NoriegaBlog Straw Poll...

I guess it's a bit of a slow news day, compared to Watts' judicial contributions story from yesterday, so let's talk about the NoriegaBlog Straw Poll (no, it's not really official, but what the hey..)

Right now, it stands at: Obama: 7, Edwards and Richardson tied at 5 each, Clinton with 4, and Gore rounding out the Democrats with 1. We even have one Republican vote so far.

Feel free to join the fun at www.noriegablog.com!

Melissa Noriega Fall Campaign Kick-Off Event TOMORROW!

Golly Gee-Willikers, Batman!

In all the hub-bub, we've nearly forgotten that Melissa Noriega is still running a campaign (Houston City Council At-Large Position 3: Remember to vote November 6th!) To remind us of this fact, and to get a bunch of us supporters together, they're having a fall kickoff event (if you're lucky, you might grab a peek at yours truly, NoriegaBlogger himself!) :

5:30-7:30 PM
September 5, 2007
Irma's Restaurant
22 N. Chenevert


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Please consider sponsoring the campaign as well. Check out the invitation for available sponsorship levels.

Rick Noriega Takes No Time Off For Labor Day

The Galveston Daily News reported seeing Rick as he attended a breakfast supporting the Galveston County Central Labor Union, where there were three topics on the agenda: “health care, health care, health care,” said Lee Medley, president of the county’s consolidated organized labor council (as you may remember, Cornyn voted against Children's Healthcare).

Lee Medley:

“We know this is a complex issue. There is no single way to approach this. Our main goal is that everyone should be covered, maybe under a single-payer system. But, we do know that what we have now isn’t working, and it is time to stop arguing and start doing something.”

Rick also appeared at the Washington County Democrats annual Labor Day Barbecue (as reported by Hal at Half Empty). Hal, and a group of his fellow Ft. Bend Dems joined the Washington Co. Dems and watched as Rick Noriega spoke as the highlight of the event.

Hal:

I brought blanks of Rick’s petitions and Geri, Marsha and I swept through the room getting signatures. They’re a tough crowd in Washington County so we didn’t get as many signatures as there were heads in the room. But we managed to fill one sheet and nearly fill another. But I’m here to tell you, there were people who chased me down wanting to get their names on that petition.

You know, I don’t think Rick’s campaign is going to have a problem getting those 25,000 signatures.

Video coming soon.

2008 will be a great election for Democrats in the Senate.

(I love it when Howie smiles..)

"2008 will be a great election for Democrats in the Senate." That's according to The New Republic: "In Texas, Republican incumbent John Cornyn is unpopular, and state representative and Lt. Col. Rick Noriega could pose problems for him."

That follows suit with the MSNBC: "Senate prospects seem brighter for Democrats: Craig incident adds to GOP woes with 22 seats to defend in 2008...it now looks possible that in next year’s elections the Democrats just might attain the 60 seats they need to foil Republican filibusters. "

Over at Booman, they're adding up the Democratic seats, and agree that we may be able to pull a fillabuster-proof majority in the Senate in 08, "I haven't even mentioned the most unpopular senator of all...John Cornyn of Texas. He is facing two formidable candidates in attorney Mikal Watts and State Senator (sic) Rick Noriega. This race is insurance on that 62 mark."

Kos has another article considering Texas a contestable race, raking us a "2nd-Tier" race, meaning that we're not quite a shoo-in by any means. That just means we need to work harder!

Skulnik over at kos also agrees, ranking the Texas race as #8 of 34 most likely seats to change party affiliation, placing our race in the top quarter.

If I recall in "mainstream journalism", three sources makes a credible story, and all of these guys seem to agree that the Texas race will play a major role in the direction our Senate will be headed. It's amazing that all over the Internets, Rick Noriega is getting noticed, kicking ass and taking names!

UPDATE: CBS News jumps on the bandwagon, "It is very likely that Republicans will pick up no more than one seat, while Democrats may pick up as many as seven seats."