The Gattis-Bius race and TLR
The conventional wisdom is that Gattis is a heavy favorite in this Senate race, and I have to agree. He comes from the biggest county in the district, and he has been running hard for some time, especially in Brazos County, the second largest county. Still, I have heard an interesting case to the contrary from the Ben Bius camp, which I will pass along.
1. Williamson County is only 42% of the district. The other 58% consists of Brazos County and several other counties that are largely rural. The rural counties have little affinity for the big suburban county on the west end of the district.
2. If Gattis wins, Brazos County and Texas A&M will be without a hometown senator. Once the seat is held by Williamson County, Brazos County won’t get it back for years.
3. Gattis is not universally popular in Williamson County, for the same reasons that he isn’t universally popular in the Capitol. He has gotten on the wrong side of several local officials.
4. Bius can self-finance (although his camp says he raised $140,000 in the first two weeks). He has his own plane which he plans to use to fly into towns and campaign.
5. (And here is where it gets interesting) Bius intends to attack Gattis for going wobbly on tort reform; in fact, he is already running radio spots. In the last two sessions, Gattis has been an independent voice on this issue. He has pretty much spat in TLR’s eye.
6. So, TLR is in a bit of a pickle. Do they decide that discretion is the better part of valor and endorse Gattis, hoping that, if he wins, he will get with the program, or do they go all in for Bius and try to beat him?
7. The ramifications of (6) reach beyond the Gattis-Bius race. If TLR endorses Gattis, as the Texas Civil Justice League has already done, other legislators may think to themselves, “If Gattis can go off the reservation without being sent to the penalty box, why can’t I?” TLR is going to have to decide whether to make an example of Gattis, or, by failing to do so, allowing independent thoughts to creep into members’ minds. There are a lot of members who would vote against TLR if they thought they could get away with it. You can bet that the Bius camp is going to make this argument to TLR.
The Hobson’s choice for TLR is whether to get in a feud with a state Senate candidate who is a heavy favorite to win, or to give him a pass and see if he returns to the fold. I bet it’s give him a pass.
Tagged: ben bius, dan gattis, texans for lawsuit reform
Anonymous says:
Paul, you missed the most important point: if TLR tries to make an example of the arrogant gattis and fail, they are seen to have less power than thought AND they have a vengeful state senator in office. Their only choice is to be all in, marbles and chalk.
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Anonymous Reply:
October 24th, 2009 at 12:41 am
and money. the sentence is money, marbles and chalk and that’s what TLR has to do. correcto mr. anonymous no. 1.
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paulburka Reply:
October 24th, 2009 at 5:05 am
Re Anonymous #1 –
What do you mean, I missed it? My point was exactly that:
“TLR is going to have to decide whether to make an example of Gattis, or, by failing to do so, allowing independent thoughts to creep into members’ minds.”
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anonymouse says:
Gattis is extremely vulnerable, if an opponent does his homework. If his last name were Smith, he’d be lucky to have a job as janitor in the county attorney’s office.
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TTLA's Ghost says:
Paul, you are right, there are lot of Republican legislators watching to see what TLR does. They are pissed off that Gattis went off the tort reform reservation and they want to know that there will be a price to be paid for his actions. If Gattis goes unpunished, there is no reason for any of them to fear TLR anymore. They will know that they can vote antway they see fit and get away with it. I dont know Ben Bius from squat, but this will be defining moment for TLR. Will they sqander all their years of hard work to make voting against their agenda a cardinal sin for a Republican lawmaker or will they turn into a paper pit bull–all bark and no bite.
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Delwin's Talking Cat says:
TLR is not stupid. They will pass on this race. Bius is playing his hand correctly but he can’t win. Look at his record. He did not beat Dan Ellis in 1998 or 2000 for State Rep. In fact in 2000, he lost his home in Walker County with GWB on the ticket. http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist.exe. TLR may try to scare Gattis by flirting with Bius, but I’d bet my master’s House seat that they will stay far, far away from this race.
