Interestingly, 56% is the "constructed" historical margin for the Republicans in TX 10. I say "constructed" because this is one of those Tom Delay-engineered Districts with no history prior to 2004, and there was no Democrat on the ballot in 2004 because Lloyd Doggett moved out of TX 10 to file in an adjacent District, which had been constructed by Delay as a Hispanic-majority District. Lloyd Doggett is so beloved by Travis County Democrats that he was unopposed for the nomination in 2004 in this new district (which has just been redrawn by the Courts) and in the General election (the same is true in 2006). No other Democrat stepped up at the last minute to run in the District Tom drew. Lorenzo Sadun mounted a write-in campaign when it was known that no Democrat had filed, and he had the same success that the Republican party will have with it's write-in candidate(s) in Delay's old District, now that they have been left in the lurch by Tom.
I won a four-way contested Primary and Runoff with 71% of the vote for the 2006 nomination. The bad news comes in two forms: 1) I'm like Donna's former opponent in not getting any Democratic party support, and 2)Donna doesn't have to run very hard in her District so turnout may be less and I have to carry the campaigning load alone in the HD 48 part of TX 10.
For reasons completely unknown to me, the Party Pros think this is an unwinnable seat; probably because they see the Republican's huge margin in 2004, without noticing that it was gained running unopposed, except for a Libertarian. This is not so! This District was constructed by Tom for the incumbent, because of the money and media connections of his family. He lives in West Austin, and Austin is strongly Democratic. So the District Tom drew begins at McCaul's house and loops over the top of Austin, runs down US Highway 290 in as narrow a line as possible to get to the strongly Republican suburbs of Houston. But he just couldn't draw a District that didn't take in a third of Travis(Austin), or five of six in-between counties that usually vote Democratic at the local level, and Republican at the Presidential level. Given the unpopularity of the President, Congress, and McCaul's failure to connect with the voters over the past 18 months, he is vulnerable.
I don't just have a problem with the State Rep not having an opponent in HD 48. There are parts of four State Reps Districts in the Travis County part of TX 10. All are held by Democrats, but only one has a Republican opponent, now. The same is true for the State Senate seat in Travis County. There is no Republican on the ballot against the Democrat. You begin to see just how strongly Democratic the county having 41% of TX 10 registered voters really is. But, I am trying to carry the load of campaigning and I'm doing it alone. I'll get some help from Barbara Ann Radnofski's bid for the Senate, and some say the four-way race for Governor will help turnout.
Meanwhile, I'm running a campaign with grass roots support and all volunteers because the Party's judgement that this is an unwinnable seat is a self-fulfilling prophecy, when it comes to getting money. I am raising enough from individual contributors, largely in the District, to do the usual things like signs, push cards, fliers, doorhangers, and travel in this 200-mile long District in my Hybrid car. I'll never raise enough to do TV. The most effective thing I did in the Runoff was send a postcard to every person that voted in the Democratic primary. I need to do that in the General election. I need to raise $70,000 to send post cards to the highest priority voters. The post card will be adapted from the doorhanger which features me, and McCaul's voting record.
If you want to know more about me, click on my name and see previous diaries, or go to my websiteHERE. I need the help of the netroots to overcome the shortsightedness of the DCCC. Please go HERE to contribute and help me send those postcards.