Texas: General Elections 2006

The bad news just keeps pouring in for Van Taylor. It appears his finances are running dry as he had to loan his campaign $200,000 of his own money. This comes after the national Republican committee decided to withdraw funds for a television advertising campaign. Reports stated that the NRCC had been planning to contribute $1.5 million in ads to Taylor’s campaign. The funds were withdrawn a week after the NRCC had conducted a poll, which most likely means they are conceding the race.

Taylor, who has already loaned his campaign $300,000, has raised nearly $2 million so far but had only $102,500 cash on hand as of Sept. 30, according to Federal Election Commission reports.

Edwards, 54, has raised more than $2.8 million and had more than $1.1 million cash on hand as of Sept. 30, according to FEC reports.

Source:Waco Tribune-Herald

Taylor of course denies that he’s having financial and polling problems, and instead insists that he has more than enough funds to finish the race. He also claims his internal polls show the race is still very tight, but does not release any numbers. That same article also points out the Edwards recently gained the endorsement of several Mayors in Johnson county, giving him yet another boost.

Continuing with the good news for Edwards, CQ Politics upgraded TX17 from “Leans Democratic” to “Democratic Favored.” Also, in what is good news in a weird way, the DCCC has also pulled funding from the campaign, indicating that they too believe that the race is a sure thing.

And finally, while it seems like a pointless endeavour at this point, the second debate was held between the two candidates.  The two major issues were the war in Iraq and stem cell research.  Both are committed to the war, but Edwards feels the Iraqi government needs to step up and take responsibility immediately.  Taylor, on the other hand, feels this view neglects the sacrifice the Iraqi’s have endured in their path to becoming a democratic nation.  Taylor is against all forms of embryonic stem cell research because he feels that human lives are being destroyed.  Edwards claims that supporting the funding is actually a pro-life position because of the huge number of lives that could be saved.  Beyond those two issues was just the standard bickering between the two that has become the norm.

The next, and probably final debate will be on Halloween.  Taylor needs nothing short of a miracle to bring him back into the race at this point.