Carol Alvarado’s BD Party and Peter the Great Spender

We welcome all good folks to drop by State Rep Carol Alvarado’s Birthday Seafood Celebration and Fundraiser this Sunday, November 1 from 2 to 5 pm at the Bamboo Lounge, 2910 Navigation. Even if you can’t make a donation, drop on by anyway. It’ll probably be the last political event before Election Day. They have a few flat screens so you can catch the Texans while you chat about who will get into the run-off with CM Peter Brown.

The folks that are supporting H-Town mayoral candidates Controller Annise Parker and Gene Locke are not too happy with Peter spending his kazillions. Of course these same folks probably didn’t say a peep when Mayor White spent his kazillions in 2003. In fairness though, Mayor White also raised kazillions and Brown has probably only raised a kazillion. I hope this isn’t a case of ageism.

Commentary isn’t offended by Peter’s spending. I look at it as a local stimulus package. It is good to be on the sidelines.

Meanwhile, I got another version of Peter’s mail that cracks on Annise and Gene – ouch!

From the Who Gives a Rat’s Arse Dept., those Burnt Tangerine folks from Austin endorsed in the H-Town mayoral race – huh! I think I’ll ask Kuffer to interview Austin city candidates when they have their elections.

The political buzz yesterday was about CM Jolanda Jones pulling more support than her nemesis CM Sue Lovell in the Chron poll. The buzz yesterday also was about Mayor White getting involved against Peter Brown if Peter makes the run-off as we head into the final weekend so stay tuned! If I was the mayor, I would stay out of it.

The Yankees evened it up last night as the ‘Stros get ready to host a major sleepover tomorrow night – oh my!

 

Technorati Tags: Marc Campos,Campos Communications,Latino politics,Texas Latino Politics,Houston Astros,Major League Baseball,Houston Politics,Houston Elections,Texas Politics,State Representative Carol Alvarado,Gene Locke,Annise Parker,Peter Brown,Houston Mayoral Race,Sue Lovell,Council Member Jolanda Jones

Read Full Post »

Stretching the Facts and Show Me the Photo I.D.!

I guess if you have the lead, you’re going to get attacked. Some folks think the Chron has it out for CM Peter Brown and is giving run to his opponents’ claims that Peter is misleading voters. I’m not going to defend Peter. He can do that himself. I’m not going to call out the Chron. The Annise Parker campaign is saying that Brown’s charge that Parker has mismanaged the city dollars is dead wrong. Even Mayor White came to Annise’s defense. However, my friend Bill King has written that the city is not in good financial shape.

Parker in her ad cracks on using money to build stadiums. Hey, we – the voters – have had that debate three times in the last 13 years, and twice the voters have said A-OK to using the money for sports venues.

Gene Locke, in his ad takes credit for Downtown development. He can take credit but I would put about 100 folks ahead of him including Drayton, Mayor Bob, Mayor Brown, Mayor White, Pam-In-Charge, Bob Eury, State Rep Carol Alvarado, Robert Miller, Les Alexander, CM James Rodriguez, heck even Ken Lay. Last week, the Chron had a blazing headline that said the Sports Authority had done a bad deal. Gene Locke has been their lawyer and Brown hit him on this in a mailer. If Brown had been on the Sports Authority, believe me, Parker and Locke would be giving him the business.

In my book, it is just your typical charges flying in the last days of a campaign – yawn. Meanwhile, the Lovelier Wendy called me last night and said that Peter is now running an ad that zings Gene.

So we went to vote yesterday at Moody Park which is in the ‘hood and they asked for a photo I.D. – huh. Commentary always votes with my license anyway so I just whupped it right out. Folks that were with me objected and told the election officials – all Latino/Latinas and one African American – they must not have been paying attention because the bill didn’t pass. After some back and forth, I kind of whispered to my folks that go on ahead and show them the IDs because I didn’t want to get my arse run out of the polling place. They did and we all voted. Afterwards, I called the County Clerk’s office and they weren’t too happy that we had been asked to show our photo ID and were going to look into the matter. It is kind of sad that it happened down the street in the ‘hood.

KHOU-TV (Channel 11) released poll results for City Controller and the At-Large Council races and Don’t Know holds a commanding lead. For City Controller, Ron Green 12%, M.J. Khan 11%, Pam Holm 9%, and Don’t know 68%. 

At-Large One, Karen Derr 3%, Rick Rodriguez 2%, Lonnie Allsbrooks, J. Brad Batteau, Don Cook, Stephen Costello, Herman Litt, Kenneth Perkins all at 1%, Don’t know 87%.

