Melder's Musings

Hector Uribe is apparently everywhere. At least, that's what his campaign press people (or, perhaps, person) want us to think.

Less than two weeks since his last campaign press release drew sharp criticism from this blogger, his latest press release is not much better. He's gone from bragging that he saved someone's life to bragging that someone is vicariously living his life.

I will make no attempt to justify someone falsely using the candidate's photo on an Internet dating profile, and I fully support Uribe's efforts to get the fictitious profile taken down, but to issue a press release broadcasting this foolishness to the public (or hoping that Texas media outlets will do the broadcasting for him) is just plain silly.

The tongue-in-cheek tone of the release makes it that much worse. Reminding us that Uribe is an occasional actor with professional head shots does absolutely nothing to make him a more credible candidate.

Uribe's campaign should be using its press releases to attack the Republican incumbent and to announce Uribe's own policy ideas (assuming they actually exist). There's a lot to attack about Jerry Patterson. His record as the custodian of state lands is a terrible one. He's also a pompous ass, but Uribe's campaign seems to be doing all it can to bestow that insult on its own candidate.

The man behind the Uribe campaign press releases is reportedly Harold Cook. The author of his own usually humorous blog about Texas politics, Cook seems to think that getting a chuckle is the sole purpose of all political communication. Sadly, that's not how politics work in the real world. This is especially true in Texas, where the reactionary right has kept Texas Democrats in the political wilderness since 1994 largely by scaring the shit out of people.

Thankfully, I'm not alone in thinking that the Uribe campaign is bringing mockery upon itself. I can only hope that Cook, Uribe, or somebody else in that camp will wake the hell up before November. By then, we may have all enjoyed a few laughs, but we'll have no prospects for a better Texas Land Commissioner.

Labels: campaigns, Hector Uribe