By Sujata Dand
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-532105.mp3
Dallas, TX – (Natural sound)
Sujata Dand Reporter: It was the perfect night for football. A clear sky, the chill of autumn in the air.
(natural sound)
Dand: Parents and friends filled the bleachers to cheer on the 7th grade boys' football teams in Weatherford, Texas, just southwest of Fort Worth. While most fans were busy talking sports, you could still find people willing to talk politics in this conservative community.
John Robinson, parent: I think the Republicans will get run out of office this time.
Dand: John Robinson was designated spokesperson for his brood of 10 people.
Robinson: I voted Republican last year. I don't think the Republicans will be in power when this election is through. The Senate race in particular .I feel like we've been sold out from Republicans for the high price of fuel right now because we have an oil boy in the white house.
Dand: Robinson had no clue, that less than a 100 yards away, behind the parking lot filled with SUVS and big giant trucks, a democratic rally was happening inside Old Weatherford High, where many of his sentiments on the oil prices and Iraq were being echoed.
Barbara Ann Radnofsky, Democrat Senate Candidate: Can you feel the difference that I feel today. Whoo. I can feel it, its palpable.
Dand: About 300 people came out to support Senate candidate Barbara Ann Radnofsky and other democrats. Political reporter Bud Kennedy was covering the evening for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Bud Kennedy, Fort Worth Star-Telegram Columnist: To see this many people at a democratic event is just remarkable --- the past election cycle you wouldn't have had 5 or 10 people who would have come out and shown their faces. Parker County is one of the whitest, most conservative counties in Texas.
Radnofsky: The most recent poll out of the Wall Street Journal and Zogby has my opponent at under 50%. Under 50%
(clapping)
Dand: But there's still a 10-point gap between Radnofsky and two-term incumbent Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, and that's considered a landslide in politics. Every national poll reports Hutchison as a can't lose canididate. But, Radnofsky doesn't believe it. At last count, she's made more than 500 campaign stops across the Lone Star state, and she feels like Texans are changing their minds.
Radnofsky: The last 50 trips, or maybe the last 100 of the 512 - folks have concentrated on the waste of their tax payer dollars it really is a cry, an aching to have some level of common sense brought back to what they feel is a very corrupt system that's wasting their tax payer dollars. And the manifestation of it is in the denial of health care, poor educational priorities, and a number of priorities that everyone seems to this are important not being able to get funded.
Dand: After leaving the rally in Weatherford, Radnofsky and her campaign manager drove to a Japanese restaurant in Dallas- not far from a supporter's home where they would spend the night. It was after 9 pm and this was the first meal today for Radnofsky who'd been traveling since 3 am, but she was slow to take a bite because she wanted to talk about two issues that she believes will help all democrats - the war in Iraq and oil independence.
Radnofsky: I've said for sometime that we should set goals, set a timetable and withdraw
Dand: Radnofsky believes US troops should get out of Iraq because we are destabilizing the region. She also believes the United States needs a new energy policy because it is a matter of national security.
Radnofsky: I think that after 911, the country not only came together, the country expected that we'd be given a national energy policy and asked to conserve. In our community the blood banks really had enough blood, people had to be turned away and they wouldn't want to leave because they physically wanted to give of themselves. And that would have been an ideal time to say let's have a national energy policy, including conservation, alternative energy and rational development of fossil fuels we have.
Dand: Senator Hutchison has repeatedly said we must stay the course in Iraq and has a mixed voting record on oil independence. She's supported targeting 100 thousand hydrogen powered vehicles by 2010 and drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife refuge, but she has voted against renewable and solar energy and attempts to reduce oil usage by 40% by 2025. The Senator is in Washington, DC working on legislative business. Her campaign office was unable to schedule her for an interview. Political science professor Jim Riddlesperger from TCU says Hutchison's positions are aligned with President Bush. And, he doesn't believe that's going to hurt her in this race.
Jim Riddlesperger, Professor of Political Science, TCU: The Iraq war is quite unpopular but to this date the Democrats have not done a good job of expressing how they would conduct that war differently. And, gas prices have been high through the summer and they are coming down now. And, although most people feel like they are still high, its been less of a flashpoint issue in the last few weeks.
Dand: And, then there's money. Hutchison has more than 9 million dollars, while Radnofsky has less than half a million, barely enough for campaign ads.
(Nats of ad)
Kennedy: I haven't thought of Radnofsky as a factor, and I think that one reason is because her first radio commercials have been so bad.
Dand: Bud Kennedy, from the Fort Worth Star Telegram.
Kennedy: From the Ba-ba-ba Barbara ann to the other ad, they almost sound like they were produced by high school kids in the school radio station or something, apparently she doesn't have the money for professional media and it leaves me the impression that she's not serious in the campaign.
Dand: Professor Riddlesperger said that kind of press treatment is playing into Hutchison's strategy.
Riddlesperger: To this point I don't think she feels the need to run a major media campaign, in some senses I don't think she wants to give that much attention to her opponent.
Dand: While Hutchison lays low, and Radnofsky continues to travel the state, there's another candidate trying to gain visibility. Although, Libertarian Scott Jamison took no side on the war in Iraq or offered no comprehensive energy policy, he does talk about his passion for reducing pork barrel spending.
Scott Jameson, Libertarian: I would like to see a change to the US constitution that requires the US Congress to have a public review period for all legislation during which no changes could be made. So they would no longer be able to slip in big appropriations bills or earmarks before they had to vote on it. I would hope that would lead to a big crack down and awareness to what is actually happening to our money.
Dand: In a recent Zogby/Wall Street Journal poll, Jameson received 7% of the vote, and while analysts do see some TX voters jumping ship because of Republican policies, loyalty to GOP candidates like Hutchison will be strong enough to overcome that erosion of support. For KERA -90.1, I'm Sujata Dand.
Click here for more information on Barbara Ann Radnofsky's positions on major issues
Click here for more information on Senator Hutchison's positions on major issues