Video: Crowded caucus at Carver
Photos: Election day around Waco
Audio: ChelseaHome > The Listening Post > Archives > 2008 > February > 14
Thursday, February 14, 2008
100 tickets to be raffled off for Obama-Clinton debate
One hundred lucky Democrats dying for a good debate have a chance to score tickets to see Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton square off in Austin on Thursday.
Responding to an outcry of potential voters who wanted to watch the debate in person, the Texas Democratic Party has secured 100 tickets to watch the show. But to be eligible to have a chance at winning a ticket, people will have to enter an online drawing by 5 p.m. on Monday. Winners of the tickets, who must be registered Texas voters, will be notified Tuesday morning.
The drawing sign-up page is on the TDP Web site.
For those that don’t score tickets or would prefer to hobnob with other Democrats, including Obama and Clinton, people can purchase tickets to attend a debate watch party from 6:30 to 10 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Austin. Tickets can be purchased here.
The Austin American-Statesman, our sister paper, has compiled a Q&A for those with questions.
Here’s more from the Texas Democratic Party Web site:
Democrats across Texas are excited by the upcoming historic debate between Senator Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton. At a time when so many people have lost faith in our government thanks to the failed Republican policies of the Bush administration, our two outstanding candidates are ready to provide the change that Texas and America desperately need.
While seating at the debate is limited, the TDP has secured 100 debate tickets, which will be made available to the general public through a random drawing. The tickets will be evenly distributed between supporters of Senator Clinton and Senator Obama, with a number of tickets going to undecided voters.
In order to be eligible for tickets, you must be a registered voter in the State of Texas. Names may be submitted for the drawing until 5pm on Monday, February 18th, and the winners will be notified the next morning. To enter your name in the drawing, please use the form below.
Don’t forget that you can be part of the debate excitement at the TDP Debate Watch Party, from 6:30 to 10 p.m. on Tursday at the Hyatt Regency Austin. Senator Obama and Senator Clinton have both been invited. You can learn more and purchase your ticket here.
Friends and relatives who do not have access to email may enter by calling the TDP at (512) 478-9800. Please only submit one entry per person. Multiple entries from the same person will be disqualified.
Dunnam endorses Obama for president
After first supporting former Sen. John Edwards, Jim Dunnam, D-Waco, endorsed Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential bid today.
“It gives me great pride to endorse Barack Obama for president,” said Dunnam in a news release.” The constituents I serve, and all the people of Texas, are tired of politics as usual. In Texas — and across the rest of the country — we want a president who will finally put doing what is right above corporate special interests and radical partisan agendas. We want change we can believe in, not the same old Washington-style promises made and promises broken.
“Texas House Democrats are fighting hard to improve our public schools and bring health coverage to the uninsured,” said Dunnam, chairman of the Texas House Democratic Caucus. “With Barack Obama as president, we will have a remarkable ally in achieving those vital goals and many more.”
State Sen. Kip Averitt, R-Waco, has supported Arizona Sen. John McCain’s candidacy for president. State Rep. Charles “Doc” Anderson, R-Waco, has not yet announced who he is supporting in the race for the White House.
Permalink | |
Anderson picks up second endorsement this week
Texans for Lawsuit Reform’s political action committee announced its endorsement of state Rep. Charles “Doc” Anderson in the March 4 Republican primary.
TLR made a name for itself in 2003 when the group successfully lobbied the Texas Legislature to pass restrictions on lawsuits, including medical malpractice cases.
“Doc Anderson has stood up to the powerful personal injury trial lawyers who are committed to rolling back lawsuit reforms in Texas,” said TLR PAC director Justin Unruh in a news release. “Rep. Anderson has supported lawsuit reforms that are strengthening the economy of his district in Waco and the entire state, restoring faith in our courts and improving patient access to doctors and health care throughout Texas.”
First elected in 2004, Anderson, a Waco veternarian, is running for his third term in the Texas House, representing the McLennan County-based House District 56.
