Battleground Texas FAILS: Dubya's Hometown Stays Red

Yowza; score one for the good guys:

Democrats have a new strategy to field radical candidates in conservative areas: targeting non-partisan races. In the Midland Mayoral Election, Democratic activist and City Councilman John James was an early favorite in the race. Announcing his candidacy unseasonably early and garnering major contributions from high-dollar Republican donors, James had a lead in name identification and fundraising by the end of August. 

Branding himself as a “strong fiscal conservative”, James tried to conceal a consistent history of Democratic activism, involvement and contributions. Attempting to downplay his “former” party affiliations, James obfuscated his record of service to the State Democratic Executive Committee and numerous, Democratic political contributions. According to a statement on James’ Facebook page, “I am completely non-partisan.” 

As a way of ignoring this inconvenient issue, James highlighted the fact that he was the only candidate with a Master’s degree in City Management as his greatest qualification for the job. For any discerning participant of the political process, one salient issue contrasts James’ lacquer: non-partisan does not mean non-political. Party affiliations give testament to political philosophy, attitudes toward issues and inform decisions on important policy questions.  

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Activists worked hard on behalf of local businessman and conservative Republican, Jerry Morales. Conservative Republican leaders united behind Morales for his conservative record and experience as an at-large City Councilman. On Election Night, the question was virtually decided in early voting returns. By the end of the counting, Morales bested James by nearly a 3-to-1 margin. With 61% of the vote, Morales received not only the plurality of the vote needed to win among the five candidates, but a sizable majority with a margin of victory unseen in a Midland Mayor’s race in recent memory.

Cahnman's Musings has little love for George W. Bush these days.  That being said, the Republican Party in Texas remains tied to him.  Whether we like it or not, had a radical Obama-ite gotten elected mayor in Midland, it would have been spun as a major victory for Battleground Texas.  But the Tea Party had other things to say.  Congratulations to Midland!!!