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paulburka Reply:
October 24th, 2009 at 10:28 am
But TLR can’t pass on the race without it being noticed by other members. That is the danger TLR faces if it decides not to endorse.
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Miss Crystal Balls says:
Burka, you forget that Farm Bureau is backing Gattis. That would seem to take the legs out from under Bius – who would need to have all the rural vote to counteract the Williamson County effect.
Also, Bius is from Walker County – not Brazos. So there is really not much difference to them. And there is still time for somebody from Brazos County to get into the race – that could screw up Bius severely from a strategic standpoint.
And remember, Gattis is an Aggie.
And Burka, you are wrong about the numbers – in the Republican priamry in 2008, Williamson County was half the vote – not 42%. That makes the task even more daunting for Bius.
Still, the best thing Bius has going for him: Gattis’ consultant – Ted Delisi. He ran poor Peggy Hamric’s senate campaign into the ground back in ’06. Delisi is not very smart, and not very good.
Finally Gatti’s hold could be temporary; if he is a jerk, Brazos County will try to get moved into Kip Averitt’s district or hooked into a Harris County district through redistricting.
As a freshman, Gattis could see his district chopped six different ways to Sunday, especially is he is a jerk in the Senate the way he has been to so many in the House.
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paulburka Reply:
October 24th, 2009 at 11:32 am
Where are you getting your numbers from about the 2008 Republican primary? THERE WAS NO REPUBLICAN PRIMARY RACE FOR SENATE DISTRICT 5 IN 2008. There was a Republican presidential primary in 08, and in the 14 counties that comprise Senate District 5, the rural counties outvoted Williamson County by 34,115 to 28,916. Williamson accounted for 45.8% of the votes, the rural counties for 54.2%. There was a Senate district 5 general election race in 2006. In that race, Williamson County provided 44.4% of the Republican vote, the rural counties 55.6%. I don’t know where Miss Crystal Balls is getting his/her numbers from, but Williamson County did not account for 50% of the vote in either of these election cycles.
I disagree with your assessment of Delisi. Karl Rove couldn’t have brought Hamric in that year. Dan Patrick had that race locked up.
Ralph Sheffield is an absolute zero with a sleazy personal history, and Delisi got him elected to the House last session over Martha Tyroch. He did it by making an issue of Tyroch’s travel expenses as a member of the Temple city council. He manufactured that victory out of nothing. And he brought Michael McCaul home in a bitter congressional race against Ben Streusand in 06.
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Anonymous Reply:
October 24th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
Not to mention the fact that DeLisi got Ogden elected to the district in the first place.
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Anon in Wilco says:
What exactly did Gattis do regarding tort reform?
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paulburka Reply:
October 26th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
He fought the Entergy bill, which was TLR’s number-one issue, and he called TLR’s Supreme Court “a bunch of activist judges.”
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Billy Bob Riley Reply:
October 26th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
Worse, HB1657 was The Texas Trial Lawyers number one agenda item. Gattis,in the video, contends that the Supreme Court was engaging in “right wing activism” when it affirmed long standing state law. HB 1657 would have increased insurance rates by two time or more even if you would have been able to buy it. HB1657 would have wrecked the Texas economy. Thank God the Senate killed it. If Gattis had been a Senator the consequences for homeowners and business owners would have been a disaster.
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Prince Royal says:
Gattis is a really hard campaigner. He has key leaders in every county lined up behind him. He brought ATM to Williamson County with the med school stuff, so they love him in both places. There is nothing I have seen to make me believe that anyone could cut into Gattis’ base significantly.
I think the push back on Gattis is inside baseball. His district loves him, and Aggies love Aggies. Bius has to run to the right of a guy that has a pretty conservative record. If Bius is not careful and makes this race only about his property rights issue, he comes across as a wingnut.
For Bius to win, he has to run media in multiple media markets. This is not going to be cheap. If he starts to spend too much of his own money, he will look like a rich ego trying to buy a place in the senate to sit his ego.
