One would think that the 17th congressional district of Texas (including both Waco and Bryan-College Station) would be the reddest part of the red state of Texas (it went 70% for Bush in 2004), but Chet Edwards, who narrowly retained his seat after the DeLay gerrymander in 2002, is leading his Republican opponent Van Taylor in the polls: 55% to 38%. Taylor has made some serious missteps: running entirely negative ads (except for one on his family, faith, and freedom commitments--"freedom" was the voiceover for a shot of an old guy with a hunting rifle) and concentrating heavily on the illegal immigrant issue, which doesn't seem much of a worry in this district. Chet is emphasizing the fact that Taylor is a carpetbagger from Dallas who doesn't understand that "we" don't run campaigns in a negative way here, that Taylor owns millions of dollars in stock in drug companies, and wants to ban importation of prescription drugs from Canada, and wants to "gamble" with Social Security.

I don't know why this is so complicated for the Democrats: emphasize government help for all citizens, not special interests; steer clear of the "social" issues in districts where voters care about them.

• Jim Aune's blog
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