Gordon Quan announced that he will not be running against Tom DeLay, so it looks like the fight for District 22 will be between Nick Lampson and Tom DeLay. I am excited about this... This is like a much anticipated boxing match in the magnitude of Ali vs. Frasier. The Democrats will have you believe that Tom DeLay is like some mafia boss. They will make allegations that DeLay has been funnelling soft money for political campaigns, taking bribes from corporations and using bribing and bullying tactics to absolve himself. They will make you think that this is a crusade against the head of an evil empire. At the same time, Republicans will cry foul. They will claim that the democrats are using bullying tactics of their own by mud-slinging the Majority Leader to force him out. After all, Republicans aren't the only ones "mis-allocating" soft money. Nick Lampson has already called DeLay out by petitioning DeLay to agree to an independent investigation on his supposed fourth violation in the ethics committee. I initially did not think that was a good move by Lampson because it is not a good idea to polarize voters when running against an incumbent. However, this could mean that they have the resources to draw out those silent voters. It really looks to me that Lampson has some money backing him. I can't wait for the finance reporting report. This is just the beginning folks and there will be some good mud-slinging on both sides. I think this is shaping up to be a very entertaining election.
I like Nick Lampson. I had the opportunity to meet him while my wife worked for the Guidry News Service and again at a fundraising BBQ while he was in office. He is a heck of a nice guy and my only gripe about him is that he is as blind regarding the drug war as every other politician. Ought to be an interesting showdown.
I like Lampson also, and will vote for him, but I would have really liked to see a Quan vs. DeLay showdown. Quan running for DeLay's seat would have galvanized the Asian community in Houston.
DeLay's district only includes the southern parts of Houston and, IIRC, does not include many Asian communities. I could be wrong on that, it has been a while since I have seen the new district map.
Lampson is pretty well-known and liked in the area. The last time Delay ran there were a lot of anti-Delay demonstrators but none of the other candidates had a name or face that people could attach to. Lampson will at least make Delay work, that's for sure.
Nick Lampson's campaign finance director is probably going to be Lance Pool, who is the CEO at Baron & Budd in Dallas. Nick Lampson will be heavily funded. And **** Tom DeLay. He is crooked. If there are other congressman doing the same ****, **** them, too. It's kind of like complaining that you shouldn't have gotten a speeding ticket while doing 75 in a 55 zone just because somebody else was doing 80 and the cop could've pulled that car over when you say DeLay shouldn't be targeted. If DeLay's crooked, and I say he is, then he's gotta go. And that partisan politics stuff the Republicans keep talking about is just life and their own tactics when they were out of power.
