Daily News Roundup, 12/19/07: The Craddick Curse

The biggest news for Texas Democrats and progressives this morning is Dan Barrett's win over Mark Shelton in the District 97 special election.

The press is agog over Barrett's win in what has been a Republican stronghold for some thirty years. The Star-Telegram's Bud Kennedy thinks that Shelton "disappeared" and that his campaign went off the rails:

Fort Worth pediatrician Mark Shelton had leveraged volunteer help and Texas doctors' money into a first-round victory over five other Republicans, making him the favorite in the runoff. But then, the friendly Shelton began avoiding reporters' questions, refusing interviews and responding only by e-mail.

By the final week, he seemed trapped in a campaign that was not his own. His Austin campaign consultants, Craddick allies, sent reams of hostile mailers about illegal immigration, as if that were the sole issue.

I think what happened here, as far as Shelton's behavior is concerned, is that he made a deal with the devil, reaped the benefits, and then suffered the consequences. Someone should write the book "How Craddick Operates" and pass it out to anyone thinking of running for the state house on either side. That being said, it seems as if the need for such a book is dwindling.

Another item of interest about the race is that fact that Dan Barrett was outspent by his Republican opponent by a significant margin. Consider the 8 day prior reports from the TEC for Shelton and Barrett. Shelton had spent $105,061.97 through December 10. Barret's expenditures were modest by comparison, at $46,365.07. Shelton had also raised more and wore about $50,000 in loans. The Telegram reports from a few days later show that both candidates were hustling until the end, although Shelton had stockpiled more last-minute dollars, garnering $10,000 from TEXPAC by the end of last week.

So what does it all mean? Now that Democrats are down to needing five seats and keep winning races in "Republican" districts, what happens next? I think something is happening all across Texas, and this is a trend that will continue.

Some other big things happened yesterday too, so let's briefly touch on a few them, beginning with the spate of Bush's Legal Superfriends who talked about whether or not it would be a good idea to destroy CIA interrogation videotapes. This is fast becoming another "who knew what, and when did they know it" type of affair, as the Bush administration has thus far disavowed any knowledge of the tapes prior to the story breaking last week. By the way, in case you felt like you weren't hearing enough about Alberto Gonzales, you're in luck, because he was one of the big four involved in the discussions.

The Federal Reserve proposed new regulations yesterday in an effort to prevent predatory and abusive lending practices. I wonder if there will be any derision from consumers on this one; in addition to seriously cracking down on deceptive lending, it seems like the other biggest move will be to ensure that companies can longer get people into houses that they have no hope of being able to afford.

Lastly today, Moonie enclave Washington Times contributes something useful for once in the form of discussing the possibility of a brokered convention for the GOP. Political excitement, thy name is floor fight.