HD 52 Shocker

John Gordon to endorse Dee Hobbs on Wednesday.

Huh?

This comes as a huge surprise. Hobbs has shown disdain for school choice and is an apologist for local government big spenders. While I'm sure he's a great kid guy, he also ran on little more than his history as a prosecutor (you seriously had to wonder what he was running for, exactly, when you saw his signs).

Gordon, meanwhile, led the effort to bring down the huge RRISD bonds a few years back, and has been a consistent champion for the taxpayer at every turn. Issues-wise, Hobbs' remaining opponent, Bryan Daniel, is much more in line with Gordon's apparent stances than Hobbs.

I think this is a case of Gordon hitching his wagon to whomever appears to have the competitive edge (Hobbs was the top vote-getter on March 4).

It also makes you wonder about how Hobbs feels about the HD 52 outgoing incumbent, Mike Krusee. Gordon's a well-known supporter of Krusee's (he even served as a legislative aide for Krusee back in the 90s), something that might have hurt him during the primary run. Krusee, after all, is extremely unpopular because of his work on toll roads (among other things).

The real point, though, is that Gordon seems willing to just endorse a "winning" Republican without taking a hard look at his conservatism. This is exactly the sort of thing that has gotten our party into so much trouble, and it's going to really hurt us in the lower halls of government.

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Martha Tyroch in HD 55 - Out to Raise Taxes!

Check out Empower Texans for more information.

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And now for the ridiculous part of the primary fallout

ABC13 Houston's Miya Shay reports in her blog that LULAC is considering suing the Texas Democratic Party over the primary process, claiming it disenfranchises Latino voters.

You know, I'm just going to say it. LULAC, shut up already.

Tuesday's caucus process was chaotic and disorganized. It's estimated that over one million people turned out for Democratic caucuses statewide. I know that at my precinct, up in a fairly conservative portion of Travis County, we saw 650 Democrats turn out to caucus Tuesday night, and others report similar experiences in places as diverse as Harris County, Montgomery County, East Austin, Euless, Denton County, Collin County.....yeah, everywhere.

At our precinct, the precinct captains were overwhelmed, being questioned and yelled at by several excited and uninformed voters. There were fire marshals on hand telling them they had to move outside, a building manager practically in tears because she hadn't expected a quarter of the people who showed up, and people whispering about calling the police to help suss out the parking issues. Oh, and, the election judge didn't know half of what was going on and was impossible to find in the melee.

All of that to say that LULAC is out of their minds, as usual. There was no concentrated effort to exclude Latinos. It was hard enough making sure that the process was followed at all, and I sincerely doubt anyone said to themselves gee, I think I'll just exclude a whole minority group from the process.

If their argument has something to do with the lack of Spanish-speaking caucus leaders or Spanish-language ballots, well.....man, I'd love to see the Democrats fight back on that.

This may be the only time, EVER, that I will agree with Hector Nieto, but sheesh people! Tuesday night was unprecedented. No one was prepared for the kind of turnout they got. "Staying up late" is not an excuse to go and sue the party (hell, I had to wade through hundreds of Democrats, put up with process junkies reciting Roberts Rules of Order, and didn't get home until midnight - I don't plan to sue the Republican Party of Texas over it).

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John Adams

HBO's miniseries based on David McCullough's John Adams debuts on March 16.

I've always been fascinated by the Revolution Era in American history, and I think this promises to be one of the best films covering the subject ever. Possibly just hands down the best. There haven't been many (I'm still waiting for the biopic about John Paul Jones and the founding of the American Navy), and I'm a big fan of some (1776 comes to mind; how could you not love the Continental Congress singing??). But man! Paul Giamatti as John Adams, Tom Wilkinson as Benjamin Franklin, Stephen Dillane as Thomas Jefferson, David Morse as Washington, and Rufus Sewell (arguably the best "bad guy" actor out of Britain today) as Alexander Hamilton. Um...WOW.

Not to mention Laura Linney as Abigail Adams. She's a great actress as it is, and this is going to prove it to a whole new audience.

(no mention on the website about who plays James Madison)

Currently, I'm engrossed in A Perfect Union: Dolley Madison and the Creation of the American Nation. Definitely the most fascinating account of the beginnings of our nation that I've ever read. I recommend picking up a copy; Amazon's got it for just $12.00 right now.

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Recruiting station bombing in New York City

Times Square Army recruiting station bombed. Hat tip Malkin.

Does it really matter if it was large or small? The material point is that our military recruiters have been violent attacked, and we're still at war.

I'm really thankful that no one was hurt. This could have been much worse - though don't think for a moment that this isn't a horrific, deplorable, and extremely frightening tactic.

Of course, Kos readers immediately blame it on the vast right-wing conspiracy.

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On a much lighter note, my brother blogged about his experience at the McCain rally here.

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Aftermath

Rosemary Edwards TROUNCED her opponent, and a new day has dawned very brightly for Travis County Republicans!!!

Meanwhile, just to the north of us, Bryan Daniel and Dee Hobbs will face each other in a runoff for HD 52.

