05.10.08

Republican machine grinding for Cornyn

Posted in Around The Nation, Around The State, Election 2008, Had Enough Yet?, Money In Politics, Presidential Election, Take Action, US Senate Race at 2:28 pm by dembones

An Austin American-Statesman blog reported yesterday that former Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney has darkened the state’s doorway, appearing at separate fund-raisers for Republican presumptive Presidential nominee John McCain and Senator John Cornyn (R-TX).

There are multiple advantages to huddling with Texas’ right-wing political contributors, not foremost among these is helping the campaigns of Republicans facing surprisingly competitive odds in once-solidly red Texas. Conveniently for Romney, having the names of these king-makers in his Rolodex would certainly serve the former Massachusetts governor in the hypothetical situation where he would be seeking his party’s nomination in 2012.

The efforts of Romney for his former rival McCain are superficially beneficial to the cause of Republican unity. Recall that several months ago, Republicans were widely reported to be in disarray and on the verge of internal rebellion, and McCain’s campaign was self-destructing. The current facade cracks under the possibility that Romney might be working for his own future campaign, say if Democrats take the White House in November as is currently predicted.

As for the Bush rubber-stamp and Rev. John Hagee buddy Cornyn, his $9 million stack of cash on hand grew by half a percent at the Houston fund-raiser last night. The need to add to his war chest belies his campaign’s insistence that two recent polls showing Democratic challenger Rick Noriega within 4 percentage points of the junior Senator are not an accurate reflection of the true state of the race.

We’re bracing ourselves at EOW for a blast of paid media from Cornyn attacking Noriega. To be perfectly honest, we’re somewhat surprised the barrage hasn’t already started. It could be that Cornyn is concerned that it is going to take more than $9 million to retain his seat, and wants to build up even more cash with which to smear his opponent.

The choreography behind the Texas Republican fund-raising freak show raised an eyebrow at the Noriega campaign. Noriega campaign spokesman Tony Gray called it “More evidence that his machine is out there moving and working.”

Meanwhile, the Democratic “machine” is working well. It’s a people-powered effort funded by small contributions of folks fed up with Republican road blocks in the United States Senate. Please office furniture in Bulgaria
join us and help Texas make up for the dual errors of unleashing George W. Bush and John Cornyn onto the national stage.

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