Sundays - football makes it better!

There is campaign work to do along with SUNDAY FOOTBALL and having some of these St. Arnold Lawnmowers in the fridge.

Sunday mornings are for church. In my case, it's George Stephanopoulos and reading the Sunday paper online. In today's Chron, Brad Olsen writes about Gene Locke's "uphill battle" with Annise Parker. Check out the numbers provided by Charles Kuffner.

While numbers don't lie, there is plenty of room for interpretation (or misinterpretation). My brother, ConFrijoles, likes to say that context is everything... so I'm going to give you the election results from last Tuesday with some context.

Attorney Gene Locke made the runoff with 26% of the 19% voter turnout against Annise Parker, whose name has been on the ballot for 15 years; Peter Brown, who spent 3 years and millions of dollars to win 51% of the vote in 2005 for At-Large 1; and perennial candidate Roy Morales.

Gene had never put his name on the ballot before, yet raised enough funds to compete with a popular establishment candidate. Yes, I said it. Anyone who has been in office for 12 years can't run as an outsider. It just doesn't make sense.

The chatter in the www's has been knocking Gene for his multiple endorsements from elected officials and leaders in the Hispanic community, as if we made a mistake in supporting Gene Locke for Mayor. The reality is that Latinos didn't turn out in higher numbers to vote. Of those who did, they did so because they always vote or have a niece/sister/cousin/granddaughter who bugs them or takes them to vote.

Let's face it -- none of the major campaigns made a significant push for the Latino vote because it was not a big part of the winning formula on November 3rd. Latinos were not a base constituency for anyone other than the former IT guy, Roy Morales, and he picked up his share of the Latino vote despite telling Mexicans he'd deport as much of us as possible, if elected.

As a first time candidate, Gene Locke came in second and certainly has his work cut out for him. I'm still puzzled why "some people" knock Gene for his multiple endorsements from community leaders. Or are they knocking Gene? The criticisms of endorsement sometimes seem to be aimed at Locke supporters for not backing the more well-known candidate.

The hostility has been palpable. The accusations of pandering and of "deals" being made for endorsements along with the inanity of "what else have they been promised?!?" only promise to intensify in the run-off. I saw a CNN report featuring Kuffner who told CNN that this election is essentially a battle of personalities, about who is better liked. Candidates aside, I can name about 5 people I am never talking to, ever again, thanks to this election cycle.

Latino voters outperformed the crucial black voting bloc one time -- in 2007's HISD bond election. Look -- I am no statistician. I saw the numbers from Tuesday, and without pulling up the calculator app on my phone, I can see that Locke underperformed in Latino neighborhoods against his opponents. The support for Locke from Latino elected officials is not any more significant than it is for Parker. I've remarked to friends how strange it feels to not have "my people" around me these days -- (Ms. is a Parker supporter, others are staying out of it). At the same time, I am enjoying and taking full advantage of the opportunity to work with Latino community leaders and elected officials on the other side of town. Kumbaya, and all that shit.

My analysis is this:

1. Annise did well on Tuesday because she's been on the ballot for about 15 years and the motivated city voter recognized it. She also had a significant turnout in her base.
2. Gene Locke did well because he appealed to his base and was able to hold his own across all parts of the city. He's a newcomer to elected politics but has worked hard in reaching out to all communities.
   
3. Peter Brown did not do well because he has no base. I agree with Dr. Murray that he needed a big turnout to do well. His performance on Tuesday just proves that some voters watch too much TV.

Almost 300 community leaders and precinct chairs made their way to El Jardin Mexican Restaurant last Friday as a show of support for Gene Locke for Mayor. Many of these voters were on the Brown and Parker supporters lists, but we're glad to have them on our side, now. Another thing has changed, too -- Latino community leaders are engaged in the runoff to turn out voters in their neighborhoods.

So, here I am, plugging in numbers, creating spreadsheets and grids to spread the Gene Locke love all over Districts H & I. It's a big job to do on a Sunday, but football makes it better.

Hasta next time.

When people make mistakes

There are times when, no matter how diligently we work, or how many hours we dedicate to the details, mistakes happen.

It happened to the Gene Locke campaign last Friday -- someone on the campaign sent a text to Locke text subscribers, in error, announcing, "Today is the last day of early voting!" Of course, it was not true - early voting continues until 7:00pm Friday night, October 30th.

Honest mistake, right? The staffer corrected himself immediately in another text message, and then that was probably the end of it.

Well, not so much.

I really don't get the tendency to play 6 Degrees of Separation with endorsements or supporters in a municipal election when the real players in the city have business that transcends party lines. Throwing around the "Republican" label doesn't have the impact it once did. It is a dying brand and, frankly, not the best weapon to yield when Republicans are barely a party anymore.

