Time: 7:00 – 9:00 pm
Via HD TV – KHOU 11.2
Via Comcast – Channel 310
Stream – KHOU.com
Chat – blogHOUSTON.net
Juanita Jean’s website: JuanitaJean.com
Juanita’s old hangout: KissMyBigBlueButt.com
HELP!
politics in Harris County and Texas
Time: 7:00 – 9:00 pm
Via HD TV – KHOU 11.2
Via Comcast – Channel 310
Stream – KHOU.com
Chat – blogHOUSTON.net
Juanita Jean’s website: JuanitaJean.com
Juanita’s old hangout: KissMyBigBlueButt.com
HELP!
Wow. That’s a cool one. Reminds me of my buddy’s when we were in Little League. He always had posters and stuff up of big time fighters. And then when he made a smartaleck remark and someone was going to clock him, he ducked behind me.
Except this guy makes his remarks behind a keyboard. And then shrivels up like he’s been in a cold shower when he walks into a polling place and sees a retired teacher or grandma holding a yellow pad standing silently in the corner. Dude freaks out and runs for cover, then calls for someone, anyone, to please shoot the little lady that bothered him with her presence.
Disgusting little weasel. No Kuff, you will not be granted the grace to accept things you cannot change if you don’t try to reign in twerps like this.
Besides which, the little keyboard warrior is barking at the wrong grannies. Warner Todd Huston got the real scoop from a Harris County Assistant Attorney:
This means that claims of rampant “intimidation” being perpetrated by poll watchers is a false claim. The admission also means that reports filed by King Street poll watchers are true. Poll watchers have filed numerous first hand accounts saying that they witnessed poll workers and judges intervening as voters tried to vote. Simply put, the “hovering,” as Attorney Ray put it, has been perpetrated by poll workers, not poll watchers.
This is a startling admission by the county attorney, one that wholly destroys the claims made against the King Street Patriots.
Amazing. All that fuss over poll watchers and it turns out they were poll ‘workers’ and had nothing to do with King Street Patriots.
If we were back in Little League, Little Johnny would have his keyboard taken away for something like this. Instead, the “Top Houston political bloggers” will probably hoist a beer for him and toast him for the warrior he is.
As reward for all your hard work, expect to almost immediately suffer a mind-boggling wave of division and rancor, opportunism and betrayal.
You will be opposed by party moderates, while simultaneously hounded by an insufferably never-satisfied hardcore. Vainglorious media-celebrities will pander to your ego and appetites, as (ever more) kooks and crackpots slink into the hot-tub looking for a good time.
Every candidate and campaign from this point forward will be devoted to co-opting you, while special-interest groups brainstorm how to exploit your passion and activist-email lists for their own pet cause. Professional fundraisers have already begun ordering Federal Election Commission donor records, which will soon be fed into a mountain of supercomputers and then parsed to develop direct-mail lists. Nearly a dozen privileged white kids from the suburbs of Virginia will have their Ivy League tuition bills paid-off as a result.
No point whining about it, as none of this is preventable in the slightest. Besides, storming the beaches at Normandy was tough too, right? Take a day or two to savor the weeping and gnashing of teeth of your political enemies, run some errands Friday and Saturday, then wrap-up your weekend with a little church and some football. Come Monday, November 8, you’ve got plenty of work to do.
The most significant fault line I see emerging for the Tea Party movement is the classic “fiscal versus social” conservative split. In the hope of encouraging a united front—both to achieve Tea Party aims in the short-term, as well as successfully defeat Obama in 2012—I’d like to share a few thoughts, for everyone’s consideration.
Without locking-in on any one survey or data-point in particular, what we generally know about the Tea Party movement (both “active members” and “sympathizers/supporters”) is that they are:
At the risk of being stripped of both my Professional Political Consultant and Blogging-Pundit credentials—both of which are seemingly premised on an ability to convince others to part with their time and money in exchange for creatively restating the obvious—it seems to me that whatever the Tea Parties do from this point forward, they should largely stick with what has worked thus far.
And that means putting EVERY other social, cultural or ideological issue—from abortion to gay marriage, illegal immigration to eminent domain, the War on Terror to public-education reform—on the back of the bus.
Republicans need not abandon these issues, and conservatives don’t have to compromise their principles, but we all ought to move forward thoughtfully and realistically. Mature minds recognize there is a time and a place for everything. The 2012 election cycle is the time, and the Tea Party movement is the place, for a focus on conservative opposition to Barack Obama’s reckless fiscal policies and massive expansion of government. Everything else should either wait for later, or—if it truly can’t wait—is someone else’s job, not the Tea Party’s.
