Lampson may challenge Cornyn

Houston Chronicle:

It may be up or out as Congressman Nick Lampson ponders his political future.

The Stafford Democrat is giving serious consideration to entering the U.S. Senate race against Republican incumbent John Cornyn, well-connected Democrats in Texas and Washington say.

Lampson's jaunt last weekend to San Antonio to mingle with donors at a fundraiser for the national Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee hasn't done anything to discourage the speculation — particularly since he underwent major heart surgery less than a month before and has yet to resume a full work schedule.

Lampson's camp is being somewhat coy about the Senate race, as might be expected at this point.

"He has been getting a lot of calls from lots of friends and supporters around the state asking him to look into it," said Mike Lykes, who just traded in his job as Lampson's chief of staff to become his campaign finance director. "He is just trying to concentrate right now on getting better and getting back up to D.C."

The calculus is fairly simple, several Democratic strategists say: Lampson faces a battle to hold on to his House seat, and, since he'll have to raise millions of dollars anyway, he might as well go for the brass ring.

Cornyn is showing some vulnerability, they note, with a new Democratic Party poll finding 41 percent of Texans have a favorable opinion of the Republican and 39 percent either don't know him or don't know enough to make an assessment.

Still, no big-name Democrat has thrown his hat into the ring. And Cornyn, who has banked close to $4 million in campaign contributions toward his goal of $15 million, is a battle-tested statewide campaigner.

"Try as they might, the national Democrat Party led by liberal Howard Dean continues to come up snake eyes trying to find someone to run against Senator Cornyn in 2008,'' said Texas GOP spokesman Hans Klingler, who dismissed Lampson as "too liberal" for his district.

Lampson, who earned prominence in Democratic circles last year for snatching the seat once held by Republican powerbroker Tom DeLay, faces a tough road in the conservative 22nd Congressional District.

For one, he won't benefit again from the electoral quirk that required the GOP candidate, Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, to run as a write-in because of DeLay's belated withdrawal.

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He is also burdened by his vote for the Democrats Iraq surrender bill. That has to be a vote by someone who has decided he does not want to be reelected in a conservative district. It was definitely a career decision on his part and it want enhance it chances in a senate race either. It also speaks to his liberal Democrat roots coming out of the Beaumont area known for labor unions and tort lawyers. He is a carpetbagger in his current conservative District and had only a slim chance of reelection before his disastrous vote for surrender and retreat in Iraq. The only way Democrats can recover from that mistake is to pray for the failure of the surge. That is not a place to be in an election anywhere in Texas.

He is also looking at running against an incumbent who has been a surprisingly strong and effective voice for Texas in the Senate. I think he is in the top 10 in the senate as he completes his first term. He has been very strong advocate for the President's judicial nominees. Is Lampson going to campaign in Texas for a liberal judiciary? I am sure his trial lawyer buddies would like one, but they know that is not a winner at election time.