At-Large Two, Sue Lovell 6%, Andrew Burks 4%, M. Griff Griffin 2%, Roslyn “Rozzy” Shorter 2%, and Don’t know 84%. 

At-Large Four, C.O. “Brad” Bradford 11%, Noel Freeman 2%, Deborah Shafto 2%, Curtis Garmon 0%, and Don’t know 83%. 

At-Large Five, Jolanda “Jo” Jones 11%, Jack Christie 3%, Davetta Daniels 2%, Carlos Obando 2%, and Don’t know 82%.

They all look like run-offs to me.

The fella that spray painted a swastika on the Anna Eastman sign showed us up by putting up our opponent’s sign. If I’m our opponent, I don’t know if I want to be associated with Swastika Man.

Commentary had the honor of officially getting the third beer served at the new St. Arnold Brewery yesterday evening. CM Rodriguez got Numero Uno and CM Ed Gonzalez got Numero Dos.

I got in just in time to see the Phillies put it on the Yankees. FYI – the ‘Stros won six out of eight against the Phillies this past season.

 

Technorati Tags: Marc Campos,Campos Communications,Latino politics,Texas Latino Politics,Houston City Council Elections,Houston Astros,Major League Baseball,Houston Politics,Houston Elections,Council Member James Rodriguez,Council Member Ed Gonzalez,Houston City Controller Race

Read Full Post »

Heading to the Polls

I’ll be voting early today with Bethany and I still don’t know who gets my vote for H-Town mayor. Jose and Jerome came by a couple of days ago with a Gene Locke autographed door hanger and mailer. Last night when I was putting out the trash, I saw a pickup truck pull up in front of my place and I thought my Anna Eastman sign was fixing to get snatched away. Instead it was Eric Zuniga and a buddy making a late night delivery of the Peter Brown booklet. Of course, I couldn’t recognize Eric because sometimes I don’t see too well at night.

I asked CM James Rodriguez who he and Wendy would be voting for and he said they’ll be making a game day decision.

Speaking of yard signs, some arsehole sprayed painted a swastika on an Anna Eastman sign in front of his home. Apparently a volunteer put it in the wrong yard and instead of the home owner just removing the sign he thought it would look better with a swastika on it. Commentary went over there and the fella proudly admitted his artwork and as far as he was concerned it could stay there until E-Day. I said no thanks and took the sign.

I got a mailer yesterday from the Peter Brown campaign and he hit Annise Parker and Gene pretty good. It also contained an unflattering pic of Annise. That’s politics.

Commentary will be going to the ribbon cutting ceremony of the new St. Arnold Brewery this evening – Amber Heaven – cool.

I’m OK with Brad Mills as our new skipper. At the beginning of the interview process, I told Pam-In-Charge that he would be my pick because of his resume and his coming from a championship culture. I’m glad they listened to me as the World Serious begins this evening and we might know who’s in the runoff before we have a World Serious Champion.

 

Technorati Tags: Marc Campos,Campos Communications,Latino politics,Texas Latino Politics,Houston Politics,Houston Elections,Texas Politics,Council Member James Rodriguez,Gene Locke,Annise Parker,Peter Brown,Houston Mayoral Race,Houston Astros,Major League Baseball

Read Full Post »

The KHOU-TV (Channel 11) Poll

It’s 24% for CM Peter Brown, 16% for Controller Annise Parker, 14% for Gene Locke, 5% for Roy Morales, 41% for Undecided according to the Channel 11 poll that was released last night. Peter has to be feeling good this morning and Annise and Gene have to be feeling quite nervous.

In last night’s report, here’s what the pollster, Rice’s Bob Stein, had to say: “It seems very likely that if this trend holds up, that Peter Brown will be in the runoff. The most likely opponent will be Annise Parker, but that is still very much up in the air.”

Here’s what political consultant Mustafah Tameez said in today’s Chron: “I don’t think there is or ever has been a true frontrunner in this race.”

Here’s what political consultant Keir Murray said in today’s Chron: “It’s clear that Brown has moved up, but I don’t think there’s any question that his support is soft. These candidates have really got to bust their butts … to make the finals. It’s anybody’s game.”

Here’s what Commentary said in today’s Chron: “They can’t challenge what he’s (Brown) spending on TV or mail and won’t be able to use any of their resources to attack him. They need to spend all their money trying to get their vote out … I just don’t see how he’s denied.”

In my book, Peter Brown is looking pretty good this morning. Right now it is hard for me to picture a Parker-Locke runoff.

