AUSTIN—There he was, trying to attract Texans’ attention by holding a Webcast town hall meeting to answer voter questions about his U.S. Senate race.

Two minutes later, Democrat Rick Noriega’s show turned to static. Lots of static. Then the camera tilted upside down. Then more static. The screen went to black. A few voters’ questions could be heard, but Noriega’s answers were often interrupted by audio and video glitches.

Technical troubles aren’t the only difficulties lately for Noriega’s long shot bid to oust Republican Sen. John Cornyn. Faced with Cornyn’s far larger bank account and advantage of incumbency in a predominantly Republican state, Noriega has little room for error. Yet his campaign continues to stumble on matters big and small.

“Hiccups” and “growing pains” are the words new Noriega campaign spokesman Martine Apodaca uses to describe the candidate’s problems. “We’re getting better. We’re taking steps in the right direction.”

It’s clear Cornyn won’t be easy to beat. Far from it.

“You have to have a perfect storm exist for Noriega to win,” said Jerry Polinard, a political science professor at the University of Texas-Pan American. He said the waters right now appear calm and favorable for Cornyn. “At this point the race is almost just completely off the radar screen.”

Noriega’s winning storm, according to Polinard, would be this:

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama must ignite turnout among the Latino, African-American and youth voters of Texas, who also may vote for Noriega. Republican John McCain’s lack of appeal with Texas social conservatives must cause significant numbers of Republicans to stay away from the polls. And national Democratic groups must supply Noriega with money to compete against Cornyn’s $9 million.

Noriega, a Houston state legislator, had less than $1 million in cash on hand at the July quarterly reporting deadline—not quite enough to run ads in all television markets in the state for even a week.

Noriega’s campaign spokesman says the campaign shouldn’t be categorized only in terms of money as Cornyn’s aides are trying to do.

“We’ll have the resources we need to be competitive in the fall,” even if it’s not as much as Cornyn, he said. National money may roll in as more Senate races in other states are deemed less competitive and favorable to the Democrats, Apodaca said.

Cornyn has taped television ads that are expected to begin running around Labor Day, if not sooner.

Though Cornyn’s campaign has endured a few bobbles of its own this summer—like when Cornyn lost the endorsement of the Texas Medical Association because of his vote on Medicare reimbursement rates for doctors—his campaign seems to have succeeded in pushing them aside.

“Sen. Cornyn tried to force a long-term reform on Medicare reimbursement instead of temporary patch. He didn’t get there, but at least he tried, which is more than can be said for most,” said his spokesman, Kevin McLaughlin.

The Cornyn campaign video titled “Big John,” a 2 1/2-minute piece showing Cornyn dressed as a cowboy and spoofing the old Jimmy Dean song, “Big Bad John,” drew chides from Democrats as it circulated on the Internet. But it was a hit with Republican supporters, McLaughlin said.