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Hey folks, here’s my latest email blast with the TV ad and volunteer opportunities! Click here to get excited and get involved!

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. My Personal Action Center: *|SHARE:FACEBOOK|* Post this on Facebook!  Click the logo. Forward this to your friends! Sign up to walk on Saturday! Click here to RSVP Sign up to wave signs at voting locations on Tuesday! Click here to RSVP Early voting ends Friday! Find your county’s location and times by clicking here. Watch my new TV ad! A message from Erwin Cain: Hello my friends, I’m sure you have noticed that Mark Homer’s camp has gotten desperate.  They are on their last gasp and so decided that they would run slanderous negative attacks against me.  So, we must double our efforts these last five days! I appreciate so many of you who have reached out to me to offer your encouragement and support amidst the onslaught of liberal attacks against me and my family.  That truly means a lot to me and I am more dedicated than ever to winning this election and defending our conservative principles in Austin with honesty and integrity. Please talk this up with your friends and let’s turn out the vote! *|SHARE:FACEBOOK|* Post this on Facebook!  Click the logo. Forward this to your friends! Sign up to walk on Saturday! Click here to RSVP Sign up to wave signs at voting locations on Tuesday! Click here to RSVP God bless, ACTION CENTER ———————————– Forward to your friends! Post this on… *|SHARE:FACEBOOK|* facebook *|SHARE:TWITTER|* twitter GET CONNECTED ———————————– MAKE A DIFFERENCE ———————————– Join us Saturday morning to walk door-to-door and tell people about Erwin! Paris 8:30 a.m. Saturday GOP headquarters (map) Click here now to RSVP! Sign up to wave signs and pass out literature on election day at your local precinct! Click here today to let us know you want to help. *|LIST:DESCRIPTION|* Unsubscribe *|EMAIL|* from this list. Our mailing address is: *|HTML:LIST_ADDRESS_HTML|* Copyright (C) *|CURRENT_YEAR|* *|LIST:COMPANY|* All rights reserved. Forward this email to a friend Update your profile Pol. ad paid for by Erwin Cain Campaign, P.O. Box 791, Sulphur Springs, TX, 75483, Bill Watts, Treasurer

This is more confirmation of what we already knew–that the incumbent Democrat is very vulnerable!  Do you want to help us defeat him and send a true conservative to Austin?  Let us know how you want to be involved!

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Texas House Races to Watch

by Elise Hu, The Texas Tribune
August 27, 2010

Only 10 days out from Labor Day — the unofficial start of the campaign season — we bring you a scouting report on the 21 Texas House races to watch this fall. We based our picks on dozens of interviews with politicos and our own analysis of district voting patterns, campaign coffers, the relative strength of the candidates and issues that could turn each contest.

Five House incumbents have already been defeated in the primary: state Reps. Delwin Jones, R-Lubbock; Norma Chavez, D-El Paso; Tommy Merritt, R-Longview; Tara Rios Ybarra, D-South Padre Island; and Betty Brown, R-Terrell. More than a dozen others — mostly freshman Democrats — appear vulnerable going into the fall.

map by: Matt Stiles, The Texas Tribune

Interactive: Fundraising totals in these 21 races.

Among the reasons for their inclusion: Voting history favors Republicans (a generic R polls nearly 10 points higher than a generic D in Texas), the Dallas Fort-Worth area is a hotbed of interesting House activity, and the “Obama wave” that swept in Democrats in 2008 may well turn into an Obama backlash. Republicans are betting the backlash will fuel a blood-red cycle in an already blood-red state. But politics being local, some allegations of unethical behavior against two Republican incumbents may swing voters against the national mood.

We broke down the races into groups ranging from most difficult seats for incumbents to hold to the longest long shots for challengers. To get a sense of their campaign kitties, our sortable campaign finance reports application has a new tab that highlights the fundraising battles in each of the races as of July 15, the last reporting deadline.

Herewith, our top 21.

FIVE SEATS MOST LIKELY TO BE OPPOSING PARTY PICKUPS

[...]

