Texas: General Elections 2006

Well here we go again. Another Republican, John Carter from the 31st District, is refusing to debate his Democratic opposition. Carter says that his challenger Mary Beth Harrell hasn’t “earned the right to debate him.” Mary Beth took the bold approach and posted an abundant of her beliefs on the internet to help get her noticed. She also went as far as to attack her opposition through doing so. She states that she wants the military to leave Iraq, but doesn’t want to shame her son (fighting) or husband (veteran). She feels a sense of military self righteousness, however, and uses Carter’s lack of military service as a downside to his political career. Mary Beth points out that Carter voted with Tom DeLay 98% of the time! Texas Republicans have been known to think the same, and the only way I would truly find this percentage outrageous would be if she somehow accumulated something over 100%…that would surely mean Carter was unfit to represent his constituents….

When Mary Beth gets into the oil crisis she pulls out the big guns again. She goes on the usual rant about how prices are too high, something needs to be done and then WHAM! Carter owns between 1 and 5 million dollars in oil stock! Something that’s free to be traded and purchased should surely incriminate this man! OK maybe she’s trying a bit hard on this one, but she does pose a good point. As these oil companies are getting richer and richer so is Carter. It’s not his fault that he’s found a way to insure his financial security, but he can be blamed for maybe not trying the absolute HARDEST to lower their profits and help out average America.

Mary Beth then gets in to economics. She states that the national debt is making American weaker as a nation and is quick to point out that Carter voted 5 times to raise the deficit ceiling. Uh oh…here it is again…Carter voted with Tom DeLay 98% of the time!! She must really think she’s on to something here…

As for immigration Mary Beth supports guest worker programs and calls out Carter for initially supporting them and then retracting his support. She says that she is against amnesty programs and believes that it should be made too expensive for Americans to hire illegal immigrants so they’ll hire Americans instead. Oh my word…here it is again…Carter voted with Tom DeLay 98% of the time!!! The third time MUST be the charm! Is it really necessary to mention this after stating every single issue?!

John Carter has quite a bit going for him still. Despite all of Mary Beth’s accusations (or at least one, persistently) John has no need to be worried in this upcoming election. He received almost 6 times as much money as Mary Beth did, and retains 10 times as much on hand still. Should Mary Beth’s accusations achieve a footing it is sure that John has the resources to fight back.

The 31st District plays out similarly to other rural Texas districts. Primarily white middle class citizens looking for conservative representation inhabit the district. John is very quick to point out that he is a lifelong Texan and has been married for 35 years while raising 4 children “in a home centered on Christian beliefs and strong Texas Values.” That always puts a good spin on his image. John may only have 1 term under his belt but looks secure to hold his seat after being named one of the “Top Five Freshmen” by a leading capitol hill newspaper. Boy, does John know how to hit it home with his beliefs.

“John Carter pulls no punches when it comes to protecting our conservative values. These are some of his accomplishments:
Supported and co-sponsored the ban on partial-birth abortions.
Introduced legislation to protect the use of God in our pledge and on our currency.
Fought to protect our Second Amendment right to own and bear arms.
Worked to pass a constitutional amendment to end any and all desecration of our flag.
This past February, National Journal, a highly regarded bi-partisan magazine, rated John Carter as the 9th most conservative member of the House of Representatives. His voting record shows he’s a true conservative.”

That excerpt from www.CarterForCongress.com is listed under his “issues” section…you know…the place where Mary Beth spent most of her time restating John’s voting habits in relation to Tom DeLay’s.

It seems as if John Carter has everything necessary to retain his seat in Congress this November, but if something were to change I will certainly be here to sum it up.

Sources:

NewYorkTimes.com

CarterForCongress.com

MaryBethHarrellForCongress.com