Let’s face it – even in a year in which Republicans were at a distinct disadvantage, Democrat Senatorial candidate Rick Noriega never stood a chance. Only rarely did he even have a close showing in the polls, and the final couple of months showed him to be generally fading in most polls. Except for the most blind partisans, no one expected Noriega to best Senator John Cornyn. It was no wonder, then, that the national Democrats dropped Noriega from their list of races to focus on during the waning days of the campaign – they knew he could not win.

Well, now we’ve got Hispanic Democrats here in Texas up in arms over that decision – and angry that it appears that Democrats are going to focus upon viable candidates who happen to be Anglo in 2010 and beyond.

Two prominent Hispanic Democratic officials from Texas harshly criticized an arm of their national party today for skipping over the state when it provided funding muscle for U.S. Senate candidates across the country.

State Sens. Mario Gallegos of Houston and Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio objected to the fact that the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee collected contributions from Texans — $1.1 million at an event in San Antonio, for instance — without sending any to the campaign of outgoing state legislator Rick Noriega of Houston.

Noriega lost the Senate race in November to Republican incumbent John Cornyn, who raised $10 million during the campaign to $4 million for Noriega, according to federal records.

The Democratic committee's decision to spend the money outside Texas "is shameful and disgraceful, and we will do everything we can to prevent this disrespect from happening again," the two state senators wrote.

"For the face of the U.S. Senate to represent the true face of America, we must all work together to invest in quality candidates such as Rick Noriega, not take a walk when our candidate is not a member of the millionaires' club," they added.

Sorry, folks, but while Noriega is an honorable man, he did not represent the views of Texas. After all, this is a state that went strongly for John McCain, and Cornyn won with similar numbers. Why, pray tell, would one expect a Democrat running on the same old liberal platform to do any better, especially when he publicly associated with the dregs of the Left over at Daily Kos?

And the other comments in the article, are Gallegos and Van de Putte suggesting that Democrats should back minority candidates rather than candidates who are more likely to win?