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Good as Gattis says:
http://www.dangattis.org/news/senate-endorsements-sept17.html
No way Gattis will lose. Where did all of this discussion of Gattis being rude come from? All I know is Gattis dropped on the floor and did pushups to get a vote on a bill. Seems far from arrogant… I know there is a video of him on youtube calling out a rep on not pushing a bill out on to the floor for a vote but she definitely seems to be the instigator.
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paulburka says:
Gattis is smarter, more handsome, and more ambitious than most of his colleagues, and they resent him for it. Craddick and his followers, to the extent that there are any of them left, blame Gattis for Craddick’s loss of the speakership. Once Chisum told the Startlegram that Craddick only had 53 votes, Craddick was finished. Gattis was right that if someone didn’t make a move, the mainstream Republicans would lose control of the House. He made the move, but the rank and file in the House couldn’t bring themselves to abandon Craddick before Straus was able to assemble enough votes to be elected.
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Miss Crystal Balls says:
Burka, I dont know who is feeding you numbers but they are out of wack as usual.
According to SOS, in the GOP presidential primary in 08 there were 60,250 cast in SD 5, of those 28,916 were cast in Williamson County – leacing 31,334 elsewhere. That’s 48% – not half but getting there. The only thing growing in SD 5 is Williamson County and reaching exactly half is not unthinkable next year.
Yeah Burka, 48% ain’t half – but it’s more than the 42% you wrote about and it’s more than the 44% and 45% you quoted in your rebuttal.
And Delisi? No, he didn’t carry home McCaul, Rick Perry did – along with every other statewide official that endorsed McCaul because they couldn’t stomach Streusand.
And by the way, that was in 2004, not 2006.
As for Ralph Sheffield’s “sleazy personal history” either be willing to back that statement up with facts or retract it.
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paulburka Reply:
October 26th, 2009 at 5:50 pm
This is what I wrote in a blog post I wrote in the spring of 08 about the Republican runoffs:
The Temple Daily Telegram is reporting on March 27, two days after I first posted this story, that Sheffield had tax liens filed against him or his business entities on five occasions dating back to the mid-eighties. These included unpaid local property taxes; unpaid federal taxes withheld from employees’ paychecks; unpaid partnership income taxes; unpaid state unemployment compensation taxes; unpaid sales taxes; and unpaid corporate franchise taxes. The total amount of unpaid taxes was around $80,000 over a twenty-year period. Sheffield paid off the last of the tax liens five years ago. Yesterday (Wednesday) Sheffield held a press conference to criticize Tyroch for negative campaigning by raising the issue of his not paying his taxes, when he has paid his taxes for the past eight years. Tyroch declined to be interviewed and was skewered for it by the local TV reporter.
I don’t regard using public records of an opponent’s failure to pay his taxes to be negative campaigning. The facts are true. People who are seeking public office, which brings with it the power to tax, ought to pay their taxes. Ordinary people have to pay their taxes; those who seek a public trust should do so too. I don’t see anything unfair about Tyroch’s raising the issue.
* * * *
If failing to pay your taxes, including not paying the taxes you withheld from your employees’ paychecks, doesn’t constitute a “sleazy personal history,” I don’t know what does.
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mondayQB says:
If TLR backs Gattis, then they let members know that they no longer have TLR to fear. There are plenty of members that vote TLR’s way out of fear, not love. Let’s face it, Dick T. and his staff aren’t operating on charisma or respect. If you take the fear out of the equation, they don’t have much.
TLR’s major dilemma is their consultants also consult to Gattis on the side. (Conflict of interest?) They have been convincing the last two weeks that they have TLR under control and that they won’t go against Gattis on their advice.
This brings the questions, “Then what is the point of TLR?” and “If I go against TLR on some bills as well, will the trial lawyers get off my back?”
In the end, I’d like to see TLR go ahead and stick it out with Gattis. Too long, members have felt scared to go against them and this will free members to vote their district so we can begin to rollback tort reforms that have taken justice out of the courtrooms.
