Ron Kirk winning in Texas

Texas Secretary of State ^

[Moonmad27]

Tony Sanchez is not the typical "Hispanic" candidate. Hope he wins. However, talking about fooling the voting public -there have been several Houston area Anglo Democrats who suddenly discovered their Hispanic "roots" and started using Hispanic names (even middle names) when they ran for office. It worked with the gullible community.

[terycarl]

hispanics are caucasian (white) they are not a separate race

[VinnyTex]

May 24, 2001 (Dallas) - KLIF radio talk show host Tom Kamb was the subject of a vicious name-calling diatribe by Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk at Wednesday?s council meeting.

Mayor Kirk?s remarks came after Mr. Kamb, well known for his criticism of aspects of Dallas politics, spoke in opposition to replacing the Labor Day holiday with a holiday honoring Hispanic civil rights leader Cesar Chavez.

Mr. Kamb, clad in a costume as George Washington, said:

Labor Day should encompass all Americans. I don?t care what color your skin is. If you contribute to this Country, you can be brown, you can be black, you can be white, you can be fat, you can be skinny, you can be bald, you can have glasses--I really don?t care.

But Labor Day has been a day that we acknowledge people from all walks of life who contribute to this Country. And now to devalue all of those unless they have brown skin, is separatism. 

You pass it, you legislate separatism, divisiveness which is something I expect from you, Steve Salazar, and others on this council. 

I expect it from Maxine Thornton-Reese who wants people to vote for people who look like her. This is the council that the City has to understand exists here.

John Loza is quoted in the paper as saying, ?it?s about time we recognized people based on the color of their skin.? 

Well you know what, John? We don?t hire people based on the color of their skin.

But yet we?re going to honor people based on the color of their skin.  That?s baloney. [Mayor tries to interrupt] So the next step will be to stand up against this day-to-remove-Labor-Day and call it Cesar Chavez Day. That?s a disgrace and this is not over yet.

After making his remarks, Mr. Kamb was escorted from the Council Chamber and ejected from City Hall.

Mayor Kirk responded:

Now Mr. Kamb made a conscious decision to come down here and not to make any meaningful contribution to the state but he came with the express purpose of being thrown out.

Tom Kamb wanted to direct us individually, now I want to direct him.

Tom Kamb is a coward and he is a hate-monger.  He is a racist. He should not be on the radio.

He extortized [exercised] his constitutional right to use his few minutes to come and make a fool of himself. He did very well.  But you know what--you?ve got rights too.

And if you don?t pick up the phone and call the management of his radio statement [station], and ask why they put this racist, bigoted hate-monger on the radio and let him spew the vindictive that he does [on a] daily basis, then we may as well not pass this holiday and honor Cesar Chavez.

And we may as well not invoke the name of Martin Luther King if we aren?t going to back up our passion with some action.

The radio is full of enough people who seek to divide us--who try to appeal to our basis of instincts.  But you have a way that you cannot only vote at the ballot box, but you vote with your dollars.  And you vote every time you turn on that radio. 

And if you listen to that trash, shame on you. And when you leave here, I?m glad you?re here, but I want you to call whatever--I don?t even want to say the station, ?cause I don?t want to give ?em more stuff.

But you find out where that bigoted little hatemonger and radio jerk works and you pick up the phone and you call his station and say ?we?ve had enough.? OK? 

You don?t have to applaud. You didn?t clap for anybody else.  You didn?t boo him. Don?t applaud me.  I want you to pick up the phone and I want you to call this radio station.

And Tom Kamb, if you?re half the man you think you are, then next time come back here and sit and listen to me.

This is not the only incident where Mayor Kirk has resorted to name-calling. In April, he referred to Internet website activists as ?terrorists,? after labeling certain websites as ?insidious.?

Other gafs include telling a passerby to ?go to hell? during a television interview.

One caller to Mr. Kamb?s Thursday show, an attorney, questioned whether Mayor Kirk had crossed the line from ?official duty? to libel. 

According to other afternoon Kamb talk show callers, Mayor Kirk?s office was not taking comments on the issue, but was recording phone calls.

Dallas.Org attempted to get a comment from the Mayor but calls were not returned.

Windows Media Links:

[ Listen to Tom Kamb?s Speech ]

[ Listen to Mayor Kirk?s Comments ]

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

For us non-Texans, what does this mean?

It may mean we will have a real problem in November. The Rats will have an Hispanic running for Governor, a conservative white for Lt Gov. and a black for Senator.

We will have an incumbent running for Governor who has little record and vetoed some legislation two years ago that he can't even explain the reason for. A dam^ fool for Lt Governor and a very fine but little known running for Senate.

Pray for us, we will need it.

[WillaJohns]

Thanks everyone. Your explanations are great. I really do understand what you're saying (I'm in California and it kind of sounds like the LA Mayor race). I'm somewhat relieved to find it's just a primary.

[VinnyTex]

hispanics are caucasian (white) they are not a separate race

Hispanics come on all colors. White, Brown, and Black

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

Uh uh. Twenty years ago when I lived there (after the nationalizing of the dates) it was Saturday. This is fairly recent.

Sorry I was too quick on the answer. It happened when we move the primary to join the Super Tuesday in the South crowd.