It is also really damn silly to suggest some sort of evil plot between Gene Locke, Beverly Kaufman, the Tax-Assessor collector's office and the cucuy to rig the election. Why are these over-zealous bloggeteers trying so hard to manufacture controversy when none exists? It's absolute lunacy.

What really gets me about this is that one particular blogger who talks more than her share of bullcorn is not even a Houstonian. She lives and votes in Fort Bend County -- so, please, tell me why anyone gives a damn about what she has to say.

Gene Locke needs a strong turnout in his base, which is a pretty solid foundation to work from, in order to pull off a victory. That's no secret, y'all. People who understand elections know that these claims of voter suppression are as ridiculous and nonsensical as they sound.

Til next time.

Endorsements

I'm voting for Gene Locke, Jolanda Jones and Ronald Green in upcoming November 3rd Election. I'm not revealing who I'm voting for in the other At-Large races.

I wholeheartedly support Alma Lara for HISD Trustee District 1. I believe North Side will hand the Heights' asses to them one more time this year.

I also support Proposition 4! GO COOGS!

Something bit me

I don't know what the hell it was, but Friday morning I woke up wretchedly, to be exact, and I called out to God to help me. I was sick. Maybe it was the food at Tecate or the skunky beer-on-tap at the Harp. Or, maybe it was a 24-hour bug that takes 48 hours of recovery. In any case, I lucked out. It's not the flu and it was nothing I needed to sit at the ER for.

I don't know whether or not I should get either of the flu shots. I joked to a friend that I want to get sick because it's great for the waist line. But after Friday, I changed my mind. I have had the flu before - at least twice that I can remember. The H1N1 is no joke -- it has already hit hard and close to home. So I will resist the pig jokes but will reconsider all things pork-related because I'm just a little grossed out right now.

I've been taking my vitamins, my allergy medicine, washing my hands and using the sanitizer like a crazy person. Everything gets sprayed down with Lysol. I can't afford to get sick!

This week, I'm taking on a new challenge. It's not going to be easy but I am ready to work and get this done. I think the sickness has now gone away so I'm ready to hit the field and turn-out some votes. I'll keep my exact whereabouts undercover, for now. We'll see how long that lasts!

Fun times at R & T

Last Friday, Harris County Tejano Democrats held our 13th Annual Roast & Toast. This year, we honored State Representative Jessica Farrar. Currently in her 8th term, Rep. Farrar is Democratic House Caucus Chair.

We had a great time at Roast & Toast. Jessica is a good sport and we love her for it. I was honored to "roast" her and raise a toast in her honor. Below is the text of my remarks:

The Jessica I Know

It was 2003 when I first became friends with Jessica. After redistricting, I was a new constituent of hers in the North Side. In response, she fled to Oklahoma. The soft-spoken rabble-rouser probably mapped the path to Ardmore.

I was soon a regular at her campaign events, at pro-choice events and I even worked for her at the Capitol. As one of her employees, I got the wardrobe lecture. You know the one -– No visible boobs, no toes, and no arms. “Show people you are serious about your job,” she said. “Besides, you wouldn’t want to see any Republican toes.”

And to clarify, there is nothing wrong with her feet. She wears those “nun” shoes because she’s working. I actually prefer them to her fuzzy, burnt-orange Longhorn slippers.

She expects her staff to work as hard as she does. At least we know there will be food!! Jessica’s office is like a FEMA center, and by that, I mean she will Feed Every (redacted) Around. (credit table 9 for that joke).

It is awesome to watch her on the house floor, especially when she’s fighting for women’s health care and she stands up to the men who think they know it all. I’d like to play this clip for you from 2007, during a floor debate on HB1098, when Jessica asks a know-it-all colleague a very important question about HIS opinion of women’s health care (redacted)

Jessica is hardcore, and that’s why we love her. Representative – It’s been an absolute honor to work for you and under your leadership for the people of District 148 and all of Texas. You are a wonderful teacher and mentor and I thank you for your guidance and friendship.

Jessica is scheduled to be honored by Annie's List in Houston tomorrow. Check their site for details. Everyone can keep the adulations coming, because Jessica deserves it all and more.

Updated: No News. Is that Good News?

I tried taking a gander at the new Texas Tribune media venture since they announced a recent launch via Facebook, Twitter, and they also won't stop calling me.

In any case, I am an FB'er and a Twitterer so I have been reading many messages from and about the Tribune and the new staff. They are doing a lot of hiring these days and their happy employees keep living their fabulous Austin lives (and being all chismosa, too) while the rest of us anticipate the news from the Texas Tribune.

