"I've now gotten old enough so every new movie strikes me as a sequel, and this is beginning to look like 1979 and 1980 to me. The American people were coming to the conclusion that they would like to replace Jimmy Carter, if the Republicans presented a reasonable alternative to him, and then that was what the general election was about." - Bill Galston
NY-09 Democratic Loss Forecast: Could Obama Be A Goner?
Tuesday September 13th's special election in NY-09 resulted in a Democratic loss. This seat last went Republican in 1922!
What is significant is the GOP candidate Bob Turner made the election a referendum on President Obama and the Democrats used their playbook, attacking him on support of the Paul Ryan plan, Social Security and Medicare.
Three other issues also were factors: the economy of course, Obama's weak support of Israel and the Democratic candidates' support of gay marriage (where the older the average voter is, the more important this issue.)
Tea Party Debate: #2 For Governor Perry, They Aren't Playing Nice
Governor Rick Perry still is the leader for the GOP nomination, but as TCR predicted, the national stage is a lot different than the Texas stage. Perry was the focus of heat from his fellow candidates and did not enjoy the heat (and we don't blame him.)
The good news if you are Governor Perry is, first, there are a lot more debates to come and with the right preparation you can handle the slings and arrows of the opposition. Second, dealing with the so-called negative issues now successfully makes them old news in the fall general election when President Obama may run the most negative campaign in history (but see article about NY-09 of how much good it may do then.)
Stephen Costello: Visionary Conservative Leader
In local politics from time to time, outstanding courageous leaders emerge. Some names come to mind like Paul Bettencourt, Dan Patrick and others.
Stephen Costello, Houston City Councilman is the latest to come forward, looking at problems the city faces and providing conservative visionary solutions on at least three issues: budget, infrastructure and public pensions.
On the budget, Costello chairs the Houston City Council's Budget and Fiscal Affairs Committee. He helped lead an effort to go through each city department and boil down services to "core" to the city's mission.
On infrastructure, he helped conceive and pass Renew Houston, which will rebuild our outdated infrastructure and set up a dedicated fund the politicians can't raid (see Bill White and Lee P. Brown's records.) The pay as you go program will ensure Houston's infrastructure for years.
On public pensions, he is leading the way to modify the city plan so it's both fair and affordable to the taxpayers.
Stephen also runs a tight operation at his council office. When city workers had to take a furlough due to budget problems, Stephen worked without pay and returned over seven thousand dollars to the city.
TCR calls this conservative forward-thinking leadership. Finally, Stephen Costello in a strong showing of political courage, stood up to the naysayers and the political threats to do what's right. Most refreshing.
TCR on the Air
Red, White & Blue featuring TCR Editor Gary Polland and liberal commentator David Jones, Fridays at 7:30 p.m. and replaying Sundays at 5:00 p.m. on PBS Houston Channel 8 and on the web at www.houstonpbs.org.
Upcoming shows (after September Pledge Drive):
10/07/11: Houston City Council – District B with guest Sonny Jiles.
10/14/11: Houston City Council – District C with guests Paul Bettencourt and Sylvia Garcia.
10/21/11: Houston City Council – District J with guest Bill King.
10/28/11: City of Houston Mayor
For a fun feature go to www.houstonpbs.org and under Red White and Blue, you can see commentary about the show and its guests by Gary and David each week. The current show as well as past shows are also available on YouTube.
About Your Editor
Gary Polland is a long-time conservative and Republican spokesman, fund-raiser, and leader who completed three terms as the Harris County Republican Chairman. During his three terms, Gary was described as the most successful county Chairman in America by Human Events - The National Conservative Weekly. He is in his thirteenth year of editing a newsletter dealing with key conservative and Republican issues. The last ten years he has edited Texas Conservative Review. As a public service for the last 6 years, Gary has published election guides for the GOP primary, general elections and city elections, all with the purpose of assisting conservative candidates. Gary is also in his ninth year of co-hosting Red, White and Blue on PBS Houston. Gary is a practicing attorney and strategic consultant. He can be reached at (713) 621-6335.
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