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Cornyn: First debate helped Texas GOP; next 3 weeks crucial

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Sen. John Cornyn delivered a stern, yet hopeful message to Republican supporters shortly before the second presidential debate Tuesday night.

Cornyn said on a conference call sponsored by the Texas Republican Party that people “tell me that they believe this is a historic election.”

“The choice we have will really determine whether we head down the path of Europe and Greece, or whether we return to the country of opportunity and prosperity that we inherited from our parents and grandparents,” he said.

Thousands of people called in, voicing concerns about voter fraud, higher education, national security, last month’s attack in Benghazi and the overall size of the federal government.

Cornyn said Gov. Mitt Romney’s success in the first debate on Oct. 3 has given the GOP an overall boost.

Cornyn, who also chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said “we’re going to see Republican senators in places that we didn’t even anticipate.”

The debates have been “really transformative” of Romney’s image, he said, adding that the Republican Party needs to hold on to Senate seats in Massachusetts and Nevada with Scott Brown and Dean Heller, respectively.

When asked about where the federal government’s size should be decreased, Cornyn mentioned, among other programs, that the EPA has “essentially superseded state regulations with no real benefit.”

Texas Republican Party chairman Steve Munisteri urged those on the call to put off going the movies or to sporting events until after the Nov. 6 election and to volunteer.

“The next 20 days will determine the future of our country; whether we stay on a direction which, my mind, is a socialistic path, and one that believes in collectivism and government as the answer, or the other path, which is capitalism, free enterprise (and) individual liberty.”

Sen. Mario Gallegos of Houston dies from liver complications

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State Sen. Mario Gallegos of Houston, a Democrat who served in the Legislature for more than two decades, died Tuesday from complications related to his liver transplant in 2007. A 22-year veteran of the Houston Fire Department, where he retired as a senior captain, Gallegos, 62, first won election to the Texas House in 1990 and moved up to the Senate four years later. He was a reliable voice for public schools and vigorously opposed the record funding cuts in education approved by the GOP majority in the Legislature last year.

Gallegos was perhaps best known for his efforts to defeat a Republican-backed voter ID bill in 2007, when he returned to the Capitol several weeks after a liver transplant operation to preserve a Democratic blockade of the bill. Although his doctors advised him not to travel to Austin, he said he felt obligated to join with fellow Democrats in preventing Senate action on the measure. As a precaution, a hospital bed was set up in a room adjacent to the Senate chamber, and Mr. Gallegos was monitored while the Senate was in session by Sen. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville, a family physician. If Gallegos had not been present and ready to vote, Republicans were prepared to push the bill through as Democrats lacked the necessary votes without Gallegos to block action under Senate rules.

“They would bring it up in a New York second if I were not here,” the Houston lawmaker told reporters at the time. But last year, Republicans changed Senate rules and finally passed the measure, which requires Texans to show a photo ID in order to vote. Gallegos joined the chamber’s other Democrats and voted no. The law has since been delayed in the courts. He also was one of Senate’s biggest critics of the current state budget, which cut funding for schools by $5.4 billion over two years. Gallegos, the first Hispanic senator elected in Harris County, also championed senior citizen issues and was recognized for his work on legislative matters affecting police officers and firefighters. Funeral services will be held in Houston and a memorial service will take place later in Austin, according to a family spokesman.

 

Film director Linklater headlines Sadler’s diverse, sort of ‘crunchy’ donor base

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Austin film director and screenwriter Richard Linklater

Thoughts while waiting for Senate frontrunner Ted Cruz’s campaign finance report to hit the Federal Election Commission’s website (he won’t release it, while Democratic rival Paul Sadler released his early Tuesday):

Sadler hasn’t kept pace with Cruz but there are some intriguing names and occupations listed on his report, including film director Richard Linklater — of “Bernie” and “School of Rock” and “Slacker” fame.

Linklater, who’s a mainstay of the Austin film-making scene, gave Sadler $250 last month.

Thumbing through Sadler’s nearly 160 pages of contributors, one sees plenty of lawyers. Like Cruz, Sadler’s a lawyer.

But other listed trades and occupations included: playwright, potter, carpenter and even “hydrographer,” whatever that is.

In a release Monday night, Sadler noted that he raised nearly $360,000 between July 12 and Sept. 30, or nearly three times his haul through July 11. (In the same period, Cruz reportedly raised $3.5 million, with $2 million of it coming after the runoff, Cruz’s campaign said in a Monday afternoon release.)

“This is a true grassroots campaign,” Sadler said. “There are no super PACs or billionaires backing this campaign.”

Sadler, who served six terms in the Texas House, received contributions in the period from these former lawmakers, all Democrats — Kent Caperton, Smith Gilley, Patricia Gray, Ted Lyon, Paul Moreno and Tom Uher. Rep. Elliott Naishtat, D-Austin, also wrote him a check.

