Texas is a really cool place and everyone has been so wonderful to me since I've been here. I met with (combined with some teleconferencing) several key Libertarian and Republican activists in the area who are working on the Smither campaign. As I expected before I got here, the people, hospitality and the politics are very similar to what I'm used to in my home state of Alabama.

To begin, the level of excitement on the ground was high, especially since our meeting followed Bob Smither's public forum at the Sugarland Country Club with former Democratic Congressman Ted Lampson and the write-in Republican candidate. A good deal of that conversation dealt with comparisons of the ways different Houston television stations presented the story. Perhaps the most complete coverage was from FortBendNow. Here's the portion which applies to Smither:

The three candidates made a rare appearance together at a Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce luncheon Thursday at Sweetwater Country Club in Sugar Land. A fourth contender for CD-22, Joe Reasbeck, attended the lunch but said he was denied permission by the chamber to speak at the event.

Libertarian Smither, Republican write-in candidate Sekula-Gibbs and Democratic challenger Lampson spoke in that order. Each was given eight minutes, no rebuttal or audience questions were allowed.
Smither, a Libertarian, and the only candidate beside Lampson whose name will appear on the ballot, compared himself to Republican conservatives of an earlier era, saying he worked as a GOP volunteer for Barry Goldwater's 1964 presidential campaign.

He criticized Lampson and Sekula-Gibbs, saying both have promised to fund special projects in the district that shouldn't be paid for with tax money from people in the rest of the country, adding "in your heart, you know it's wrong."

Smither said he advocates passage of the so-called Fair Tax Proposal, which would abolish the IRS and replace the income tax with a single-rate federal retail sales tax collected at the point of purchase of new goods and services for personal consumption.

"A write-in candidate has never been elected to the House in Texas. Nick Lampson appeals to those who look to government for solutions," Smither said, adding that he represents the only true conservative alternative.

We spent a lot of time talking about the technical ground issues. Rest assured, there is a good sign team on the ground with a solid plan for their mission between now and Election Day. We also found Smither a cheaper vendor for his campaign signs. Expect to see some 4X8 signs soon, as well as some from a new organization called Republicans for Smither.

The key campaign staffers and I covered radio advertising and this portion of the campaign looks like it will be a go. Internal polling operations are now a go. The first national e-mail fundraiser is not longer a go, it's a "done gone." While I'm not going to disclose how many thousands of dollars it threw into the campaign coffers in just the first few hours after it was distributed, I'll state that the numbers are encouraging enough that I know a national Libertarian base will throw down more serious dollars as the campaign is able to provide donors even more compelling reasons to be excited about the campaign. They are working hard to provide such reasons and have some good ideas going. More importantly, this batch of donations has already paid for more signs on the ground and investment money for a national fundraising letter.

We began preparations for the final 100 hours of the race. In addition to the block walking and telephone campaign already being conducted, a significant GOTV effort is planned for the final days. Also, Election Day plans are being hashed out. While I was there, campaign manager Kevin Tunstall was calling on local county chairs to have their members request a vacation day for November 7 so they can help work at their local polling places.

I'm working on a new BallotBase project related to the campaign, so I expect to be in the area for a couple more days. After then, it looks like I'll be heading in the direction of Austin. For those of you who have worked with me on campaigns before, I'm back in my campaign zone. Cell phone chargers can't keep up with the wear and tear on the batteries and my fingers are tripping over each other from typing so fast. What's a campaign without a few pots of coffee before noon - or wrapping up well after midnight with good folks whom you've just accomplished a lot of work?