Partisans can bash each other back and forth. But those of us in the center are more interested in which policies will improve our lives. I think Ben's would.

DONNA HOWARD COORDINATES 3RD PARTY SECRET ATTACKS AGAINST BEN BENTZIN

The Howard Campaign coordinated with a teacher union PAC, Education Austin, to produce two negative press releases without disclosing with the Texas Ethics Commission the coordination as an in-kind contribution. "Kelly Fero, Donna Howard's lead strategist, was outed for coordinating with this PAC that attacked Ben Bentzin," said Alan Sager, Travis County Republican Party Chairman. "Failing to report this coordination as an in-kind contribution is a violation of the law. This is exactly the type of 3rd party secret politics voters despise and that's why I plan on filing a complaint with the Texas Ethics Commission," Sager added.

Negative press releases? Did I read that right? Do you think there is cash value to a press release? A press release is designed to generate free media. Bentzin is a prick, and Sager is a dumb ass. Whew, and Paul, you're just silly..

So an example of Herr Douchebag's centrist policy is bashing Howard because an unpaid supporter had something to do with what another supporter did? And it is a little bit funny, a little bit sad that stating undisputed facts is seen as an attack by the Bentzin campaign

Kelly Fero unpaid????!!!?!??

That's hilarious. He's getting paid, the only question is who is paying him and why it's not disclosed.

I guess I can't fault anyone for actually admitting they pay him...

That's not the point. Sager is implying an independent expenditure, protected by Buckly v. Valeo, is taking place but is not independent. The problem is, a press release can hardly be construed as an expenditure. If it was a direct mail piece, that would be different. It would still have to be proven that it was coordinated, not independent. Bentzin, and/or his spokespeople, is engaging in deception because he has various ethical problems including nannygate, underpayment of property taxes gate, Colyandrogate, etc. That's how I see it.

So, Paul, when teachers in the district come out in support of Howard, it's gotta be a coordinated attack on Douche since they should, you know, just naturally support Douche?

How quickly did Mr. Voucher go to cash those checks from Leininger and Perry?

Look, this isn't personal this is policy and Ben's are WAY out of touch with what the people of the district wants for their future. I honestly don't dislike Ben because I don't know him. However, his policies stink and he's financing his campaign with money from people who don't have the best interests of the people of the State of Texas in mind. I mean, PERRY, LEININGER AND COMBS?

JESUS. He's taking money from one hell of an unholy trinity and we're supposed to believe he'll vote in our best interests? We heard the same line of shit from Baxter.

Trey, Thanks for finally bringing the discussion back to policy. Name calling, Douche and Mr. Voucher are not a way to convince swing voters to respect your point of view.
Ben's willingness to support Vouchers will not even effect a rich district like 48. His limited support for vouchers is for chronically underperforming schools in urban areas. His support for tort reform is focused on minimizing frivolous lawsuits not limiting out ability to hold people responsible for reckless disregard for the wellbeing of others. For Issues related to taxes, technology, organizations systems, business development Ben is far more qualitified and connected than Donna.
I do not believe that a very wealthy man like Ben will sell his judgement and honor for $70,000 particularly when he could easily not take that money and avoid so much controversy.

I don't think every Republican is evil or wrong or bad. Lots of them are great people, in fact. But Bentzin is a jerk, and the RPT has been quite possibly the biggest bunch of hypocrites in this campaign.

Example #1: RPT attacks Howard (in mail and in a negative TV ad) for supporting a second high school when she was on the Eanes ISD. Turns out that Karl Rove, Karen Hughes, and Bush's Secretary of Education all signed a letter supporting the second high school, But the RPT doesn't care -- dirty campaigning is all that matters.

Example #2: This "attack" about coordinated campaigning. There is absolutely no proof for what anyone's been paid -- and since the election is only two days away, they'll just throw up accusations and not care. There's no proven coordination whatsoever -- as opposed to the proven ties Bentzin has with TRMPAC.

Example #3: The absurd idea that Bentzin is always going to do what's best for his district -- and the idea that Republicans just want folks that represent the ideas of their district. First of all, 60% in HD 48 wanted a Democrat instead of Bentzin. Secondly, during the special sessions, Baxter was told overwhelmingly to vote for the Hochberg amendment by his constituents. Did he? Of course not! Yet, Paul claims that Bentzin is going to "do what his district wants, " even as Bentzin's taking money from the same old Republican machine that funded Baxter's campaign. Finally, Republicans don't want folks to vote for their districts. The same guy funding Bentzin's campaign -- Leininger -- is the same guy targeting 5 Republican incumbents that VOTED WITH THEIR DISTRICT instead of voting for vouchers.

