So I was listening to a recent edition of the DOT show podcast and heard a troubling tale of yet another Republican from Texas that is as arrogant as the day is long. John Carter from the 31st congressional district (essentially his district is north and west of Austin) is reportedly refusing to debate his opponent by saying “I will decide who is worthy of debating me”. Well, curiosity got the best of me and I had to research this fellow a little.

What did I find? Well, just look at the money trail and then decide whether you think this guy is really concerned about Texans and Texas issues. (Thanks to the Center for Responsive Politics for the data!)

Mr. Carter has recevied $585,955 in contributions during the 2005-06 election cycle, with Dell Computer as his single largest contributor with $17,000. During this same period his campaign has spent $440,131.

There is a $2,000 donation to the Round Rock School District, which is a smart move for any politician. But then Carter donates $2,000 each to the “Fitzpatrick for Congress” campaign in Doylestown, PA, the “Max Burns for Congress” camp in Sylvania, GA, and the “Porter for Congress” campaign in Las Vegas, NV. But most troubling is the fact that on January 31, 2006 Carter gave $5,000 to the “Tom DeLay Legal Expense Fund”.

Carter obviously views the needs of local school districts right in his own backyard as equal to the needs of Republican candidates in other states, and way below his need to help defend an indicted criminal that packed his bags and fled the state as soon as he was exposed for the fraud that everyone has known that he is.

(BTW – Carter currently sits on the House Appropriations Committee. Gee, I wonder how much he has appropriated to “education”?)

Rick Perry has ordered a special election to replace Tom DeLay in the U.S. House. After months of saying that he would not hold a special election the Governor has had a change of heart and has ordered that the election take place on November 7.

Perry says that his change in heart came after all legal avenues to remove DeLay’s name from the Nov. 7 general election ballot ended in defeat for Republicans resulting in a massive write-in campaign to elect his replacement.

DeLay, who resigned in June, was elected in the March primary as the Repblican candidate. But since he resigned after the primary the courts have ruled that his name must remain on the ballot. DeLay argued that since he no longer lived in Texas, much less the district he represented, he should not be permitted to stay on the ballot. The courts, rightfully, acknowledged that DeLay’s case was no different than if the candidate died between the primary and the general election.

As a result of this wrangling, the GOP was forced to mount a write-in campaign to elect a Republican to the seat. The problem here is that the method of voting within DeLay’s district is electronic. Entering a write-in candidate on the ballot is very confusing since the space is limited to 25 characters (including spaces and hyphens), and the voter must enter the candidates name in completely. The local GOP managed to filter their choice down to a Houston city council member. Her name? Shelley Sekula-Gibbs.  Actually having voters remember the correct spelling and hyphenation will be a long shot at best.

In a show of how desperate the GOP is to keep this seat in the red,  Rick Perry has now decided to hold a special election in which Shelley Sekula-Gibbs’ name will actually appear printed on a ballot. So, when voters go to the poll on November 7 in DeLay’s district they will need to vote twice.

The special election move is a stroke of genius, politically speaking, since it helps voters remember the write-in candidate’s name. But from a citizen view, Rick Perry is an absolute mess. He has denied the people of the Sugar Land district representation in the U.S. House long enough, and until the legal options ran out he was fully prepared to leave that seat open until next January. Proving again that Perry does not care about the people, he only cares about his own political aspirations. In fact, given Perry’s record on everything (which is nothing really), I would say that he has done a remarkable job of failing Texas just as W failed Texas and now the United States.

Wake up America!