Congressman Joe Barton and I have often disagreed on local and state
Republican Party business; however, I find myself usually agreeing with him
on issues. That is no surprise, since we are members of the same party. When
issue positions actually morph into votes in the House of Representatives, I
find myself in agreement with his vote roughly 90 percent of the time.
Russia may become a player in North American energy markets sooner than anyone expected. According to the June 7, 2008 edition of the International Herald Tribune:
"James, I’m afraid I’m going to vote for your boy this year," exclaimed my good Hispanic friend, Anita, a die-hard, yellow dog Democrat, who was and still is in the tank for Senator Hillary Clinton. "Why Anita?" I asked. "James, I have never voted for a Republican in my entire life, but I just can’t support my party’s presidential nominee, Senator Obama, so I’m going to vote for Senator McCain," she lamented. "I just can’t stomach this man’s shallow resume, his racist preacher and his unsavory criminal acquaintances," she concluded.
Mending the split between Obama and Clinton supporters among Texas Democrats is not just about the presidential election. Even more important to party leaders, elected officials and activists is marshaling the strength and excitement of the Texas presidential primary into down-ballot races to start a return to Democrats' prior glory -- before Republicans took control of all statewide elected officials, the Texas House and Senate and 22 of 32 congressional districts.
High on the list is to restore the Texas House of Representatives to a Democratic majority.
The very left-wing Catholic clericalism from which Obama hopes to derive votes in the fall served as the pretext for his leaving the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. Just as Jeremiah Wright's over-the-top sermons could not have come as a surprise to Obama, so Father Michael Pfleger's hyper-partisanship would have been known to him as well.
