David Ortez

Dear Senator John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchinson:

Allow me to introduce myself. I am David Ortez, a twenty-four year old recent college graduate from the University of Texas at Austin that is transitioning to pursue a career in the legal sector by attending law school in 2010. I am a native Houstonian that is proud to be a Texan.

I share the same alma mater with Senator Hutchinson and the same hometown as Senator Cornyn. So far, we have something in common and that is a good thing.

The United States was founded in 1776 and at that time only white, male, property owners had the right to exercise their political influence via voting in an election. Women would not be granted that right until 1920. President Obama signed into law an equal-pay for equal work bill into law. This would end years of mostly gender discrimination in the labor industry that saw females underpaid compared to their male counterparts.

Phillip Elliott of the Associated Press reports that, “Obama, choosing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act as the first bill to sign as president, called it a "wonderful day" and declared that ending pay disparities between men and woman an issue not just for women, but for all workers.”

Obama is a Muslim according to 23% of Texans polled by the University of Texas. That is close to 1 in 4 people that have the wrong facts on the first African-American presidential candidate.

Think about … if you conjure up three other friends in your head, one of you believes he is a Muslim. That is a pretty high number at this late in the campaign season.

Richard Dunham reports, “The Texas numbers are unusual because most national polls show that just 5 to 10 percent of Americans still believe Obama is a Muslim.”

It seems no matter what Barack Obama does, there will be a small minority that has their facts wrong. That group seems to be giving John McCain and John Cornyn an edge this election season.

Democrat Rick Noriega will debate incumbent Republican Senator John Cornyn on Thursday, October 9, 2008. The League of Women Voters of the Houston Area Education Fund and Houston PBS have sponsored the debate and it will air across Texas via your local PBS station.

Libertarian Yvonne Schick will also participte in the event. The debate will air at 8 pm CST and if you are in the Houston area, you are more than welcomed to attend the Houston Debate Watch Party at 3200 Kirby Drive Suite 200.

This should be an intresting debate in an intresting race that is shaping up in Texas. John Cornyn does lead Rick Noriega in polls but that could all change when they face off.