“Establishment” Conservatives Ousted?

Here is from Patricia Kilday Hart’s column today:

“This ain’t your father’s Republican Party,” said (Vice President Joe) Biden, to appreciative laughter.

Here is her column on the VP’s NAACP appearance yesterday.

 My pal Robert Miller ended his take on June 5 with this:

 I am betting that Dewhurst wins the runoff. 

 Yesterday Robert ended with this:

 Although this remains a close and competitive race, Lt. Gov. Dewhurst clearly has his work cut out for him.

 Here is Burkablog’s latest:

Buy or sell? I’m buying. The Dewhurst camp ran a lackluster campaign, the fatal decision of which was delivering him into the hands of Rick Perry’s consultants. Nor was it smart to attack Tom Leppert just before the primary. Dewhurst should have won this campaign easily. At a time when no one knew who Ted Cruz was, Dewhurst went on the attack and raised Cruz’s name identification.  Now Perry’s neck is on the line as well. If Cruz wins the race, every story will say that Perry endorsed Dewhurst.

* * * *

I’m sure that many readers will recall that I have written repeatedly that Dewhurst would win this race. Maybe he will yet, but that’s not where the smart money is right now.

 Commentary is certainly not an expert on Lone Star State GOP politics but I’ll certainly give a take.  Let’s see now, the Lite Guv has been endorsed by Guv. Dude, all but one of his GOP State Senators is supporting him, he’s the candidate of the “establishment” conservatives, a host of organizations and PACs are backing him, and yet he very well could get his arse handed to him on July 31 – 18 days away.

 Oh, and let’s not forget that Hutch decided not to seek reelection because she knew she couldn’t get her own party’s nomination.

 A Cruz upset victory would mean that the “establishment” conservatives are no longer in charge of the Lone Star State GOP.  The Tea Baggers would be in control – period!  This could be a godsend for Lone Star State Dem candidates up and down the ballot. 

 Bud Kennedy from the Star Telegram has a column today on the impact of a Cruz win.  Here is a bit:

 If East Texas lawyer Paul Sadler can win his party’s July 31 runoff, he stands ready to pick up support from the 20 percent of Republicans who consider themselves too moderate for Tea.

 “There is such a culture of fear in that party, I don’t think any Republican could ever publicly support a Democrat,” Sadler said on his way to raise money in Dallas.

 But privately? “More than one” of Sadler’s former fellow Texas House lawmakers has promised to cross party lines and support him, he said.

 “I don’t want this to come out as ‘Sadler has a chance if Cruz wins’ because I think I have a good chance anyway,” he said.

 No you don’t Representative Sadler.  You only have a shot if Cruz is their nominee and the folks running the Lone Star State Dem Party get off their arses and mount a very strategic effort.  Here is Kennedy’s entire column. 

 Of course none of this matters if Dems can’t even get Sadler elected in 18 days.  I’m going to make sure all my friends and family are voting for Paul Sadler.

 I’m also going to hope that the folks running the Lone Star State Dem Party are working on a contingency plan just in case.  Stay tuned!

 Three Hall of Fame great pitchers share the record for MLB All Star Game starts with five each.  Name the three pitching greats?  Sadly, none are still around.

 Pasadena CM Ornaldo Ybarra wasn’t able to get another Latino appointed to the Pasadena City Council.  Read about it here.

 Nice try, CM Ybarra.

 Commentary really doesn’t have a lot of respect for the NCAA.  It is all about $$$$$ for them.  So I really don’t expect them to hand the death penalty to Penn State over the Freeh Report.   It would be too much of an inconvenience for Big Ten Schedulers.

 Hall of Fame greats Don Drysdale, Lefty Gomez, and Robin Roberts of course each started five MLB All Star games. 

 Check out a Chron interview with the new ‘Stros owner here.

   I hope they don’t trade Wandy, Brett Myers, J.D. Martinez, Altuve, Justin Maxwell, Lucas Harrell, Bud Norris, Jordan Lyles, Scott Moore, Jed Lowrie, or Chris Johnson.   We have to build on something as the ten game roadie begins this evening at AT&T Park.

