It is difficult to feel good this 4th of July given the mess the Bush/McCain Republicans have led this nation into. This year alone 438,000 people who lost their jobs. We are well into the Bush's SECOND recession (first president ever to preside over two recessions) with almost no recovery between them. We are officially in a bear market. Food prices are rising worldwide. Oil is at record highs suggesting Americans will have a very, very tough winter. The deficit is WAY above where it has ever been before and no end in sight. And I am not even going into the inept, idiotic and completely useless Bush/McCain Iraq war.

Our 5th out of our first 5 Road To 60 senate candidates is Rick Noriega who is running to oust Bush rubber stamp Sen. John Cornyn of Texas. Noriega, a member of the Texas House and a Lieutenant Colonel in the Texas Army National Guard who spent a year serving in Afghanistan, was drafted to run for the senate against Cornyn by the grassroots and netroots and is running a very strong campaign. Just look at the week Noriega had last week:

• A new Texas Lyceum poll shows Noriega within 2 points of Cornyn.
• Noriega won Barbara Boxer's PAC For A Change fundraising contest winning him a fat check for $2500 toward his campaign.
• The Texas Medical Association announced it will rescind its endorsement of Cornyn in response to his vote to block a bill that would have stopped a cut to funding of doctors who tend to Medicare patients.
• Noriega posted this eloquent piece over at HuffPo discussing the vast gap between his own service training soldiers for redeployment to the Middle East with Cornyn's lack of service in Washington, DC.
• In response to this inspired piece of schlock produced to promote "Big" John Cornyn's re-election, the Noriega campaign released a hilariously mocking ad of their own:

• Oh yeah, and of course, Noriega made MyDD's Road To 60 Act Blue page.

The bluing of Texas is one of the more dramatic political stories of the past several years -- especially in the wake of Tom DeLay's redistricting and his goal of a permanent Republican majority -- and is one I look forward to celebrating at Netroots Nation later this month in Austin. Not only have we taken DeLay's seat in congress but at a more local level, after years of absolute Republican dominance, Democrats are within striking distance of taking the Texas House of Representatives, which is currently controlled by Republicans by a slight 79-70 margin. Taking back Lyndon Johnson's senate seat would be the culmination of all the progress we've made in the Lone Star State and is why we're proud to have Rick Noriega on our Road to 60 Act Blue page.

A Senate win in Texas would absolutely mean the Republican firewall has been breached, so please help Rick Noriega get us to 60 votes in the senate and send "Big" John Cornyn back to Texas where he belongs by contributing even $5, $10 or $20 over at our Road To 60 Act Blue page by midnight tonight.

Update [2008-6-30 15:23:7 by Todd Beeton]:Just 17 15 more contributors to get us to 60 donations toward 60 seats in the senate by midnight tonight. Help us reach our goal at our Road to 60 page. Thanks!

Strange week. Saw my first McCain ad this week...and it is clear he is running as a Democrat. Healthcare, alternative energy, environment...all Democratic talking points. We have gone from Democrats feeling like they have to run as Repub-Lite to Republicans trying to hide behind a Democratic facade. You even have a Republican running for Senate in Oregon trying to claim (falsely) that Obama supports him. This is desperation for the Republicans! It sounds like racist attacks have failed them, though I am sure they will try more as time goes on.

Meanwhile yet more polls show Obama ahead in Virginia and Missouri, tied in Florida, AHEAD IN INDIANA (wow!) and within 1-2 points of McCain in North Carolina, Alaska and Georgia. Each and every one of these states was solid Bush in 2004. Now they are either leaning Obama or effectively tied.

The political wire just posted a new poll showing Cornyn (R-inc), up 2 percentage points when matched against democrat Noriega. The polling was done by the Texas Lyceum Poll on June 12-20, with a sample of 1,000 adults, 80% of which were registered to vote. MoE 4,5 %.

Links:

http://www.texaslyceum.org/media/staticC ontent/PubCon_Journals/2008/National%20S ummary%20_day%202_%20final.pdf

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/0 6/26/in_texas_cornyn_in_tight_race_for_r eelection.html

The floods in the Midwest have continued and I include some information where I can in the Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin sections. Best of luck to all readers in the hard hit areas.

This week I return to an issue I discussed before: Republican cronies litterally killing our troops with no government oversight. This week Democratic Sentor Bob Casey is demanding an investigation of the electrocutions due to bad wiring that have been plaguing our military bases managed by a Hallibruton subsidiary. More below.

John Cornyn was right in saying that maybe he needed a new staff because his ridiculous convention video is turning out to be a real bomb of hilarity- and not in a good way.

Consider the following...

Evan Smith, Texas Monthly.

He Puts the "Corny" in Cornyn

If not for tort reform, John Cornyn could sue the makers of this video shown at the state Republican convention for -- what? Malpractice? Wrongful death of his image? The deliberate infliction of pain and suffering on the voters of Texas? Or maybe he could sue his own campaign staff. Because this is just cow-pie-awful.

Robert Garrett, Dallas Morning News

A Reeking Video

Words don't do justice to this campy, over-the-top, 2 1/2 minute video. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn's campaign cooked it up to introduce him to the Republican faithful at their state convention in Houston.

Could it possibly reek more of malt, hops -- even sour mash? Surely a good deal was drunk at the brainstorming session that produced it -- not least by Cornyn, described by a deep-voiced narrator as a manly man "who can shoot straight and talk straight and enjoy a good brew."

Cornyn media consultants at Strategic Perception in Los Angeles took images of him on horseback at the Houston rodeo parade and a similar event in Brownsville. Then, through the miracle of film editing, they created Senator Cowboy! You may have thought of Cornyn as a paper-pushing lawyer, judge, attorney general and now lawmaker. Behold the leather-skinned tamer of the wild frontier!

But wait, some 25 seconds into the video, what's that we see, in the close up of his hands holding the reins? Could those be ... paper cuts?

This week's newsletter includes another discussion about the Republican neglect of our infrastructure. Since I wrote it two more levees have failed, flooding Des Moines, which aren't included in my analysis. If you want to help the Midwest, you can go here.

Turning to the election, the attacks have begun in earnest. Republicans rolled out a whole slew of attacks against Barack and Michelle Obama...some borderline racist, some merely lies, and none all that effective. In most states Obama's popularity has surged such that if the election were held today, Obama would easily win with over 300 electoral votes, just like Senator Chuck Schumer predicts will happen. But keep in mind, this is just the first volley of attacks.

This was going to be a historic moment no matter what. Once the field narrowed to Obama and Clinton, we KNEW we would make history. We would have either the first black or first woman nominated for President by one of the two major parties. Well, THIS, folks, is history. Real and amazing history. We have now done what our parents couldn't do.