Yipppeeeeeeee!
I’m still at a party for the end of candidate filings but I just needed to tell you crazy (no, like certifiable, not just ecentric) Congressvarmint Steve Stockman suddenly withdrew from his congressional race in the GOP primary and filto to run against Senator John Cornyn.
I cannot wait for the debate. This will be epic! Stockman is a Tea Party Darling.
Sorry – gotta run.
Okay, if you want to know the stuff on Stockman, Mother Jones did a better job than I could ever do.
Here’s the best part. Stockman says he’s running because Cornyn doesn’t walk lockstep with Ted Cruz. So, every crazy thing that Stockman says rubs off on Cruz. And, I’m betting ten dollars cash American money that Cruz and Cornyn will be in a runoff to prolong this free entertainment.
And you people in foreign states can watch from the cheap seats at Juanita Jean’s.
It is to laugh and shake ones head until the hairpins fall out.
1Y’all really are blessed. This should be so fun…please pass the popcorn, and I’ll have mine with a gin and tonic, thank you very much.
2I was just logging into the salon to send you this same message, although I figured you already heard about this! Here’s a link for the customers who want to read about it right now while their hair is drying:
Chronicle: Stockman not running for re-election, will challenge Cornyn
http://blog.chron.com/txpotomac/2013/12/stockman-not-running-for-reelection-will-challenge-cornyn/
This could get very interesting! Compared to Stockman, Cornyn looks like the picture of reasonableness and sensibility. But the GOP base is so far to the right down there now, they’re just itching to put another wingnutty senator in alongside Cruz. JJ, you’re right: This will be epic!
3@Hilary – You’ve got the right idea! We’ll have to set up a bar inside the salon for this one! Make mine a margarita!
4“I know from nuts, and you Senator Cornyn are not nuts!”
“That sir, is a blood libel!”
5I wonder who’s paying Stockman for that. Surely he never came up with that on his own. I’m sticking with one Corona. You don’t want me around if I have more. Couldn’t find any names of big money Stockman backers….gotta be there somewhere. Or maybe he just did it for the fun of it.
6Who, pray tell, is in the field for Stockman’s old district? How deep is the well of crazy there? Any chance for a Dem to slip in and take it?
I can live with losing either Stockman or Cornyn. The good news is that we will be losing at least one of them.
7Hey JJ, it looks like your biggest helpers in turning Texas blue will be the Republicans.
8Don’t your more moronic Texans refuse to debate during primary season, in the belief that their stupidity won’t be revealed?
9I was about to reply to Stockman’s idiotic tweet to the Texas Tribune about how Texas needed two conservative senators with all guns blazing, but…decided that I’m not a political genius and telling him that Texas needed someone to represent all Texans, not just rich white male religious bigots just might be counter-productive.
Would’ve been fun, though. Dagnabbit.
10“Who, pray tell, is in the field for Stockman’s old district?”
Excellent question. It’s a brand-new district, which is how Stockman got himself elected in the first damn place — no incumbent.
11Elizabeth–I’m with you. I gag every time I hear one of the wingnuts give a number for how many Texans they represent because it’s always big enough to include me, and they *do not* represent me. Elizabeth Warren does a pretty good job of representing me, but I’m not allowed to vote for her.
Gotta get the cruz-control car-wreck meme out there…
12Politics1 has up-to-date listings for all the Texas candidates. Scroll down about 3/4 of the way to District 36 where Stockman is the incumbent. They have him now listed as a Senate candidate. There are several candidates running for his House seat:
http://www.politics1.com/tx.htm
13Ah. THAT would explain it, Ms. J. Sort of. Although I really can’t imagine anyone voting for Stockman instead of Cornyn. As you said earlier, S. makes Cornyn look wise and sensible. At least I don’t think Cornyn has been living in a warehouse or whatever.
