October 30, 2006

State Parties Turn to Recycled Messages
for Fundraising Pitches in Final Stretch

Texas Republicans Slap L Word on Bell and Democrats
while TDP Fires New Broadside on Children's Insurance

By Mike Hailey
Capitol Inside Editor

The major state political party organizations in Texas have resurrected reliable themes from past campaigns as they scramble to raise as much money as they can while the minds of potential donors are on politics between now and the general election next week. For both the Texas Democratic Party and the State GOP, the attacks that they've initiated as hooks for fundraising pitches are essentially recycled songs with new verses added.

The state Democratic Party hopes to turn a national tide against Republican incumbents into cash for its coffers by fueling perceptions that the GOP is on the verge of having very bad year. While CHIP is the weapon of choice for Democrats, Republicans have brought up the L word to counter that. The messages that the parties are attempting to convey are clear and simple and tested: Democrats are liberals who want to raise your taxes and Republicans are bad news for Texas children and families.

The state GOP's game plan as been in sync with Governor Rick Perry as he attempts in the latest round of television advertising and at stops across the state to portray Democrat Chris Bell as a Washington liberal who's out of place in Texas. The Texas Democratic Party - with an eye on the the legislative battlefield as much as the governor's race - is countering with a fresh blast of criticism on Children's Health Insurance Program cuts that led to the downfall of a couple of key Republican state lawmakers at the polls two years ago.

"Republicans are scared," State Democratic Party Chairman Boyd Richie in a pitch for campaign cash in an electronic message to the party's sustaining members and others on its email list. "And they should be because Republican leadership has failed our state and our country and voters are demanding a change. With Chris Bell surging in the polls after a dominating debate performance and our Democratic candidates picking up endorsements right and left, the news isn’t getting any better for Republicans."

Richie's email includes a link to a direct mail piece that he suggests is ready to go out to voters as soon as the party has the money to pay for it. The mailer revolves on the CHIP cuts that Republicans pushed through the Legislature when facing a record state budget deficit in 2003. The mail piece on one side contains statistics on the number of families that have lost CHIP coverage, claims that Republicans have made it harder to apply for the state-subsidized insurance and suggestions that the program has been used by operatives for Perry for personal enrichment. The other side has photographs of five children with retail bar codes stamped across their forehead surrounding the text that says "No Child Should be Treated as Number - But A Few Numbers Might Make Us Demand Leadership that Treats Children with More Compassion."

Richie says that the number of people who receive the mailer will depend on the amount of money the party receives in response to the solicitation. The state Democratic chairman said the party has a major voter turnout drive in high gear under way with phone banks and more direct mail and applications for mail ballots on the way to senior citizen voters. With early voting already under way and just over a week remaining before the November 7 general election, Richie suggests that the mail piece on CHIP could be the difference between winning and losing in races up and down the ballot next week.

The Republican Party of Texas in an email this weekend attempted to turn Bell's support from "the most liberal big-government eastern Democrat leaders" into a liability for him with Texas voters by publicizing an Austin fundraiser that featured U.S. Senator John Kerry as the special guest late last week. Referring to Kerry's home state of Massachusetts as "Taxachusetts," the state GOP email included links to a new Perry radio ad called "Mr. Way Too Liberal for Texas Guy" and to its contributions page.

The ad singles out Bell for what it says were votes as a congressman from Houston to raise taxes, to make it harder to deport terrorists, to support sanctuary for illegal immigrants and to let the United Nations oversee elections in the United States because "no one stands up for democracy like the French.

"So wear your fancy beret with pride, Mr. Bell," a voice on the ad declares with mock enthusiasm. "Liberals everywhere support you."

The fundraising pitches by the parties are coming as polls continue to show Perry leading his three major rivals by varying amounts. A Zogby Poll for the Houston Chronicle showed Perry with 38 percent support from likely voters while Bell was in a distant second with Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn on his heels with 22 percent and 21 percent respectively. But Bell's campaign has found faults with the Chronicle survey while Strayhorn's camp insists that internal polling shows her within five points of the incumbent.

Despite Perry's ongoing lead and support that's averaged between 36 percent and 37 percent throughout the year, the Washington-based Cook Political Report has moved the Texas governor's race to the "likely Republican" category after having it listed as "solid Republican" all year. Polls this month by Rasmussen and SurveyUSA have shown Perry leading Bell by 11 points and 10 points respectively with Strayhorn in third.

While Perry has the inside track going into the final week of the race, Democrats are still optimistic that they will gain seats in the Texas House and wrestle at least one congressional post away from the GOP at the polls next week. The CHIP ad proved to be a successful weapon for Democrats in several races two years ago including State Rep. Hubert Vo's victory over ex-House member Talmadge Heflin and U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards' win against former Texas lawmaker Arlene Wohlgemuth. Heflin and Wohlgemuth had high-profile roles in the budget-cutting session as key members of the House Appropriations Committee. Heflin was the panel's chair until losing to Vo.