Endorsements: Federal Candidates

Please understand that I endorse only in Democratic Primary races in which I can vote. You still have today, tomorrow and a week's worth of weekdays in which to early-vote (basic info on voting in Harris County is here) as well as primary election day itself (May 29). Enough preluding; here are the endorsements:

• US Senate: Paul Sadler (D) to replace retiring Kay Bailey Hutchison (R). Sadler, who has decades of experience in the state legislature, is more-or-less the signature Democratic establishment candidate, and would be of little interest to me one way or another except for one thing: he has been a solid vote on the good side of education issues, often crafting the legislation himself in cooperation with retiring State Rep. Scott Hochberg (one of the truly great lights of the Texas Legislature, and yes, there are some). Mr. Sadler also has Mr. Hochberg's endorsement, and that of the Houston Chronicle (for what that last is worth). Charles Kuffner of Off the Kuff interviews Mr. Sadler here.

• US House, District 7: Lissa Squiers (D) to replace the deplorable John Culberson, who I've often thought should be named Tom DeLay II. What Ms. Squiers lacks in experience she more than makes up in articulate advocacy on many of my favorite issues; please listen to her interview by Charles Kuffner of Off the Kuff. I do not know if I am damning Ms. Squiers by breathing the L-word in the same sentence with her name, but I believe she is one, by my standards.

• President: anyone but Mitt Rmoney. I am reluctantly voting for Barack Obama, not out of any great love of the man or his policies thus far as president, but because either Obama or Rmoney will be our next president, and I surely don't want Rmoney, an even more disastrous frat boy, woman-hater, gay-hater, bully and animal torturer than GeeDubya Bush was. I had hoped that Obama would lead in the race so overwhelmingly that I would be spared the painful task of voting for him, but at least so far that seems unlikely, so I will do my civic duty and dial Mr. Obama's name on the old eSlate machine... which may even record my vote for him.

Here is a useful page listing Charles Kuffner's recorded interviews with Texas candidates. Perhaps it will help you to decide, especially in races in which you do not know the candidates, or don't know them well.