Texas Tea Party Favorite Ted Cruz Is Cruising To Win U.S. Senate Runoff

Public Policy Polling found a 52-42% lead for Texas Tea Party favorite former state Solicitor General Ted Cruz in the U.S. Senate runoff. Cruz is ahead by a whooping 75-22% margin with Tea Party voters, more than making up for a 56-39% deficit to Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst with voters who don't consider themselves members of that movement. Cruz's likely victory Tuesday is also indicative of a generational gap within the Texas Republican ranks. Dewhurst leads with seniors, ages 56-39. But younger Republican voters are going heavily for the Tea Party candidate, 60% to Dewhurst's 33% with voters ages 18-45, and 59% to 35% with voters in the 46-65 age range.

Public Policy Polling: PPP's final poll of the Republican Senate runoff in Texas finds Ted Cruz opening up a 52-42 lead, an increase from our survey two weeks ago that found him ahead 49-44.

Cruz's victory is driven by 4 things: the Tea Party, the enthusiasm of his supporters, a generational divide within the Texas Republican ranks, and the lack of regard the party base currently holds for Rick Perry.

Cruz is ahead by a whooping 75-22 margin with Tea Party voters, more than making up for a 56-39 deficit to Dewhurst with voters who don't consider themselves members of that movement. There has been too much of a tendency to ascribe any Republican primary upset over the last few years to Tea Party voters, but this is one case where it's well justified.

Cruz has a 63-33 advantage with voters who describe themselves as 'very excited' about voting in Tuesday's runoff election. He also has a 49-45 advantage with those describing themselves as 'somewhat excited.' The only reason this race is even remotely competitive is Dewhurst's 59-31 lead with voter who say they're 'not that excited' about voting. It's an open question whether those folks will really show up and if they don't it's possible Cruz could end up winning by closer t0 20 points.

The greater excitement among Cruz voters can also be measured by their eagerness to get out and cast their ballots during the early voting period. Cruz leads 55-40 among those who say they've already voted, so Dewhurst will likely need a huge advantage among election day voters to overcome the deficit. But Cruz has a 49-44 lead with those who have yet to vote too.

Finally this is a story of surrogates and quite possibly a deep repudiation of Rick Perry. By a 31/24 margin voters say they're more likely to vote for a candidate backed by Sarah Palin, who gave her support to Cruz.

Read the full story @ Public Policy Polling

Among the ten largest counties in Texas, Collin County ranked first in Republican voter turnout and second to last in Democratic voter turnout, as percentage of total registered voters. This tale of two parties is indicative of the Tea Party's organizational strength among grassroots conservatives in the county and the Democratic Party's challenge to reconnect with its atrophied grassroots base of voters.

Early Voting		Democratic Party			Republican Party
County	Reg Voters	Cumulative In-Person Voters	Cumulative In-Person And Mail Voters	Cumulative Percent Early Voting	Cumulative In-Person Voters	Cumulative In-Person And Mail Voters	Cumulative Percent Early Voting
Harris	1,930,869	9,915	19,019	0.98%	53,040	70,481	3.7%
Dallas	1,136,239	12,806	15,558	1.37%	27,510	33,895	3.0%
Tarrant	937,440	8,710	11,010	1.17%	29,050	34,837	3.7%
Bexar	881,633	11,709	13,958	1.58%	28,187	32,764	3.7%
Travis	597,718	5,181	5,575	0.93%	14,153	16,056	2.7%
Collin	440,085	947	995	0.23%	20,693	22,650	5.1%
El Paso	375,238	7,994	8,284	2.21%	2,043	2,301	0.6%
Denton	369,156	496	536	0.15%	12,739	14,338	3.9%
Fort Bend	326,810	738	834	0.26%	11,412	14,451	4.4%
Hidalgo	296,452	13,742	14,750	4.98%	1,813	2,022	0.7%
Total	7,291,640	72,238	90,519	1.24%	200,640	243,795	3.3%

Justice Scalia: Women Have No Constitutional Right Of Privacy To Use Contraception

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia says that the pivotal decision which reversed a law that prohibited women from using contraception is not supported under his interpretation of the Constitution. During an interview on Sunday, Fox News host Chris Wallace asked Scalia why he believed that it is a “lie” that women have a Constitutional right of privacy to choose to have an abortion and to use contraception.

