State Rep. Rick Noriega — Embarrassed to be from Texas

From a press release by the Sen. John Cornyn team:

State Rep. Rick Noriega takes a different approach. Before an audience of liberal fat-cat potential donors in Denver yesterday, Noriega used his moment in the spotlight to run down Texas and virtually apologize for representing the Lone Star State.

“Being a Texan today, Mr. Noriega said, means always having to say you’re sorry,” reported the Dallas Morning News. “‘I immediately feel compelled to just apologize to all of you,’ Mr. Noriega told high-rollers who flock to the elegant Brown Palace Hotel to hear pleas for donations from about a dozen Democratic senatorial hopefuls.”

The state representative, unable to generate serious backing from Texans, sought to cajole contributions from wealthy West Coast and Northeast liberals by appealing to their anti-Texas bias. Openly pandering and groveling at the same time, Noriega asserted that Texans “have all been incredibly embarrassed” by their representatives in Washington, including President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

How pathetic and how sad. And how utterly untrue.

In the case of Sen. Cornyn, the exact opposite is true. According to Rasmussen, Sen. Cornyn is viewed favorably by 57% of Texas voters, which means that the majority of Texans are not embarrassed by Sen. John Cornyn, which directly contradicts Noriega’s claim.

On the other hand, Noriega’s numbers are only 45% favorable. Which means that a majority of Texans are not happy with the job that Rep. Noriega is doing back home. Perhaps Mr. Noriega should apologize for that.

One of the hallmarks of a true Texan is being over-the-top proud of being a Texan. Most Texans consider themselves Texans first and US citizens second.

If you don’t live here, I understand how weird that might seem. But if you do live here, you know exactly what I’m talking about — and it’s just one of many things that sets us apart from all them other states.

Trash-talking Texas didn’t work out so well for the Dixie Chicks. I’m betting it won’t work out so well for Mr. Noriega either.

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Cross-posted over at RedCounty.com, where I’m now part of the newly launched Texas blogging team.