[WillaJohns]

Kamb sounds awesome, too bad he's just a radio show host. But Kirk, my goodness, I feel for you guys. This is not good.

[altura]

Yeah, my husband is saying he will not vote for Rick Perry because he signed the legislation making it illegal to have an open container in one's vehicle. So even if it is the passenger consuming adult beverages, you can be fined ... but what he is really afraid of is losing his carry permit.

[VinnyTex]

Don't worry. It'll be a huge GOP sweep in November... There's about as much chance of Kirk winning as a snowball has in hell.

[VinnyTex]

Latest returns

TOTAL VOTES	PERCENT	EARLY VOTES	PERCENT
U. S. Senator
	RON KIRK			270,858	58.3%	92,455	51.7%
	VICTOR MORALES			194,012	41.7%	86,495	48.3%
				--------------		--------------
		Vote Total		464,870		178,950
		Precincts Reporting		4,496	of	6,539 Precincts	68.8%
		Statewide Turnout		3.8%		12,218,164 Registered Voters

[HHFi]

I've posted these links on other Kirk-related sites, but they obviously need to be spread around more. These columns on Kirk are by a liberal columnist for the Dallas alternative weekly. If this is what he thinks of Kirk, you can imagine what a Republican taxpayer/property owner like me thinks of him. I STRONGLY urge other Republicans to read them, to know what we'll be facing:

http://www.dallasobserver.com/issues/2002-03-14/schutze.html/1/index.html

http://www.dallasobserver.com/issues/2002-04-04/schutze.html/1/index.html

[ClancyJ]

Kirk is personable BUT he made the comment - if he was in the Senate he would block conservative judge nominations too.

[log_cabin_gop_boy]

Don't worry. It'll be a huge GOP sweep in November...

I would not be too sure about that. The Dems will win Dallas, Harris, Travis, El Paso and Bexar counties and every county in south Texas by large margins.

I can see the Democratic mailouts to black voters with a big picture of Kirk and a slogan about voting Democratic. Hispanic voters will receive the same flyer a picture of Sanchez.

Look what happened in the 2001 Houston Mayors race with a Hispanic running against a black. Both blacks and Hispanics voted in record numbers.

Don't forget that Tony Sanchez is willing to spend 75 million of his own dollars on his race. That will not only help the entire ticket but also free up other Democratic funds for the Senate Race.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Personally I think Morales would be the more formidable opponent. While I disagree with most of his issues, I respect his style and what he has accomplished. With his party against him, he has an outsider/Schundler position that will certainly be presented as near legendary if he wins tonight(since the media will do anything to beat the GOP. You watch, if he wins, get ready for national fairy-tale stories about the Hispanic Mr. Smith Goes To Washington.) That 'independent' imaging will help immunize him some from the average person connecting him to the liberal stereotype of the Democrat Party.

In contrast Kirk will be easier to try and corner as just another smooth-talking, under-the-table Clintonian type professional pol. Either way is no guarantee of a cakewalk, but Cornyn has to be proactive. Once upon a time Santa Anna started out with a sizable advantage and strong odds, too.

[San Jacinto]

You are way too overconfident about November.

The Republican candidates are not exactly setting the woods on fire. I look for lukewarm support to continue through the fall. George W. Bush will have to campaign heavily in Texas, in my opinion, for those guys to have a good shot of winning.

On the other hand, the Dems got just the ticket they wanted. They will get the Blacks and Hispanics out in droves to vote a straight Dem ticket. Kirk will get Hollywood money and big national support once the polls show he has a chance. Sanchez has tons of money and may spend $50 million of his own to be the Gov.

If he wins, Kirk will be a national star for the Dems. (Not on his own merit, but because he is Black and most of he is from TEXAS). He will be held up as a symbol that Bush was weak in his own state. He will also be a symbol of what block voting by minorities can do with a big turn out.

[VinnyTex]

No I'm not. For starters, Sanchez killed himself with moderate voters by playing the ethnic card in the debates. Second, hispanics ain't gonna run out and vote for Kirk, and blacks ain't gonna be real happy with Sanchez.

[LurkerNoMore!]

And Cornyn hasn't even had to break a sweat yet. I can't wait until this Senate race gets going... It is gonna be a fun one to watch!

[KQQL]

Dallas Morning News Texas poll: Governor: Gov. Rick Perry (R) 50%, Tony Sanchez (D) 36%. Lieutenant governor: John Sharp (D) 42%, David Dewhurst (R) 41%...

Relax you worry to much.....It's given that Blacks vote for RATS at a rate of 90% and Hispanic at 65-70%..........

If the white turnout sticks , there is no way KIRK ( Who said he will not vote for pro-life/Consvertive Judges ) will win)....

It will not be a blow out...but TX will not go for the PC Correct RAT ticket...if this was 2010 ...I would predict RATS would have won ...........

[log_cabin_gop_boy]

In a normal white democrat vs. white republican in Texas 90% of the Blacks and 75% of Hispanics vote Democrat. However with a Black and Hispanic topping the ticket it will be a differant story. Not only can you expect the Dems to get 95% of the black vote and 85% of the hispanic vote but their turnout will be the highest ever. Texas Demographics:

30% Hispanic

10% Black

20% White Liberal

Do the math!