In late January, Glenn put up a post on this blog about Craig James’ claim that the Mike Leach firing at Texas Tech wouldn’t hurt his designs on Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison’s seat. James said, “I feel very confident about our position. Most people in Lubbock support my position. We did what any responsible parent would do. We did the right thing.”
Except not so much. The D.C.-based public opinion research firm Lincoln Park Strategies has conducted a poll of our friends in West Texas, and James doesn’t fare so well. For the poll, 401 likely general election 2012 voters in the West Texas metro regions of Lubbock, Odessa-Midland, and Amarillo were surveyed March 2 and 3. The findings:
Our early poll indicates that James would have quite a difficult path to victory in West Texas, as 62 percent of survey respondents have either never heard of him or do not know him well enough to form an opinion. Furthermore, only 8 percent hold a positive opinion of him, while 30 percent maintain an unfavorable view. These high unfavorable ratings this early in the contest will have a James campaign starting in the unenviable position of having to work to get his positive name identification up 22 points, just to break even with his detractors.
While the entire region is not overly friendly territory for Craig James, he has an especially acute problem the Lubbock area. Indeed, 52 percent of voters have an unfavorable opinion of James including 35 percent who are very unfavorable. Furthermore, 71 percent of voters in Lubbock with an opinion on the matter say Coach Leach did not deserve to be fired; which includes 29 percent of voters who put the blame squarely on James’ shoulders for using his influence at ESPN to have Leach fired.
In sum, these findings suggest that voters care about the Texas Tech issue and will weigh the situation as they consider supporting Craig James for Senate in 2012.
There is seemingly no end to the tales of woe emananting from the Governor’s Emerging Technology Fund. Yesterday the News revealed that the executive director, who had no apparent credentials for the job, was playing footsie on the side. Meanwhile, the Austin American Statesman was hot on the trail of David Nance, a Perry crony to whom the governor directed a $2 million federal grant. Guess what? The money is spent, and there is nothing to show for it. But Nance was able to pay himself $250,000 a year while it lasted. You want some waste and fraud in government? Look no further than your Texas governor.
Nice to know that somebody believes in newspapers. The list is after the break.
Quite a soap opera erupted in England today after a newspaper reported that Dallas art guy Kenny Goss has split from longtime boyfriend George Michael because of the singer’s “wayward lifestyle.” Michael phoned a TV station to deny the report–which was picked up by a web site called Showbiz Spy–going so far as to brand the story “complete bull****.” We’ve asked the Dallas publicist for Goss and the duo’s Goss-Michael Foundation here to comment, but haven’t heard back.
The paywall officially goes up tomorrow. Pegasus News founder Mike Orren shares the letter from Jim Moroney to his staff, along with Orren’s thoughts on same. Have a look, and then let’s discuss this tomorrow.
Back in the saddle again. I watched so much Deadwood this weekend that I’ve got the Wild West coming out my ears. I just finished the episode of season three where a new cook comes to town, ousting poor Richardson and his antler god with her superior peach cobbler (this is not a spoiler, people, don’t get huffy). And thinking of food, as seems to happen often, brings me to today’s first offering.
It’s the first Monday of the month, and I feel obligated to remind you that once again the Screen Door is offering a choice of two complimentary small plates during dinner hours. These are new, off-menu items, so essentially you’re chef David McMillan’s guinea pig. But did you feed your adorable pet rodent grilled flat iron steak with hominy, beef jerky, and charred chilies? No. Make a reservation ASAP.
Mark Cuban Taps Charlie Sheen For New HDNet Show: Reason why Mark Cuban is a promotional genius #591: The Mavericks owner and high-definition pioneer is in talks with Charlie Sheen to develop a new talk show or reality show on his HDNet television network. Can’t see you see Cuban’s goofy grin all the way through this quote:
“You’ve got somebody that everybody has a whole lot of interest in who’s doing some interesting things, to say the least, and we always look for interesting programming by featuring interesting people doing interesting things.”
As Texas Faces Cuts at Public Schools, Federal Money Sits Unused: I think this lead from the Wall Street Journal says it all: “As Texas schools scrounge for cash to buy supplies and threaten to lay off teachers, $830 million in education funding earmarked for the state is sitting at the federal Department of Education.” So why are Texans wasting their time rallying for independence, when they should bring the pitchforks and torches to the steps of the state capitol to demand relief for their children’s schools?
North Texas Tollway Authority Defends Its Late Fee Bully Tactics: The North Texas Tollway Authority claims that if a pending bill reduces the amount they are able to charge users for late fees passes it will threaten the “integrity” of its system. I’d love to see credit card companies use the same rationale for charging the kinds of exorbitant fees that the NTTA gets away with.