Mark McGwire is getting back into baseball as the new Hitting Coach for the Cards. I’m OK with that as the ‘Stros may announce the skipper pick today and we have to wait until next July 9 to see the Cards at The Yard.

 

Technorati Tags: Marc Campos,Campos Communications,Latino politics,Texas Latino Politics,Houston Politics,Houston Elections,Gene Locke,Annise Parker,Peter Brown,Houston Mayoral Race,Houston Astros,Major League Baseball

Read Full Post »

Anna Eastman’s Endorsement and No Endorsement from This Voter

HISD Trustee candidate Anna Eastman (Commentary’s client) won the endorsement of the Harris County Women’s Political Caucus this past Friday. Congrats go to Anna Eastman!

I’ve decided that I’m not going to pick a mayoral candidate in this first round. Two people that I highly respect say they would be A-OK if any of the three leading contenders – CM Peter Brown, Gene Locke, and Controller Annise Parker – were our next mayor. I have to agree. The fact is, I like all three and consider them all buddies. I don’t agree with everything they have been saying during this campaign, but that’s the nature of campaigns. Of course, I’ll have to vote for one of them when I go vote early later on this week with Bethany. Maybe I’ll vote for the first one that finally gets around to sending me a mail piece.

Meanwhile, the Gene Locke and Peter Brown campaigns held dueling press conferences yesterday on who has more African American support. It obviously says something about Brown’s support among African American voters if the Locke campaign has to resort to accusing Brown of buying up African American votes. Let’s see if Gene has any luck taking away Peter’s street cred. You have to wonder how this feud is playing out among non African American voters.

One Of My Best Friends is celebrating a BD today. Happy Birthday to Carol Alvarado who still doesn’t need touching up. Carol shares a BD with her good friend Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The Yankees will make their 40^th World Serious appearance this Wednesday. That’s 39 more than the ‘Stros who will pick a skipper in the next day or so.

 

Technorati Tags: Marc Campos,Campos Communications,Latino politics,Texas Latino Politics,Houston Politics,Houston Elections,Gene Locke,Annise Parker,Peter Brown,Houston Mayoral Race,State Representative Carol Alvarado,Houston Astros,Major League Baseball

Read Full Post »

Going Negative and Dueling Pachangas

The Gene Locke for Mayor Campaign had no choice but to go negative against CM Peter Brown in order to shore up their support among African American voters.  Check out the story in today’s Chron.  The negative ad is an acknowledgement that they are running third and they need to do better in the African American community if they want to make the runoff. We will see if it works – stay tuned.

Meanwhile, the Controller Annise Parker and Locke campaigns are hosting events in H-Town’s Northside this weekend in hopes of getting Latino voters to the Moody Park Early Voting place. I hope they have success as the latest Kyle Johnston Campaigns report has the Latino portion of the overall H-Town vote at a steady and “anemic” 8%.

The CM Ron Green for City Controller Campaign took a direct hit yesterday over IRS issues – ouch!  Check it out in today’s Chron.  Commentary ran into some Dem leaders last night and they weren’t too happy with Green about this. They think that this sinks Green’s chances. It is going to be very difficult to get elected to be the city’s fiscal watchdog while having IRS issues hanging over you.

Commentary got a bunch of BD notes yesterday after CEWDEM put it out in cyberville and he also released other key info that needed to be out there – stay tuned!

Congrats go to Pam-In-Charge for being Mujer Numero Uno again in the MLB if you know what I mean!

“Astroboy” the movie opens today as the ‘Stros the team gets closer to naming a skipper.

 

Technorati Tags: Marc Campos,Campos Communications,Latino politics,Texas Latino Politics,Council Member Ron Green,Gene Locke,Annise Parker,Peter Brown,Houston Mayoral Race,Houston Astros,Major League Baseball,Houston Politics,Houston Elections

Read Full Post »

The “Anemic” Latino Vote

At yesterday’s TV taping at KTRK-TV (Channel 13), Dr. Tatcho Mindiola described the H-Town Latino vote in municipal elections as “anemic.” According to the numbers put out last night by Kyle Johnston Campaigns, only 8% of the total H-Town early vote after three days is Latino – pitiful. Is this the result of a lack of Latino voter outreach by the mayoral campaigns? Is this the result of a lack of a field program by the mayoral campaigns in the Latino community? Is the Latino voter just not connecting with the mayoral candidates or vice versa? Or is it all of the above. What’s the point of all those Latino leader and organizational endorsements if the Latino turnout is actually decreasing? Maybe the Latino voter turnout will kick start at Controller Annise Parker’s Huevos Rancheros Early Vote Rally down the street from Commentary’s ‘hood this Sunday which I’ll be at because I like huevos rancheros. Maybe it’ll kick start if CMs James Rodriguez and Ed Gonzalez weigh in. By the way, you can check out Commentary, Tatcho, State Rep Jessica Farrar, and Michael Trevino talk about the elections this Sunday at 11:30 am on Channel 13.

