jar. Find a Democrat to support. Donate. And then volunteer. Get involved in the GOTV effort.
Unless we double our efforts and fight like hell, the GOP may win on November. We have to bring the fight to them everywhere.
Please do what you can. And then do some more. To win we need your time, money and energy. We need to fight hard and fight smart.
2006 is now. It is way past time to take our Country back.
Let's do this.