Over at the Texas blog, Burnt Orange Report, writer Phillip Martin was absolutely right in his post that the Texas of today is a world of difference from the Texas of 5 years ago. That year we saw the rise of John Cornyn from Attorney General to U.S. Senator, defeating Ron Kirk 55-43. But thanks to hard work by a dedicated group of Democrats, the world of 2008 will indeed be very different than the world of 2002.
A large part of that has to do with President Bush. Having ridden sky-high approval ratings into the 2002 elections, he naturally helped prop up John Cornyn and every other Republican that ran (and sadly won) in so many Senate races that year. Now, Bush is no longer popular. In fact, there is not a single state in which he has over 50% approval anymore. Not one. In Texas, Bush's approval is just above 40%. That's now below John Cornyn's last measured approval of 43%.
But that change hasn't stopped Cornyn's allegience to Bush- he's continued to vote with him lockstep, one of the strongest pro-Bush voting records in the Senate. Heck, even Texas' other Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison has broken with the president on issues such as SCHIP or the DREAM Act. But I suppose we shouldn't be surprised that Cornyn is welcoming Bush to and has already welcomed Cheney with open arms to come fundraise for him in Texas.
"It's in the eye of the beholder," Mr. Cornyn said, adding, "I'm pleased that the vice president would take time out of his schedule to assist us in that effort."
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"But I believe that it's important in a state as big as Texas to raise the funds to tell people who you are and what you stand for."
Rick Noriega and Texas Democrats are fighting back. Just as they have been for the last 5 years, together we are going to push back- in 2007, 2008, and beyond.
Below I've included an email sent by the Noriega campaign...we'll be seeing a lot more activity this week regarding President Bush secretly arriving in Texas to fundraising for John Cornyn. This is what change looks like.
President Bush is arriving in Texas for two secretive, invite-only fundraisers for his Rubber Stamp: Senator John Cornyn.
We shouldn't be surprised that George W. Bush is coming in 3 days to help his #1 cheerleader for his Administration's failed policies.
But we're not going to let President Bush quietly slink into Texas to help Rubber Stamp Cornyn. Click the link below and help us reach our $50,000 goal in 3 days to Stamp Out Bush's Rubber Stamp.
http://www.actblue.com/...
Last week, Dick Cheney was in Texas to raise money for John Cornyn. Cornyn stayed in Washington to vote against children's health care yet again.
For rubberstamping the Bush-Cheney Administration's policies, Cornyn was rewarded with a fundraiser from Dick Cheney and now gets two fundraisers from President Bush on Thursday.
If John Cornyn isn't going to lead, then he needs to get out of the way. You can Stamp Out Bush's Rubber Stamp by contributing to our campaign today!
http://www.actblue.com/...
This Administration has led us in the wrong direction and John Cornyn has done everything in his power to help them do it. We need someone who will fight to bring our troops home from Iraq. We need someone who will fight for health care for our veterans and our children, for the environment, for education. And we need someone who will fight for all of us, not just for President Bush and Dick Cheney.
Throughout this week, our campaign will be joined by other leaders and organizations across Texas and the nation. Together, we're going to point out the failure of the Bush/Cornyn agenda. Join us and answer the call to Stamp Out Bush's Rubber Stamp!
http://www.actblue.com/...