At the top of the video Justice Scalia and Wallace discuss the so called strict constructionist originalism and textualism constitutional argument that only the exact words written in the constitution, rather than an understanding and application of the principles, within the modern world context, that the framers were attempting to define, may be considered by the American judicial system. Later (9:15-11:30) they discuss Scalia's view that women have no constitutional right of privacy to choose to use contraception or have an abortion.

Many people today do not remember that the sales and use of contraceptive products, even by married couples, were against the law in many states until the mid-1960's.

Even the distribution of books and pamphlets about contraceptive products and practices was illegal. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled such state laws unconstitutional in its 1965 Griswold v. Connecticut decision. The court based its Griswold decision partially on the grounds that such state laws violated a married couple's right to privacy in making their own private family planning decisions.

Social conservatives hold the Supreme Court's Griswold “right to privacy” declaration with contempt because it is the foundation of the court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. Citing the Griswold v. Connecticut and Eisenstadt v. Baird decisions, which were based on justifications of privacy, the Justice Burger Court extended the right of privacy to include a woman's right to have an abortion in its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

Justice Scalia told Fox News host Chris Wallace during the interview:

“Nobody ever thought that the America people voted to prohibit limitations on abortions,” the 76-year-old conservative justice explained. “There’s nothing in the Constitution that says that.”

“What about the right to privacy that the court found in 1965?” Wallace pressed.

“There’s no right to privacy in the Constitution — no generalized right to privacy,” Scalia insisted.

“Well, in the Griswold case, the court said there was,” Wallace pointed out.

“Yeah, it did,” Scalia agreed. “And that was wrong.”

Florida Republican Admits Voter Suppression Agenda

Salon

Florida’s former Republican Party chairman Jim Greer claims Republicans have made a systemic effort to suppress the black vote.

In a 630-page deposition recorded over two days in late May, Greer, who is on trial for corruption charges, unloaded a litany of charges against the “whack-a-do, right-wing crazies” in his party, including the effort to suppress the black vote.

In the deposition, released to the press yesterday, Greer mentioned a December 2009 meeting with party officials. “I was upset because the political consultants and staff were talking about voter suppression and keeping blacks from voting,” he said, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

Texas A.G. Abbott Says Dead People Are Voting, Again

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, defending the state’s voter photo I.D. law, said in a Fox News interview on July 15, 2012: "What we have proved in Texas is that voter fraud exists. We have more than 200 dead people who voted in the last election -- and we proved that in court in addition to the fact that the voter ID law will have no disenfranchisement effect on the voters in the state of Texas."

The Texas Voter Photo I.D. case currently before a federal Washington D.C. Circuit Court will decide whether Texas can enforce its year-old voter photo I.D. law. The three-judge panel composed of D.C. Circuit Judge David Tatel, and District Court Judges Rosemary Collyer and Robert Wilkins heard testimony in that five day trial earlier this month.

PolitiFact: To recap trial testimony pointed to by Abbot: An elections official testified that after comparing a list of 50,000 dead registered voters -- where’s that headline? -- to records of voters in the recent primaries, "we believe" that 239 "folks voted in the recent election after passing away," meaning 239 voters cast ballots using voter registrations of dead Texans. According to his testimony, the state then took the best matches and sought death certificates "for as many of those as we could round up in a short time."

Ten death certificates came back and, the official testified, four names, birth dates and Social Security numbers completely aligned on the lists and death certificates.

Read the full story @ PolitiFact

So the 200 dead people Abbott says voted in the last election boils down to four who may or may not have "voted after they died." In follow-up of other, similar, allegations over the last several years, further investigation has shown that:

• The person who's dead isn't the same person listed on the voter rolls.
• The person who's listed as voting didn't actually vote due to a clerical error at the polling place.
• The person who's listed as dead isn't actually dead due to a clerical error at the vital records office.
• The person who's dead mailed a vote by mail ballot before death.
• There was actually a fraudulent vote by mail ballot cast.

