Friday, July 28, 2006

"He won't lift a finger to save the people of Texas from the Trans-Texas monstrosity, but I will."

Attorney general candidate campaigns in Longview

July 28, 2006

By ART LAWLER
Longview News-Journal
Copyright 2006

David Van Os, the Democratic nominee for Texas attorney general, was about a half hour late Thursday afternoon for his "whistle stop" in Longview.

It was, after all, his sixth whistle stop of the day. By now he needs no notes or prompting. He's well into his 254-county tour, and he has rehearsed his crowd-pleasing lines for weeks as newspapers at each stop put his one-liners into print.

About a dozen or so people, including several members of the press, stopped by to hear him in front of the Gregg County Courthouse, but he moved right into the small crowd, uttering his lines with the passion of a man who'd never said them before.

The man who wants to unseat "that stooge in the AG's office" (Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott) threw out the usual raw meat for the group, and what few supporters were there scarfed it up with enthusiastic applause.

His best lines:
— On winning the attorney general's office as the Democratic nominee and bringing the power back to the people: "Fight 'til hell freezes over, and then fight on ice."

— On Republican politicians in Austin: "They get in office, and they're paid to look the other way while stealing you blind."

— On political dishonesty: "That gang of cross who stole the election in 2000."

— On the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor: "No! It's an exercise of incredible arrogance tearing up hundreds of thousands of acres of good Texas farmland so they (the politicians in Austin) can cater to the greed of fat cats who gave huge campaign contributions."

— On the political powers that be: "This is the new age of power barons."

— On his Republican opponent, incumbent Attorney General Greg Abbott who he says won't talk to him, debate him or comment on his criticisms: "A Rick Perry mouthpiece. He won't lift a finger to save the people of Texas from the Trans-Texas monstrosity, but I will."

— On rich corporate tycoons: "Texas roots are going to stop this monopolistic system. We're going after the corporate robber barons."

— On the existing corporate monopolies in Texas: "When I get in power, I'm coming after you."
As a way of demonstrating how much money Exxon Mobil made in the past 12 months, Van Os said, "Exxon Mobil made $3 billion a month for 12 months. That's a lot of money. If you go back just one billion minutes, George Washington would be president. Thirty six billion minutes ago, no city had ever been built."

© 2006 Longview News-Journal: http://www.news-journal.com/news/content/news/stories/0728006Van_Os.html

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