TX 23: Canseco and Gallego release their latest campaign finance reports

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As reported earlier this week, millions of outside dollars have poured into the West Texas race between incumbent Rep. Francisco “Quico” Canseco, R-San Antonio, and his Democratic challenger, Pete Gallego.

The latest campaign filings out of the 23rd district race show an intensifying race in terms of money spent and cash on hand. Canseco has nearly $1 million more cash at the ready.

The Gallego campaign reported its best quarter, raising more than $507,000 since the beginning of July, with $503,000 of that amount coming after his July 31 primary runoff victory against former U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez. Rodriguez represented the district from 2007 until last year, when Canseco took office.

“Canseco, despite having all the advantages of incumbency and no primary challenger, has no momentum,” said Anthony Gutierrez, Gallego campaign manager, in a statement.

Canseco, meanwhile, raised more than $540,000 in the last quarter. Campaign spokesman Scott Yeldell said the $1 million advantage puts Canseco in a good position to spread his message over the next three and a half weeks.

“Congressman Canseco has a $1 million cash on hand advantage for the final month to contact voters about his record and vision for job creation,” Yeldell said in an email.

Gallego’s campaign reports nearly $115,000 of cash on hand at the end of September.

Despite gas prices, more favor Obama on energy policy

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Energy is generally a huge issue in presidential campaigns. It’s no different this year, with gas prices reaching a level that can be poisonous to incumbent presidents.

According to a new, nationwide poll of 2,092 voters conducted by the University of Texas’ McCombs School of Business, more voters favor President Obama’s energy platform (37 percent) than Mitt Romney’s (28 percent). The breakdown is very partisan, as one would expect, but among independents and libertarians, Obama has the lead:

The Romney campaign has tried to capitalize on bad feelings about high gas prices. According to the NYT, energy has been mentioned in more campaign ads than any other issue except jobs and the economy. But at least according to the UT poll, it’s unclear whether enough voters blame Obama for high gasoline prices that it will hurt him in November.

One of the UT poll’s more interesting charts shows how voters distribute blame for fuel prices, which averaged $3.79 yesterday, according to AAA:

It’s Obama vs. Romney round two tonight, and we want to hear what you think on Twitter

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Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are set to face off tonight for their second presidential debate in Hempstead, N.Y., It’s a town hall format, designed to get real voters’ questions before the men who would be president. If you live on Long Island, that is. That’s all fine and good, but we want to hear from Texans, both those who live here now and those who are here in their hearts.

So join us on Twitter, sharing your thoughts, observations and questions with the hashtag #dmndebate. With the help of our partner researchers at the Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri, we’ll share highlights and trends of what sparked the most reaction, pro and con. You can take part in real time, and you’ll see what your fellow Dallas-area viewers had to say about the issues and the candidates.

We want your reaction on anything that comes to mind, but here are some general questions to consider: What did you agree with, or what hacked you off? Are the questions good? Are they fair? What issues are you not hearing about that you wish would come up? What makes you laugh? Which attacks do you think were effective, and which went over the line? What, if anything, persuaded you to change your vote?

If don’t already have a Twitter account, sign up for free at Twitter.com. Email your friends that you’re going to tweet along with other DMN readers, and encourage them to do the same, then follow each other’s tweets during the debates.

You can also follow our staff political and editorial writers and editors in one click with this handy Twitter list.

The debate starts at 8 p.m. Dallas time. It’s on every major network and news channel.

Last week, for the vice presidential debate, our crowd popped out more than 700 tweets. That’s's a good conversation — don’t miss out!

Once we all get rolling, it’ll look something like this. Don’t you want to be part of it?



Ross Perot endorses Mitt Romney for president

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Dallas billionaire and former presidential candidate Ross Perot on Tuesday endorsed Mitt Romney for president.

In a Des Moines Register op-ed piece, Perot says the country “can’t afford four more years in which debt mushrooms out of control, our government grows and our military is weakened.”

Perot cites Romney’s private-sector business background as well as his record as Massachusetts governor of working in concert with a predominantly Democratic legislature to balance that state’s budget “for four straight years without raising taxes.”

Perot’s views on the debt in particular are noteworthy. In 1992, he based his presidential campaign on bringing a fix-it attitude from the business world to the federal budget to deal with perpetual deficits. His campaign fizzled at he finished third, but in taking 19 percent of the popular vote, he stands as the most successful third-party candidate of the last several decades.

He’s been reluctant to wade directly into politics lately but has been part of an effort by former U.S. Comptroller David Walker to warn about the coming fiscal crunch.

“Ross Perot’s accomplishments as an entrepreneur, as a political leader, and as a naval officer make him a living legend,” Romney said in a written statement. “He understands the challenges facing the nation and what it will take to meet them. I am proud to have his support.”

 

Cruz raises $2M after whips Dewhurst; Sadler haul: $360,000

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U.S. Senate candidate Ted Cruz, after he spoke last week to the Northwest Forest Republican Women near Houston. (J. Patric Schneider/Houston Chronicle)

Republican Senate nominee Ted Cruz raised $2 million after upsetting Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in a runoff, according to his campaign. Over a slightly longer period, Democrat Paul Sadler has raised about $360,000 — far less than Cruz but more than twice his previous haul.