14Lord, have mercy, the debates are going to be brain-dead to the point of historical notation. Make mine a non-dry gin martini with a couple of blue cheese-stuffed olives, and keep ’em coming……
15My dad used to say “Never attribute to malice that which can be easily explained as stupidity”. Here we have malice running against stupidity and I can’t explain it at all.
16Freedomworks is evidently supporting Stockman
17http://www.freedomworks.org/blog/jwithrow/senator-john-cornyns-top-ten-bad-votes. I guess that the Koch brothers are going to back Stockman
Well, this is one Republican voter who is glad to see Steve Stock(crazy)man leaving the district. Mind you, after the redistricting, those of us here in furthest southeast Houston, Clear Lake, Webster, and the Johnson Space Fight Center want some intelligent, decent, competent representation… but given the group that just came out of the clown car for the GOP, the only hope is the district to go Democrat.
18Here’s a question: could Stockman have decided to run for the Senate as a way to forestall/delay/divert a possible House ethics investigation? I mean, really:
http://blog.chron.com/txpotomac/2013/11/steve-stockman-repeatedly-failed-to-report-business-ties-and-explain-details-about-his-income-houston-chronicle-investigation-shows/?cmpid=houtexhcat
However this new campaign goes, he’s done in the House in January 2015. By putting a firm end-by date on his House seat, doesn’t Stockman succeed in taking the steam out of any probing the GOP-controlled House might feel compelled to do?
19The 6 Most Outrageous Moments From The Guy Who Wants To Be The Next Senator From Texas
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2013/12/10/3041781/stockman-senate-bid/
20Speaking of filings, I have good news from the frontier out in Hamilton County Texas. Look at your maps — it is exactly in the middle. Well, several weeks ago a few of us — very few — had a nice wine and cheese get-together to discuss what we could do out here in rural Texas to help get Wendy elected governor. The best idea (mine, of course) was that we had to have a Democrat file for County Judge so that there were some down ballot elections to help the debate. And . . . drum roll . . . we got one. David Lengefeld, former state representative, stepped up and filed for County Judge. We are beyond pumped up about this election cycle. Things are a-changing.
21JJ sez: “And you people in foreign states can watch from the cheap seats at Juanita Jean’s.”
Yay! I can’t wait for this! Talk about good political theater! I’ve already ordered my margarita. JJ, I’d like some guac and chips with that, thanks! 🙂
@Marge #14 – I’m a Dem so I can’t see voting for either of those two guys, of course. But the GOP base picks their own nominee, and they have gotten more and more rabidly right-wing over the years. The Tea Party put Cruz in as nominee, and it looks like they’re ready to bring the crazy again, throwing their weight behind Stockman. What a party! (although I am sorry that one of those two clowns — Stockman or Cornyn — will unfortunately be in the Senate).
22@Angelo #20 – Thanks for that article. I just tweeted it to my followers. Stockman sounds like Bachmann, and oddly, he reminds me of Michele’s husband Marcus.
Talking Points Memo has a good analysis of the antagonism between the Cornyn (“establishment”) and Stockman (“Tea Party”) wings of the GOP and the “civil war” that’s going on now:
Tea Party congressman enters GOP primary against Sen. Cornyn in Texas
23http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/rep-stockman-running-against-sen-john-cornyn
Interesting little tidbit came across my desk this morning. CQ News (Capital Hill newsblog) quotes Club for Growth President Chris Chocola ““Our PAC evaluates three factors when looking at races that involve incumbents: 1) the strength of the incumbent’s record; 2) the degree of difference between the incumbent and the challenger on economic issues; and 3) the viability of the challenger. None of those factors weigh against Senator Cornyn, so we do not expect to be involved in the Texas Senate race.”
24So Stockman gets the Freedomworks endorsement but not Club for Growth…..trouble in paradise?
Just remembered — which is good as I often can’t recall what i had for lunch — Stockman’s campaign staff is still hold up in that pesthole of a biker shed, right? Think he’d let them out for air now that he wants to be a Senator? I bet they are just as scary in the daylight as in the dark!
25More to the point, have the Dems come up with anyone to run for this seat yet? Suddenly it looks as though we could have a Christine O’Donnell-type joke of a candidate putting this seat in play.
Julian Castro, anyone? A state-wide Mexican candidate to drive mid-term Mexican registration and turn-out?
26@daChipster #26 – Politics1 has the up-to-date listing of all candidates running for office in Stockman’s District 36. Go about 3/4 way down the page here:
http://www.politics1.com/tx.htm
They list only one Dem — Michael Cole — and they have him as the Libertarian nominee in 2012. So, JJ or someone else might be able to tell us what the story is with Cole and how he was running as a Libertarian last year, but will be running for the House as a Dem in 2014.
27Ms J thanks! But I was actually worried about the Senate seat.
28daChipster – Okay, I misunderstood your question! Did you see JJ’s post a few days ago about Democrat Maxey Scherr’s campaign for U.S. Senate?
https://juanitajean.com/2013/12/07/damn-i-love-texas-women/
29Nope, missed it 🙁 sorry!
30daChipster, meet Maxey Scherr, a great hope for a blue Texas. https://juanitajean.com/page/3/
31This is amusing. Stockman’s first fundraising e-mail is online and calls Cornyn a nasty name. http://stockman2014.com/articles/i-m-running-for-senate-against-liberal-john-cornyn According to this e-mail, Cornyn is Reid’s republican.
Based on this story, the Democrats had fun when responding to an inquiry about the claim that Cornyn is Reid’s republican with a very amusing tweet http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/reid-aide-gives-cornyn-democratic-bear-hug
Adam Jentleson @AJentleson
32.@woodruffbets Senator Reid has always felt that Senator Cornyn is someone he can work with on a range of issues.
3:09 PM – 10 Dec 2013
Meanwhile … The alleged — and only — Democrat who is running for Stockman’s House seat is a fellow named Michael Cole. He last ran for the House as a Libertarian in 2012. He will be running in 2014 as a candidate on the “Democrat Party” line, according to this explanation on his website of why he switched parties:
Why I Am A Democrat
http://www.michaelcole.us/why_i_am_a_democrat
If any of you Texas peeps are in Stockman’s district — or even if you’re not — can you please inform this misguided gentleman that the name of his new party is the *DEMOCRATIC* Party — NOT the DEMOCRAT Party? Why do these right-wingers not know the difference between nouns and adjectives? We Dems in foreign states thank you for this very much!
33ROFL with Senator Reid. Cornyn was such a leader during the government shut down. Best of my recollection senior turtle, Mitch was doing all the talking. The good old boys are taking incoming from the Tea Bags to their right and serious heat from legitimate Democratic candidates. 2014 should be fun, after the old gohmerts are eaten alive by the nuts on the right, it will be fun watching the challengers from the left feast on their cranky carcases.
34the quote I like is attributed to Napoleon B! Plus it uses the word “Republican”, which I find especially tasty…
Here ’tis: “Never were Republicans denounced as such; the opposition was involved in its own civil war, and the President obeyed Napoleon’s maxim: Never interfere with the enemy when he is in the process of destroying himself.”
Thus we will all keep vewy vewy quiet while these Texas Republicans destroy themselves.
35“Despite our disappointment that pseudo-historian David Barton decided against a run for US Senate in Texas, we are taking solace in the fact that Rep. Steve Stockman announced yesterday that he would challenge Sen. John Cornyn in the Texas GOP primary. Cornyn is hardly a moderate, but Tea Party groups have been itching to oust him.”
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/meet-steve-stockman-r-worldnetdaily
36daChipster and all – PoliticusUSA had a good article yesterday about Maxey Scherr’s Democratic competitors for the US Senate. They say she’s the only real choice for liberal Dems in the primary:
PoliticusUSA: Maxey Scherr is the only Democrat worth supporting for US Senate in Texas
37http://www.politicususa.com/2013/12/10/maxey-scherr-democrat-worth-supporting-senate-texas.html