Tears of joy, that is!
I just heard that 8 term Democratic Representative Lloyd Doggett won in Central Texas! The Republicans in the Texas legislature, aided by Tom DeLay, former Speaker of the US House of Representatives, tried to gerrymander Doggett out of a seat back in the second redistricting that was done in Texas after the 2000 census.
Doggett still won. He won again and again - he'd served for 16 years, since 1994. He'd win with 85% of the vote in the 90's, and still got 65% of the votes in the past decade.
It looked doubtful most of the evening...And now he's won again. I am thrilled.
There's no better Democrat I know than Lloyd Doggett.
He's served our state as a terrific Democrat for decades. He'd served in the Texas State Senate for 12 years, and then was a Supreme Court Justice in Texas.
He was always a consistent liberal, and understood who he represented - the people in his district, not the corporations.
He was against the invasion of Iraq from the very beginning - a very wise man.
He supported a guest worker program.
He was a strong supporter of the environment, an issue of great importance to me.
He was pro-choice. He had a 100% rating from NARAL.
He was for gay rights.
His opponent, Dr Donna Campbell, made an appearance on Politifact.com. She alleged that he voted for Cap and Trade, the Economic Stimulus Bill, and Healthcare Reform.
Seeking to unseat U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, Republican nominee Donna Campbell of Columbus paints him as a "career politician" with some questionable positions.
In an ad posted online Oct. 19, the narrator compares Doggett and Campbell, an "emergency room doctor." "They disagree on ObamaCare: Doggett voted yes, Dr. Campbell says repeal. Stimulus spending: Doggett voted yes, Dr. Campbell says it's a waste of money. Cap and trade: Doggett voted yes, Campbell says job killer."
We're not weighing in on whether the stimulus was a waste of money, or if cap and trade is a job killer. But since earlier this month we rated True Doggett's statement that he voted against "big bank bailouts," we were curious whether Campbell accurately recapped his votes on other high-dollar issues.
Amanda Tyler, Doggett's campaign manager, told us by e-mail that Doggett voted for each piece of legislation, though the campaign has reservations about the visuals in Campbell's ad; for example, she said, a shot of a foreclosure sign doesn't make sense in connection with his vote for stimulus aid.
I'm proud that he did! He shouldn't apologize for ANY of those votes!
Her political flyers were misleading, and she fought a nasty campaign.
I sure hope that the Congress between now and January doesn't shrink from their responsibilities!
Let the Republicans prove how lame they are once January comes. Until then, you still have the majority, Democrats. Make me proud!
I was going to be so sorry if Doggett lost. It'd be a real loss for Central Texas, for America, and for Democrats.
This punishment of almost all Dems because of a bad economy sucks.
The misinformed electorate who doesn't know how badly they're messing up by giving the reins back to the Republicans sure do frustrate me though!