Clinton & Sanders campaigns crank up in Austin
With a defiant cheer supporters of Hillary Clinton, Monday morning, opened their downtown Austin campaign headquarters.
A card board cut out stood in for the candidate during the event, but volunteers were promised Clinton will soon be making a swing through the lone star state.
"Hillary Clinton is sending the message, loud and clear, we are going to earn the nomination, we are going to earn the majority of the delegates here in Texas,” said Texas Campaign leader Garry Mauro.
Across town in an East Austin store front -- volunteers for Clinton's rival - Bernie Sanders were making calls. Energized by a strong showing in Iowa and New Hampshire- the Sanders Texas team no longer considers the campaign a long shot.
"So it is really hard to make that argument that I like Bernie but he doesn’t really have a chance, that argument has really gone out the window now,” said Sanders Texas team leader Jacob Limon.
For both camps - the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia - has unexpectedly increased the political stakes. It may be a tossup as to who will really benefit from this situation.
Sanders is still in the Senate so he is going to be part of the debate over the President's Supreme court nominee, but he may not be able to put together a block of votes to help the President. Clinton, who is a former Senator, could put together a coalition base on her past relationships, but all that work will most likely be done behind the scene and not a public stage.
Political analysts Brian Smith says there is only one way to described the impact of Scalia's death on the presidential race.
"This is a game changer."
According to Smith- just about everyone in the political process has something to gain or lose.
"So there are so many moving factors, here, but for the Republicans right now it’s all about obstruction, it’s all about stopping any nomination until at least the fall elections, and then the democrats; President Obama wants a nominee in. His legacy on the court, "President" Sanders and Clinton would love the nominee to get through, but secretly would love to be able to put their person on,” said Smith.
The political spotlight during the fight over the nominee, Smith warns, could be stolen by Ted Cruz. That's because Cruz is a member of the Senate Committee that will consider the president's nomination.
Texas Voters should also remember the Voter ID Law is still on the books.
From the office of the Texas Secretary of State, here is a list of the acceptable forms of photo ID:
- Texas driver license issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS)
- Texas Election Identification Certificate issued by DPS
- Texas personal identification card issued by DPS
- Texas license to carry a handgun issued by DPS
- United States military identification card containing the person’s photograph
- United States citizenship certificate containing the person’s photograph
- United States passport
With the exception of the U.S. citizenship certificate, the identification must be current or have expired no more than 60 days before being presented for voter qualification at the polling place.