CIRO RODRIGUEZ IS BACK IN THE PICTURE-- CHALLENGING BONILLA IN THE NEW TX-23

Speculation is ending about who the Democrat will be to challenge corrupt rubber stamp wingnut Henry Bonilla, now that that boundaries of his gerrymandered district have been redrawn so as not to violate the Voting Rights Act. The new 23rd congressional district just gained thousands of Hispanic Americans, most of whom will probably be Democrats.

Ciro Rodriguez will formally announce his challenge on Tuesday-- but he's in. The Texas Supreme Court invalidated the March primary results and November 7 will see an all-candidate primary (possibly followed by a December run-off). "The remedial map invoked by a three-judge federal panel increased the Hispanic voting-age population in the 23rd to 61 percent from 51 percent, mainly by appending heavily Hispanic areas in southern Bexar County (San Antonio) that also lean Democratic. That area includes the home base of Rodriguez, which was incorporated in the 28th District that he previously represented."

Bonilla has been a complete whore for corporate America, taking gigantic bribes legal bribes from Big Oil, Big Pharma and Big-Anyone-Else-Who-Wanted-His-Vote. The neo-Nazi Club For Growth has already started their smear campaign against Ciro to try to protect one of their favorite Beltway prostitutes. Bonilla, who was rated an F (a perfect zero) by DMI after analyzing how his voting record impacted the lives of his middle class constituents, has a breathtakingly abysmal voting record, one of the most reactionary in the whole GOP House caucus (and believe me, that is plenty reactionary!)


UPDATE: TX-21 IMPACTED TOO

Another district impacted by the Court ruling, this one adversely, is the already heavily Republican 21st. Under the new boundaries this will become an even bigger dumping ground for dyed-in-the-wool Republican dead-enders-- tailor-made for beyond-rubber stamp nutcase Lamar Smith (who has an even worse voting record than Bonilla). Many Beltway type Democrats think TX-21 is a lost cause but the primary winner, John Courage, has been such an extraordinary candidate... and even Texas Republicans are beginning to scratch their skulls and think Adam and Steve wanting to get married might not actually be at the root of all the problems facing them after all.

But in invalidating the primary, the judges have given Courage a pain in the ass. The Burnt Orange Report explains: "Gene Kelley is a perennial candidate. Basically, he's a retiree who just pays to get on the ballot in Democratic races, trades on his "famous" name, and doesn't do a goddamn thing to campaign. This is the same Gene Kelley that forced Barbara Ann into a runoff for the senate seat." If you know anyone in TX-21 be sure and remind them that the dancer is dead and John Courage is the only real candidate against Lamar Smith.

CIRO RODRIGUEZ, A PROVEN PROGRESSIVE, NEEDS HELP IN SOUTH TEXAS

South Texas' 28th CD is so Democratic that no Republican is even contesting it. Of course, they probably felt they didn't have to because the current "Democrat," Henry Cuellar, is as likely to vote with the Republicans on important issues as he is to vote with his own party. (He even endorsed Bush for president in 2000!) But because there is no Republican running, the March 7th Democratic primary which pits the reactionary Cuellar against progressive former Congressman Ciro Rodriguez, will decide who the next congressman is from the 28th.

Take a look at Ciro's voting record. For anyone with progressive ideals, he's a true blue congressman, as good as you could ever hope for. And Cuellar is as bad as you could fear in your worst nightmare on issue after issue after issue. This should be an easy pick-up for the Forces of Light. Ciro needs money though and I'm starting an ACT BLUE page for him today.

Oh and if you watched Bush's SOTU speech the other night Cuellar was the Democrat sitting with the Republicans-- even Joe Lieberman didn't do that-- who Bush gave a big smooch to. Today's DAILY KOS has a great story on Cuellar and why it is so important that he meet up with unemployment next month. Cuellar is so right wing that even the Blue Dog Democrats rejected him! He's a man who defines himself as pro-gun, pro-free trade, anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage. According to Kos " Cuellar's entire political existence appears to be designed to provide Bush [and the Texas GOP] with "bipartisan" cover, from his days in the Texas House to the past two years in the US House. If Bush wants bipartisan support, he needs to earn it the real way -- through negotiation and compromise, not by flipping a switch with Henry Cuellar, his mole inside the Democratic caucus."


SUNDAY UPDATE: NETROOTS CONTRIBUTIONS ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN TEXAS

Today Matt Stoller at MyDD has a great diary about how netroots contributions to Cirdo Rodriguez really can make a serious difference for America. "Ciro Rodriguez is a place where we can matter. Atrios makes the point that money going to Rodriguez is actually very well spent. $50 to Rodriguez matters, whereas $50 in a Senate race is a drop in the bucket. Primary fights where you can genuinely push a progressive candidate with a realistic shot are very rare, especially with the Tim Kaine-esque party we have right now. So this is a real opportunity for us."

I was proud and excited to see that some of the DWT readers joined me and put some money into our ACT BLUE Page for several of the candidates that I've been writing about, like Francine Busby, Dave Lutrin, Lois Murphy, Chuck Pennacchio. Right now Ciro Rodriguez really needs some
cash to help him replace a horrible reactionary imbecile with a shining example of a progressive fighter-- and in a deep red state. Like I've said before, even $10 helps if enough people kick in. The election is next month.