Sunday, September 16, 2007

On Bringing Knives and Things Mikal Watts Doesn’t Want You to Read

Or I guess, more to the point, what he doesn’t want his wife to read.

It was a very curious statement in and among his responses to questions from University of Texas Democrats last Wednesday, previously reported here and here. First Watts referenced to knives in a knife fight, and how he brings the biggest one. One wonders whether Watts was literally referring to knives, or whether he was referring to his checking account. I have said before that Rick Noriega thinks out of the box quite often. If Watts was literally referring to knives, I suspect that Rick, again, a very out of the box thinker, and someone with a military background to boot, knows that a guiding principle in combat is presentation of overwhelming force. I suspect that Rick would bring a TOW missile launcher and some loads to a knife fight.

And similarly, if Watts was referencing his ability to provide campaign cash to his own campaign, implying that Rick Noriega is marginalized in this, again, Rick is an out of the box thinker. Watts brings campaign cash to an election. Noriega, on the other hand, brings voters. Dead presidents can’t vote.

And again, in his reference to knives, Watts mentions the fact that he doesn’t want his wife to read the the blogs.

“But I can tell you that the way that I handle that, is I tell my wife don’t watch the TV, don’t read the blogs, don’t read this, don’t read that, ok. I can take those blows, and will take them.”
The reason for this has also been in the press: he has virtually no support in the blogosphere. Oh, there are a few out there, but their postings are transparently disingenuous so they wouldn’t make a good read for his wife, either.

So what are we talking about here? What blogs does Mikal Watts not want his wife, or anyone for that matter, to read?

Well, I already linked to it above, but TXSharon at Bluedaze also wants to know “Watts With the Big Knife Metaphor?” I especially appreciate the update below her discussion of knives, in which actual embedded text from Watts’ imfamous letter to opposing counsel in which he suggests that appellate judges, to which he has been a generous campaign contributor in past elections, would not be inclined to overturn a jury verdict.

Vince at Capitol Annex has a similar story to this one on "Mikal Watts Doesn’t Want You To Read Blogs". Vince provides a link back to Watts campaign in which “Watts’ campaign website proudly displays a story from Capitol Inside in which the want-to-be senator hands the Texas blogosphere a big fat dissing.” The part that I really like in that Capitol Inside posting is how Watts, a UT alumnus, arrived on campus “amid a sense of nostalgia” only to be “ambushed” by “the current crop of student Democrats”.

Oh, the humanity!

McBlogger, at McBlogger, on the other hand, has a satire going on his most recent posting on Watts. If this seems mean to you, well . . . yeah. They can get mean.

Robbie, in a post at Urbangrounds, also pulls no punches in TX: Mikal Watts (D) Brags About The Purchased Influence of Democratic Judges. Robbie asks “How ugly is this for Mikal Watts? Even the King of the Koskids himself thinks it stinks”

Refinish69 at Refinish69 also has a post on Watts’ money. In his post “Mikal Watts Thinks Money Buys Everything”, he says of Watts: “Mikal is starting to sound more and more like Cornyn or -god forbid, Shrub everyday. Texas deserves better than this.”

wcnews at Eye on Williamson also noted Watts’ problem with money, citing a mainstream media breaking story on it: “Bad news for Mikal Watts today, Senate candidate played up contributions to justices.”

Texas Nate at Mydd also noted the same news media story: “ While plutocrat Mikal Watts was getting some well deserved tough love from the Houston Chronicle, the people-powered candidate Rick Noriega was getting some great press around the state.”

Victoriacat at Texas Kaos covered Watts’ recent Victoria visit, and revealed what seems to going through Watts’ mind when he donates to Republican office holders: to buy influence and judicial decisions in his favor. “He said he had made the donations through a trial lawyer PAC because the courts had just (I'm paraphrasing here) ‘closed up’, and the donations were an attempt to get more access to the judicial system.”

alaprst at Blue Texas also seems to draw the same conclusion about Watts’ contribution to Republican office holders – how he hoped it would help him win more lawsuits: “Can Watts please explain how donations to Republicans like Perry, Dewhurst, and Abbott "get more access" to the judicial system? Oh, as far as more access, more access to who?”

Even Paul Burka, who keeps himself above the fray, had uncomplimentary things to say on Mikal Watts’ handling of the Young Democrats at UT last week. “My assessment is that Watts' talk struck the wrong note. I think he should have tried to fire up the crowd by attacking Cornyn from start to finish. On the other hand, maybe he knew he had an unfriendly jury, that most YDs are probably going to be for Noriega”. Well from the “ambush piece” on his own website, it looks like Watts didn’t know. But he knows now.

Now this is just going back two weeks. There’s been a lot of pixels devoted to attacks on Watts and his supporters. Attacks from Democrats, no less. What must be frustrating to the Watts campaign is that they have only a few operatives out there blogging and trolling in the comments areas, raking up muck on Rick Noriega. And it’s a difficult task because they have to make up stuff.

And because they have only those few, members of Watts’ own campaign have had to level attacks at the lieutenant colonel. That doesn’t look very good, because from what I heard, Both Watts and Noriega vowed to run clean campaigns that won’t run attacks on each other.

That promise, clearly, is starting to break down in Watts’ campaign.

And maybe that’s something else that Watts doesn’t want his wife to know about.

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