Charlie Howard: "Nick Lampson Will Be the Next Congressman for Congressional District 22"

because "people are unhappy with the Republican party." This was his warning to his fellow Republicans at the candidate forum in Fort Bend tonight.

Here was the invitation:

The Fort Bend Club and the Spirit of Freedom Republican Club will co-host a Congressional District 22 candidates forum on Thursday, May 25, 2006 to give Fort Bend a chance to meet and hear the candidates who are seeking to represent them in the November elections.

Congressional District 22 voters who want to learn more about the individuals seeking to represent them for CD 22 will be able to hear the candidates discuss their reasons for seeking the nomination and can learn more about the candidates as they answer questions on issues in a moderated panel format. Precinct chairs will have an opportunity to submit questions to the candidates through the panel.

The candidates that attended were:
Tom Campbell, Charlie Howard, Mike Jackson, Andy Meyers, Shelly Sekula-Gibbs, Robert Talton, Tim Turner, David Wallace

Here were some recurring themes:

If the candidate was a state rep or senator, then believe me, he made sure we knew that he had the most conservative voting record on the planet and had awards to prove it (think NRA). Nanny boo boo, I have a more conservative voting record than you.

Immigrants: bad. Bad, bad, bad. Drain on our economy.

DeLay: Done great things for Congressional District 22. Do we want his endorsement? Nooooooooooooooooooo.

Immigrants: Illegal alien criminals. Bad, bad, bad.

Some specifics:

Talton: No is no is no. Yes is yes is yes. I am not the smartest man on the planet. Can you repeat the question? Check out my record. I am the most conservative person in the universe!

Wallace: I do investments. Investments, investments, investments. I am the Mayor of Sugar Land. I have a zillion dollars committed to my campaign. So there.

Campbell: I am nodding at everything everyone else is saying! I am agreeing with everyone on this panel!

Sekula-Gibbs: I am making perfect sense. But, you are not going to vote for a woman, are you?

Meyers: I am alienating everyone. And, I don't care.

Turner: I am the cool guy and represent the grass roots. Too bad I have no experience. Again, I make sense. Too bad you won't pick me.

Jackson: You don't know me. I haven't said anything to convince you that you should pick me. Who am I?

Howard: Hey, I've already quoted him. Also, he was advised, "you are going to need a lot of help." No kidding.

Oh, another recurring theme: Immigrants: Diseases (I'm very serious. This was said. In public.)

And, another recurring theme: These folks seriously do realize that Lampson is organized, with volunteers on the ground, well funded, on message and ready to win over the voters in TX-22. The theme was that this is an uphill battle.

GAME ON.

Update: Read the report at Juanita's. Even more details of the super exciting event that you won't want to miss! It's like you were there. But, fortunately YOU didn't have to go.

Also: Chris Elam has podcasts of the opening statements from the candidates on his Texas Safety Forum blog. Read the comments by TCJester. He gives his opinion of each candidate, and while he has the Republican slant, his observations are remarkably similar to mine in many cases. Amusing!