Continuing with Texas Tuesdays, here's a brief interview with our featured candidate, Morris Meyer from CD06. Remember, the goal here is to help him in his battle against Smokey Joe Barton, so please help us help him by kicking in a few bucks to his coffers, remembering as always to add on that $0.36 extra as a "from the blogs" tag. Click on the More link to read the interview with Morris Meyer.

How much traction have you gotten in your campaign against "Smokey Joe" Barton so far?

We've received extensive press coverage for our campaign regarding our environmental stand against "Smokey Joe".

Here is a sampling of some of the press coverage:

Dallas Morning News, March 20, 2004, Donors have stake in smog move

Dallas Morning News, March 23, 2004, Barton's talk on Ellis' pollution turns contentious

Waxahachie Daily Light, March 25, 2004, Barton explains clean air stance

Waxahachie Daily Light, April 4, 2004, Politics heat air debate; Democrat calls foul

Waxahachie Daily Light, April 8, 2004, Cement plants could get public funds

Waxahachie Daily Light, April 16, 2004, EPA: Ellis County on non-attainment list

Waxahachie Daily Light, April 29, 2004, Video slots proposal raises ire

Environment and Energy Daily, May 4, 2004, Barton faces challenge on air quality issues

Do you find that the people in the new 6th CD are receptive to your message?

We received an early near endorsement from the leading conservative publisher of the Waxahachie Daily Light in Barton's home county: Waxahachie Daily Light, April 9, 2004, A fresh face.

I had lunch with the leader of an 80 family moderate Republican activist group who fought Joe Barton and his cement plant patrons TXI on a bond issue that would have given tax breaks to a profitable industry at the expense of the public school system in Midlothian. He and I discussed a wide range of issues and he told me that "I've never voted for a Democrat in my life, but our organization is going to work for you".

How concerned are the voters in your district about pollution and clean-air regulations?

Joe Barton's negatives in two recent polls taken among likely Republican women voters are running in excess of 70%. The Dallas Morning News and Fort Worth Star-Telegram have written extensively about Barton's decades-long stance catering to the polluters over the health of the people of north Texas.

You've interacted quite a bit with the blog community - BlogAds, a guest post on Eschaton, etc. How has this benefitted you?

As a software engineer, we have been working on a strong technical campaign and were the first Texas campaign to embrace BlogAds. We received national attention from our early run and raised the early seed capital necessary to fund our fundraising efforts and establish offices in Tarrant and Ellis counties.

What is your strategy from this point on?

First, build an e-mail list of at least 50,000 voters in the 6th CD. Second, raise at least $500,000 by the first of October. Third, attract and train at least 3,000 campaign volunteers to work block by block every precinct in the district.

What three things would you most like to see happen in your race, and what are you doing to make them happen?

Get Joe Barton to debate me in all eight counties - we are in discussions with media outlets in these counties and are putting pressure on Barton's camp to participate.

Get the mainstream media to cover this race before September. We are putting out press releases on breaking news issues and have received good coverage thus far.

Build a community driven movement behind our campaign emphasizing the issues that concern moderate and swing voters - healthcare, good jobs, a clean environment and education.

What one thing would you like the voters in the 6th CD to know about you and about your opponent when they go to cast their votes in November?

Joe Barton represents no one but himself and the special interests that line his pockets. Morris Meyer will represent all the citizens of this district without regard to financial contributions or partisan labels.