HD-3: Mark Homer, D-Paris, vs. Republican Erwin Cain

Mark Homer

Erwin Cain

Like other East Texas Democrats, Homer is a candidate who’s almost always on the ropes, and it’s no different this year. His is one of the handful of districts held by D’s that were won by John McCain in 2008. Homer and the other WD-40s (White Democrats over 40) seem to run the gauntlet cycle after cycle, and he’s managed to hold on every time.

Will his longtime loyalists have his back in the fall? Some Democrats say privately they fear they’ll lose at least one East Texas seat and that this one’s the most perilous. Homer has trade association endorsements and a strong record on rural issues, but he also has the burden of incumbency in an anti-incumbent year. Cain, an attorney and former Hopkins County party chair, will have the money he needs and grassroots support that turned out in substantial numbers for him in the GOP primary. As for the African-American vote: Democrats lack a strong turnout machine east of Interstate 35.

[...]

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://trib.it/boMfNf.

Three Questions That a Conservative State Representative Would Ask Barack Obama During His Trip to Texas

(A slightly different version of this article appeared as an op-ed in The Paris News.)

President Barack Obama visits Texas on Monday to raise money to benefit Democrats like our current state representative, Democrat Mark Homer. Apparently, Mr. Homer does not think it’s important to speak out against the liberal agenda that Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are forcing upon Texans. In a recent comment concerning what is happening in Washington, D.C., Mr. Homer stated, “I don’t have any more to do with that than they do…All I can do is call my Congressman like you do.” (Mt. Pleasant Daily Tribune, April 2nd , 2010). I strongly disagree. An effective representative can do a great deal more. The agenda of these liberal Democrats has a direct impact on every East Texan and demands a response from our state leaders, including our local state representative. Yet Mr. Homer has refused to speak out against his party leaders or take them to task. He is at best ambivalent about their agenda or, at worst, quietly supporting them.

I am posing three key questions to Barack Obama that are on the minds of East Texans, since Mr. Homer will not.

First, Mr. President, how can you honestly claim that ObamaCare does not increase taxes even though states will pay a large portion of this program through unfunded mandates? Projections are that ObamaCare will cost Texas $27 billion by 2020 or $2.7 billion per year. That is three percent of the budget from one mandate (Texas Health and Human Services Commission Report, March 31, 2010). Next session, the legislature will wrestle over balancing the state budget without raising taxes in the face of a potential $18 billion shortfall. Where do we get money to fund ObamaCare mandates without raising taxes? Do we spend funds earmarked for education? Do we de-fund law enforcement? Do we forgo building roads needed to develop our local economy? The best health care reform will come from free market principles that empower citizens rather than growing government.

Second, Mr. President, why are you suing Arizona for taking measures to protect its citizens and borders when the federal government has been derelict in its constitutional duty to do so? Texas is currently spending billions to educate, incarcerate, and provide health care for illegal immigrants. Additionally, because the federal government has failed to secure the border, Texas has spent millions of state funds to do so. The federal government meddles in matters in which it has no authority yet refuses to fulfill its constitutional mandate to insure domestic tranquility, promote the general welfare and repel invasions. When a state steps forward to protect its citizens and borders, why should its reward be the full legal wrath of their own federal government? Instead of wasting federal tax dollars provided by East Texans to sue Arizona, we should use those funds to secure the border.

Finally, Mr. President, when your own economic program has led to increased unemployment while Texas is outperforming the nation, why are you attempting to micromanage the Texas economy? The economic stimulus program that was supposed to create jobs has actually increased national unemployment. In spite of that record, your administration seems intent to micromanage how the Texas Legislature deals with important issues such as education, unemployment insurance, permitting of industries that create jobs, and more. Texans can best govern Texas because of our love for freedom and free enterprise. We do not need the increasing encroachment of the federal government in our state.

A true representative who claims to represent the conservative views of East Texans would have already asked Barack Obama these questions. Since Mark Homer has not, then I will.

I’m very glad to announce that we’ve gone live with my new website! There are many great features of this new version that will help keep you informed about what’s going on in the campaign and how I’m fighting hard to represent the people of District 3.

Be sure to check out the:

- TeamErwinCain.com action center
- Events calendar
- Photo gallery
- Social media “connect” section
- What do you think? section
- Secure online donation page (powered by Paypal)

Thank you for your interest in my campaign to defend our conservative, East Texas values! Feel free to browse around and to contact me with any questions that you have!