09.13.12

Sadler painting Cruz as an extremist in US Senate race

Posted in Around The State, Election 2012, US Senate Race at 10:28 am by wcnews

In the GOP primary for US Senate in Texas, where both candidates were trying to get as far to the right as possible, and only right wing Republicans were paying attention, most voters are not aware of how extreme the candidates views actually were.  During the primary and runoff Lt. Gov. Davide Dewhurst and Ted Cruz were fighting over issues that were a bunch of crap – issues that don’t matter in most Texans daily lives.

The Democratic candidate for US Senate Paul Sadder is trying to change that and make sure Texans know exactly where Cruz stands on the issues that matter most to Texans. Here’s a recent article from the San Angelo Standard Times, Paul Sadler calls Ted Cruz an extremist.

The extremism of U.S. Senate Republican candidate Ted Cruz is too much to bear, his opponent, Democrat Paul Sadler, said in a San Angelo visit Monday.

Cruz would recklessly do away with federal departments such as the Energy, Commerce, Education and the IRS, and he believes the United Nations will in some measure take over the United States, Sadler said.

“I’ve got to get the message out of how extreme his position is,” Sadler said. “I am the mainstream candidate.”

Sadler said that he would work to defend Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security, and that the changes Cruz and Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan would make could put the elderly and needy at severe risk.

“We’ve never seen the threat to Social Security that is posed to Social Security today,” Sadler said. “We simply cannot abandon our senior citizens who paid for the generation that went before them just because it’s hard now.”

We know the GOP has always had it out for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.  Some of the most popular programs in history.  That keep millions of seniors and the disabled out of poverty and keep their dignity.  Just how extreme is Cruz? Well in a recent Sadler campaign email it pointed out that several issues that Cruz suports polled really bad. Here are the issues that were polled

• His plan to eliminate the Federal Department of Education, including the billions of dollars it sends to Texas;
• His plan to deny contraceptive coverage to all Texas women;
• His stated philosophy that the best way to grow the economy is to give big tax cuts to the richest Americans and to remove restrictions on Wall Street banks;
• His plan to end Medicare as we know it and replace it with a voucher health care system for our seniors;
• His proposal to spend over $7 billion to build a wall from El Paso to the Gulf of Mexico – a plan opposed by almost 70 percent of Hispanics who were polled.

As Kuff points out.

Finally, on a tangential note, on the same day this came out I received a campaign email from Paul Sadler announcing that a “new poll” showed a “path to victory” against Ted Cruz. This was a campaign fundraising email, not a press release, so I have no useful numbers to share, but the clear message was that Sadler was competitive among voters who heard his message. Of course, the problem all along is how to get that message out to the voters. You can help by attending our fundraiser on Monday the 24th. It’s big hill to climb but there’s no reason not to try.

In other words the more Texas voters hear about Ted Cruz’s positions on the issues the better Paul Sadler does. I would recommend that everyone go read and/or view this interview Sadler recently did with a Midland/Odessa TV Station. Here are an excerpt:

On Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid:

“The positions that they are taking are extraordinarily destructive and they are very reckless and they hurt people. A lot of people forget that when we started social security half or our seniors lived below poverty, and if we somehow lose social security, over half of our seniors will go back below poverty. I will not abandon the generation that paid for the generation before them, that’s the way social security works. This generation of seniors paid for our parents and grandparents. I won’t abandon them. Mr. Ryan and Mr. Cruz will abandon them.

Medicare is long term hospitalization care for our seniors. We simply can’t abandon that obligation for our seniors. Medicaid involves uninsured children in our state– children with disabilities. It’s also 70% of our nursing home residents. That’s my parents, your grandparents that happen to live in a nursing home that are dependent on Medicaid. These are issues that strike us where we live and breathe, and I will defend those policies and I will do what’s necessary to keep them because I keep my promises and America keeps its promise.

We promised each other that we would grow old with dignity– that we would provide for each other in our old age, and just because it’s hard now doesn’t mean that we will turn our back now. That’s what the voucher system does — it turns our back on our senior citizens, so it’s a critical issue for us.”

On Trusting a Candidate:

“The funny thing about running statewide is that you don’t get to spend a lot of time with many people, but somehow we reach a level of trust with a candidate. And we reach a level of trust based on their record. That’s why the experience level is important.

I was trusted and blessed to be trusted with the children of this state for a decade. The education at a time we led the country in reform and we led the country in mathematics and reading for our early children. I ask the people in Texas to give that trust back to me again. A lot of people don’t like to talk about that but it’s true. You will make a decision to vote for by who you trust to take care of your future and your children’s future. I think you have to look at the record of the people involved.

I have a record in this area and it’s a good record, it’s a record of distinction. It’s one we can all be proud of. I have mainstream values. I have lived in every single region of this state. I understand West Texas and East Texas. I have seen hurricanes on the coast and tornadoes in the Panhandle. I think that with that background that I’m the best person to represent us in the U.S. Senate.

I also have the maturity level. I have been through the devastation of a child being seriously injured. I have seen my in-laws with Alzheimer’s and had to go through those lessons as well. That is something that’s important so when we pass legislation we know if affects you and your family and this community we call Texas — because we’re all in this together. Together we’re strong. I ask for the support of the people of Texas. Thank you.”

Now Sadler may not be a liberal/progressive Democrats dream, but he’d certainly be an improvement over anyone Texas has sent to the Senate in a long time.  Sadler states he’s a conservative Democrat. He’s more in the mold of a Lloyd Bentsen but there’s no doubt he would be much better for Texas then the extremist the a sliver of GOP base has nominated.

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