On Tuesday, Tina Benkiser, Republican Party of Texas chairwoman, came to Waco to endorse Anderson.
Jonathan Sibley, a lawyer specializing in insurance, is challenging Anderson in the battle for the Republican nomination. No Democrat has filed to run so the winner of the Republican primary will likely win the general election in November.
‘Dr. Politics’ gives diagnosis for Texas presidential nomination battle
As Texans begin to catch political fever in the battles for the Democratic and Republican presidential nomination battles, Steffen Schmidt, who goes by “Dr. Politics” paid a house call to Waco this week.
Schmidt, an Iowa State University political science professor and frequent political commentator on major media outlets, spoke to two groups of students at McLennan Community College students on Tuesday, giving his analysis of how the presidential battle will play out in Texas.
Schmidt said Clinton’s focus in Texas needs to be maintaining her base, with Hispanics and women on her side. Obama, on the other hand, must make inroads with working class Texas voters and hold the student and young voters. He also must make inroads with Hispanic voters, Schmidt said.
He offered the following observations in an interview with Tribune-Herald reporter Tim Woods on Tuesday before his presentation:
On the democratic race and Texas’ role:
“(The Democratic candidates) definitely are so tight that Texas and Ohio could produce enough delegates and something could happen and that’s exciting. But remember, we keep getting excited about who’s winning a state and that’s fun and that’s great, but the Texas primary system is very complicated.”
“And so, the real important thing we’re looking for is delegates and I’m not sure that the Texas primary is going to produce magic delegate numbers so it’s all over. Texas is going to be very important, but if Obama and Clinton stay close to each other, we’re going to have to wait a little bit to see … how many delegates they actually end up with.”
McCain vs. Huckabee:
Schmidt said that he thinks it’s very important for Huckabee to remain in the race for a couple reasons. “No. 1, it forces (McCain) to come to Texas. If he had the nomination wrapped up, why would he come to Texas? No. 2, Huckabee staying in the race keeps McCain’s face out there. Every night on the news, every morning in the paper, there’s John McCain. If McCain had the nomination wrapped up, Clinton and Obama would get all the attention, and that’s never good.”
Hillary, Obama and the Texas Hispanic vote:
“The Hispanic vote is a huge piece of this puzzle … but they’re not turning out to vote in the numbers that they should. What we’re asking is Are Texas Hispanic voters going to vote for (Clinton) like thay have in other states, or does Obama have now a better chance of getting more (Hispanic votes) because he’s been winning so much? Hispanics, they want to support a winner and Obama has been sweeping the latest primaries and caucuses. He’s been in the news a lot.”
On health care and how it might matter in Texas:
“Health care is a big issue. Hillary Clinton has the reputation for having gotten the health care thing when her husband was president, so she’s got an advantage on that. So, Obama in Texas, like everywhere else, has to lay out what he’s doing and what his plans are if he becomes president.”
On superdelegates:
“One thing your readers should never forget, superdelegates don’t have to get elected. They’re already there. They can vote for whoever they want, even Edwards.”
“You look at the Clinton stuff and listen to Clinton and what you get is ‘Oh well, Obama was going to win those anyway.’ Well, not four months ago. four months ago, Obama wasn’t going to win any of that. So he has put the fear of the Lord into the Clinton campaign because he is doing so well.
“The superdelegates in the Democratic Party, they’re out there watching all this and they’re going, ‘What’s going on here?’ I mean Clinton went from this big of a lead to nothing. Obama passed her in delegates (Tuesday). It looks as though he’s ahead.
So what does that mean?:
“Well, it means that if that trend continues in Texas and Texas gives Obama some more good news, he doesn’t have to win Texas. He has to do really well, stay really tight and pick up some delegates at the end of the process. then, if nobody gets enough of them, they go to the convention. those superdelegates could make the difference and that’s the end of the game, if they swing it to Obama.”