In other words, dead people are not voting and there is no "dead voter" impersonation fraud.

Last January, the DMV Director of South Carolina claimed in a sensational hearing that 950 dead people had voted in an election in that state. He made the claim to explain that South Carolina desperately needs a voter photo ID law to stop voter impersonation fraud. The South Carolina attorney general's office gave the State Election Commission six names off the list of 950 allegedly dead voters, and this is what they found:

In a news release election agency spokesman Chris Whitmire handed out, the agency disputed the claim that dead people had voted. A review of the six "dead voters" by the South Carolina State Election Commission revealed:

• One was an absentee mail ballot cast by a voter who then died before election day;
• Another was the result of an error by a poll worker who mistakenly marked the voter as Samuel Ferguson, Jr. when the voter was in fact Samuel Ferguson, III;
• Two were the result of stray marks on the voter registration list detected by the scanner – again, a clerical error;
• The final two were the result of poll managers incorrectly marking the name of the voter in question instead of the voter listed either above or below on the list.

Supporting Equality, Dignity & Respect

Durkin's Pizza - Every 4th Tuesday 5pm to 9pm
8930 Highway 121, Suite 594, In Target Shopping Center (NE Corner of Custer and Hwy 121, next to QT) McKinney, TX

Once a month fundraiser night to benefit Youth First Texas Collin County. 10% of all sales will be given to YFT! No collecting receipts. No having to designate. All sales count so even if you can't stay, call in an order and pick up. Please feel free to invite anyone who likes pizza and wants to support a great cause.

Durkin's is great pizza and reasonably priced. They serve beer, wine and soda.

Bring the whole family!

Collin County Gay & Lesbian Alliance

Advocating Equality, Dignity & Respect

Crime Stoppers Fundraiser

Youth First Texas Collin County is holding this bowling event to raise funds that will be offered as reward money for information relating to the deadly assault of Molly Olgin, (19) and Mary Kristene Chapa, (18) a lesbian couple from Portland Texas. Both women were shot in the head on June 23rd 2012. Molly Olgin was killed and Kristene Chapa is still hospitalized. The entire proceeds of the event will be given to Crime Stoppers in hopes that it will aid in the capture of the assailant.

To show your support join us at this event. You’ll enjoy 2 hours of bowling, including shoe rental for $25 per person. Gift bags will be given to the first 60 people who pay to attend the event. Please note, we will accept cash only at the door.

Saturday July 28th at 7:30pm
Plano Super Bowl
2521 Avenue K
Plano, TX 75074

For tickets: http://www.ccgla.org/bowling-for-justice

Collin County Gay & Lesbian Alliance

Advocating Equality, Dignity & Respect

Democratic Blog News Endorses Paul Sadler For U.S. Senate

Early Voting in the primary run-off is 7:00am-7:00pm, Monday July 23 through Friday July 27. Election Day is 7:00am-7:00pm, Tuesday, July 31.

Primary Run-Off Election - Early Voting Locations & Hours

The Democratic Party's runoff ballot is short. It has just one statewide ballot position for U.S. Senate. Democratic Blog News endorses Paul Sadler in the Democratic runoff for U.S. Senate and encourages all Democratic voters to cast their ballots for this well qualified candidate.

Sadler's extensive Texas legislative experience in public education and professional work on renewable energy give him a solid grounding on issues that are critical to Texas and the nation. He is the obvious choice in the runoff to be our Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, and will best represent Texas, if elected.

Many Democrats voted for Grady Yarbrough in the May 29 primary because they recognize the name Yarbrough on the ballot. Grady Yarbrough seemingly snuck onto the runoff ballot because too many Democrats confused him with the former Democratic statesman, Ralph Yarborough. Grady Yarbrough ran twice as a Republican for statewide office -- he is definitely no Ralph Yarborough.

We encourages all Democratic voters to cast their ballots for Paul Sadler.

