Yesterday marked the one month point of the Texas Bloggers drive for 800 participants on board the Noriega Express to give Texas at least one U.S. Senator who won't embarass us every time he opens his mouth.
A lot has happened in that month, and it could not have happened without YOU.
With a hat tip to our friends in the Nutmeg State who blazed this trail with Ned Lamont last year, follow me on the flip to see what a Lone Star movement looks like...
Rick became a netroots rock star at Yearly Kos (including his very first live blog at Daily Kos.)
Lt. Colonel Noriega couldn't stay for the whole convention, because he had to be at the Alamo to take command of 1st Battalion, 141st Infantry Regiment.
Then, last week the news came that Blue America is including Rick on its list of candidates for the 2008 cycle. He had another fantastic liveblogging session with the good Firepups, (careful, Rick, this blogging thing can become addictive) who were kind enough to extend their welcome as well to Houston's newest City Council Member, Melissa Noriega.
Then, they joined us in celebrating Karl Rove's "retirement" back to Texas by hosting another fundraising post Monday that helped push us to the halfway point in our 800 person goal-less than one month after we started.
Rick wasn't able to participate this week, as he was in Ft. Benning, GA as part of his Army Reserve obligations.
Just as she did in the 2005 legislative session, when Rick was deployed to Afghanistan, Melissa stepped up to make sure the Noriega Express didn't lose any steam.
As Rick wrote to you on Monday, he's off for the next two weeks participating in a leadership command course for the Army at Fort Benning, GA. I'm proud of Rick's service to our country in uniform, and there's no doubt he's exactly where he needs to be right now. But that doesn't change the fact that we are in a heated Senate race to defeat John Cornyn, one of the most reactionary Senators in America.
For the next two weeks, Rick can't campaign. He can't meet the voters. And no, he can't fundraise for the campaign. That's where you come in.
Rick and I need you to fill in. With your support, we can beat John Cornyn. Join us and contribute to Rick Noriega's campaign for U.S. Senate today!
http://www.actblue.c...
Rick has dedicated his life to public service. In addition to his military service, since 1999, he has represented our East End Houston community in the Texas House of Representatives (I had the honor of serving in his stead while he was deployed to Afghanistan), where he has consistently voted for fairness and equal opportunity for all Texans. Rick also managed relief efforts for over 30,000 of our neighbors from Louisiana at Houston's George R. Brown Convention Center in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Rick is the right person to represent Texas in the U.S. Senate because every day he walks the walk. He has a record of service working to help everyday Texans that our opponents simply cannot match. We need to get that message out to all of Texas, and we need your help to ensure we have the resources to do that.
You responded magnificently. At this we have 497 contributors on Rick's combined Act Blue page for a total of $29,902.
How do you feel about the number "500"? Be a nice way to finish up the week, don't ya think?
And if we were to top $30k by the weekend's close, well, that would be just spiffy as well...
Join us on the Noriega Express, and don't forget to bring a friend.