Sorry, Paul. Take your Republican hypocrisy elsewhere. Go try and make sure England beats Hubener, because the more momentum Democrats get, the more insanely motivated we become, and the more asses we're gonna kick in November.

Paul - Bill Frist certainly did it and he was rich before he came to Congress. Money is no insulator, especially in politics when the goal is power, not money.

Actually, I've found that Mr. Voucher works quite well. With people 34 and younger, Douche is also a huge plus, even among R's.

What are you, some consultant who doesn't even live in the district but 'knows' the demo'?
Keep in mind that Ben's $4Mn home is in the same district as $150k condos. It's middle to upper middle class, hardly rich. People send their kids to public school and they don't want vouchers.

Your analysis is so off base it's left me scratching my head. Y'all are really clueless, aren't you?

I think all that extra rethuglican money is, in then end, going to tip the balance in favor of The Douche. Douche Douchezin, State Representative. It just rolls off the tounge, doesn't it? Like dirty water.

Though someone with more experience than I believes Howard will prevail because HD48 voters are sick and tired of the same old same old.

It's incorrect to suggest that former State Representative Susan Combs represented that district.

Gerald Hill did. So did Mary Jane Bode. And Terral Smith. Sherry Greenberg? Yep. Ann Kitchen? No doubt. Todd Baxter? Yes mam.

But not Susan Combs.

I do live in the District. I am not a consultant. And I am an independent who votes for the candidate rather than the party. I find most of the propaganda from both the left and the right distracting but I visit the left and right blogs in case policy is discussed rather than personality.
I voted for Kerry, I will vote for McCain or Mark Warner, I will vote for Kirk Watson,
I am supporting Will Wynn and Patrick Rose, and I am voting for Bentzin because he has more talent and skill to contribute. He has more practical insight on more issues that Donna. Who I think is a wonderful woman who could make a contribution on an Education Task Force.
I am guessing that the reason why some of you call commenters like me silly or clueless is to discredit dissent just as the Right wing does. You may be more like the people your resent that you want to believe. There is not much difference to me between what some of you do and Anne Coulter

Paul, you are the most reasonable person posting on this blog right now. Most of the people screaming don't even know Bentzin's positions on the issues, it seems. I haven't been crazy about the negatives from either campaign, but I guess that's politics. It's possible to respect both candidates and just think Bentzin has more to contribute right now. There's nothing outrageous about that.

"RPT attacks Howard ... for supporting a second high school ... Turns out that Karl Rove, Karen Hughes, and Bush's Secretary of Education all signed a letter supporting the second high school..."

Why is it so hard for people to understand this relatively simple issue? Howard wasn't criticized for supporting the high school but for allowing money to be spent to start building it when the VOTERS said they did not WANT it. As I understand it, the point is that the voters should get to decide, NOT that there shouldn't have been a second high school (which seems basically irrelevant).

Got it wrong, newswatching.

Howard wanted to spend money with funds that had ALREADY BEEN APPROPRIATED AND APPROVED by the voters. Go see the KVUE "truth" test and you'll be able to get that one right...I thought you already had, since you watch the news and all.

I am open to being corrected if I am wrong, but my understanding was that the money had actually been appropriated and approved for an 8th and 9th grade center, not for a second high school. Two different things. If that is inaccurate, please set the record straight.

Nope, you did it again!
When someone disagrees with you or gets a fact wrong your first instinct is to turn it nasty with a facetious comment.
You could have stated the facts to make your point. But you deflate the impact of your presentation with adolesent pettiness.
The major skill in politics is persuasion
And the arrogance of the left and right is driving moderates out of both parties.
I sure wish all of you obviously smart partisans would discuss policy and why your ideas are better than theirs.

Money was appropriated for an 8th/9th grade center. Voters were later asked if they wanted a second high school instead. They said no. All money spent was for the 8th/9th grade center approved by voters. End of story.

Nope - if I have the facts wrong, then please correct them. However, my major point is that "Paul Love's Kool-Aid's" listing of the Republicans who wanted a second high school just does not seem very relevant -- that makes it at best a distraction and at worst a deliberate obfuscation of the issue.

"All money spent was for the 8th/9th grade center approved by voters."

If that's so, then fine. But then why were those who permitted that spending, including Howard, not re-elected? Was there some other reason? I'd sincerely like to know.

On second thought, it's not that important to me. I'm bored. I just want people to argue honestly if they must do it at all.

