Recently, the Back to Basics PAC started a campaign called: Rick Perry is a Coward.
Guess he's not the only coward in Texas:
Rebecca Bell-Metereau, Democratic nominee for State Board of Education District 5, and Judy Jennings, Democratic SBOE nominee in District 10, criticized their Republican opponents and the Chairman of the Republican Party of Texas today, after the RPT Chairman urged the two Republican nominees for those offices to skip a debate which would enable voters to hear from all the candidates in the two races.
Dem candidates for the Texas State Board of Education are ready and willing to debate their opponents on September 28th, but it seems increasingly likely that their opponents will be cowards and not show up to debate.
According to the Burnt Orange Report, turning yellow has become a Republican party platform:
The Republican Party of Texas is making it their mission for Republicans to hide from voters and refuse to debate. We know all about Rick Chicken Perry -- take a look at all the ads around BOR if you don't. But Republicans have decided to refuse to debate up and down the ticket now, only ensuring that their candidates will be seen as cowards who are unwilling to face the voters and talk about the issues.
All the hooha started after the Republicans made a real smooth move:
The dispute started yesterday, after Republican Party of Texas Chairman Steve Munisteri released a statement urging both of the Republican nominees to skip the debate, claiming that the Austin Chapter of the League of Women Voters wouldn't be fair, despite the fact that the organization has hosted such forums for years without complaint. For this event, the League has partnered with Austin PBS affiliate KLRU to televise the debates, and had arranged for Evan Smith to moderate.
It seems like the Republican establishment in Texas doesn't have much faith in their own candidates. I think this may turn into a national trend. I just can't imagine a single Tea Party candidate that would like being called a coward, but when they don't show up to the lectern to debate or hang around for questions from the press, what else are we to believe?
One local Democratic group is turning this into an opportunity:
Ken Mercer, the Republican incumbent on the State Board of Education, has been told by the state GOP leadership not to debate Democrat Rebecca Bell-Metereau - this is the same tactic that Rick Perry is using in the governor's race and we can't let him get away with it. We need letters to the editor to get the message out that there should be a free exchange of ideas and let the voters decide. Write the SA Express News, the Seguin Gazette, the Seguin Daily News, the NE Herald and the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung. Click here for links to all.
My friend JC sent this email out this morning to his circle of friends. We need more folks to be this active in their local communities - more letters to the editor about local issues that effect national events! If you're in Texas, consider writing your own LTE about this issue today! The above link also includes the Austin American Stateman.
Campaign Website for Judy Jennings and Rebecca Bell-Metereau.
Act Blue pages for Judy and for Rebecca
All unattributed quotes in the above diary come from a campaign press release. Please contact Harold Cook at 512-731-2445 if you have any questions or would like a copy of the release itself.