The Texas Observer

I thought maybe I would never write this, but Rick Noriega, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, has become an animated and insightful public speaker –Hallelujah! I guess if you do something often enough you are bound to get good at it.

No more Mr. Roboto soldiering on through stale talking points.

Back in February I wrote some rather unkind words about Noriega’s public speaking skills. I compared witnessing him debate to watching the sheets dry at the laundromat — a lot of hot air and waiting around to leave. I am happy to report that at today’s Democratic state convention in Austin, the candidate looked and sounded like someone ready for the U.S. Senate, and more importantly, the grueling campaign it will take to have a shot at wresting the seat from Republican incumbent Senator John Cornyn.

I know Cornyn isn’t some oratory heavyweight, but Noriega seemed so uncomfortable and inflexible in his debating skills that it was painful to watch. A Cornyn speech will put you asleep, and while Noriega is certainly no Barack Obama, he’s upped the energy he brings to the stump.

Noriega seemed like he was everywhere today at the convention — moving from caucus to caucus speaking with ease about a myriad of issues from veterans to energy independence.

I got a chance to catch him speak at the energy panel this morning. Noriega, a manager at CenterPoint Energy, Inc. in Houston, showed a mastery of the topic. In a packed room, he spoke forcefully about the need to support climate change legislation. He said that John Cornyn was fighting against the climate change bill currently being debated in Congress, and that he as a Democrat would support such a bill. Later, he noted that Cornyn was AWOL on the crucial climate change vote.

He also stressed that Texas needed to become a leader in energy independence. He said that our dependence on fossil fuels was a national security issue. Noriega told the crowd he had been granted a 24-hour furlough from his military duty to come to the convention. As a Lieutenant Colonel in the National Guard who has fought in Afghanistan, he said he was well acquainted with the scarcity of resources such as oil and water forcing America to be involved in different parts of the world.

When presented with an off the cuff question at the end about whether he supported nuclear energy, Noriega responded with ease. “I think we should put the brakes on more development until we figure out how to recycle the waste,” he said. “I think we have the innovation and know-how to come up with the technology.”

And with that, Noriega strode confidently to his next speaking engagement.

As we post this, Noriega just finished his speech at the convention. He talked about service, duty, and accountability. He listed the failures of the Bush administration and Sen. Cornyn’s role in enabling those failures through his reliable vote for the White House in the Senate. “Mr Cornyn has been part of the problem and not the solution,” he said.

As per the new Noriega, he ended with passion that had the crowd cheering. “We have the vision. We will supply the leadership. And WE WILL HAVE CHANGE! God Bless you all and God Bless Texas.”

by Melissa del Bosque

This entry was posted on Friday, June 6th, 2008 at 6:47 pm and is filed under Elections. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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