Why Doggett Picked Obama

The signs were obvious before U.S. Congressman Lloyd Doggett opened his mouth who he was going to back. They were being held by the contingent of University Democrats that stood around his podium, and they were on the t-shirts they sported. Doggett was pledging his superdelegate vote to Barack Obama.

In the parking lot of the Homer Thornberry Judicial Building, with the increasingly ubiquitous Clr. Mike Martinez grinning broadly off to one side, the Democrat from CD-25 said that it wasn't that Hillary Clinton was a bad candidate, it's just that Obama is better. He called him the best candidate to changing policy" not just on fossil fuels when it comes to climate change, but fossilized ideas."

While he was very clear that he believed the entire party (in fact, both parties) would get behind their chosen candidates, he saw Texas as the place to make Obama a lock in the way John McCain seems to be for the GOP. But why make the announcement now, rather than after the debate? Well, he noted that the energy of the Obama camp, and his ability to get independents, non-voters and first-time voters engaged, might provide extra block-walkers in the fight to take back the Texas House and dethrone Speaker Tom Craddick. He could have a point: connecting the dots for voters on Craddick is a bit of inside baseball that might be better handled by face-to-face campaigning than falling back on big TV campaigns.