In 3 election cycles, TLR will be a good case study of a group that had a grip on the process, but then began to undermine itself by a mix of bad internal and external advice due to conflicts of interests. The variable that will change is the democrats will take control of the House. This will free democrats and republicans opposed to tort reform to finally turn against TLR openly, though TLR has supported them with endorsements and millions of dollars.
All things surely have to end, but TLR is a lot closer than they think.
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Sticks says:
I always heard Delisi deliberately sabotaged Hamric’s senate campaign.
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paulburka Reply:
October 26th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
Dan Patrick sabotaged it.
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Anon says:
Prince Royal pretty much nailed it across the board.
Gattis is arrogant. That just means he’ll fit in well in the Senate. And he’s arrogant because, as Burka said, he’s smarter, better looking, and more ambitious.
I don’t think TLR has a lot of options here. They have lost ground in both houses and if you are going to go after the people that are with you on almost every issue then the trials will gain. But, TLR has been willing to cut off their nose in the past.
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Texian Politico says:
Please change your font size in the posts. The size for the comments is perfect, but the font size for the posts is too small.
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texican says:
TLR has a big decision here. make an example out of Gattis, who was apparently itching to get off the reservation, or take the shackles off of all reps and senators who vote their away in hesitation.
i think there is more ammo against gattis that anyone is giving credit for. his ‘right wing activst judge’ comment. filing bills that provide a better financial outcome for his personal business. his wishy-washyness. helping to bring down a conservative speaker to help a moderate speaker in hopes that he’d be in a better place. dishonesty with associations in their meetings. and his website before he recently changed it advertising the amount of personal injury work he does.
i’ve personally witnessed gattis lie about his involvement in bills and i’ve heard other association directors tell similar stories.
i don’t think it is easy to come out with guns blazing against gattis for most groups, but TLR has the money and just cause to do so. if not, they lose a lot of what they’ve worked for over night.
if they help gattis, then every house member that feels vulnerable should take money from the TTLA. i also believe every member should vote against one of TLR’s major agenda items next session to innoculate themselves from the mail pieces and attacks from the trial lawyers.
i realize this is a big boy decision and TLR is scared. they feel stuck between their consultants who have a personal and well paying business relationship with him on the side and doing what the group has set forth to do. But you have to ask, if TLR is going to support Gattis, then what is the point of TLR? Do they not realize that the votes are closing in on them because of poor decisions to support people like Gattis over someone who fully supports their agenda?
i guess the major question for TLR is, what do you have to lose? gattis is already voting against you. if you support another candidate, what else is he going to do to you? continue to do what he’s already doing? gattis isn’t running for re-election, he is going after an open seat.
by the way TLR, are there any other candidates that you plan to support that are also voting against you and lying to your face, or for some reason are you making an exception for this one guy?
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paulburka Reply:
October 26th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
I have deleted the first paragraph of this comment because of the longstanding practice of this blog that I will not publish gratuitous personal slurs against public servants.
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MonkeyMan says:
You all can argue the numbers back and forth, but all it takes is a quick read of Bius’ initial press release and it’s caustic attacks to recognize that even he (Bius) knows that he’s going to have a very, very tough time prevailing in this matchup. You don’t come out swinging like that unless you’re way behind.
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Seriously? says:
Paul, I’m with Texian on the font size issue. Are you just trying to make it more difficult for me to scrutinize your posts for the inevitable errors? Kidding, kidding. Love ya, Paul.
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paulburka Reply:
October 26th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
E
FP
TOZ
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Billy Bob Riley says:
I wonder how Santa Anna felt after San Jacinto being defeated by a rag tag army. It seems that there were a lot of people rushing in after the battle was won. It seems that Ben Bius is running for the right reasons and there is no way a personal injury trial lawyer is going to win a Republican primary no matter where he is from or went to school.
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Anonymous says:
Gattis has voted with TLR far more than with the trial lawyers.
