The Frightful Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance has its Halloween costume ready -- can you guess what it is? -- as it bring you this weeks' roundup.

Off the Kuff examines the recent R to D party switches in Bexar County.

Horwitz at Texpatriate discusses the recent shakeups in statewide races.

Two more Democrats announced their intentions to run statewide, for the US Senate and the lieutenant governorship, over the weekend. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs has the details.

Eye On Williamson is still blogging at our temporary home. The corporate toll road experiment is not going well in Texas because TxDOT can't pave roads in South Texas, but they can erect signs, do marketing and subsidies, and provide welfare for a corporate toll road: The road to nowhere.

Looking to stay the right course on a new effort after 6 years writing Texas Liberal, Neil at All People Have Value updated his blog throughout the last week. All People Have Value is part of NeilAquino.com.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme updates one of the TPA's moldy oldies, Tom DeLay, and his latest effort to get to the engine of the Republican crazy train.

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And here are some other Texas blog posts of interest.

Mark Bennett offers a "revenge porn" statute that might pass constitutional muster.

Grits for Breakfast asks if police shootings of mentally ill folks are on the rise.

The Makeshift Academic wrapped up a four-part analysis of the progressive nature of Obamacare taxation.

Nonsequiteuse wants to know why encouraging condom usage isn't compatible with the principles of demonstrating courtesy and encouraging responsible behavior.

The TSTA blog criticizes merit pay bonuses for teachers.

Texas Vox regrets a missed opportunity for cleaner air in Texas.

Jessica Luther reminds us that Wendy Davis was far from alone during her filibuster.

And Juanita Jean suggests a campaign slogan for Ted Nugent.

Sunday Funnies

Texas Dems pick up two more statewide candidates

At last night's Harris County Democratic fundraiser, the Johnson Rayburn Richards dinner, a young attorney from El Paso introduced herself as the forthcoming Democratic nominee for United States Senate from the Great State.

Her name is Maxey Scherr. You can learn more about her for now at her law firm's website (scroll down) where there's this video.



Scherr was escorted around in part by former US Senate Democratic nominee Barbara Radnofsky at last night's gala. Here's another picture of her with Meyerland Dem president Art Pronin.

Formal announcement and campaign promotion to follow shortly. The Dems will have another woman running at the top of the ticket, as Maria Luisa Alvarado -- the 2006 nominee -- has again thrown her hat into the ring for lieutenant governor.  She defeated two men in the primary that year (Gene Kelly and Ben Grant) but went on to lose to David Dewhurst to the tune of 58-37, with the Libertarian in the race pulling about 4%.

With this slate as it stands, Texas Dems are obviously going to mobilize the female vote, about which much has been written already.  If the turnout in Harris County for the municipal elections is any determinant, then the future looks bright (as high voter turnout is usually to the benefit of the Democrats).

Reaction to these developments from other quarters will be added to this post later.

Update: Here's the Alvarado campaign's press release.  Excerpt:

At Starbucks in Arlington earlier this week, Alvarado encouraged friends to continue collecting petition signatures for her. She stated that she will continue what she began in 2006. “I am determined that every citizen in Texas deserves the same thing – fairness, opportunity, good education, affordable healthcare, jobs that pay a decent wage and offer rewards for excellence. All Texans deserve a level playing field in the political process; to be heard by their elected representatives.”

She also stated that she "has never stopped working to engage the one million additional citizens who currently have not voted." Maria Luisa said: "These are the folks we must have for a Democrat to win a general election. I’m going after those who aren't at Democratic club meetings, who are not listed in the VAN with voting histories. I’m going for those who think their vote doesn't make enough difference for them to show up. I’m saying that every Texan is necessary for us to make our communities better and to improve things for everyone in Texas."

Riding your bike to the revolution

-- Critical Mass, the monthly flashmob on bicycles, is happening again this evening.  If you're not a fan of anarchy in action, then steer your car away from it.  Don't be like Ken Hoffman or even my friend Neil and whine about it.

It's just another component of the disruptor society we live in now.  Adapt.

-- There's some polling out that suggests that politicians are missing the boat on the issue that is at the forefront of Americans' minds...

If only the politicians would listen to the polls. Yes, you read that right. What is happening in Washington symbolizes a dangerous disconnect between the priorities of the voters and those of their elected leaders.

An ABC News/Washington Post poll this week found that 75 percent of all Americans consider the economy to be in “not so good” or “poor” condition. The 2 percent in the poll who pronounce the economy to be in “excellent” shape presumably work on Wall Street.