In an effort to help folks on both sides of the “fiscal vs. social” debate see things with fresh eyes, I’d like to use a tertiary issue, that of support for a strong U.S.-Israel partnership, as an example.
Without detailing every particular, by domestic political standards I am about as hardcore a Zionist as they come. This stance is premised both on my identity as a proud Jew committed to our full-equality among the nations of the world, as well as a solid grasp of America’s best long-term strategic, military and existential interests. In combination, it is fair to say that the United States standing firmly with Israel in response to Arab aggression, Islamist terrorism and a nuclear-armed revolutionary Iran are issues at the core of my political being.
None of which has anything at all to do with the Tea Party—nor should it.
For one thing, some segment of the TP-grassroots no-doubt disagrees with me. A small number may be flat-out anti-Semitic kooks; a larger faction is likely opposed to foreign aid and overseas “entanglements” in principle.
Now as it turns out, there is polling data that indicates the vast majority of Tea Partiers are in fact pro-Israel. This is perfectly natural, given the broader affinities for the Jewish State among the American public in general and the Republicans and conservatives who make up the bulk of TP-members in particular.
But even your average church-going, older, white, suburban pro-Israel Tea Partier is more likely to give $10 dollars, write a letter to the editor and gather on a street corner with a sign to oppose Obamacare thanAhmadinejad.
And that’s OK. We already have groups like AIPAC and CUFI to do that job, and neither of them is expected to organize forums to pressure candidates on the individual healthcare mandate, or lobby elected officials on taxpayer-funding of embryonic stem-cell research. Similarly, it is not the job of the King Street Patriots or Tea Party Express to prevent technology transfers to the Saudis that would erode Israel’s qualitative military edge. Different issues, different purposes, different roles.
Which doesn’t of course mean I’m not concerned about where the leadership (to the extent it ever emerges) and base of the Tea Party movement stands on Middle East issues. I want everyone who wields any degree of power—Republicans and Democrats, businessmen and educators, environmentalists and NASCAR fans and the cast of Jersey Shore and Elvis impersonators—to all share my position on Israel. And I will absolutely and unapologetically fight to promote those Tea Party factions and individuals who also happen to share my views over those that don’t.
But at the end of the day, I don’t expect my “other” issue to be their “primary” one. Social conservatives who want to use the Tea Party movement as a vehicle to advance a values-agenda are asking for exactly that.
I grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, not far away from the world headquarters of Harley-Davidson. As anyone with two eyes who has been to a mall in recent years can attest, it is now possible to purchase and consume an extraordinary number of products and services with a Harley-Davidson theme, from cake candles and cat toys, to desk-lamps, baby-clothes and cologne.
All of which is fine, unless CEO Keith Wandell ever wakes up some cold December morn thinking about anything other than manufacturing the finest damned motorcycles known to man. Because at its core, Harley Davidson is about making bikes. Lose that focus, and your hog is on the path to slaughter.
Congress-critters didn’t flee town-hall meetings last summer in fear of gay marriage opponents. Rick Santelli didn’t rant on CNBC in opposition to atheistic arrogance in public school science classrooms. Democrats will not receive an epoch-defining beating at the polls today because they pushed and passed an immigration amnesty. And (to indulge an anachronism), the East India Company’s ships were not stormed in 1773 to protest partial-birth abortion.
All worthy causes, better pursued elsewhere, by other means.
The Tea Party should be brewing for a different battle entirely.
David Benzion is a strategic research and communications professional with extensive experience providing polling, focus-group and opposition-research services to Republican candidates in senatorial, congressional, gubernatorial and state-house campaigns, as well as for ballot initiative committees, corporate, trade association and public affairs clients.
As founding editor and publisher of LoneStarTimes.com, for five years Benzion led a group blog whose conservative Texas perspective on politics, pop-culture and current events was cited by the Houston Chronicle, Austin American-Statesman, Dallas Morning News, Governing Magazine, The Hotline and Associated Press. He is a former executive producer and host with Houston talk-radio station AM 700 KSEV, where he remains a substitute host.
Opinions expressed by Benzion are his alone, and do not necessarily reflect those of his former, current or future employers or clients.
Ouch! Despite Rice University Professor Bob Stein’s erroneous quote in the Houston Chronicle, voters with a Democratic primary voting history OUTVOTED those with Republican primary voting histories.
Obviously, that doesn’t mean that those voters actually voted Dem, it just means that they have a history of doing so. Interestingly, Independents, those that do not vote in primaries, also outvoted the R’s. In reviewing several candidate’s internal profiles precinct by precinct, a couple of things are very clear.
