What I said was probably written in a bit too much haste.  My point I think is valid- even if there could be the appearance that Frost's abandoning Kos' website last year could influence Kos' coverage, he should say something.  Its not about whether Kos is a good guy or a bad guy- I know he is a very good guy.  It is whether not-so-good guys on the other side will use this to discredit and harm us and our cause.  I'm not attacking Kos, I'm trying to look out for him.

But I can understand why you all would interpret that differently, and I respect that.  I apologize if I offended anyone, particularly Kos and Jerome.  It wasn't intended as a cheap shot and that it was interpreted as such is distressing.  

But I will say this- Kos is dead wrong about Frost.  Martin Frost has done far more for this party and this country than any other person in this race.  14 congressmen, millions of dollars for state campaigns, revitalizing Dallas County Democrats, grassroots organizing all over this country.  He may not have "net roots" cred, but this guy isn't the kind to throw a bunch of money at media consultants and kick back and expect the votes to roll in.  He has provided for the training of thousands of door to door, grassroots activists.  If you want a party that is democratic as well as Democratic, Martin Frost is your man.

Kos and others have gone to town on these TV ads, but they don't demonstrate Frost's devotion to the GOP- they show his ability to run a campaign.  First rule is to know your audience, know their values, know their interests and use this to craft a message that will convince them to support you.  He knew that most of those people were Bush supporters, most of them because he was tough on "homeland security," and that these people weren't interested in some liberal type.  So he spoke to them, and guess what?  In a 65% GOP district he got 47% of the vote.  That means that almost 1 out of ever 5 solid Republican voters crossed over for Frost.  If that happened nationally, we would win in a landslide every time.  He has the skill to win, and he's the right man for the job.

Martin Frost is a fine man- one who has demonstrated time and again his devotion to this party, this country and our cause- people-driven government.  I will not hesitate to jump to his defense, and today I probably should have paused for at least a moment.

I hope you will all keep visiting, all the other guys are nice people.  I apologize again if I hurt Kos or Jerome- that was not my intent.  Everyone have a great week, and let's try and put this behind us.

This is a cross post from Burnt Orange Report.  This is not meant to piss anyone off or point any fingers, I just want to improve the world we all love- blogging

Anyone who has been to MyDD or Daily Kos over the last couple of weeks have noticed that in their coverage of the DNC Chair race a couple of things stand out: a pretty intense support (even if left unstated) for Howard Dean and a pretty intense opposition to Martin Frost (stated loud and clear).  This is their right, and though I disagree with them it doesn't make me think any less of them as bloggers.  What does make me worry is their lack of disclosure on a couple of points.

First, that both of them are business partners in a consulting firm that counted Howard Dean as one of their clients, at least in the past.  Once you've had financial ties to someone, you can't very well call yourself a journalist if you don't tag that onto every statement about the person- particularly when your statements appear contrived to make the person look good.

Secondly, that after Kos made some very foolish and hurtful remarks about private military contractors in Iraq (a position my Dad now holds- training Iraqi police commandos in Baghdad for DynCorp) Martin Frost withdrew his advertisements from Daily Kos.  Once again, the guy essentially took money out of Kos' pocket and Kos never mentions this potential source of bias when he is reporting on the DNC Chair race.

This isn't meant to bash them or crib a page from the right wing talking points, but I think they should either give full disclosure or stop writing on this topic.  As their coverage has been pretty good (if, as noted, a bit slanted towards one candidate) I would hope that they wouldn't give up reporting on the subject.  But it is important that anyone who casually saunters onto their sites knows that this isn't just a couple of earnest progressives speaking their mind- they are two businessmen who are commenting upon former clients and unfriendly business associates.  

If we ever want blogs to be taken seriously we have to live up to very high standards.  When I talk about party matters I note (as I will note here) that I am an employee of the Texas Democratic Party and that nothing I say is meant to be representative of the views of the party, its staff, its chairmen, candidates, office holders, executive committee or contractors.  Kos and Jerome should do the same, for the good of blogging.

I hope I didn't piss anyone off, but it needed to be said.

So, if you've been reading Burnt Orange Report you've heard all of the stuff about recounts and about contesting elections on the floor of the Texas House, and some of you seem to have found a way to convince yourselves that the GOP won't steal this thing right out from underneath us.

Let me make it really clear- these guys will stop at nothing to win.  They broke the law, twisted arms, threw out the rules and just generally ignored every convention of ethics, law, decency and duty in 2003 to ram gerrymandered maps, huge protections for negligent corporations and deep cuts in vital programs down the throats of Texas families.

