Ben Bentzin withdrew, citing "an imbalance in terms of (press) coverage". This coming from the guy who kicked off his campaign with a fundraising letter that said Democrats would be "quaking in their Birkenstocks." There was indeed an imbalance with every aspect of that campaign. Ben struck the first blow and Democrats landed every subsequent hit, pointing out just how flawed a candidate he was. He, along with the GOP leadership, took the district for granted while Democrats and independents mounted an impressive groundswell of support for change. He responded in his typical arrogant, pompous fashion and it was even clearer that we had a candidate in Donna Howard who eclipsed Bentzin in terms of maturity, qualifications, and leadership.
I don't know about the actual mainstream media being imbalanced during this race, but in terms of blogs one need look no further than right here. I present, for your reading pleasure, Benson Alfried Ernst Bentzin's greatest hits from PinkDome:
Ben Bentzin, Douchebag
He's a long, tall Texan . . . or so the ad says
Bentzin is a chickenshit
Taking Names In Vain
Caption This Picture
Teenage Mutant Ninja Republicans
Ben Bentzin: DOUCHEBAG
Ben Bentzin: El Douchebag Supremo
Just Because
Dr. James Leininger Excited About Elections
A $20 Douche
Le Douchebag Doth Desert?
And of course, a photoshop. Just for fun, try googling Ben Bentzin and looking at the third entry.
Seems to me I remember when the powers that be anointed Bentzin the next representative from District 48. Donna Howard was a nobody who didn't have a chance. She wouldn't even place second in the special election and would probably finish way behind Andy Brown or maybe Kathy Ryder for the right to lose to Bentzin in a run-off.
You guys have actually had an impact on this one. That's saying a lot for a blog. My compliments.
Ben Bentzin: Profiles in Douchebaggery
Donna Howard rocks! She's now among the most powerful members of the Texas Legislature.
Sorry, but the rumor-mongering, innuendo, and "namecalling" about Bentzin in the previous election are not really something you guys should be proud of.
re: newswatching
Did Bentzin hire Colyandro, and then pay him illegally? Did he force a nanny to power-wash his house? Did he tell everyone that he would leave liberals shaking in their Birkenstocks?
The answers to all of those is yes. There's a lot worse things to worry about than name-calling.
Right on, wizard. Bentzin ran the most despicable race in recent memory against gonzalo barrientos in 2002, and he ran a 100% negative run off this year against donna howard. He has the gall to complain now about others running negative campaigns against him. Pu-leeze. Howard did all of Austin a favor by stomping his butt.
news - fuck him. He went hard negative right out of the gate. There is no end to the humiliation and ridicule he deserves.
He may be a decent fellow who contributes a lot to charity but he ran his campaigns very badly which seriously makes me wonder how much his success was intelligence and how much was just pure dumb luck.
mcblogger, you my friend, are the biggest douche in the world. your mere doucheness is amazing and astounding. no wonder no one reads your shitty little blog
I have very much enjoyed the douchebag reporting the last several months. However, I would like to see pinkdome move onto the next douche - Jeff Fleece who is Dell buddies with Douchebag numero uno.