The voters get it. “I have done a lot of focus groups in the last few years,” says Republican strategist David Winston, who advises the House and Senate GOP leadership. “And there’s one number that people know — and that’s the unemployment rate. And they’re sophisticated about it. They know that the unemployment rate understates things because of people leaving the workforce.”

Every poll tells the same story about what animates voters. A mid-September CBS News/New York Times poll, conducted before the government shutdown, found that 34 percent of Americans call the economy and jobs “the most important problem facing this country today.” In contrast, only 8 percent highlighted health care and a paltry 6 percent singled out the budget deficit and the national debt.

...but apparently not Texans' minds, and certainly not in the minds of Houstonians. 

Political analysts said economic development is an important policy discussion, but a less useful political one. A recent poll showed 12 percent of voters chose jobs and the economy as the city's most important problem, behind crime, roads and traffic; two years ago, 43 percent chose jobs and the economy.

I would suggest, obviously, that this is because the Houston and Texas economy are booming.  This irony seems to be another part of the Lone Star disconnect previously mentioned.

-- Speaking of revolution...

The British left weekly New Statesman has taken a chance on an up-and-coming rogue editor, but the actor-comedian and newly welcomed progressive-minded firebrand Russell Brand seems so far to be a brilliant and elegant choice.

Tapped to guest-edit the magazine's 'Revolution' issue this week, Brand is making waves both for his feature-length essay on the topic but also with a televised interview that aired Wednesday night on the BBC with veteran Newsnight anchor Jeremy Paxman. In the ten-minute interview, the 38-year-old Brand points at the futility of voting in a corrupt democratic system determined to serve the interests of the ruling class and not only predicts, but guarantees, that the "disenfranchised, disillusioned underclass" created by the current economic and political system—both in the UK and worldwide—will rise up in popular revolution against the failings of the current corporate-controlled paradigm.

Paxman questioned why a comedian such as Brand, especially one who doesn't vote, should be trusted to offer his views on the political system.

"I don't get my authority from this preexisting paradigm which is quite narrow and only serves a few people," Russell responded, himself questioning why voting or not voting in a corrupt lopsided system should provide moral or intellectual authority. "I look elsewhere for alternatives that might be of service to humanity."

In response to Paxman asking if he saw any reason for hope, Brand jumped at the question "Yeah, totally. There's going to be a revolution. It's totally going to happen," he said. "I ain't got a flicker of doubt. This is the end—it's time to wake up."

Russell Brand is my kind of leftist.  However he rejects participating in the political system by not voting -- the premise being that voting lends an air of authenticity to a system too corrupt to change with just votes -- which I do not agree with.

Early voting results locally seem to suggest that a tide may be turning in this regard... yet another contradiction here in Deep-In-The-Hearta.

I think I need to pump up the tires on my bicycle.  You know, just in case.

EV turnout in Harris County doubles

Here are the totals from Wednesday (October 23). For a listing of all early voting locations countywide and their hours of operation, click here.

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So far, 27,628 people have voted in person or by mail. That compares to 11,280 through three days in 2011, 15,192 through three days in 2009, and 8,278 through three days in 2007.

Charles has covered this already, and these are significant increases in early voting numbers for a municipal election.  Both EVIP and mailed ballots are about two times what they were two years ago, and similarly above recent municipal cycles.

For an election season fairly devoid of significant developments (at least for me), this is impressive.  Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart thinks it's due to the extra attention the photo ID requirement received from the media.

"I also believe this campaign to notify people to bring their photo ID to the polls has actually raised the public awareness that there's an election."

That's as good a reason as any.  I cast my ballot Tuesday at one of the city's heaviest boxes, the Fiesta on Kirby, and there was no waiting.  Pundits will try to divine some meaning from this data, but I'm comfortable watching the trend play out a bit more before hazarding a guess.  I will say that it does not look like a red wave election at this early point.

In the meantime, do your civic duty (and make sure you have your ID on you when you do).

Update (10/25): Day 4 totals are highest yet...

The top four early-voting locations have been consistent (though swapping positions) through four days: Metropolitan Multi-Service Center on West Gray (478 in-person voters), followed by Trini Mendenhall Sosa Community Center in the Spring Branch area (325), Bayland Park Community Center in southwest Houston (321), and the Fiesta Mart at Kirby and the South Loop (301).

So far, 34,415 people have voted in person or by mail. That compares to 14,641 through four days in 2011, 18,578 through four days in 2009, and 11,206 through four days in 2007.