Cruz pivoted late last month toward the final sprint of the fall campaign with $2 million of cash, Cruz spokesman James Bernsen announced Monday.

Sadler immediately retorted in an email, “Congratulations. That is a lot of money.”

Sadler’s campaign released the summary pages of his latest report. The Cruz camp, declining to release his report, issued a press release sprinkled with a few numbers meant to impress, such as:

Over the nearly two years Cruz has campaigned for the seat being given up by U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, the former state solicitor general has attracted contributions from nearly 40,000 different people, Bernsen said. The average contribution has been $163, he said.

Bernsen attributed the breadth of the Cruz donor base to popular anxiety over federal budget deficits and what he called a hunger among conservatives for leaders who will fight to reduce spending.

“Texans are standing with Ted,” he said. “They know the stakes.”

Monday was the deadline for federal candidates to file third quarter campaign-finance reports with the Federal Election Commission. Neither Cruz’s report nor Sadler’s has been posted on the FEC website. We have asked both candidates to release their full reports — to no avail.

Bernsen’s statement suggested that Cruz raised $1.5 million between July 12 and July 31, the day of the runoff election; and another $2 million between July 31 and Sept. 30.

Through July 11, Sadler had raised from others just $133,000. In recent weeks, the former five-term Texas House member said his fundraising improved after voters began to grasp that in nominating Cruz, Republicans picked a tea party backed “extremist.” In a state as large as Texas, though, Sadler entered this month with a wad much thinner than he’ll need to mount more than merely a token TV ad campaign.

The two men are scheduled to debate a second and final time at 7 p.m. CT Friday at KERA-TV in Dallas.

Texas U.S. representatives and senators call for action, aid on West Nile outbreak

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Twenty-one members of Texas’ U.S. congressional delegation today signed a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Tom Frieden, urging “immediate action to address the West Nile Virus outbreak in Texas” and throughout the United States.

The Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex has been hit particularly hard by the outbreak, with 50 succumbing from contracting the virus. As previously reported by the Dallas Morning News, the mosquito-borne disease infected approximately 80,000 residents of Dallas, Tarrant, Denton and Collin counties, though many never became ill from it.

As noted last week, Tarrant County underreported its West Nile outbreak by as much as 200 percent. The epidemic prompted Dallas County in August to conduct aerial sprays over the hardest-hit areas in and around Dallas, Mesquite and Garland.

The group requested the Public Health and Emergency Medical Countermeasures Enterprise to prioritize an FDA-approved vaccine or other preventative measures.

According to the CDC’s website, the 4,249 reported West Nile cases is the highest since the second week of October 2003. More than a third of of all of the reported cases have come from Texas.

The 21 members included Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison; Sen. John Cornyn; Rep. Joe Barton, R-Arlington; Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands; Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Lewisville; Rep. Francisco “Quico” Canseco, R-San Antonio; Rep. John Carter, R-Round Rock; Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Midland; Rep. John Culberson, R-Houston; Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Corpus Christi; Rep. Bill Flores, R-Bryan; Rep. Gene Green, D-Houston; Rep. Ralph Hall, R-Rockwall; Rep. Ruben Hinojosa, D-Mercedes; Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Plano; Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston; Rep. Pete Olson, R-Sugar Land; Rep. Ted Poe, R-Humble; Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso; Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Dallas; and Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio.

UT System to join online course collaboration with Harvard, MIT

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AUSTIN — The University of Texas System is entering the wide open world of MOOCs. Yep, that’s a real thing.

MOOC, short for massive open online course, is a growing trend in higher education, and one which UT System administrators believe will help raise graduation rates and provide affordable online and blended classes for anyone with an Internet connection.

The nine academic universities and six health institutions of the UT System will join a $5 million partnership with edX, an online nonprofit founded by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The University of California, Berkeley, has also jumped on board.

“Higher education is at a crossroads,” said Steven Mintz, who was recently appointed as the executive director of the Institute for Transformational Learning. “But by leveraging new technologies we can enhance student learning, we can accelerate graduation and we can hold down the cost of higher ed. … EdX will help us envision a new model for public higher education for the 21st century.”

The UT Board of Regents unanimously passed the measure at a special meeting called on Monday morning. The announcement came just weeks after Gov. Rick Perry put forth his plan to make higher education accessible for all Texans, one that stressed graduating on time and tuition freezes and $10,000 degree plans to make college more affordable.

“The UT System’s partnership with edX is great news for Texas and exactly the type of effort I hope more schools will consider as we aggressively pursue the goals of improving graduation rates and making a college education more accessible and affordable for Texans,” Perry said in a statement.

For the time being, classes will be free, but may move to a tiered system where students paying tuition receive credit. Currently it has not been decided whether the four classes offered for the fall 2013 semester will be for credit.