TLR’s arrogant and dictatorial behavior and attitude towards legislators is what caused some “off the reservation” votes by Rs like Gattis and Phil King and Hartnett and Solomons. They’re pro-business. They’re conservative Rs. They’re not pro-trial lawyers. But they’re increasingly resentful of how some TLR individuals bully legislators and staffers, and then don’t reward/help those that vote with them.
TLR holding out on Gattis is a classic case of why TLR continues to lose respect with legislators who are squarely pro-business. Don’t think that other R legislators aren’t also taking notice of how “well” TLR is treating a top-notch conservative legislator who not only voted with them on a lot of big issues (tort reform, med mal caps, court reorg, asbestos) but also carried some of their big bills.
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Anon says:
And part of this conversation should be that TLR has moved from working to prevent frivolous lawsuits to preventing lawsuits period.
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MonkeyMan Reply:
October 26th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
I believe they crossed that bridge a long time ago. TLR has absolutely no interest in ensuring that even valid, legitimate claims make it to a judge or jury.
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paulburka Reply:
October 26th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
I remember meeting with Dick Weekley and Dick Trabulsi at a Houston hotel, in the very early days of TLR, and they kept insisting that they just wanted the law to be fair. Like everybody else in this business who stays around too long, they became intoxicated by their own power, and now they can’t let go. They file amicus briefs with the Supreme Court to make sure that they judges they already own stay bought. MonkeyMan is exactly right.
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Billy Bob Riley says:
There is one simple question all you prognosticators need to answer:”Do you believe that a self-described personal injury trial lawyer who spit in the eye of those who brung him can win a Republican primary in these times?”
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paulburka Reply:
October 26th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
Here’s what I don’t believe. I don’t believe that Gattis describes himself as a personal injury trial lawyer.
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Ally says:
I must adamantly disagree with the supposed Gatti’s pretty boy image, looks a bit like “Oopie” to me, same goes with assuming arrogance goes hand in hand with superior intelligence. See neither in a paper thin veneer….might be a serious achilles heel.
I do believe that “coming out swinging” would be the correct mode of operation in this race. Why waste time, the Gatti’s voting record speaks for itself and putting lipstick on a pig does not change the fact that it is still a pig with lipstick. Ally
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texican says:
Agree. Gattis is lanky and Opie like. I guess next to Delwin Jones or Trey Fischer he looks handsome, but it’s relative.
Didn’t Gattis recently tell a group his ultimate goal is to be president? He’s is Texas’ Obama?
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paulburka says:
I heard that story too.
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Aunt Bea says:
I enjoy all of the this talk about forgone conclusions. There hasn’t even been a campaign yet and the winner is all but certain. Would someone please direct me to the office of State Senator Les Tarrance? And by the way, what ever happened to that also race Todd Staples who was prounounced dead on arrival because he was from one of the smaller counties in his district?
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Floyd the Barber says:
TLR was never going to get in the middle of this race as they are gutless wonders. But watch for the big TLR money guys to try to play both sides. As for spending his own money, I dont think Bius has too much to worry about. I think the guy that heads the Senate used his own money to get elected and it didn’t bother anybody Republican Priamry voters.
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Anon says:
Good point Aunt Bea.
Burka, do you consider Timothy Geinther to have a “sleazy” personal history?
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Rep. Dan Gattis says:
The statement that “TLR is in a bit of pickle” regarding a Gattis endorsement misses the underlying facts. No legislator and advocacy group agree on all issues 100 percent of the time. However, when I have disagreed with someone it has been in a principled, honest way.
My overwhelming record shows my strong support for lawsuit reform. I was one of the leading advocates on the House floor defending the 2003 reforms, authoring and passing “forum non convenes” in 2005, and have voted for every lawsuit reform measure proposed by lawsuit reform advocates since my election in 2003. The “Entergy” bill was not a matter of lawsuit reform policy for me, but a question of separation of powers and the process by which the policy was implemented as I pointed out during the floor debate.
