Sharp Is Candidate For Senate

[Melissa G]

December 8, 2008 1:20 PM
ITS OFFICIAL! SHARP FOREGOING EXPLORATORY COMMITTEE, IS CANDIDATE FOR SENATE WHENEVER THE ELECTION MAY BE.

Whether it is 2010 or 2012, Sharp is in

Former Comptroller John Sharp formally announces he is running for the United States Senate.

www.quorumreport.com

[cosmik debris]

1. Sounds like a preemptive announcement

to keep other people out of the race.

I wonder if it will work?

[Melissa G]

2. Good Question.

I was less than thrilled with the last 'Dream Team' lineup the Dems fielded that boasted Tony Sanchez at the top. The demographics in Texas are rapidly shifting. As I recall, Sharp used to have a Repub lite constituency wrapped in with his Dem backers, I wonder what will coalesce?

[art3]

3. Isnt Sharp Pro Life? In 02 He Backed Bush Tax Cuts?

Correct me if Im wrong-isnt John Sharp against the right to choose? I recall this from the last go round. Also when he ran for lt guv in 2002 i remember he gave a speech in dallas supporting the bush 1 trillion dollar tax cuts. Im not trying to bash him or anything but these things are of great concern to me and many dems. richards didnt appoint him to thr sen seat back in 94 bc she couldnt bring herself to put in someone against choice. im hoping bill white runs. heck id love to see some more dems run.

-oh-didnt sharp partner with perry in 06 to craft that nutty school budget plan? argh

[PDittie]

4. "a pro-life Catholic"

http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/12/john-sharp-confirms-hes-runnin.html

[Stop Cornyn]

6. Ideologically, Sharp is no one to get enthusiastic about (but he's far to the left of even the most

progressive Republican in Texas so there can be no question that Sharp would be a step in the right direction -- even if it would only be a baby step).

For the past decade, Texas Democratic statewide judicial races have generally been the bellwether contests which have been the closest races (in 2008 it was Sam Houston for Texas Supreme Court, in 2006 it was Bill Moody for Texas Supreme Court, in 2004 it was J.R. Molina for Court of Criminal Appeals, in 2000 it was Bill Vance for Court of Criminal Appeals, and in 2002 Margaret Mirabal for Texas Supreme Court was the second best performing Democrat).

The only exception to this rule has been John Sharp's run for Lieutenant Governor in 2002, where he performed slightly better than Margaret Mirabal; here are the results of the 4 top-performing statewide Democrats from 2002:

Lieutenant Governor 2002
51.77% (2,341,875 votes) - David Dewhurst
46.03% (2,082,281 votes) - John Sharp
(2.20% for third parties)

Supreme Court (Place 4) 2002
54.09% (2,331,140 votes) - Steven Wayne Smith
45.90% (1,978,081 votes) - Margaret Mirabal

Senator 2002
55.29% (2,496,243 votes) - John Cornyn
43.32% (1,955,758 votes) - Ron Kirk
(1.49% for third parties)

Supreme Court (Place 3) 2002
56.76% (2,442,111 votes) - Wallace B. Jefferson
43.23% (1,860,251 votes) - William E. Moody

Compare that to the most recent 2008 performance of Sam Houston and Bill Moody's 2006 performance in the most recent non-presidential election cycle and J.R. Molina's top-Democrat performance in 2004:

Supreme Court (Place 7) 2008
50.99% (3,926,015 votes) - Dale Wainwright
45.78% (3,525,158 votes) - Sam Houston
(3.21% for the Libertarian)

Supreme Court (Place 2) 2006
51.04% (2,135,612 votes) - Don Willett
44.88% (1,877,909 votes) - William E. "Bill" Moody
(4.06% for the Libertarian)

Court of Criminal Appeals (Place 6) 2004
57.85% (3,990,315 votes) - Michael E. Keasler
42.14% (2,906,720 votes) - J.R. Molina

By comparing the performance of Mirabel and Moody in 2002, Molina in 2004, Moody in 2006, and Houston in 2008, we can conclude that we generally do better in non-presidential election cycles and we have generally improved our competitiveness by 4% or 5% since 2002 when Sharp last ran, and that trend does not seem to have plateaued. Since Sharp lost by only a little more than 5% in 2002, this may be good news for his chances to breakthrough as the first statewide Democrat elected in more than a decade. Still, the safer bets for a Democratic breakthrough in 2010 are likely to be the candidates for Texas Supreme Court or Court of Criminal Appeals.

[PDittie]

12. No Effin Way on Sharp

I'll leave this discussion with this from Wayne Slater:

He and Mr. Perry were students together at Texas A&M but became politically estranged until 2006, when San Antonio megachurch pastor John Hagee brokered a reconciliation that led to the governor appointing Mr. Sharp to lead a commission to craft a property tax overhaul.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/topstories/stories/120908dntexsharp.42adf930.html

No to White. No to Sharp.

:puke:

[Stop Cornyn]

13. If you are saying "No to White. No to Sharp" may I presume that you will be running? I agree that

Sharp is an ideologically flawed candidate, and while White is 100 times better than Sharp ideologically, I also agree that White's no Dennis Kucinich either, but we are not likely to get another choice who has a snowball's chance in hell of winning.

Unless you know otherwise ...

[PDittie]

14. White is not 100 times better than Sharp

White isn't even twice as good as Kay Bailey.

And no, I'm not running. You?

[Stop Cornyn]

15. No, I'll be supporting the Democratic nominee (even if it's Sharp).

[johncoby2]

5. zzzzzz ZZZZZZZZZ zzzzzzzzz

Snort.

[Melissa G]

7. Is that snort you waking up, or just an aberration in your sleep pattern at the news?

Just curious.

[Lithos]

8. Torn here

Do I want to get a real candidate now knowing that they have a greater chance to lose because they are too much of a change or someone who is wrong on a few things I hold dear, but a smaller apparent change.

L-

[sonias]

9. Sharp is better than this republican used car salesman

Postcards from the Lege blog 12/09/08
Roger Williams says Senate exploration imminent

By W. Gardner Selby | Tuesday, December 9, 2008, 07:00 AM

Former Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams, also a prolific Republican fund-raiser, told the Fort Worth newspaper overnight that he’s about to start his public exploration of a run for the U.S. Senate.

As scribed by Dave Montgomery of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

Williams, a Weatherford auto dealer who most recently headed the Texas Republican Party’s 2008 get-out-the-vote drive, said he plans to announce an exploratory committee within the “the next day or two,” the opening move toward a possible full-fledged campaign. “We’re getting ready to go,” he said in a telephone interview, “so it’s imminent.”

:puke:


Sonia

[Melissa G]

10. Former Sec of State Williams may have an edge in a paperless DRE

place like Texas with all of his friends in the fix the vote industry. :puke:

He may have negotiated a deal before he left and we would never know. One of those extra 'features' in the proprietary software for which we pay (and pay)so much.

[sonias]

11. I'm with you on hating those pieces of crap voting machines, sister

But Williams is too dumb to pay for that himself. He's not as dumb as Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. At least I don't think he is.

Oh don't get me wrong, he would buy the seat in a heartbeat if he could. And he'll certainly drop a ton of money in the race. It just won't be his money.

Sonia

[Melissa G]

16. It's Williams' masters' that will pay for their 'tool' to get in

and it's we, the people, who are paying with all the crappy laws and administrative rules the 'tools' like Williams enact for the 'masters'.

Hi Sonia :hi: