Bush hug boosts Democrat opponent's fundraising

[sabra]

http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/state/13784524.htm

Bush hug boosts Democrat opponent's fundraising

Associated Press

SAN ANTONIO - A photograph of President Bush cupping the face of U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar has prompted a surge in online donations to one of Cuellar's rivals in next month's Democratic primary election.

Former U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez, who hopes to regain the District 28 seat he lost to Cuellar two years ago, received nearly $12,000 in campaign donations Thursday.

The 263 online donations were made within hours of a call to action by two left-leaning bloggers, the San Antonio Express-News reported in its Friday editions. ActBlue, an online clearinghouse for Democratic fundraising, tallied the donations.

The photograph was taken at this week's State of the Union address and shows Bush holding a smiling Cuellar's head between his hands. Cuellar was standing at the doorway to the House chamber where Bush entered on the Republican side of the aisle.
Oscar Sanchez, a spokesman for the Rodriguez campaign, said the photo struck a nerve with Democrats.

"It really shows that Democrats want a real Democrat in Congress," Sanchez said.

[UrbScotty]

1. STAIN!!!! (nt)

[waiting for hope]

2. The kiss of Death!

[WI_DEM]

3. Let's see last year he kisses Lieberman and Joe gets an opponent

in the primaries and now this--it's known as the Bush kiss of Death--ask Brownie about it too.

[wicket]

13. "I know it was you Lieberman, you broke my heart!"

:rofl:

[malmapus]

38. Leave the DINO take the canole lol

LOL

[Chimichurri]

4. woohoo! More of this!!

[sam sarrha]

5. Fascist Whore....

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

6. Rodriguez was on AAR with Sam Seder last night

and they were talking about this. Sam stressed that it was likely that Cueller would switch parties if he were reelected, and that it was important that we get a solid Dem in the seat.

[xchrom]

7. good.

[jasmeel]

8. This is how we handle the bushbot DINOS-support their opponent

whenever they kiss * ass.

[GalleryGod]

9. Fredo, you broke my heart !

:rofl:

[AnneD]

28. I know it was you....

I liked McCain until that hug...And Liberman...there isn't enough Scope!!!!!!!

[rodeodance]

10. what a good laugh. that pic is a hoot.

[Pirate Smile]

11. Front page diary on Kos, plus Rodriguez had his own Diary up

on the Recommended list for the past 24 hours.

TX-28: Ciro Rodriguez
by kos
Fri Feb 03, 2006 at 10:26:21 AM PDT
We've been talking a lot about that Republican in sheep's clothing Henry Cuellar, and we'll do so again moving forward.

But for now, let's talk about Ciro Rodriguez.

Aravosis dug up some info on Ciro:

- Voted against a Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

- Voted against legislation prohibiting courts from reviewing provisions of the DOMA (HR 3313), i.e., he voted against an amendment that was meant to help keep DOMA alive.

- Voted against banning adoptions by gay parents in DC.

- Voted against ending preferential treatment by race in college admissions.

- Voted for funding and stricter sentencing for hate crimes (including those based on sexual orientation)

- Sponsored a constitutional amendment for equal rights by gender.

- Rated 79% by the ACLU, indicating a pro-civil rights voting record.

Down the list, he is solid on choice, got only a 23% rating from the Christian Coalition in 2003, voted against drilling in ANWR and yes on Kyoto, he got a 100% rating from the Alliance for Retired Americans, voted no on school prayer, got a 100% rating from the AFL-CIO, and so on. Here's a list of Ciro on the issues. Not perfect (who is), but pretty darn solid.

Ciro is a good guy, a good Democrat. In the 107th Congress, Ciro was ranked 122 out of 213 in the party's left-right scale, right in the middle. He scored more liberal than such party stalwarths as Patrick Kennedy and Joe Hoeffel, and just behind Zoe Lofgren, John Dingell, and Corrine Brown.

This is a guy who showed Henry Cuellar the ropes, introduced him to donors, to other Democratic congresspersons including the entire Hispanic caucus, mentored him, until DeLay redistricted them into the same district and Cuellar decided his personal ambitions were more important than the help and friendship Rodriguez provided.

It's been about 23 hours since I started posting on this race, and in that time the netroots, Atrios, and Firedoglage ActBlue pages have collectively raised nearly $30K. The Cuellar people dismissed our efforts yesterday as a "one-day story". Too bad for them it won't be.

The best thing you can do is find a way to get to the district and volunteer. But, most of us live far away or life is in the way. So in that case, the second best thing we can do is even the financial playing field for Ciro.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/2/3/122621/9885

edit to add:
It looks like Ciro's Diary finally fell off the Recommended list.

Earlier Diary from Kos.

TX-28: More on Cuellar

Henry Cuellar, the incumbent "Democrat", is very, very conservative. We know he has the Club for Growth endorsement. But did you know the Blue Dog Dems didn't want him in their caucus? For those of you who don't know, the Blue Dogs are so far to the party's right flank that they make the DLC look like Dennis Kucinich by comparison. Yet, despite asking to be in the caucus, he's not a member. Not to mention he arrived in DC with a ton of baggage:

In Washington, Democrats say they will monitor Cuellar's votes before deciding how warmly to embrace a man who calls himself pro-gun, pro-free trade, anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage. Several House Democrats, hearing rumors that Cuellar might switch parties, took the unusual step of asking him to confirm his party loyalty.

We also know that Cuellar endorsed Bush in 2000. But did you know that he traveled the country campaigning for Bush? From the October 27, 2000 edition of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

-snip-
Cuellar's entire political existence appears to be designed to provide Bush 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.

Contribute. And the election is March 5. If any of you live near the district or can get to it, consider volunteering.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/2/2/182856/9278

No Republican is running for this seat in November so the Democratic Primary on March 5th will decide the race.

[wakeme2008]

12. Always happy to donate to a real Dem

:) :) and a :kick:

[Pirate Smile]

15. Thanks. I'm going to add the first Diary also so everyone knows

exactly what the deal is:

TX-28: Is this really a *Democratic* primary?

Atrios digs this up from the Google cache:

Cuellar was one of several Texas Democrats to support Bush over Al Gore in 2000.
Cuellar later was appointed secretary of state by Gov. Rick Perry before being elected to Congress as a Democrat.

And this from the Club for Growth endorsement, delivered by Pat Toomey of all people:

"By voting for CAFTA, to repeal the Death Tax, to prevent huge tax increases, and for supporting school choice, Congressman Cuellar has become one of the House's most pro-economic growth Democrats," said Club for Growth President Pat Toomey. "The House of Representatives would be better off with more Democrats - and even some more Republicans - who demonstrate Rep. Cuellar's commitment to their constituents' prosperity through economic freedom. It is particularly noteworthy that Rep. Cuellar cast these votes for a stronger economy despite intense pressure not to by some in his party."

This may be billed as a Democratic primary, but in this solidly Democratic Latino-majority district, Republicans needed a Republican in sheep's clothing like Cuellar to have a chance of winning.

Remember, Republicans didn't bother fielding a candidate in this race. Let's take away their stealth vote in this Democratic district.

If you can volunteer for Ciro's campaign http://cirodrodriguez.com/ciro_volunteer_form.asp">Ciro's campaign, that's the best anyone could do. But if you can't, This helps too http://www.actblue.com/list/CiroforCongress. (That's the netroots-wide ActBlue page for Ciro. Atrios, has his own ActBlue page here.)

Update: Damn, between the netroots and Atrios ActBlue pages, we've raised over $6K in just two hours or so. And here's the dirty little secret -- few people actually participate. Those $6K came from just 121 contributors (including me). Hackett and his $400K raised during his House special election came from just 4,500 or so contributors.

If even 1 percent of the netroots gave to these sorts of efforts, the numbers would be staggering. And while most don't have the money/are students/underemployed or jobless, etc -- 1 percent isn't an unrealistic number to shoot for. Especially when we're talking a target contribution average of $25-50.

But it has been an impossible target for all but the biggest races (Dean in the primary and Kerry in the general). This isn't a complaint. It is what it is. But it just goes to show that we really do have the power -- it doesn't take that many to have an effect.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/2/2/16149/42560

[Innoma]

14. Second Best...

...the second best thing we can do is even the financial playing field for Ciro.

Okay, I coughed up a few bucks and will continue to do so for candidates who take on Demopublicans.

[Uncle Joe]

29. He campaigned for Bush in 2000?!

No wonder, Bush looks like he wants to give him a big sloppy wet one.

[Double T]

16. The 'head grab' of political death...........

you have just been anointed by bush, sure to drive voters in the opposite direction.

[FlaGranny]

17. Uggghh!

Why does that man do that? Very inappropriate to take another person by the face like that, unless you have an "intimacy" with them.

[tblue37]

27. Dominance behavior.

He would pee on him if he could.

[MoJoWorkin]

33. Thanks for that ! The best belly laugh I have had all day!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[alarcojon]

40. I agree

Bush seems to like to create a fake intimacy, only in a dominant way. For example, he's also been known to pat people on the head.

[skids]

18. What I said before...

...Find a picture of a running Repug with Bush. Fire up photoshop, and add a quote bubble that just says "heckuvajob!" Rinse. Distribute. Repeat.

[yurbud]

19. someone got a link to donate to his opponent?

[yurbud]

20. Found it: LINK to donate to Ciro Rodriquez

http://www.cirodrodriguez.com/

[Tempest]

22. You can also donate through americablog.org

n/t

[yurbud]

21. Remember how GOP targeted Daschle for defeat?

We should give generously to anyone running against the GOP leadership in house and senate just to make them sweat and not have as much time to help other candidates.

[NativeTexan]

23. He's a damned Republican spy anyway!!!

He needs to go.

[Marleyb]

24. We need a photo of Dianne Feinstein and Bush after the SOTU

or the video clip? Does anyone have this? ANYONE?

I imagine that would be quite a boost for Cindy's campaign for senate...

[RedEarth]

25. Great... let's all of us donate...kick these creeps out of office

[tblue37]

26. Even Republicans try not to have him nearby when they are running for

re-election now. Why don't Dems get this?

[Catrina]

31. I doubt he was ever a Dem. Sounds more like an infiltrator. Too bad

Bush singled him out and drew our attention to him!! The kiss of death for an undercover Republican in the Democratic Party. There are quite a few of them, imo. We need to get rid of all them.

[trudyco]

34. What's his voting record?

Besides his opponent saying he's a DINO and the Bush squeeze... what is the guy's voting record? Is he a DINO?

[Catrina]

37. He supported Bush over Gore in 2000, eg. Check post #15 for his voting

record. Here's an example from that post:


Cuellar was one of several Texas Democrats to support Bush over Al Gore in 2000.
Cuellar later was appointed secretary of state by Gov. Rick Perry before being elected to Congress as a Democrat.

And this from the Club for Growth endorsement, delivered by Pat Toomey of all people:

"By voting for CAFTA, to repeal the Death Tax, to prevent huge tax increases, and for supporting school choice, Congressman Cuellar has become one of the House's most pro-economic growth Democrats," said Club for Growth President Pat Toomey. "The House of Representatives would be better off with more Democrats - and even some more Republicans - who demonstrate Rep. Cuellar's commitment to their constituents' prosperity through economic freedom. It is particularly noteworthy that Rep. Cuellar cast these votes for a stronger economy despite intense pressure not to by some in his party."

.......

His district is very Democratic apparently, so they needed a stealth Republican posing as a Democrat to get elected, it seems ~

[gr8dane_daddy]

30. 50 bucks well spent...

to get that culo out!

[stevedeshazer]

32. Will Bushie please kiss and hug, say, Conrad Burns?

That would be nice.

[MasonJar]

35. Give if you can. I gave last night. I hope it works.

[Autobot77]

36. This is similar to the VA governors race

Bush came down and campaigned for Kilgore, who ended up losing to Tim Kaine.

:rofl: :rofl:

[PBass]

39. I will donate too.

http://cirodrodriguez.com/

[cyberpj]

41. IT'S "DEMOCRATIC "! GODFREAKINGDAMMIT! You Associate Press Corpse

[buddysmellgood]

42. Send that man your money!