Saturday, February 27, 2010
Republicans lead Democrats in early voting turnout: 3,410 to 2,607
Carol Wilder, the Democratic precinct chair for voting Precinct 448, Driftwood area, forwarded the early voting totals in the Republican and Democratic primaries. Thank you Carol. Early voting concluded Friday Feb. 26. The Republican primary seems to have generated more enthusiasm thus far, with 3,410 ballots cast. The Democratic primary has seen 2,607 ballots cast thus far.
There are several hotly contested local and statewide races in both primaries, but it appears the three-way Republican contest for governor between Perry, Hutchison and Medina is drawing most of the attention.
Of interest to Democrats is the local race for State Representative, District 45, between 8-year incumbent Democrat Patrick Rose of Dripping Springs and campaign newcomer Andrew Backus, a Driftwood area resident; also the contest for Hays County Judge between incumbent Judge Liz Sumter of Wimberley and challenger Pct. 2 Commissioner Jeff Barton of Mountain City.
Don't miss your chance to vote and help determine the outcomes of these important races. Election Day is Tuesday, March 2, which is also Texas Independence Day. Happy Texas (and Hays County) 136th Birthday! Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Find your voting location at this link to the county elections office web site:
http://www.elections.co.hays.tx.us/March22010brElectionInformation/tabid/110/Default.aspx
Here's the early voting breakdown by location:
Republican
Elections Office San Marcos: 923
Kyle City hall: 370
DSISD Admin: 441
Wimberley Community Center: 743
Buda City Hall: 626
TSU: 92
Mail in ballot: 110
FPCA: 105
Democrat
Elections Office San Marcos: 701
Kyle CityHall: 221
DSISD Admin: 203
Wimberley Community Center: 322
Buda City Hall: 350
TSU: 118
Mail in ballot: 625
FPCA: 67
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14 comments:
Not that it matters to anyone, but I am having a difficult time deciding in which primary to vote in.
On the one hand I would like to vote to kick out Perry once and for all and to vote against most if not all of the 5 propositions, but on the other hand I'd like to vote against Patrick Rose and Jeff Barton.
It's a tough call. Am I the only one with this conflict?
The conservative Texas State college Dems are going with the most destructive conservative candidates that they can. They really believe that if a candidate pays them for work then they should vote for that candidate out of loyalty.
Pinocchio Ro$e has been buying these votes for years, sounds terrible but you can check out who mans his phone banks or puts up his signs. But here's an interesting development, his recent robo-calls have actually taken his campaign funds away from the students - he is decreasing his payments to his student workers - they're being outsourced - imagine that.
Yes, conservative is the only description that is applicable to that campus. A conservative has never improved or changed anything in the world except his financial standing. Why bother with the Democratic label as there's already a conservative party for you.
Examine Ro$e/Barton/Huddleston and you'll find that they would run as republicans but they can't win in those primaries - these three candidates dislike gays, love pavement, hate progressive issues and they use the same tired lies against their foes. Just check Ro$e's voting record on gay rights issues, NOT very Democratic! The secrets are leaking out about this brand of "checkbook politics", the donors own these guys and we shouldn't allow the donors to own these offices.
This fight against corporate politics will not soon be over, younger voters have not had to watch the erosion of environmental protection, civil rights, equal rights and voting rights - their parents were too busy to teach about these issues. 34 years of Ronald Reagan's conservative political diatribe has enabled a conservative campus to accept payment for votes.
If you think that votes shouldn't be sold and checkbook politics should be stopped you do have a choice and a voice in these races. Vote for Andrew Backus for state rep. District 45, Liz Sumter for Hays county judge and Tommy Ratliff for Hays county sheriff. These are sincere, honest, intelligent and extremely devoted Democrats who understand the concept of serving the common interest.
Those "checkbook politicians" will outspend these honest Democrats by 10 to 1 but money doesn't necessarily win elections out here in Hays county.
I agree with a lot of what Anon #1 stated except that there are long-time past conservative politicians and even a President or two who have done a lot for the nation as a whole.
However, I do agree that what has evolved during the past 3 or 4 decades and currently is considered "conservative" politics throughout our nation, and which trickles down to local politics, has become very different than what it used to be, way back when.
Today, citizens are worried about no jobs, escalating taxes/fees/penalties, incredibly expensive and insufficient health coverage, educating their children significantly at a reasonable cost and lack of food on the kitchen table.
I am a conservative and you liberal Dems have made it easy for me, I will vote in the Democrat Primary. I’ll vote for Rose and Barton for sure, and anybody else you guys have been slamming here. For Governor, my pick will be Farouk Shami, and oh yes, how could I forget, Kinky Freedman for Agriculture Commissioner.
Voters at all levels of government are generally screwed with their voting options. Politics is all about "special interest socialism" -- the electoral process of the candidate with the most money getting elected and then betraying voters by supporting programs that pilfer tax dollars to enrich their crony campaign backers.
Everybody knows it, but we rationalize or lie to ourselves that we live in a democracy so we won't feel like idiots. Republicans lie to themselves the most, but Democrats are also delusional about many of their candidates.
Rick Perry is a perfect example of a modern Republican politician: Promote rhetoric about how bad government is and then as Governor make sure government programs are run badly or fail to prove his hate rhetoric. It is a political scam that stupid Texas conservatives latch on to like lemmings. No wonder Sarah Palin supports him. They are two of a kind: shrewd and manipulative opportunists of ignorance and misplaced anger.