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Temper Tantrum

It looks like City Controller Ron Green is throwing a little temper tantrum because The Mayor won’t show him the bond numbers.  Here is from Chron.com:

 Green, the city’s second-highest elected official, said he has repeatedly asked for and been denied information on the measures.

“If it’s that secretive, it can’t possibly be good for the city,” Green said. ”Until such time as I get more information, I’m not supporting any bond referendum that the city puts forward.”

Oh, brother!  Settle down and wait to see the numbers like everybody else this morning then you can pronounce them good or evil.  Don’t worry – the world won’t come to an end.  And also from Chron.com:

 Green said he has heard that the package of bond measures will total approximately $400 million.

“I still believe we need to go out for more bond authorization. I think $400 million is not adequate to meet the needs of the city,” Green said.  “If you’re going to ask somebody to vote for bond referendums, you need to be realistic about what it’s going to take to meet a major CIP (capital improvement project) initiative.”

The city should take advantage of low interest rates and ask for $600 million to $800 million, even if that requires a tax increase, Green said.

In 2006, then-Mayor Bill White also did not consult with then-Controller Parker before rolling out a series of bond measures, according to Parker’s office.

If you ask me and thanks for asking, the City Controller is looking and sounding a little silly.  BTW:  The Mayor will unveil the bond program this morning at City Council.

 Here is the rest of the story.

 Last night the NL All Stars had 10 base hits and the AL All Stars had 6 base hits.  Name the league division that had the most base hits?

 One of the best lines of the 2012 Campaign comes from Vice-President Joe Biden yesterday before the National Council of La Raza:

 “Mitt Romney wants you to show your papers, but he won’t show us his,” Biden said. “So many questions…”

Keep hammering! 

 FLASH!!!!!  Chris Moran of the Chron just put this out:

 Mayor Annise Parker is unveiling a $410 million package of proposed bond measures for the November ballot that will not require a tax increase.

She proposes five bond measures. The purposes and amounts:

1. Public safety: $144 million

2. Health, sanitation and general government: $63 million

3. Affordable housing: $15 million

4. Library: $28 million

5. Parks: $160 million

“I realize many Houstonians are still recovering from the economic downturn,” Parker said in a press release. “That is why it was important to me to present a plan that does not require a tax increase. It is also the smallest bond proposal in more than 30 years. It is a fiscally responsible approach that will create jobs and improve public safety, infrastructure and quality of life.”

Let the games begin!

 A couple of days ago I got an Alan Rosen for Precinct 1 Constable mail piece and his campaign went door-to-door in my ‘hood last week.

 In my book, if you shell out a couple of hundred bucks to attend the dinger derby, you are entitled to boo players.  The other night KC fans booed Yankee Robinson Cano because he’s a Yankee and he didn’t let KC All Star Billy Butler participate in the dinger derby.  Cano was the AL derby dinger captain that picked his fellow dinger derby participants.  When Cano came up to bat during the dinger derby he was booed mercilessly and he ended up not getting a single dinger.   A few prominent baseball columnists called out the KC fans for booing Cano.  SHUT UP!!  KC fans have every right to boo.  I’m glad they did because it made the dinger derby slightly less boring.

 Well it looks the NL Pennant Champ will have World Serious home field advantage in October.   I know.  Some so called “purists” don’t like that the league that wins the All Star Game gets home field Serious advantage.  It makes the game a lot more interesting. 

 What is a baseball “purist” anyway?  They don’t like the DH?  They want to go back to day games?  They don’t like the Wild Card?  They don’t like the Kiss Kam?  Oh, well.

 The NL Central of course led all other divisions last night with five base hits (Braun 2, Furcal, Holliday, and McCutchcen.

 My favorite moment of last night was watching Chipper Jones get a base hit in his final All Star at-bat. 

 A few more days off then the roadie begins in San Fran on Friday.

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