10.19.06
AAS endorses Mary Beth Harrell
We could not have said it any better ourselves:
Carter has stumbled, his gruff and arrogant manner not going down so well. He took hard shots when he held up approval of the Voting Rights Act and argued for English-only ballots. His comments about racism being behind us betray either naivete or denial.
Carter’s Democratic opponent is Mary Beth Harrell, a Killeen lawyer, military wife and mother. Carter has refused to debate her, saying she hasn’t earned the right to face him. With two sons in the military and one serving with the 4th Infantry Division in Iraq, she has earned that right.
Harrell is a moderate Democrat who has good ideas on the Iraq war and health care, and sensible positions on immigration and federal spending. District 31 voters should send a message to Carter about arrogance and insensitivity and elect Harrell.
The Austin American-Statesman editorial board got it wrong in almost every other race in which they endorsed a candidate. After all these years, we’re accustomed to the AAS’s pro-developer, anti-environmental slant. That is what makes this endorsement so stunning.
This blog has expended a great deal of energy drawing attention to Mary Beth’s qualities that make her a superb choice for our representative in Congress. With this endorsement, the Statesman has joined the legions of mainstream district 31 constituents who have made up their mind about John Carter.
On November 7, those supporters will speak with conviction and clarity. Enough! Ya basta!
Wilco Dem said,
October 20, 2006 at 8:21 am
In its endorsement, The Statesman has picked up on just some of the salient differences between Mary Beth Harrell and her Republican opponent when is says that Carter ‘has stumbled’, has a ‘gruff and arrogant manner’, and that some of his comments ‘betray either naivete or denial’ whereas Mary Beth ‘has good ideas on the Iraq war and health care, and sensible positions on immigration and federal spending’. That doesn’t even touch on Carter’s ongoing support for and connections to Tom DeLay, nor his voting record favoring the Oil Industry while he benefits from owning millions of dollars in oil stocks, nor his trying to get off easy in not dealing with the Trans-Texas Corridor by dismissing it as a state issue.
Yes, it’s a disappointment that the Statesman didn’t also endorse Mary Beth’s fellow Democratic congressional challengers, John Courage and Ted Ankrum, who are both very well-qualified to serve their districts in Congress honorably and with distinction, but the voters here in District 31 really need to follow through with The Statesman’s endorsement to ‘send a message to Carter about arrogance and insensitivity and elect Harrell’.
Early Voting starts Monday, October 23rd. Let’s show up en masse on Monday and casts our votes for Mary Beth!
Coyote Mercury » Does the P in GOP Stand for Poultry? said,
October 20, 2006 at 9:03 pm
[…] I have no doubt that Carter will be reelected, which is a shame considering that the man clearly is afraid to defend his ideas in public. Eye on Williamson County has more and has been following this for awhile. Posted by James in Austin, Politics, Texas Permalink […]