I agree with TLR, other lawsuit reform organizations, and the business community on the underlying policy question and committed to them at the beginning of last session to work to put it and other pro-business policies into law. To assume that I am not in step with TLR and other pro-business groups when it comes to lawsuit reform and pro-business policies because of the “Entergy” bill is a serious misreading of the facts.
Claims of lack of support inside and outside of Williamson County is laughable (especially when being made by my opponent) as evidenced by the dozens of district-wide endorsements and supporters released by my campaign over the past thirty days, including: Every Republican District Attorney in the Senate District (seven), including the Walker County DA (Bius‚ home county). Fourteen current and past Republican County Chairs representing Brazos, Burleson, Grimes, Lee, Madison, Milam, Trinity, Williamson, and Walker (Bius‚ home county). These counties represent 87% of the Republican primary vote in the Senate District. The list of past and current Williamson County officials is too numerous to list here but includes the current and five former Mayors of Round Rock (interestingly, a large portion of which I do not currently represent in my House district). Finally, an upcoming Brazos County fundraiser lists as honored guests in attendance, the Brazos County Judge, the Mayor of Bryan and the Mayor of College Station as well as a whole host of Brazos County opinion leaders, donors, and political activists. And, as recently as yesterday I received the overwhelming endorsement and support from Emil Ogden, father of Senator Steve Ogden.
If my opponent wants to try to outwork me, then have at it. I plan to run an aggressive campaign in every corner of this district. My rural roots run deep and I believe that I have a message that Republican primary voters will respond to.
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Murray Jackson Reply:
October 28th, 2009 at 7:57 am
Dan,
Almost sorry you replied. Burka may deserve that much respect, but I’m not convinced of the sincerity of these bloggers. Typically liberals, they laughably and falsely try to paint you as a trial lawyer and opponent of tort reform. If they really belived that you would be their hero. At least they show their true colors by showing their conflict over whether to attack you more or TLR.
Sorry your handsome and smart, don’t know what to tell you about that. I do know your honor honesty and integrity.
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Ben Bius Reply:
October 29th, 2009 at 7:33 am
Mr. Gattis,
Since you chose to reply in this forum I feel compelled to speak to you directly as I did in Williamson County the other evening. It was a pleasure to finally meet you.
This race is a clear cut choice for the voters. You and I are both good men who love our families, who are active in our church and community. This race, however, is about a businessman vs. a personal injury trial lawyer in a republican primary.
Your record is crystal clear and my campaign will be discussing the issues that you are on the opposite side of. If you had just one Texas Trail Lawyer vote and had sided with the Democrats over the vast majority of Republicans only once as you represent here you may have been coronated as Senator.
I do have a hard time understanding your appalling voting record and your desire to seek higher office as a Republican. Often youth, ambition, a sense of un-accountability and a Rasputin lobbyist can lead a person astray.
Republican primary voters are very smart and care more about principle than anything else. I am impressed with your insider endorsement campaign. However, the only endorsement I care about is the one made on the first Tuesday in March.
Conservative Republican voters will not tolerate a representative who works hard against a bedrock republican issue..tort reform. There is no way to hide the fact that you were the bell-cow to overturn long standing law that protects property owners.
My campaign will use only documented facts. We look forward to providing the voters with the truth and asking them to decide appropriately. I am certain they will in overwhelming numbers.
Respectfully
Ben Bius
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Murray Jackson Reply:
October 29th, 2009 at 7:49 am
Come off it man. Rep Gattis led the conservatives in the house. He is a true man of principle and doesn’t have to vote in lockstep with anyone. While he makes his living as an honorable lawyer, and yes there are some, he was a respected prosecutor in the most conservative prosecutorial county in the state. The trial lawyer opprobrium tag you try to stick him with simply doesn’t fit. Shame on you.
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Anon Observer says:
Mr. Gattis, no need to let Article III Case or Controversy elements to get in your way. Summers and Entergy were properly in the judicial jurisdiction (what is the law?) and the legislative branch certainly has the authority to set public policy (your bill, HB 1657, failed, however).
