D H Posted February 24, 2008 Posted February 24, 2008 http://www.spacepolitics.com/2008/02/24/ron-pauls-other-race/ While Ron Paul is continuing his presidential campaign—a decision many may consider quixotic given John McCain’s virtual lock on the Republican nomination at this point—he does have a separate election looming: the Republican nomination for the 14th Congressional District in Texas, a seat Paul has held for over a decade. Paul is facing a strong challenger in the form of Chris Peden, and with no Democrat on the ballot, the March 4 primary could effectively be the general election for that seat. If a campaign sign count is any indicator, Ron Paul is in for a fight to maintain his seat in Congress. I have seen *no* signs for Ron Paul except a few big ones he has paid for. All of the signs in people's yards I have seen are for Chris Peden. This is a big district, so things might be different elsewhere. I, for one, will be voting against Ron Paul on March 4. Good riddance, I hope.
ecoli Posted February 24, 2008 Posted February 24, 2008 Chris Peden is a political hack.. A few years ago he was a supporter of Paul and praised him. Now he sees political opportunity and attacks him (looking through his campaign website, he does a great job at misrepresenting Paul's conservatism). In terms of fundraising, Paul has got about $1 mill in donation. I think that Peden has about $150K donated by himself and some family members. http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/019503.html apparently, according to LRC, reports that Peden is leading Paul are false. http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/019560.html
Mr Skeptic Posted February 24, 2008 Posted February 24, 2008 You don't like Ron's space policy, do you?
ecoli Posted February 24, 2008 Posted February 24, 2008 The republicans in the state government restructured Paul's district to include a lot of NASA workers. On the other hand the district contains a lot of chemical plants, which Paul has helped keep property taxes low... They don't call him the 'taxpayers best friend' for no reason. He also returns a portion of his office budget every year.
D H Posted February 24, 2008 Author Posted February 24, 2008 On the other hand the district contains a lot of chemical plants, which Paul has helped keep property taxes low... How has Ron Paul helped keep property taxes low? He is a US Congressmen, not a Texas Senator or Representative. The Federal government doesn't have property taxes. That is a state and local source of revenue.
ecoli Posted February 24, 2008 Posted February 24, 2008 Well, I really meant that property taxes is something that the district is specifically concerned with. Paul consistently runs with a tight budget and has never voted to raise taxes... He can indirectly affect property taxes at the federal level by legislation such as this: http://pressmediawire.com/article.cfm?articleID=4273
CDarwin Posted February 24, 2008 Posted February 24, 2008 Well, I really meant that property taxes is something that the district is specifically concerned with. Paul consistently runs with a tight budget and has never voted to raise taxes... He can indirectly affect property taxes at the federal level by legislation such as this: http://pressmediawire.com/article.cfm?articleID=4273 Uhm... is this really your fight ecoli? I don't just bring that up to be persnickety. The fact that a long island college student is campaigning for a Texan congressional representative speaks to the messianic following this man has acquired. It's interesting, at least.
ecoli Posted February 24, 2008 Posted February 24, 2008 Uhm... is this really your fight ecoli? So I shouldn't be interested in a national political figure's congressional run? Especially since his proposals have national consequences, as a congressman. I don't just bring that up to be persnickety. The fact that a long island college student is campaigning for a Texan congressional representative speaks to the messianic following this man has acquired. It's interesting, at least. I could care less about Ron Paul, in terms of him as an individual... And oddly enough, Ron Paul would say the same about his own political ambitions. I like a great many of his policies, and I believe his voice deserves to be heard in congress. I only regret that there are no conservative libertarians running in my own district. I like Paul's message and believe that he deserves to be re-elected. I would annoy me to no end that a 10th term congressman would lose re-election because he's on the wrong side of a neocon smear campaign. I guess there are downsides of gaining national attention... people with opposing view treat you as a serious threat. I bet it annoys the hell out of them that Paul is outraising Peden so badly, even if it is probably mostly out of district donors. I also question the wisdom of Texas's 14th district of electing a freshman congressman to a minority party, who's only claim to fame is a failed attempt at making the English the official language as city councilman.
CDarwin Posted February 25, 2008 Posted February 25, 2008 Well, I'm glad you haven't chosen illegal immigration as your issue. Otherwise you'd be railing at me about how bad David Davis has been for the Tennessee 1st right now.
ecoli Posted February 25, 2008 Posted February 25, 2008 Well, I'm glad you haven't chosen illegal immigration as your issue. Otherwise you'd be railing at me about how bad David Davis has been for the Tennessee 1st right now. illegal immigration is one area I disagree with Paul on. I agree we should be securing our boarders, but I don't particularly have a problem with granting amnesty to immigrants, or giving them drivers licenses, etc. I don't agree that we should be deporting illegals that aren't taking up space in a prison systems. And, no, I don't know who David Davis is... I'll read up on him, if you feel he's an important guy.
CDarwin Posted February 25, 2008 Posted February 25, 2008 And, no, I don't know who David Davis is... I'll read up on him, if you feel he's an important guy. Oh, he's not. He's the US Representative from the Tennessee 1st Congressional District (mine). I was being a bit facetious vis-a-vis your interest in local congressional elections.
ecoli Posted February 25, 2008 Posted February 25, 2008 Oh, he's not. He's the US Representative from the Tennessee 1st Congressional District (mine). I was being a bit facetious vis-a-vis your interest in local congressional elections. I got that Actually, I admittedly care more about Paul's re-election than what's happening in my own district... I like my congressman, in general, but he's pretty much another beltway democrat. For someone uniquely different, like Paul, I think it's important that his he stays around the congress, so his ideas are heard. I'm also paying attention to Murray Sarbin's Senatorial run in New Jersey and Jim Forsythe in New Hampshire's 1st congressional district. Both of these guys have been endorsed by Ron Paul... it'll be interesting to see if they can generate good fundraising through the internet.
iNow Posted February 25, 2008 Posted February 25, 2008 On my ride home from campus today after studying for a test I have tomorrow, I saw a sign for Paul (in Austin). It was the first I'd seen, but I just assumed it was for President. I really didn't think much of it, as he'd just had a rally on campus yesterday outside the main building, and that was just three days after the Democrats had a debate on campus (also, Obama had a rally at the capitol on Friday night). Now, after reading this thread, I need to go back and actually read that sign to see which race it was for. Maybe I can skip out of work early before my test to go check it out...
ecoli Posted February 25, 2008 Posted February 25, 2008 On my ride home from campus today after studying for a test I have tomorrow, I saw a sign for Paul (in Austin). It was the first I'd seen, but I just assumed it was for President. I really didn't think much of it, as he'd just had a rally on campus yesterday outside the main building, and that was just three days after the Democrats had a debate on campus (also, Obama had a rally at the capitol on Friday night). Now, after reading this thread, I need to go back and actually read that sign to see which race it was for. Maybe I can skip out of work early before my test to go check it out... There was 4,000 people at that rally, AFAIK. Which is big for a political rally, even at a college campus.
iNow Posted February 25, 2008 Posted February 25, 2008 There was 4,000 people at that rally, AFAIK. Which is big for a political rally, even at a college campus. Indeed. You can watch the local news story on it by visiting the following link and clicking Play in the "Watch the Video" section: http://www.news8austin.com/content/elections/presidential_election/?SecID=579&ArID=201189
ecoli Posted March 5, 2008 Posted March 5, 2008 It looks like those polls that showed Peden in the lead were far far off. Paul won his party nomination 70%-30%. There's no democratic nominee (to date). http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/03/05/paul-and-kucinich-easily-defeat-primary-challengers/?mod=googlenews_wsj
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