Sad to report Mike Pearce lost in HD 55. That's a blow, as is the loss of Nathan Macias in HD 73.

VERY HAPPY TO REPORT THAT PHIL KING TOOK JOE TISON TO TOWN!!!! Hurray for principles!

I attended my precinct convention last night, which was something of a challenge given that 650 Democrats showed up to caucus, causing something of a ruckus at the polling location. That estimate, by the way, comes from the Democrat caucus leaders who took names and did the work. It was really amazing to witness and I'm kicking myself for not having brought a camera!!

Meanwhile, there were 32 Republicans at our convention, which in itself was not too shabby at all, and we got some good resolutions passed. We're sending 20 delegates to the SD 14 convention at the end of the month.

My brother called from Dallas last night - he got to meet John McCain at the campaign's victory rally, and got front-row seats for the speech.

One heck of a primary, when all is said and done.

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Poll Worker Encounter in NW Travis County

On my way home, I passed a polling location littered with the usual signs (again, McCain was conspicuously absent, but I digress). At this polling location I encountered what is, even for my ten+ years of political activism, a rarity: a poll worker! This poll worker was a Hispanic woman waving a "Texans for Obama" sign.

My husband and I stopped to talk to her for a bit. She's never been involved in politics like this before, she said. She's really excited and positive, saying that she's gotten only one rude gesture from a driver, and everyone else has been honking and waving and cheering. Obama's campaign is tightly run, using every bit of available technology - precinct captains receive text messages with updates on where to go and when, and everything's done by grassroots people who are positive and motivated

What she told me reminded of two campaigns, Howard Dean in 2004 and Ron Paul this year.

I keep saying, I don't agree with the man on practically anything, but if you're a political junkie, you gotta love the inspiration.

(To be "fair and balanced" - I talked to some Ron Paul supporters in Dallas on Saturday evening, at the Reagan Day Gala for the Dallas County Republican Party. Husband and wife, in their early thirties. Never been involved in politics a day in their lives, until they tagged along to a Ron Paul rally in Austin last summer. Now the husband is running for precinct chairman and the wife is a precinct coordinator for Paul's campaign.)

EDITED TO ADD: Williamson County, the county just to the north of here, is reporting that they have run out of paper ballots and any last minute voters will have to vote electronically (this is another issue about Texas I'll tackle another day). That's HUGE voter turnout, folks.

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Whose vote "counts" more this primary season?

With all the anecdotes (and possible proof in the pudding) about the mass numbers of "crossover" voters in the Democratic primary, I'm left wondering what the effect will be on the Republican party. Starting, of course, with today's primary, where there are many important races down ballot.

The reasons given for crossover voting have ranged from wanting to ensure Barack Obama isn't the Democratic nominee because Republicans can't beat him in November, to the opposite, voting for Hillary Clinton, etc. Of course, this reasoning shows a basic lack of understanding about the primary process in Texas - first we primary, then we caucus. You have to participate in all of it to really have a say. Haven't you heard the "vote twice" commercials and robocalls? Plus, after you cast that ballot in a misguided attempt to help the eventual Republican nominee, you will be labeled a Democrat for two years. You will not be able to attend the Republican precinct, county/senatorial, and state conventions to help shape the platform and elect the leaders of our party this year. You will not be able to vote in any run-offs that occur down-ballot between Republicans vying for state legislative, county, city, etc. seats. There are Republican clubs that will exclude you henceforth because you voted in a Democratic primary.

Remember, in Texas, we don't register with a party. Our open primary system means that you can, by law, switch between parties at will. But this isn't about the law - it's about which party you want to be counted as a member of at 7:01pm today.

If you live in a county, like Travis, where there are few contested Republican races and the real decisions are being made down-ballot on the Democratic ballot, and you have no reason to believe you'll one day run for office, and you have no desire to be a participating Republican for two years, then by all means vote in the Democratic primary. If you don't meet those qualifications, however, you're risking an awful lot to vote for a person who doesn't even hold your values.

Now to the main point, concerning whose vote "counts" more this primary season. I'll venture to say that it is the Republican who votes Republican who matters. The Republican who looks down the ballot and casts a vote in important state legislative races, or in county commissioner, district judge, and even county chairman races. You will help decide if Texas remains a red state by choosing candidates who represent conservative values down the ballot.

If the only people who turn up to vote in Republican primaries in places like HD 61, where a good conservative is facing a liberal interloper with a pro-big-government agenda, are the tax-and-spend moderates and liberals of the party.....well. So long taxpayer agenda, so long conservative values. You'll end up with a RINO legislature if you're lucky and a liberal Democrat legislature otherwise.

Leave the Democratic primary to the Democrats. Republicans need to stick together in order to effect change at all levels. Then in November, cast your vote for the Republican nominee and get your friends to do the same. If you want to defeat Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton, there is no other way.

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Last minute Parent PAC cash dump

A couple of weeks is a long time in political terms. There was plenty of time, for example, between this Feb. 21 post and this one for there to be much more to report on.