Commentary and Hall of Famer and Yankee pitching great Whitey Ford celebrated BDs yesterday. I got candy, a cool baseball book, The Beatles remastered sampler, a pecan pie that is about halfway scarfed down, the Pass the Popcorn game, a gift certificate, and a cool MLB pullover windbreaker that I’m wearing today.

The ‘Stros are having a Halloween night sleepover at The Yard. Instead of showing scary movies on the Jumbotron, they are going to show this past season highlights – yikes! It looks like we might get us a skipper before the World Serious starts – stay tuned!

 

Technorati Tags: Marc Campos,Campos Communications,Latino politics,Texas Latino Politics,Latino Voter turnout,Council Member Ed Gonzalez,Council Member James Rodriguez,Houston Astros,Major League Baseball,Annise Parker,Houston Mayoral Race,Houston Politics,Houston Elections

Read Full Post »

Donde Esta El Vote Latino?

Commentary’s pal Kyle Johnston sent out last night a two day analysis of early voting and what jumped out at me was that of the total number of H-Town voters that had voted early, only 9% were Latino. It really doesn’t surprise me. To my knowledge, none of the mayoral candidates are doing any serious Latino voter outreach like direct mail or Spanish language TV or radio. Plus, the two Latino district council members and the At-Large council member with a Spanish language surname didn’t draw opponents so that has to be factored in as a contributor to low Latino voter participation. Let’s see if there is any shift over the next few days.

The Chron’s Brad Olsen has a piece today on mayoral hopefuls chasing the GOP vote.   Check it out.  Here’s what Olsen said about Gene Locke: “Meanwhile, Locke’s strategy to build a winning coalition that includes many conservative voters appears to be foundering.” Ouch! In the piece, here’s what a GOP leader said about CM Peter Brown scoring points among GOP voters: “I don’t understand what the draw is, quite frankly.” It is called SHOW ME THE TV!

Someone close to Commentary voted yesterday for Annise Parker. Someone else that I know also voted early for Annise.

Commentary got a call a couple of days ago from a volunteer for the campaign of HISD Trustee candidate Alma Lara. (Commentary’s client is Anna Eastman.) The call was left on voice mail and not the robo kind. Reading from a campaign script, the volunteer informed me that Ms. Lara was Hispanic, a former teacher, and former principal – interesting.

Commentary will do a TV taping this afternoon for KTRK-TV (Channel 13) for their Sunday morning program. I’ll be joined by UH’s Dr. Tatcho Mindiola, my State Rep. Jessica Farrar, and Michael Trevino. I’m sure we will be asked about the upcoming election, who we think will win the World Serious, and what kind of candy we give out on Halloween.

Some retail chains were selling paperless folk Halloween costumes. The gear consisted of one of those Area 51 fella masks, an orange jumpsuit that said paperless folk, and a green card that you can clip on. The retail chains pulled the merchandise off of their shelves after they heard that they might get a negative mention on tonight’s CNN “Latinos in America” show that Commentary will have to DVR.

The World Serious will start in a few days and I wonder if the ‘Stros will have a skipper by then?

 

Technorati Tags: Marc Campos,Campos Communications,Latino politics,Texas Latino Politics,Houston Astros,Major League Baseball,Houston Politics,Houston Elections,Anna Eastman,HISD School Board elections,Gene Locke,Annise Parker,Peter Brown,Houston Mayoral Race,Harris County GOP,illegal Immigration,Immigrant discrimination

Read Full Post »

Peter and Who?

If frontrunner CM Peter Brown continues at his current spending pace on TV, radio, and mail, he’s in the run-off for sure as neither Controller Annise Parker nor Gene Locke can afford to divert funds and crack on Peter. So it looks like a race for second place. Doesn’t conventional wisdom s__k? I haven’t seen Peter since the poll was published but I’ve been told he has an extra bounce in his step.

The Chron’s poll came in as a cold shower to the Parker and Locke folks. All of the endorsements went to Parker and Locke, so it looks like some folks are going to have to make a second choice after November 3. Here’s some free advice to the Parker and Locke supporters. Don’t let it get too personal. You may have to be on the same side on November 4.