Video: Penny Phillips, Candidate For 5th District Court Of Appeals

by Michael Handley, DBN Managing Editor

Penny Phillips, candidate for 5th District Court of Appeals, Place 5, is out with a very well done campaign video on YouTube. I have been urging candidates to take advantage of free Internet broadcast channels, particularly YouTube, to inform voters about themselves and their campaigns.

The DBN gives the Phillips Campaign a big hat tip for posting a very well done campaign video! The DBN will give a hat tip to every video any Democratic Candidate posts on YouTube.

Penny Phillips talks about running for Court of Appeals Justice. Penny is an Air Force Veteran, 20-year attorney, and dedicated leader. Penny is an experienced lawyer with a long history of dedicated public service.

Penny served the state of Texas as an Assistant District Attorney in the 1990s. She also served the United States as a JAG officer in the Air Force.

As a judge on the Court of Appeals, Penny would make sure that the lower court judges got the right answer by applying the right law to the facts of the case.

In other words, as an appeals judge Penney would look at the law as it exists and hold everyone to it.

Penny's background makes her a great choice to do this job and serve as a Justice on the 5th District Court of Appeals.

The Texas District Courts of Appeals are distributed in fourteen districts around the state of Texas. The Courts of Appeal have intermediate appellate jurisdiction in both civil and criminal cases appealed from district or county courts. Like the Texas Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeals, Justices of the Texas Courts of Appeals are elected to six-year terms by general election.

Texas' Voter Photo I.D. Law - Why You Should Care

by Deborah Angell-Smith

Join us for a Democratic Network Educational Forum discussion at 10:45am this Sat., July 21st, at the John & Judy Gay Library in McKinney, to learn about why the State of Texas is suing U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder over Voter I.D. (John & Judy Gay Library - 6861 El Dorado Parkway - Map)

Learn about why is the State of Texas suing the U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder over "Voter ID" - and why should you care? How will it impact you and your fellow soldiers "in the trenches" of grassroots political fieldwork? This and more will be explained at the next Democratic Network Forum, Saturday morning, July 21st. Please join us, and bring a friend or two while you're at it!

There has been plenty of coverage of various Voter ID issues across the country, but it's easy to get mired in minutia and lose track of what it all means in practical terms. Considering that the final resolution of the Texas case - possibly in the U.S. Supreme Court - could still be months away, and the deadline to register to vote in the General Election is October 9th, we may be in for another confusing election season. Michael Handley, Publisher and Managing Editor of Democratic Blog News, will be on hand to provide a "what you need to know" summary.

Saturday July 21, 2012

21

REGISTER NOW

Linda Magid, Senate District 8 Committeewoman for the Texas Democratic Party, will also be with us to share some exciting information about the new "Voter Empowerment Project," an initiative from the TDP to educate and empower Democratic voters. And, we'll also provide an overview of the voter registration process so you can bone up on the basics. There are just 12 weeks remaining to register new voters for the November 6th election, so now is the time to find prospective voters, help them register and provide the information they'll need to make wise choices when they vote.

Once again, we'll meet at the John & Judy Gay Library in McKinney, 6861 El Dorado Parkway, just east of Alma. It's centrally located in the county and a beautiful facility with plenty of room, so please bring interested friends and neighbors. Come for coffee and breakfast goodies at 10:45 am and the program will get started at 11. We'll wrap up by 1 pm and those who care to can adjourn to a nearby restaurant for lunch and continue the discussion.

If you're not able to come this Saturday, we hope you'll be able to join us at our next Forum. Our plan is to offer local residents opportunities to learn more about the issues that affect us right here in Collin County, and what we, as Democrats, are doing to make things better. We also hope to foster discussion groups in each of our local communities.

We invite your input on topics, speakers, format and other options - and encourage you to get involved in growing our network. We'll have sign-up and comment sheets at the event, but if you aren't able to attend, please e-mail us at info@collindems.net, or call (469) 713-2031 to leave a voice message.

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Democratic Network Educational Forum

Voter Photo I.D. Laws A Burden To 1 In 10 Voters Who Lack A Photo I.D.