Kronberg made some noise last week complaining about the money game that appears to surround a few previously pro-Craddick legislators. Of course, what he didn't get into was that at least a couple of the groups collecting and spending cash were doing so along ideological lines, and not speaker-loyalty ones. I'll be far more fair than he was and state unequivocally that I believe the Texas Parent PAC is collecting and spending money along ideological lines, too - an ideology that favors school administrators over taxpayers, sure, but an ideology nonetheless.

The Parent PAC, previously focusing only on Joe Tison in HD 61, found itself flush with new cash recently, and dumped money into the coffers of Doug Miller (challenging Rep. Nathan Macias in New Braunfels), Rep. Charlie Geren, and Rep. Pat Haggerty. One has to wonder, what do Tison, Miller, Geren, and Haggerty really have in common? Haggerty is definitely furniture, and in Geren's and Miller's cases, it's just the same old song from the last primary (last time, instead of Miller, it was then-incumbent Carter Casteel - it's largely believed that Miller and Casteel are cut from the same pro-big-spending cloth). Again, though, I wonder about HD 61. Rep. Phil King is taking hits from the gambling lobby and the educrat community. Is it just that any chance to gain an educrat in the House is a worthy cause for the Parent PAC?

Other races the Parent PAC has gotten involved in include HD 144, Robert Talton's former seat. They gave money to Republican candidate Fred Roberts. His website reveals....well, it reveals nothing about the candidate himself (check it out here). They've also given some money to former Richardson city council member James Shepherd, who is running in a four-way race to succeed local government's best friend and the taxpayer's worst enemy, Fred Hill. The Parent PAC also gave money to Republican Paula Stansell, challenging Rep. Charlie Howard down in Fort Bend County.

Never fear, Democrats! The Parent PAC is also looking out for your guys...kind of. They gave money to both Rep. Paul Moreno and Rep. Juan Escobar. But don't worry - the PAC's still got your interests in mind, just look at the so-called "Republicans" they're backing above!

Today is primary election day in Texas, and it's time to see if all the money being pushed around has a major effect or not. If you haven't gone to the polls, you better leave soon - lines are already forming.

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Primary Day Info for Travis County Voters

A big ol' list of contested primary seats on the Republican ballot can be found here. There's a contested race for Travis County Republican Party chairman for the first time in a long while, and also a contested primary for House District 48, among other things (including the presidential race!).

There is a comprehensive list of polling places available on the Travis County website here: http://www.co.travis.tx.us/county_clerk/election/20080304/polls.asp
Republicans and Democrats (and Libertarians, etc) vote at the same locations. You'll likely caucus not far from each other, too.

Unlike every other Republican in the state of Texas, Travis County Republicans caucus at 8pm. If you intend to become a state delegate, you must go to the precinct caucus meeting tomorrow, and then attend the senatorial district conventions on March 29.

Texas Republicans will send 140 delegates to the national convention. Almost all are awarded based on primary voting. Each of the 32 congressional districts has three pledged delegates, for a total of 96. Rules for how delegates are awarded in Texas can be found here: http://www.statesman.com/news/content/gen/ap/TX_Texas_Delegates_Glance.html

Happy Voting!

PS - There will be a Republican watch party at El Arroyo, and the Lone Star Report is hosting another one at the TRACPAC headquarters at 10711 Burnet Road, Suite 315 (the Compass Bank building)

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Belated Happy Texas Independence Day!

Sunday was the 172nd anniversary of the signing of the Texas Declaration of Independence.

Thursday March 6 will mark the 172nd anniversary of the fall of the Alamo. (The Handbook of Texas Online states that current knowledge puts the death toll at 189, but recent research may bring that number to 257)

Palm Sunday will mark the 172nd anniversary of the Goliad massacre.

April 19 is the 172nd anniversary of the Battle of San Jacinto, which won the war against Mexico and Texas' independence.

From Sam Houston, Republic of Texas president and later, US senator: “Texas will again lift it's head and stand among the nations. It ought to do so, for no country upon the globe can compare with it in natural advantages.”

(All dates courtesy of the Handbook of Texas Online, because even we history majors need a reminder from time to time!)

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Early Voting in Travis County

You'll have to excuse me if the tone of this post is rather gloomy. Must be the weather.

Voting totals in Travis County, through Feb 28:

Travis County Democrat turnout: 76,977
Travis County Republican turnout: 15,123

According to SOS: http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/earlyvoting/index.shtml.

I know this is a blue county, but damn! In 2004, Democrat turnout in early voting was about what the Republican turnout is this year.

It remains to be seen whether all of these record Democrat numbers translate to similar November turnout - are every one of these record-setting D voters in all Texas counties going to show up again to vote Democrat?

Also, what do these high numbers mean for down-ballot Republicans? Will it mean that the vote swings more conservative in the primary, because moderates are voting Democrat instead and leaving the Republican contests to the conservatives? I certainly do hope so, as that could mean good things in HD 55 and maybe HD 61. Though, in Williamson County, that could mean mischief.

In Travis County, the big race for Republicans is the county chairman spot, and the contested primary for HD 48 (Pam Waggoner vs Joe Donnelly). I'm looking forward to analysing turnout results after tomorrow night.

In the meantime, I plan to hide from the rain.

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