October 15, 2008
If this race were a game of Texas hold em’, then District 78 has just experienced both candidates pushing chunky sums into the middle after the El Paso Times turned over a card that read “Fort Bliss.”
Following up last week’s media salvo with a ferocious mailout that arrived starting this week, Republican Dee Margo continued his criticism of Democrat Joe Moody’s online comments about the military.
Both candidates, as the mud begins to splatter, have turned to military endorsements to shore up support. Within District 78, Northeast El Paso, with its proximity to Fort Bliss, could be a swing area that could decide who goes to Austin.
In August 2007, Moody wrote, “It’s hard for me to decide which is worse…the military or the banks. One recruits you to get killed immediately while the other will suck the life out of you.”
The comment was part of an online forum begun by a different blogger who wanted to see “soldiers spit [sic] upon” because “ Marines rape 14 year-olds,” claimed the mailout.
“It’s disappointing that anyone running for public office would have that opinion about out military,” said Tom Thomas, quoted in Margo's mailout. Thomas is a Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army, a position Margo held for eight years from 1990-1998. Margo last week called Moody’s comments “despicable.” [Editor’s note: click here to read an NPT editorial about last week's shenanigans.]
In response to the media coverage last week, Moody issued a press release outlining the endorsement of the four Bolanos brothers, each of whom is a decorated war veteran. (Document posted below.) The endorsement came out late on Friday and as such made little headway in the press.
"Joe Moody is a man of integrity," said Rick Bolaños in the press release. The brothers have a history of involvement with Democrats, having campaigned for John Kerry in 2004 and earlier this year for Hillary Clinton. Rick Bolanos also ran against Henry Bonilla for Congressional District 23 in 2006. By endorsing Moody, the Bolanos brothers made clear they were condemning “the smear tactics Dee Margo has stooped to using over the past two weeks.”
"Joe comes from a long line of veterans, from those who have served their country,” Rick Bolanos said.
This is a timely endorsement for Moody as he deals with the resurrection of his blog comments from 2007. (The brothers appear a little scripted in places. For example, Moody's announcement typecasts Margo is typecast in Moody-esque lingo as “backed by Austin special interests, out of touch with El Paso.”)
“The Bolaños brothers, like the people of El Paso, know that personal attacks and divisive campaign tactics … won't magically produce any better results for our nation's veterans,” Moody’s press release said.
“Moody mocks and belittles our brave men and women in the Military,” retorts Margo’s mailout. Margo's campaign is being managed by Kevin Shuvalov of Olsen and Shuvalov, an Austin-based political consultancy borne out of Karl Rove’s old firm.
With three weeks to go, the whisper campaign has become a shouting match.
As the race enters its final stages, expect to see press releases and mail flyers morph into the predictably nasty TV ads that have become staples over the last few years in American politics. Click here to view the candidates current, not-so-nasty video messages.