We've been here before, haven't we? It seems to happen at least once every election cycle. The names are different this time around, but the M.O. is all too familiar:
In 2002, they did it to Max Cleland, a true American hero who lost both of his legs and an arm while serving his country in Vietnam. Right-wing pundits like Ann Coulter belittled his military service and made slanderous remarks about the injuries he suffered, and during the race for his Senate seat, his Republican opponent Saxby Chambliss even tried to tie him to Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein in an attempt to portray him as soft on terrorism. Their attacks worked: Cleland lost his Senate seat to Chambliss, and America lost a fine senator who deserved far better.
In 2004, they did it to John Kerry, digging up people who didn't even serve with him to tell vicious lies about the medals he won for his bravery. At their convention, the Republicans ridiculed his injuries by wearing bandaids with purple hearts on them. The rest, as we all know, is infamy. Kerry lost his election, too, mostly because he didn't respond quickly enough or strongly enough to the Republican attack machine.
In 2005, it was Jack Murtha. He made the mistake of speaking out against George Bush's war in Iraq, and was labeled a "coward" by Republicans like Jean Schmidt. This time their attacks failed: Murtha never backed down, and his courageous stand against the war marked a turning point in the public perception of Iraq and set a positive example for other Democrats.
Now the Republican attack machine is gearing up to do it again, this time down here in Texas. The Republicans are facing a bleak political landscape this November, and they have a weak incumbent in John Cornyn who stands to possibly lose his seat in the Senate because of his dismal approval ratings. They know they'll be up against a tough opponent this fall, Rick Noriega, a fighting Dem who served his country bravely in Afghanistan:
Rick felt compelled to answer the call and serve in the U.S. Army in the wake of the 1979 Iran hostage crisis. He was an airborne school and service commander of the 143rd Infantry Detachment (Long-Range Surveillance), an aide to Brigadier General David Heuer, and aide-de-camp to General Samuel Turk, Adjutant General of the Texas Army National Guard.
But Rick's service in the Army did not end there. He became a Lieutenant Colonel in the Texas Army National Guard, and served as deputy garrison commander of the KMTC training facility in Kabul, Afghanistan after 9/11. Rick was deployed in Afghanistan for a total of 14 months until August 2005, and he was also the Laredo Border Sector Commander in Operation Jump Start during the summer of 2006.
Since his return from Afghanistan, Rick has continued his strong record of community service. As Incident Commander of Houston's Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, he coordinated medical, employment, travel, housing and food services for more than 2,000 evacuees. He has also been a teacher in the Houston ISD, and worked as a project manager for Communities in Schools, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping connect schools with needed community resources. In 1998, he was elected to the Texas House of Representatives, and since then he has been a strong voice for progressive values in a very red state. He even authored a bill (HB1403) making Texas the first state in the country to provide in-state tuition rates and financial assistance for qualifying children of undocumented immigrants. This groundbreaking legislation paved the way for similar program in eight other states as well as the proposed DREAM Act, which would create such a program at the federal level.
The Texas GOP is scared, because they know that John Cornyn is an unpopular incumbent with a poor record in the US Senate, and he'll be facing a tough challenger in Rick Noriega. So rather than face Rick on the issues, they're getting ready to slime Rick's military record. They've already made a formal request to review his military records.
Rick has made it clear that he intends to fight back against any attempts at swiftboating by Cornyn and the Republicans. Let's make sure that Rick knows he isn't fighting the Republicans alone. Show your support for Rick by signing this petition, and give him some ammo to fight back by making a donation to his campaign. The Republicans are going to spare no expense in trying to keep this Senate seat, but we've shown before in other races that we can match them dollar for dollar and then some. This is what the 50-state strategy is all about. Let's stand with Rick Noriega and score an upset victory for progressive values in Texas!