Congressional District 10 Candidates Face Off in Houston

October 26, 2006

Contact:
Jon Airheart, Assistant Campaign Manager: 512-637-6863,
jon@badnarik.org

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 10 CANDIDATES FACE OFF IN HOUSTON

Austin, TX -- Michael Badnarik, candidate for US Congress in Texas District 10, will participate tonight in a televised debate with Democratic challenger Ted Ankrum and, possibly, incumbent Michael McCaul (unconfirmed at release time). The debate will take place from 6:30-7:30 PM at the Houston MediaSource studio at 2302 Texas Avenue in Houston.

- TX CD10 candidates' debate
- 6:30-7:30 PM
- Houston MediaSource studio at 2302 Texas Avenue, Houston

Organized and produced by Houston MediaSource, the debate is to be co-sponsored by the Houston League of Women Voters and the ACLU.

"I'm honored to be involved in this public forum with our opposition for the tenth congressional district seat of the great state of Texas," candidate Michael Badnarik reports, "I'm looking forward to giving the public the insight they need to see why they should vote for me."

"We commend the Houston area League of Women's Voters for sponsoring this debate," comments campaign manager Allen Hacker. Hacker acknowledges that the event couldn't have been easy to produce, what with the incumbent's game-playing with possible dates and his general unresponsiveness. "Yet the event goes forward, and this speaks volumes for the Houston LWV." Hacker says, "The Austin LWV could learn a lot from them."

In contrast, the Austin League of Women Voters cancelled their debates when the incumbents declined to participate, despite arrangements having already been made and challengers having confirmed. "That charade has put the Austin LWV in a really bad light," Hacker notes. He says that not only has the Austin League of Women Voters made themselves look like patsies for the powers that be, but they have deprived the voters of the opportunity to experience the very real differences between the candidates.

"For example," Badnarik says, "the voters in CD10 would have learned why I am the only candidate who is truly competent to be their congressman." Badnarik describes both of his opponents as inept, the difference between the two being only that the Democrat is a novice and the incumbent is a rookie. "These are not the qualities that will get the job done in Washington," Badnarik says. "We can't expect either of my opponents to do anything right."

Badnarik cautions, "Ted Ankrum is a novice who presents himself as an engineering-quality expert, but he didn't even bother to know that there are no runoffs in congressional elections."

"If he tried to build a nuclear power plant that way," Hacker notes, "we'd all be dead the day it went online." He continues, "Ankrum has already demonstrated a willingness to make outlandish claims upon which he is later forced to flip-flop, as has happened with his claim to having lowered the price of oil from [$40] to $15 a barrel in the early '80s, and his claim that, 'We can do it again!'" Ankrum admitted to the Brenham Area Retired Teachers Association in September that, "...we'll never see $15 a barrel oil again," but the claims are still in his campaign literature. The campaign dismisses Ankrum as a man not of his word.
[View supporting video on our blog.]

The incumbent, Michael McCaul, is a rookie who makes rookie mistakes, according to the Badnarik campaign. "For a former US Attorney, his Federal Elections compliance is deplorable," Hacker notes. "We have been getting reports of severe irregularities in McCaul's campaign finances."

Badnarik points out that McCaul took most of his entire first term to begin to see that being Bush's patsy wasn't going to work, and only after the clamor from Texas citizens became overwhelming did he switch his position on the borders. He continues, "He's still not his own man." Worse yet, Badnarik notes that nobody in the history of congress has more actively campaigned against, and voted against, the Bill of Rights than he has.

In contrast, Michael Badnarik feels that his entire life has been a prelude to this election, exclaiming, "My life has been centered on two core values: the quest for mastery, and service. I always strive to do a thing to the best it can be done, and I really enjoy helping others to do the same."

Following his years as a boy scout, Badnarik became a troop leader. Out of high school, he became a lifeguard, and then became a certified Water Safety Instructor. Later, as a skydiver with over a thousand jumps to his name, he went on to certification as a skydiving instructor.

"I know it's gutsy to say it," Badnarik points out, "but I am a fellow who has made a practice of putting myself on the line. I have succeeded by making sure I knew what I was doing."

Now, having written a book on the US constitution, and teaching classes on it for years, Badnarik feels his logical next step is to get into Congress and put his knowledge to work, "preserving our republic against all enemies, foreign and domestic".

Neither Left nor Right, Badnarik says he hails from the Libertarian center, representing mainstream Americans in defense of both their property and their rights. "I am the reasonable alternative that 60% of Americans have been wishing for," he claims.

Michael Badnarik is pleased with the Houston League of Women Voters and their co-sponsor for giving the voters a much-needed forum where they can get the facts on a level playing field.

http://www.badnarik.org/press/releases/102606_lwv-debates.php