Yes, all observers expect you to get more endorsements from sitting politicians. But, grief, leave the elderly Emil Ogden alone. You are proud to trot such an endorsement to advance a political agenda? Shameful.
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B/CS Observer Reply:
October 27th, 2009 at 10:15 pm
“the elderly Emil Ogden”? You obviously don’t know Mr. Ogden.
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Stephanie Reply:
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:08 pm
Grandpa is not going to be happy about this! He prefers venerable.
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Texas PI Lawyer says:
Anon Observer.
You are off base on your interpretation of Summers and Entergy. Those cases involved the interpretation of statutes, which were creations of the legislature. The Supreme Court decided to legislate from the bench, rather than honoring what the legisture enacted. Rep. Gattis was correct in describing the opinions as judicial activism. In cases of statutory interpretation, the courts are not supposed to decide what they think the law should be, they are supposed to enforce the law enacted by the legislature.
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Anon says:
I live in SD 5. I plan to vote for Mr. Gattis. Most of my friends will too. We’ve never heard of the Entergy bill. We don’t give a damn about it. That’s why we hire legislators.
We think Gattis is a smart, likable guy who votes his district. If he irritates the hell out of a few capital staffers then we figure he’s probably doing his job.
We’ve never heard of his opponent except that he can’t seem to tell a prosecutor from a swindler. That’s not making it a tough choice.
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Barney says:
I live in SD 5 and I plan to vote for Mr. Buis. Everyone I know who votes in the primary will also including many who have never voted in a republican primary.
Mr. Buis is well known in this area for honesty, integrity, and extremly well known in the Texas business market as saavy, smart and unparreled in the area of finance. Mr. Buis is a christian man and has been active in his church an community for almost three decades. I do give a damn about the entergy bill and you should too. Had it passed it would have doubled to tripled Texas homeowners insurance, if you could have gotten it at all. This race is about issues, not a beauty contest. Had Mr. Gatti’s record been what he says it is…. not a flip flopping rhino….there would be no race….and I would be not be writing, but tis not the case.
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Anon Reply:
October 28th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
Thanks, Barney, for the ad. I’m sure Mr. Buis could not have written it better himself.
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Anon Reply:
October 28th, 2009 at 11:17 pm
Barney, Anon here again. I’m a little slow on the up-take here, but it’s just dawned on me that I have a direct line to Mr. Bius’ consultant. What an awesome opportunity.
So, let me reiterate my points. For me (and a lot of my friends), the ballot box is a low involvement decision. We don’t have capacity to pay that much attention to the race.
I do want to know that a candidate shares my values and that he will vote his values independently of external pressures – like the lobby or the leadership.
I don’t have a high regard for candidates describing someone I admire as a “flip flopping rino.” Those kind of comments communicate that the party no longer tolerates deliberation, new ideas or (God forbid) independent thought. Besides, it violates the 11th commandment by that other California rino … who was that … it slips my mind … oh yea … the 40th president. Reagan wasn’t exactly a party line kinda guy in 1976, was he?
I’m not real fond of trying to attack a candidates’ profession. That’s a slippery slope too. Gattis worked as a prosecutor. Buis has … made money? Nothing wrong with that but that’s hardly a public service.
There may be a case to make for Bius, but he’s not made it. In fact, he’s undermining it. He’s going to have to answer the question: why do I want to be proud to call him my senator?
If you’re not the consultant, you seem well connected. Maybe you can pass it on.
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Austin Insider Reply:
October 29th, 2009 at 9:52 am
Alright, this is getting ridiculous. Triple Homeowner Insurance? You have no idea what you are talking about. Quit listening to Bius, because he doesn’t know either, he is just saying what his consultant tells him to say (maybe that’s you). The Entergy bill had to do with Workers Comp Insurance mostly involving petrochemical facilities not Homeowners Insurance. Good Grief.
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