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"Once abolish God and the government becomes the God." -G.K. Chesterton

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Can Lloyd Doggett Lose in 2010?

If you live in or around Austin, the conventional wisdom is you are stuck with Lloyd Doggett as your Congressman. The former trial lawyer and lifelong politico (he served in the Texas Senate before running for US Congress) has been "representing" the people of Austin in Washington for 16 years now. I put "representing" in quotation marks because he fled a town hall rather than take confrontational questions from his constituents. And I can honestly say that while Austin is a liberal town, that liberalism mostly applies to social issues. We are pro-growth, pro-business, pro-development, and pro-tax relief. As a result, many businesses have moved here and our downtown has been revitalized. Yet Lloyd Doggett never met a tax cut he liked and repeatedly votes for increased government debt and spending. He also goes digging for ways to make businesses pay more taxes, thus killing jobs and causing consumer goods to increase in price. The man is a multi-millionaire and ranks as one of the richest men in Congress, but he's spent the last 20+ years in public service. Kind of makes you wonder where he gets his money from.

Most Republicans have written district 25 off and no doubt Democrats have taken victory there for granted. However, I am convinced that the district won't stay that way for long. There are several reasons I believe that Lloyd Doggett could lose in 2010 and even if he ekes out a victory, 2012 will be no cake walk either.

First of all, the district was redrawn in 2004 and now includes a heavy chunk of Austin suburbia. In fact, the towns just south of Austin have grown nearly 400% since the last election. Hayes County has exploded with growth because it's more affordable than living in Austin, and a lot of these voters are conservative.

Secondly, there is a strong anti-incumbent mood sweeping the country. Being in office 16 years makes Doggett seem like part of the problem, not the solution. He has been there while our national debt has grown out of control and unsustainable. It certainly doesn't help that Doggett votes with Speaker Nancy Pelosi 97% of the time.

Third, while he easily won in 2008, he gave up more votes to his opponent than he ever had in his previous seven elections. This opponent was not exactly formidable, ran very little advertising, got no backing from the Republican party, and spent less than $40,000 compared to $500,000 spent by Doggett.

Finally, he faces a very tough challenger this year. Dr. Donna Campbell is a formidable opponent. She has attracted the attention of many conservative groups, in and out of Texas. One group in particular is featuring her in a reality show about first-time candidates. She has already raised five times more money from individual donors than Doggett's last opponent raised. The name Campbell on the ballot in a town that gave us Heisman Trophy winner Earl Campbell also doesn't hurt.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have been doing some volunteer work for Dr. Campbell, but I wouldn't be doing it if I didn't think she had a chance to win. You can go to her website at www.drdonnaforcongress.com or add her on facebook. I would also suggest contacting the RCCC, RNC, HuckPAC, or SarahPAC to tell them this race is winnable and Dr. Campbell deserves her share of support and financial resources.

15 comments:

  1. I hope you are right. He has to be one of the worst, most arrogant, members of congress. I agree that the growth down here in Hays may be enough to oust him. I am concerned that I have not seen a single ad from Campbell. I guess I need to give some money.

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  2. I am making my first political donation to help defeat Lloyd Doggett.

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  3. SUGGEST EVERYBODY GO TO THE FOLLOWING WEBSITE; - WWW.AUSTINACCOUNTABILITYPROJECT.COM & THEN: MAKE YOUR OWN <> ABOUT THE SITUATION OF GRAFT, FRAUD, MIS/MAL/NONFEASANCE, CORRUPTION IN AUSTIN AND TRAVIS COUNTY! WHAT'$ IT CO$T? WHO'$ GOING TO CLEAN IT UP - AND WHEN?

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  4. Website: www.austinaccountabilityproject.com -shows tremendous amount of all kinds CORRUPTION IN 'MINORITY PROGRAMS' of ALL SORTS! No wonder our taxes're so HIGH! BRIBES, KICKBACKS, FRAUD, PERJURY, FORGERY of same kind in Dallas and in other cities put these people in JAIL for many years! WHY NOT AUSTIN? WHAT'S DOGGETT HIDING?

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  5. I read the Austin Chronicle blogger, Lee Nichol's attempted hatchet job on your evaluation of Dr. Campbell's chances against Doggett. Nichol does not, and cannot because of his bias, factor in the anti-incumbent, anti-Obama sentiment that now exists in the electorate. The fact that he is going after little ole you shows that he and his ilk (liberal Democrats) are running more scared than they have ever been before. Keep up the pressure.

    We know from the recent, and disgusting, "No Pressure" TV ad which had to be pulled off the airways in England and from the "smother your suffering child" advice of the "empathic" Fabian Socialist across the pond (who it seems should have lived in that other country in the mid 1930s to 1940s, based on her evident ideology-as they say, what goes around comes around), that when the real face of the left is exposed, the choice voters should make becomes obvious.

    Expose that face!

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  6. I think Lloyd has done an excellent job of representing me against the right wing lunatic fringe, for decades, and they have never been more dangerous in my lifetime. Vote for Lloyd and Bill White, crush the Koch Suckers before they get out of control. I suggest Boric Acid.

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  7. Why do comments by the left always seem to include vulgarity? I guess I'd be frustrated too if I had Doggett representing me.

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