Folks like the Harris County AFL-CIO, CM James Rodriguez, and Commentary – who haven’t picked a side, made a wise decision after all.

The Chron also has a story today on their poll in the City Controller’s race.  Check it out.  My pal CM Ron Green who isn’t on TV has a slight lead. I guess it helps if folks think he’s related to two local members of Congress.

It doesn’t look like there will be an LA vs LA World Serious as the ‘Stros will now narrow their list of potential skippers.

 

Technorati Tags: Marc Campos,Campos Communications,Latino politics,Texas Latino Politics,Gene Locke,Annise Parker,Peter Brown,Houston Mayoral Race,Council Member Ron Green,Houston City Controller’s race,Council Member James Rodriguez,Houston Astros,Major League Baseball

Read Full Post »

Chron Endorses Anna Eastman for HISD Trustee

Here’s what the Chron’s E-Board had to say about Anna Eastman, Commentary’s client:

“What will most shape Houston’s future over the next 50 years? In large part, it’s the educations that young Houstonians are getting right now. Some Houston public schools are academically excellent, but far too many are wretched. For the sake of our city, the Houston Independent School District — already known for innovative thinking and making tough choices — must continue to improve.

“For HISD Trustee in District I, an open seat, we recommend Anna Eastman. As the president of the Travis Elementary PTA, Eastman was known for fighting hard for her school, and she’s likely to be just as persistent in attacking HISD’s dropout rate. As a former social worker, she understands the complex problems facing Houston’s least-privileged kids. She’s a strong proponent of school choice, magnet-school busing, and of holding HISD employees accountable for students’ performance.”

The Chron also had a story on the HISD race.   Check it out. 

Early Voting in Person starts today but since I’m still supporting Not Sure for H-Town mayor, I won’t be heading to the polls anytime soon. Of course, someone that I dearly respect says she’s supporting CM Peter Brown – interesting.

In case you missed yesterday’s Special Commentary, here it is.

 

Sunday Morning Special: Hello Mr. Frontrunner

October 18, 2009 by camposcommunications

The Chron SHOWED ME THE POLL yesterday and it had CM Peter Brown with 24%, Controller Annise Parker with 19%, Gene Locke with 13%, Roy Morales with 7%, and Commentary’s current candidate Not Sure with 36%. Peter Brown got what he wanted with all that money he’s spent by being labeled the “frontrunner.” With Early Voting in Person beginning tomorrow and a bunch of older voters already have mail ballots, Peter Brown is looking pretty good.

The Locke and Parker campaigns put out statements yesterday lamely trying to spin the results in their favor. Annise Parker’s campaign was the first to spin and said they were headed to a run-off and poised to win. Of course, this is like her 8^th time on a city wide ballot and she’s getting only 19%. Plus, in her own poll that she told us about back in February, she said she was starting out the race at 29% and was going to build on this. I don’t know if going backwards is building. The Parker spokesperson then took an unnecessary cheap shot at Peter for hanging out at his French villa.

The fella who has raised the most money, Gene Locke, is probably not too happy right now, especially when the pollster said about Gene that “he’s got to rediscover his inner African-American-ness”, whatever that means. I hope that doesn’t mean he’s got to go get him some street cred. I’m sure Mayor Bob and all the other “establishment” fellas that are supporting Locke have a queasy feeling in their guts this morning. The Locke campaign tried to spin that 13% is where they want to be 16 days before the final results come in – huh! You gottta be kidding! The Locke spokesperson said yesterday that 40% were for “Not Sure.”  She can’t read or add as 40% ain’t 36%. I guess if they end up coming in 3^rd on election night, she’ll say that they came in 2^nd – oh brother!

Meanwhile, the Chron co-endorsed Parker and Locke. I guess they figure Peter is in a run-off and they want to hedge their bets. If you take out the Not Sure 36%, it would be Brown 38%, Parker 30%, and Locke 20%. It wasn’t too long ago that the experts were dismissing Peter’s chances. Not anymore as nervousness builds in the Parker and Locke campaigns. I’m glad I’m on the sidelines in this race.

In other news, the ‘Stros wrap up the first round of skipper interviews today as the playoffs continue.

Technorati Tags: Marc Campos,Campos Communications,Latino politics,Texas Latino Politics,Houston Astros,Major League Baseball,HISD School Board elections,Anna Eastman,Gene Locke,Annise Parker,Peter Brown,Houston Mayoral Race,Houston Independent School District,Houston Politics,Houston Elections

Read Full Post »