Burnt Orange Report

LOL, this is awesome!

Nothing like common sense on the part of the left. Keep going Major. We expect a lot from you.

I am very proud to see a strong, committed Democratic running for Congress in Texas. I went to your website and read your issues page. It is solid "blue." You have taken the fight directly to the Republican party.

1) A strong national defense begins with wise diplomacy. If called upon to fight, we will.

2) Strong families rest on a solid economic foundation. FDR did more than any other president to improve the lives of working families.

3) Equality for All. AMEN BROTHER!!! Equal treatment is the birth right of every human being. A Democratic who is not willing to fight for the "least of these" is no democrat at all.

Good luck, but you may be running in the wrong party. Maybe Kinky has room on his ticket. Yelling and ranting about the “so-called” base is not going to endear you to them is it? Why do we have to settle for those who wear the label only on the inside and not proudly when the campaign in public?

Its still a free country and you'll mostly likely win the nomination but I doubt the base will be to wild about manning the ramparts for those who so callously disregard our opinions like so much wasted air. I don’t think the special interest can carry all of you Dinos across the finish line anymore.

Not that I think Mr. Harris is a DINO, but I'll take a DINO over Joe Barton any old day, hamiltonfan & naysayer.

I don't quite get why Mr. Harris is a "mini-me Republican" or whatever trollbait naysayer threw out in the comments to the previous post. Both of you need a reality check.

Do you know what TX-6 is like demographically? If you take some time to read up on the district (I suggest National Journal's Political Almanac) instead of pathologically hammering a candidate because he doesn't fit your definition of a Democrat, you might come away with some different views.

I remember Morris Meyer's campaign last year. He is a good, honest man and he ran a hard, personalized campaign against Joe Barton and still got skunked. Why? Because anyone who runs anywhere to the left of right up the middle is going to be considered "too liberal" for TX-6. Someone with a rock-solid plan appealing to all the things we as Americans share in common and that the Republicans have lied to moderates and independents about for years is the way to make a stand in TX-6.

I don't know if I'm part of "the base"* or not. All I know is that I don't agree with Mr. Harris on all his points, but I'll still send him money because running against crooks like Joe Barton in their own backyard is how we start to take our country back.

*We ought to leave the mimicry of al-Qaeda (Arabic for "the base") to the Republicans and their fundie base.

I know my opinion means very little since I am definitely biased, but Dave works his ass off for the base. He volunteers for their causes, shows up for their events and raises and GIVES money to them when they ask for it. He has done it for years, long before I convinced him to run for this slot. They know him, they accept him and they support him. It is short sighted to believe that someone cannot appeal to all sides of the party...Dave is very liberal in some areas, more conservative in others, but its not a decision, its his real life. He doesn't plot to run one way or another but on what he believes and what person after person tells him here in TX 06…we have to get someone to Washington who knows what its like to live here. The area has changed a lot in 20 years and the incumbent is out of touch.

The phrasing and words that were mentioned as belonging to "the Repubs" in the last post is part of a great new chance we have to take those things back and frame them in such a way that everyone can understand. As Democrats, we often believe that we can bombard people with facts and they will immediately jump on our side...that doesn't work. I know it’s frustrating. It pisses me off too, but its not something we can change. The reality is, time and time again in polling whether or not they agree with everything he does or not, John Q Public sticks with W because they "believe they know where he stands on the issues" (a plug here for seeing Dr. Feldman speak or go to frameshopisopen.com for daily lessons)...two or three word phrases leaves an impression on the average, non-activist person that Democrats fail to pull every time. "Family Values" or "Blame Game" are just two examples. Get Scott's press releases off the WH site and you can literally go through with a red pen and circle the phrase of the day because it’s repeated at least three times. They do it because it works and they have been using that for years. We are lucky to be involved in a group discussion that regularly has Dr. Feldman coming to us.

You can read a great interview Dave did with District Sixer or really listen to him speak. If you go to the Issues page of our site, you will see what Dave is talking to on the campaign trail based on his experiences. This is not the sum of our discussions, nor the limitations of our beliefs. It’s a start. We have to start some where and there has to be someone reaching out to build bridges, especially within our party. I believe we are doing a pretty good job of doing that in our district; I encourage you to do it in yours.

Michelle Harris
Campaign Director
www.followmetodc.com

I think labels are just meaningless nomenclature myself. What do liberal, conservative, moderate, centrist, mainstream, and all the other labels really mean? Nothing.

The Democrats in this state and in this country have lost their way on their path. Because they took too paths many trying to please everyone and can't remember which one they were originally on. The Republicans are losing their way on their path. Because they decided to take only one and restrict traffic so to speak. And they see a dead-end ahead. And they will split apart the way the Democrats have. And start labeling each other as well. My problem is that when a candidate attempts to please both parties, rather than merely offer compromise, he serves no one. And more and more Democrats do seem intent on trying to do that. One of the more interesting things coming out of quite a few candidates' mouths is this odd "I believe in the right to have an abortion but I don't believe in abortion." Doesn't sound like they believe in anything other than trying to convince someone to vote for them.

I think David Harris is quite confident in his own path. And that says a lot. I am tired of all the flip-flopping by quite a few Democrats.

There is nothing wrong with "traditional values" if the values are there. There are no values in the Republican platform or in the Republican policies. Traditional values to me are "conservative" economic values and "liberal" social values based on basic principles set forth in our Constitution. Unfortunately in our present society it is impossible to be both.

Those include the rights of the individual to choose how they want to live, to be able to pursue their dreams unhindered by discrimination, whom they want to pray to, and whom they choose to sleep with and how they choose to define relationship and committment as partners.

We live in challenging times. We need politicians quite honestly that are a little "centrist" even if others don't like that.

Nothing wrong with being centrist, David, if centrist allows you to balance the rights of all in our society. So far everyone else has not done a very good job.

I'm no Texan, but I prefer candidates with guts. And I hope that goes over well there too. It makes me shake my head to read how some Congressional Democrats decided to try clinging onto the USS Bush in 2004. Granted, guys like Sandlin, Frost, and Stenholm were in deep trouble, but when you dodge a question on who you're supporting for President (like Sandlin did), or you do other gutless things, I would imagine that you're not helping yourself out.

So yeah, to summarize, less chickenshits please. This goes for all 50 states.

i'd just like to know where everyone got the idea that dave is some compromising centrist.

none of you have any idea how hard dave has worked in our district. he volunteers at the county party HQ. he donates to fundraisers. he puts in blood, seat, and tears for the democratic party in tarrant county. he was a delegate to the 2004 national convention in boston. his positions are rock solid and reflect real democratic values.

yet he's a compromiser? are you people high or something?

seriously now... get a grip naysayers. dave is the best candidate we've had in this district since it was rezoned, and he's going to give barton the fight of his life. yall need to get onboard with this guy because he is a fighter who will not compromise our values in order to pander to certain segments of this district.

I never said he was anything. Everyone else apparently has. I did say there is nothing wrong with being a centrist and being able to compromise and still maintain your positions and your values. Anything else in my opinion is just the opposite of what we already have.

The ideological pendulum seems to swing back and forth in this country. And the average citizen is always in the middle and inevitably ends up being decapitated. Usually by the taxes which go to pay for the latest "solution" to this country's problems. Very little of which appears to go anywhere but into bridges to nowhere in Alaska.

It might be nice to have some politicians in the middle, centrists, who protect us from the pendulum as it swings back and forth.