During the 2011-12 legislative sessions, states enacted an unprecedented number of laws restricting access to voting. Voter ID laws are the most common type of restriction. Ten states — Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin8 — now have restrictive voter photo I.D. laws. A new report released by the Brennan Center for Justice within New York University finds that these new laws create an obstacle to voting for more than 10 million eligible voting age citizens who do not have a photo I.D.

Many American citizens lack the documentation these laws require. In fact, more than 1 in 10 voting-age citizens do not have current, government-issued photo ID. Some populations lack these documents at even higher rates: 25 percent of African-Americans, 16 percent of Hispanics, and 18 percent of Americans over age 65 do not have such ID. Data supplied by Texas and South Carolina also show that poor and minority voters are substantially less likely to have the kind of photo ID these states require.

Of course, 9 in 10 Americans do have photo IDs. These documents are used to drive cars, board airplanes, enter government buildings, and purchase various consumer products. Accordingly, many Americans might find it difficult to understand how so many of their fellow citizens lack such basic documentation. They might also assume that it must be relatively easy for these citizens to get photo ID. After all, all states with restrictive voter ID laws provide some way for voters to obtain a free one. However, making the ID itself free does not address the significant obstacles that can make it difficult for Americans who lack the required photo ID to obtain one. Many of these voters do not have a car and will have to rely on public transportation — where it exists — to travel to a far-away government office. That office may be open only a few hours a week, and rarely on weekends or in the evening. Voters may have to miss work or arrange for childcare to make the trip. And even if they can make it there, they may not be able to afford the costly supporting documentation — such as birth certificates or marriage licenses — required to apply for photo ID.

The Brennan Center report describes the burden on Americans who must obtain government-issued photo ID to comply with restrictive voter ID laws. The study demonstrates that many rural, urban, poor, and minority voters must overcome substantial obstacles in order to retain their right to vote.

Read the full Brennan Center report.

I.D. Laws Signal Need for New Voting Rights Act

From Roll Call, by Norman Ornstein

Who will be able to vote in this year’s pivotal presidential and Congressional elections? That is a key question, and the answer will be shaped by the wave of new laws in states designed to curb and suppress voting in the name of combating voter fraud that has repeatedly been proved to be virtually nonexistent.

Since 2010, 11 states, almost all dominated by Republicans, found the time and exerted the effort to pass voter ID laws, all in the ostensible name of fighting the terror of voter fraud.

It took the Majority Leader of Pennsylvania to show that voter fraud is not exactly the only motivator — in the Keystone State, a measure was designed to enable presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney to win by cutting nearly
9 percent of voters from the rolls.

Actually, state Rep. Mike Turzai (R) was not the first elected official to commit embarrassing truth when discussing voter ID laws. In New Hampshire, the Republican state Speaker told a tea party gathering that he supported the state’s voter ID law because it would decrease student voting, and: “They’re foolish. Voting as a liberal, that’s what kids do.” What a surprise that in Texas, a concealed weapon permit is acceptable for voting, but a state university-issued student ID is not.

Most of the new voter ID laws make it very hard for people, especially the poor, minorities and elderly, to get acceptable photo IDs when they don’t have them. Older voters who don’t have birth certificates or other supporting documents required to get the photo ID have to pay to get them — and in some Catch-22 cases, they can’t get birth certificates without photo IDs. In Texas, the rural poor who lack IDs could have to drive 100 miles or more to find a place to get one, and most do not have cars. Attorney General Eric Holder has been criticized by the Wall Street Journal for calling this a new poll tax, but he is right — it is an onerous burden on poor people who don’t drive and don’t fly in order to be able to vote, a burden that does not exist for most of us.

Read the full story @ Roll Call.

Video: Pres. Obama's Campaign Stops In Texas

C-Span: Pres. Obama Luncheon Remarks in San Antonio
C-Span: Pres. Obama Campaign Stop in Austin

Pres. Obama speaks at Austin Music Hall


Part 2: Pres. Obama speaks at Austin Music Hall


Part 3: Pres. Obama speaks at Austin Music Hall