But I can't find the news. Where is it? If the publication has launched, shouldn't they be working, filing reports and whatnot? And if they are doing that stuff, how do we know it? I guess we can make the whole world "friend" or "follow" Stiles, Ramshaw & Elise Hu, then we'll know that they made open records requests and that they are, indeed, working.

There are links on the Texas Tribune to news stories from other media sources about the Texas Tribune, but there are no actual Texas Tribune news stories to read or view on the website.

And by the way, some people (like Tacho) think that having a 98% white staff is less than representative of the population of Texas. There are lots of people of color in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, El Paso, the Rio Grande Valley and the Gulf Coast. I have to wonder if the Texas Tribune plans on covering issues that affect these regions because it is necessary for to have bilingual, multicultural staff to effectively cover the diverse communities of Texas. I know several journalists who would be great additions to any media company. But it seems to me that there isn't much of anything to join just yet.

If there is no news reporting, maybe they are not fully functional. I'm intrigued, I must say, but as a certified news junkie they sound kinda ... not ready. They may need more time, which is completely fine, but why the build-up? Why only news releases about themselves, and why are they asking people for money?

They have this interesting offer on the front page of the website in which they compare themselves to NPR and PBS. So what's the offer? You get the opportunity to become a "Founding Member" of the Texas Tribune for the low, low price of $50. Mkay!

Is Matt Stiles going to put on a bird costume and teach my niece Avery her A-B-C's? Is Emily Ramshaw going to attach herself to the 72nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team as they head to Iraq later this year? PBS gives us a pretty good bang for their donors' & taxpayers' buck. NPR goes into war zones. We know they do good work. And the reporters at the new Tribune have stellar reputations for their excellent reporting. That's not the issue.

The issue is that there are no issues, yet, so what's in it for us?

That's a fair question, I think.

Update: As Helen Slater said in the Legend of Billy Jean: "Fair is fair!" Below are comments sent to me by Matt Stiles in response to my post:

1. we need time to get the operation up and running, so that's why we're not publishing until november. it takes time to build a web site and buy computers and get the phones working, etc.

2. our staff isn't 98-percent white. our technology director, higinio, is mexican. elise is chinese. others speak spanish. we're not as diverse as i'd like, of course, but consider the reporters in the austin bureau staffs of the major papers in texas. they are ALL white. that's a general journalism problem, not a tribune problem. who are these journalist we should be considering, btw? we'll consider them.

3. we're raising money because we're a non-profit newsroom. that's the point. we want to do public-interest journalism and not worry about advertising revenues declining the way they are at newspapers.

Points well taken. Thanks to Matt for his response.

Uncool.

Campaigning is the type of work that requires incredible sacrifice, discipline and focus. It keeps you away from the people and things you love. It's not easy.

It's hard work being everything to everyone while staying true to your ideals and the fundamentals of the campaign. Sometimes you just have to suck it up, take one (more) for the team, and RSVP to the next damn candidate forum.

I had to prepare for 9 different multi-candidate forums. It wasn't fun. It was predictable, repetitive and obvious that nothing any of the candidates did or said at these forums would sway the election, one way or the other. The main reason we accepted these invitations to appear with opponents at the forums was because the people in each community, neighborhood or organization had legitimate questions that needed answers. Plus, you already said you were going.

The Gene Locke campaign announced early Tuesday that they were canceling on the Houston Press and UH-Downtown sponsored forum after confirming last week that they were still attending. The Annise Parker campaign also announced Tuesday that they were passing on the event. I know that after 40 forums, your time seems better spent elsewhere than at another *blasted* forum. What I don't understand is how you accept the invitation from a university with 12,000 students and a local media outlet weeks in advance and then freaking cancel the DAY BEFORE THE EVENT. The Press had been promoting this event for weeks in their Hair Balls blog and UH-D did the same via Facebook and all around campus.

Richard Connelly handed their asses to them and deservedly so. Anyone who knows this guy understands that was going to happen. Unless you're an out-of-towner.

The planned candidate forum between Gene Locke and Annise Parker at UH-Downtown and their sudden cancellations have Peter Brown smelling like a rose. He doesn't look out-of-touch with young people or the tech-savvy crowd because no one has been tweeting or blogging all day about how Peter Brown sucks for backing out of the candidate forum at the last minute. Meanwhile, Brown's commercials have him riding the airwaves alone. It kind of works in his favor that thousands of college students and Press followers are pissed at his opponents and not Peter Brown.

To Annise Parker's credit, she released a video explanation about her decision not to participate.

Maybe the Locke campaign will do the same.