AUSTIN - State Senate nominee Dan Patrick, who blasted an opponent in the recent Republican primary for taking contributions from lobbyists, is having a fundraising reception in Austin next week, hosted by lobbyists for a range of special interests, including casinos. Lobbyist Steve Bresnen, whose clients include the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, the Texas State Association of Fire Fighters and the Bingo Interest Group, said he organized the Thursday event at the private Austin Club.
Yes, it would be easy to fillet Dan Patrick for being a Conservative and a hypocrite, but that would be redundant, wouldn’t it? Here’s a Republican candidate for the Texas Senate, who not only has his only private platform (his own radio talk show here in Houston) AND his own personal fortune, he also has some very well-connected friends willing to open up their wallets for him. Nice, eh? Particularly when he ripped one of his primary opponents for the very tactics that he now appears to be, if not directly involved in, then certainly at least willing to countenance. After all, if money is the mother’s milk of politics, and it certainly is, Dan Patrick wants his turn at the beneficent teat.
Patrick swamped three opponents — state Reps. Joe Nixon and Peggy Hamric and former Houston City Councilman Mark Ellis — to win the GOP nomination to succeed the retiring Sen. Jon Lindsay.
The fight between Patrick and Nixon, who enjoyed strong lobby support, was particularly contentious.
At a candidates’ forum at the Cy-Fair Republican Women’s Club in October, Patrick called for a $1,000 limit on donations to state Senate campaigns and criticized Nixon’s fundraising ability.
“One of my opponents had a fundraiser the other night and collected $217,000 and bragged about it,” Patrick said then. “I’d be ashamed, because that money didn’t come from the people.”
“We must have campaign reform in this state, like this maximum $1,000, and it should only come from people in the district,” he added.
Patrick on Thursday said he has since determined that a $5,000 limit is more reasonable.
“Back in October, I didn’t realize how expensive it was to run a campaign,” he said.
Nor did he realize that collecting money $5,000 at a time is a hell of a lot easier than doing it $1,000 at a time. Campaign math isn’t really all that tough, though, and it appears that Patrick has finally seen the light. Lucky us….
Of course, now that he emerged victorious from the GOP primary, he can afford to loosen up on the “holier-than-thou” shtick that he used to bludgeon his opponents. Patrick knew full well that, given the heavily Republican-leaning makeup of his district, the primary would be the biggest hurdle he’ll face on his way to winning his Senate seat. Since Democrats are unlikely to pose anything but symbolic opposition to Patrick, he pretty much faces a cakewalk the rest of the way.
Being a hyprocrite might have served him well in the primary, but if you don’t need to play the “holier-than-thou” card, why bother? It’s not like Republican voters are going to care, and there aren’t enough Democratic voters in his district to worry about.
Dan Patrick: Just another Republican demonstrating that ethics are for losers and hyprocrisy is merely a cost of doing business.