Everything's going to devolve into an argument because:

A) Voters hardly ever know what has happened, and certainly not why. We can discuss reasonably why voters are ill informed. Hint: It's not all their fault. So we end up arguing about what we *think* happened, or what we think *should* have happened.

2) Those arguing, and I include myself, tend to believe what we want to believe, and disregard the rest.

iii) We also tend to discount what we see/hear in the press.

Finally) We're all pretty juvenile. Really. We're all douchebags at one time or another. Except PinkDome. And me. I'm just surly.

This is Pinkdome. This post has the word "douchebag" in it. We're supposed to be juvenille and have fun. And I was right about the money that was appropriated, Paul, so back off. I'm not gonna apologize for actually having all my facts straight.

^That wasn't me, but imitation IS the sincerest form of flattery!

Paul, I just don't see the case for Ben Bentzin. What HAS he done, other than work for Dell? Gimme names of some of the companies that Boxcar has funded, even in a mezz round. THAT would help make a case for him. I haven't seen anything.

My point was that you really don't seem to know the district very well. Sorry if you disagree but your comments make it pretty clear.

As for your other point, regarding right vs. left, you seem to think you're an independent simply because you can vote for candidates of both parties which is rather silly, IMHO.

Oh and Anne could be really funny if she weren't so tiresome.

Trey, I think Paul is an EXCELLENT reflection of the district. You'd be surprised at the number of independents who judge the candidate, not the party, based on issues. Some of those may choose Howard, but others will choose Bentzin. I get the impression from people here that they associate only with like-minded people who have knee-jerk reactions to Rs, and I can see where that could distort a person's perspective.

"His support for tort reform is focused on minimizing frivolous lawsuits not limiting out ability to hold people responsible for reckless disregard for the wellbeing of others. "

The above is the classic TLR canard about tort "reform." Frivolous lawsuits were never as commonplace as TLR and Republicans would have us believe, and their solution absolutely limits our ability to hold people responsible for reckless disregard of the well being of others. They wrote the OJ defense (phantom torfeasor) into the bill for crying out loud!

And I don't know if it's already been discussed here, but the whole Eanes School Board thing was about high school football, not prudent expenditures of tax money.

Bentzin is rich and bored and desperately wants people to have to pay attention to him. Bad combination. If you want more of the Todd Baxter style of talking out of both sides of your both, by all means vote Bentzin.

News - EVERYONE judges the candidate. No one just automatically votes for party affiliation, except maybe the retards on both extremes and there aren't many of those in 48.

Pish on that independent BS. He's a democrat, he just likes the idea of saying that 'I'm independent, I choose the best candidate' crap. As for why he's not voting for Howard I have no idea. The only thing Ben seems to have accomplished was a gig at Dell and some options. I remember the mid 90s when all you had to have to work at Dell was a pulse.

If he's REALLY an independent he would have made a case for Ben. He didn't. He just wants to vote for the 'rich' guy whether he wants to acknowledge it or not.

Oh well. There is a chance Bentzin could win. He won't suprise you if he does. It'll be Todd Baxter, part 2. The naivete displayed by you and Paul would be sweet and cute if it didn't have larger implications.

In reply to "Ben's willingness to support Vouchers will not even effect a rich district like 48. His limited support for vouchers is for chronically underperforming schools in urban areas."

Please explain why you think this. The money comes from somewhere. "Pilot" private-school voucher programs WILL siphon dollars away from the "system" and I'm assuming HD 48 is in the "system". This isn't even touching on the fact that the private schools are exempt from state standards and HD 48 would still have to abide by them. Private school Vouchers WILL affect every District.

PD- I dont think Nope was trying to imitate you. more like stateing this site is pinkdome where supposed to be childish. but i am sure nope is always trying to flatter you..

If anyone thinks Bentzin is going to be some independent minded Rep., they are delusional. The biggest fallacy with the Republicans in power is that they don't allow for much debate, free thinking, or democratic behaviour. Howard winning will send a message to the whole group in power. Bentzin winning will say, "oh, well!"

Even if we don't like what's currently going on with who's funding whom, some of us don't want to use our votes just to "send a message." We have to live with whoever is elected, not just for education but for everything else.

News - that's why we just can't take a chance on Bentzin, especially with the Special coming up. Until we get Craddick out of the speakers chair we can't take any chances. This is the only way we are going to return sanity to the capital and allow Democrats and Republicans to work together.

Bentzin is far too big a risk. No pun intended, BTW.

Pun unintended, maybe, but appreciated. Sorry, but just can't agree that Bentzin's a bigger risk than Howard. I like them both, but every candidate has loyalties to someone or something.

Well, then I guess we'll cancel each other out:)