Republicans are going to take most Harris County offices and judicial races.
Several Republicans still need your help to push them over the goal line. Here they are:
Sarah Davis District 134 – I think she is going to pull this out. But not without a strong turnout tomorrow. Or, a low Dem turnout, I suppose. So give her campaign a call and ask what you can do to help. Call 713-320-2077.
Jack O’Connor District 149 – I’m so happy to see this one going down to the wire. To not only defeat a Dem incumbent but to defeat a slum lord like Hubert Vo is going to be sweet justice. Push Jack over the top. Call 281-496-7007.
Fernando Herrera District 48 – He needs a big push but still has a chance at defeating Jessica Farrar. He can’t do it without your help. Call 832-388-1206.
Roy Morales CD-29 – I just got off the phone with his team and their analysis and polling indicates this is a toss-up. Which is incredible considering that when he entered the race, no one thought he had a snowball’s chance. Can you help? It will be well worth your time if you can help defeat Nancy Pelosi’s right hand man, Gene Green. Call 281-888-0035.
John Faulk CD-18 – Incredibly, this one is still not called for Sheila Jackson Lee. But John desperately needs the remaining 7,000 R voters and 99,000 Independents that didn’t cast early votes to get out tomorrow and vote. Anything you can do will help. Call 832-265-4074.
Jack Morman County Commissioner, Precinct 2 – No one could have predicted this one. No one. And if they say they did, they’re lying. Jack is actually leading on most models that I’ve seen. But you can bet that Sylvia Garcia will have her team out in full force tomorrow, busing, paying, cajoling, whatever they need to do to get people to the polls. Call 713-870-2746.
You may think that your hour or two cannot make a difference. You are wrong. Dead wrong. Your time is more valuable than the well funded opponents these candidates face.
Please, do your part to make tomorrow a historic day in Harris County, in Texas, and in the U.S.
This election cycle you should have seen very clear lines between candidates, and parties. I think the differences were very clear. There have been many forums, debates and panels. Very rarely, if ever, did you see two candidates for the same position, from opposite parties, stand next to each other and agree on real policy issues. In some cases, incumbents, home from Washington, would shy away from votes they had indeed cast. The ever present, “I was for it before I was against it.”
ObamaCare has been a huge issue this cycle, at all levels of races. As the light has started to shine on the early implementing facets of the overly complicated health care takeover, the more people dislike what they see, and even further dislike those who forced it on them. The ultimate goal of health care should be to provide more choices, with less cost, and greater care. ObamaCare does not deliver on any of those things. Our state Attorney General has rightly joined joined challenges to ObamaCare, we must be prepared to send leaders to Austin to help him be a factor. As many have said before, so goes Texas, so goes the nation. We will lead the way against ObamaCare, and see if the nation follows.
Property Taxes as an issue came to me late in my campaign. Of course I was aware of them, but until I heard people list it at their front door as a top priority, I had no idea so many people wanted true reform. After research and meetings, I came out for the full elimination of property taxes. Texas has among the most burdensome property tax rates in all of the country. About 17{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} of the average mortgage payment goes directly for property taxes. This tax rate negatively affects home ownership, in which Texas is ranked 45th in the country.
The elimination of property taxes would ultimately lead to an overhaul of the states education system, especially the funding mechanism. I have advocated for years the concept of parental choice in education via any number of possible routes, though I prefer opportunity scholarships. My ultimate aim is not to end the public school system, but to improve it by making schools and teachers compete for the right to have classrooms full of kids, waiting to be educated. Every year that we do not make dramatic, positive improvement in the first few years of a child’s education, the greater the chance we fail yet another generation of kids.
The victories on Tuesday will not be for individuals or parties, nor lobbyists or insiders. The victories will be a message from the voters of America, that the status quo is no longer acceptable. The voters of America will render a verdict about the way we go forward, and the way we approach the future. Will we look for those who bring new thinking and new solutions, or will we look backward and want to pursue the same policies and approaches that lead us to the brink?
So, this is my “last call”, there will probably be others. If you’re in the southwest part of Harris County, I invite you to take a look at my campaign and consider voting for me. If you’re not in my district and you have some time to spare on Tuesday, I could certainly use your help. Mine is the smallest state rep district in Texas, and we only have 17 polling places on election day. There are over 20 dialects spoken in my district, so if you are good at any of them, I could surely use your help on Tuesday.
On to victory.
Sylvia Spivey, candidate, Texas House District 137
Website: SylviaSpivey.com
Twitter: SylviaSpivey137