John Cornyn must be afraid, very very afraid. The U.S. Senate candidate has called in Moses to campaign for him. Charlton  Heston, actor and National Rifle Association president, will campaign for the Republican candidate  later this month in Cornyn’s flailing campaign against Democratic powerhouse Ron Kirk.  Cornyn and Kirk are vying for  the seat vacated by Phil Gramm.

And, as if the symbolism of  Moses appearing for Cornyn isn’t rich enough, Heston will appear on Kirk’s turf, a $75 per person breakfast at  Sept. 21 at South Fork Ranch, made popular by the TV show “Dallas.” Supporters who donate $1,000 can have their pictures taken with Heston and Cornyn. No one has any information yet on whether Heston will be wearing flowing robes and armed with an AK-47 in the photo.  Heston will headline a second event in Longview, in deep East Texas, at noon the same day, campaign officials said.

Cornyn has pulled out all the stops in a race in which he appears to be the underdog. Knowing how popular Kirk is with African-Americans, the Cornyn campaign brought out Black Bushie Alphonso Jackson to say that African- Americans shouldn’t support Kirk just because he is African-American. What Jackson obviously doesn’t understand is that Black voters support Kirk because he is a super-qualified Black candidate.  And one who would do more for the state than be a lap dog for the president.  If the Republican party had  a better candidate in this race, rather than one who is only mediocre, at best,  it would not need to bring movie stars and Black conservatives to prop him up.

(Martin is a freelance political columnist living in Austin.)