Last week, Texas Democrats gained seats in the Texas legislature for the first time in 32 years.  They defeated Republicans in Austin, San Antonio and Houston- including a 22 year incumbent, the Chair of the House Appropriations committee- Talmadge Heflin.  After a week of vote counting that included Republican attempts at stealing the vote (that halted when pressure from the blogosphere caused the GOP Secretary of State to rebuke the elections administrator) and intense public scrutiny, the election was called for Heflin's Democratic opponent- Hubert Vo.

But the story doesn't end there.  There are two options available to Heflin now.  One is a recount (what just finished was simply the count of provisional and absentee ballots), which would almost certainly simply reinforce the fact that Heflin lost.  The public would begin to weary of the sore loser and Heflin would not only lose, but look bad doing so.

The second is far more likely and far more worrisome.  Provisions in state law allow Heflin to file a complaint in the House, claiming that there was fraud in the election.  Tom Craddick- who, as we all know, is a Tom DeLay hatchet man and subject of ongoing corruption investigations- would appoint a panel of legislators with all the powers of a traditional court- subpoenas, swearing people in, evidentary hearings, etc.- to investigate the claims of fraud.  After the hearings, the panel needs only a simple majority to do one of 3 things- seat Heflin, seat Vo or call for new elections.  There is no rule saying there has to be any partisan balance on the panel, so concievably Craddick could appoint Joe Nixon, Ray Allen, Joe Crabb and Bob Talton to the panel to decide the fate of their right wing buddy, Talmadge.  

This is not an unlikely proposition- Craddick told Andy Taylor, the Tom DeLay attorney who was the champion of redistricting "don't come back without Heflin."  They tried to steal this bad boy once, there isn't any reason they won't try again.  That is, unless we keep the heat on them and make sure they are under a very public spotlight.

Get ready to write letters to the editor, call in to radio shows and post on your blogs about this situation.  Start talking about the possibility of the election being stolen and point out that under all the scrutiny in the world the vote came out for Vo.  And keep Heflin honest.  Give him a call and let him know that Texans don't like sore losers.  

TALMADGE HEFLIN -- 281-530-1110 Campaign office
                    campaign@talmadgeheflin.com  

Read this inspiring message from the chairman of the Texas Democratic Party before going on

As you now know, Texas Democratic Party chairman Charles Soechting has decided to stand up against the DNC this year and urge TDP donors to keep their money in state rather than sending it to the DNC.  Now, it is true that Kerry is unlikely to win Texas- very unlikely in fact- but the people of Texas have suffered as much if not more than anyone under Bush.  There is a simmering level of discontent and his current poll numbers are lower than much less popular Republicans pulled in 2002.  Even a little bit of money could build a really successful operation in Texas that would lay the groundwork for congressional/senate/statewide victories in 2006 and a competitive Presidential race in 2008.  The reason we are so GOP-dominated now is because the Republicans refused to write us off even when Democrats won everything in this state.  If we want to build a permanent national majority we need Texas and states like Texas and only investment now will give that sort of thing to us.

As a result of the DNC's defeatist mentality Chairman Soechting has started encouraging Democrats to give only to the TDP and not to the DNC.  Risky move?  Very.  But playing it safe is what got us here in the first place.

Now even Business Week has taken notice of the story and other national outlets will start sniffing around here as well soon.  Nobody wants Kerry elected more than the Democrats of Texas- we've suffered under Bush for more than twice as long as the rest of the country.  But the only thing we want more than that is a state and nation that remains in the D column for a decade or two to come.  That will only happen if the DNC grits its teeth and spends even a pittance in Texas.  When we have to fight tooth and nail even to get bumper stickers to distribute throughout the state, something is wrong.  Texas CAN be in the D column- if not in 2004 than in 2006, 2008 and beyond.

Help my home state's Democratic Party raise a little cash.  Donate to the Texas Democratic Party.

Just wanted to let everyone know about a big fundraising push we have going on over at the Texas Democratic Party.  We are trying to raise $15,000 to provide access for our new state of the art voter file for all of our state house candidates.  The file was put together with the help of the DNC's "Demzilla" file and has all the top notch data mining information.  Our candidates will know everything they could possibly need to know about the voters in their district and they will have a great advantage over their GOP opponents.

The problem with that is that the file isn't free.  In fact, it is quite expensive.  We need the cash to give our candidates a great chance at if not taking back the Texas House at least gaining quite a bit of ground.

As a result, we have a $15 K in 14 Days netroots fundraising effort underway to raise the money needed to make this tool available for our candidates.  Since this is my job and what not, I am going to ask you all to do what you can to help us turn Texas blue again by donating today.  I know you have been so generous to Karl-T. and Byron so that they could offer you all some of the best commentary on the convention on the web.  Please help me out so I can look good while helping some great Democrats get elected in the process.  

Thanks people, hope you can spare some cash and have a great week!