I guess nominally I am a Republican. More so I am a conservative. It is somewhat interesting that of all the Members of Congress I have met and talked to, my favorite ones are almost all Democrats. Jim Marshall for instance I almost never have a disagreement with. I also like Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, who the first time I met didn’t identify herself as a Congresswoman and I almost hit on her. I also like Brian Baird, not for his politics, but just because he is a nice guy, and I liked how he stood up to MoveOn.org over the Surge issue. And (huge caveat here) despite what I consider legitamate concerns over obfuscating his war record (or lack thereof) I found Congressman Walz on Minnesota to be a very engaging fellow.<\/p>\n
Anyway, somehow I ended up on Ciro Rodriguez’s email list. I know I never gave money to him, so someone else must have signed me up. Today I got this email:
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Dear TSO, <\/p>\n
Last year, supporters like you played a critical role in putting me over the top on Election Day. It was a historic victory, and it wouldn’t have been possible without your support. As the only Frontline Democrat from Texas it is essential that I get your support once again, so that I can continue to represent the people of the 23rd Congressional District of Texas. <\/p>\n
We are less than one year from Election Day 2010 and 56 days from the end of the year fund raising period. My opponents, the media, and the pundits will all use these numbers to judge the strength of our campaign.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Really nothing too dramatic there, but it made me wonder who his opponent was. So I went to Politics1.com<\/a> which is the best site to look up such things. I never actually made it to looking up the GOP candidates, because Ciro’s Dem opponent is pretty damn solid.<\/p>\n
First, the bio:<\/p>\n
Mr. Miguel A. Ortiz was born in Ft Benning, GA and at the age of three he moved to Caguas, PR-USA. Mr. Ortiz has lived in Texas 17 years, first as a soldier in the United States Army and later as a resident and practicing attorney. Mr. Ortiz has a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration from the University of Central Texas (1998), a Masters Degree in Accounting from the Graduate Business School of St. Mary\u2019s University (2000), and a Doctor in Jurisprudence from St. Mary\u2019s University School of Law (2000)…<\/p>\n
After leaving the Army and finishing his education, Mr. Ortiz opened a law office in San Antonio were he currently practices law. He also has a law office at Fort Hood, Texas, where he primarily helps soldiers with their legal issues. Mr. Ortiz also served as a vice president for the Boys and Girls Club of San Antonio advisory committee and actively participated in the sponsorship of children\u2019s sports teams in the community. He is currently a faculty member of the University Of Phoenix at San Antonio where he teaches under-graduate and graduate level courses in Business and Accounting.<\/p>\n
Miguel Ortiz is a certified mediator, a member of the Texas Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the American Trial Lawyers Association, the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, the Veteran of Foreign Wars (VFW) and the American Legion in San Antonio.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n