Democrats have scam politicians as well, just not as ominous and dangerous to Americans.
Politically, it is a sad and desperate time in Texas politics - and America in general.
Apparently "Confused Voter" was right in assuming his or her concern did not matter much to anyone on this blog.
In response, I also had some ambivalence in which primary to vote, but as a GOP member, I will vote in the Democratic Primary because that primary infringes the most on our local Hays County political agendas during the next several years.
Hope that helps.
LLB, while I agree with you re: some of your statements on our political scene locally and nationally, you also seem to "rationalize" when it comes to comparing the GOP to the Democrats, when stating that the GOP "lie to themselves the most".
Personally, I would hate to be the judge of THAT contest, as simply stated, the 2-Party system has failed Americans. Period.
Until the last election, the Democrats could not win an important election. They did not have the candidates or the marketing skills. Little has changed for them.
The GOP had few qualified candidates during the past decade, but that party used good marketing skills and offered the supposed "lesser of the evils."
The fact that the Democrats selected Howard Dean, former VT governor, to manage the national party was a real screw-up and an indicator of questionable party politics. Sorry, that guy is severely "off his nut".
Voters will continue to have little say or very limited control until we restrict or eliminate wealthy campaign contributions and implement term limits across the board to 2 terms.
So, until then, it will be politics as usual on all levels of government.
The Democrats having 625 mail in ballots seems a bit suspicious. I wonder if Acorn is working at stuffing ballot boxes, by mail, in Hays County? The Republicans only had 110.
Mr. Stern,
I agree with you that some Democrats have taken on failed proponents but the GOP is the group that is "nuts" today. They use the word "socialist" with no real understanding of what it means and they are moving so far to the right regarding government validity that they have lost any sense of intellectual integrity. What else can one deduce when a GOP congressman cheers the IRS domestic terrorist bomber as some sort of hero or valid action. At what point does such heinous condoning of murder constitute treason?
The GOP is off the deep end. They are so out of touch with where most citizens in America want to go they try to hijack the "tea bagger" movement to try and re-establish some sort of political credibility.
I have read your opinions, Mr. Stern, and I agree with your conservative views more than not. Yet you were recently called a "socialist" by some misplaced right wingnut reader because they don't even know what conservative stands for anymore.
You do not need to defend the intellectual GOP philosophy to me. I get it and support the pure GOP economic platform. But when it comes to social issues and diversity, they have become the 4th Reich.
You should spend more of your time re-educating your fellow Republicans. They are the ones who are keeping a multicultural and global America from moving forward and solving the real problems of the 21st Century.
LLB, for the past 10 years I have tried to inform members of each party and others who opt not to join either group.
It is a long journey into night. The parties are a symptom of what is happening throughout the U.S.
I agree with you more than you may believe; however both parties are corrupt and greedy. These days voters might not recognize a viable, honest candidate if they tripped over him or her. As you stated, terms and words e.g., fiscal conservative, etc., are carelessly thrown about without a true definitive or reality-based definition.
Also, what you see as my "conservative" opinions and comments are what I view as simply honest and reality-based statements. We have lost the concept of intelligent moderation.
Plus, a candidate who seems or is actually honest and community directed either soon loses their way in a decaying political environment or the candidate may not be able to rise-up due to lack of clout within the established parameters.
Making any positive change will be long and painful. It already has been. If nothing during the past decade, it has been reinforced for me with the responses of many to my writing in direct proportion to what is happening around us.
As you may imagine, I have been called worse than socialist. Sometimes I have even been ridiculed for my efforts.
People will come to their own conclusions. I simply try to place some truth out there for people to read. Not having millions of dollars worth of clout and being disabled, that is all I can do.
And while you may "get the intelligent philosophy of the GOP" many others do not or have forgotten it. So, it bears repeating.
It saddens me that this mess is what we are leaving to our future generations. I keep writing in hopes of informing the people and perhaps getting back on-track, although highly unlikely as it seems to be. I view it as my "community service".
Maybe there are fewer GOP mail-in ballots because they are more illiterate than the Democrats and can't even write?
Such a stupid comment re: ACORN deserves my response to it.
Anonymous #3 just made it easier for me to make my decision. I will vote in the Democratic Primary and vote for Sumter, Backus, White and others that the "insane and radical" GOP seem to despise so much.
Thanks also to "GOP Member" who helped in that response.
Thank you, Mr. Stern, for your polite and incisive comments to my submissions. And when I said "you should spend more time re-educating fellow Republicans," I meant that your blog posts are a breath of fresh air for all readers, but especially the forlorn Republican Party members.
In fact, if the Republican Party were to go back to true fiscal and Constitutional conservatism, I may even be a "Republican", who knows. I am already a pro-small business fiscal conservative but I cannot allow religious crazies make xenophobia, bigotry, and other hate addictions to be converted into laws. The current twisted version of "social conservatism" is creating divisiveness like never before. It is a cancer that needs to be removed.
Thanks, again, for your community service. People like you and Charles O'Dell (and Bob Ochoa who offers this blog) are great for Hays County because you all offer analysis and opinions that helps make us a better community.
Thank you, LLB, for the kind comments.
I also like the RoundUp as a place to discuss local issues, but I respectfully would like Editor Ochoa to permit some other views and comments that would add more dimension to this blog.
Otherwise it is more a blog with a particular readership or mindset and I think it would be good to expand our community presence within Hays County and not be quite as myopic --- as in generally "preaching to the choir."
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