Barton's Apology to BP Opens Door for Opponent

Barton's Apology to BP Opens Door for Opponent

By David Cozad’s own admission, hardly anyone knew his name before last week. And that’s still mostly true, though it may not matter. For all practical purposes, he is That Guy Running Against Joe Barton.

Two little words — “I apologize,” uttered by Barton, the Republican congressman representing Arlington and a large swath of the Fort Worth suburbs, to Tony Hayward, the chief executive of BP, the company daily soiling the Gulf of Mexico with crude oil — have upgraded the status of Cozad’s campaign from Sure Loser to Longer-Than-Longshot. Calling himself a Green Dog Democrat focused on reforming the energy industry, he newly brims with optimism. “I may be the only freshman Democrat in Congress next year,” he said on Monday.

Before Barton’s roundly rebuked comments at a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Cozad’s campaign had been a study in anonymous futility. At his local Democratic Senate District Convention in March, the pale, bearded 62-year-old was asked to keep his remarks to two minutes. As brevity does not come easily to him, he subsequently turned to YouTube to post the nine-minute speech he would have given, covering such arcane subjects as mid-term elections of 1934. Uploaded May 3, his soliloquy, which he says he considered "too important to throw away," hasn’t exactly gone viral: A total of seven people have viewed it to date, including this reporter.

Cozad hopes the Barton backlash will mushroom into an anybody-but-Joe uprising from the grassroots. A 25-year incumbent previously considered unbeatable, Barton stepped in a pile of political backlash in expressing his view that BP had been the victim of a government “shakedown” from the Obama administration, which worked out a deal with the company to put up $20 billion as a down payment on the oil-spill damage.

Calls to Barton’s congressional office for comment on Cozad's campaign were not returned, and his campaign voicemail box isn’t taking any more messages.

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http://www.texastribune.org/texas-politics/texas-political-news/bartons-apology-to-bp-opens-door-for-opponent/



Help us get rid of Barton!

http://www.cozadforcongress.com/

Defeat Sorry Joe Barton
http://www.actblue.com/page/sorryjoe

Texas. I think we're going to surprise some people (in a good way):)

There won't be much of a fight against Barton's deep pockets. :(

But it will still lose him more. Thanks for posting this. Upsets happen every year!

would be better than this sorry apologist Bartonstool of big oil

I actually LIVE in this district. I'd be sooooo thankful if Barton is removed.

Itz pozzible.

The GOP's decision to keep Smokey Joe as the ranking R on the House Energy and Commerce Committee will hopefully be the mistake we need to keep his ugly mug smirking that apology.

Even if Cozad can't raise enough money to get on TV, a mailer with ugly Joe's face saying "I apologize BP" could kick up some extra votes this fall.

The DNC ad would be great - if it would run in this district non-stop.
You Tube DNC Ad - Stop Apologizing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LmwbRjezh4

I'd be forever thankful to get rid of my "representative" Barton.