My Mom still gets around the house but doesn’t drive these days. My Dad does drive but has undergone eye surgery recently so he hung up the car keys for the time being. This past Friday my Mom called to let me know that their mail ballot had arrived and on the return envelope it said you had to plunk down a 69 cent stamp instead of a Forever stamp. Who in the heck has a 69 cent stamp laying around? She said she didn’t like the idea of slapping on two Forevers on the envelope. I don’t blame her. Since I was planning to visit the next day to bring them some grub, I told them I would stop by the post office and buy a couple of 69ers out of the postage gizmo in the lobby.
I rarely handle mail ballots, but this is the first time I have ever seen the “69 cent postage due” printed on the return envelope. I am thinking that some older voters might miss the 69 cent notice and will just stick a Forever on the envelope. I hope they don’t get their ballot returned or lost.
I am thinking I don’t like the sound of this.
A couple of weeks or so ago the Chron E-Board endorsed the GOP Harris County Clerk. Here is what they said about him this past Saturday on their regular weekend “Ups and down:”
(Thumbs down) Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart administers county and state elections. Our view is that he should maintain an appearance of objectivity. However, in a recent political mailer he urges voters to pull a straight Republican ticket. His action provides further evidence that election activities should be presided over by a nonpartisan who doesn’t have to genuflect as a party apparatchik to get elected.
Well, you endorsed him!
Congrats to KC and B’More for sweeping the ALDS in three. What was the ‘Stros record this season against both of these ALCS teams?
All and all I think the Chron E-Board has gotten a bit more politically savvy lately. Last week I noticed a flurry of twitter chatter coming from the Harris County Sheriff’s Office on an incident that was reported by a local news media outlet. This past Friday the Chron E-Board put out a take on the incident and here is how it started:
Looking like a man worried about his political future, Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia held a news conference to address a chilling scandal at the county jail.
I have to admit that the thought certainly crossed my mind.
Here is the entire E-Board take on the Sheriff: http://www.chron.com/opinion/editorials/article/Jail-scandal-5797616.php.
The lead front page story in yesterday’s Chron was on Latino voter turnout in this year’s election. Si se puede o no se puede? Lack of action on immigration is once again discussed as a possible decisive factor. The Chron story is behind the paywall so I can’t bring it to you. Here is how it starts:
The historic tide of Latino voters that lifted President Barack Obama in 2012 and raised alarms among Texas Republicans may be ebbing with the approach of the 2014 elections, when the GOP is expected to make gains in Congress and maintain its dominance in Texas.
While the rapid growth of the nation’s Hispanic population has fueled the hopes of Democrats both nationally and in Texas, some leaders say it could be a struggle to turn out Latino voters with the current stalemate on immigration reform, a strong driver of Hispanic voter mobilization.
Though Texas has long lagged in Hispanic voter turnout, Democrats in the Lone Star state – home to nearly one in five of all U.S. Hispanics – remain optimistic after more than a year of intensive grassroots effort registering potential Latino voters.
“There are things happening here that are different,” said Rebecca Acuña, spokeswoman for Democratic State Sen. Wendy Davis, who is mounting a come-from-behind campaign for governor against Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott.
I am maybe going out on a limb and say Latino voter turnout might be better than expected. The issue is getting a lot of press and media coverage so that helps. Team Davis and AG Abbott are both on Spanish language TV and that also helps. We will know something for sure in about 15 days when we can start looking at Early Voting in Person turnouts.
I hope you got to watch a couple of epic MLB playoff games this past weekend. Friday’s come-from-behind San Luis 10-9 win over the Dodgers was incredible. Saturday night’s 18 inning Giants 2-1 win over the Nats was a record setting classic. Yep, the ‘Stros’ 18 inning win over The ATL in Game 4 of the 2005 NLDS is now the second longest playoff game in MLB history.
We were 3-3 versus KC and 3-4 against B’More of course. Not bad at all.
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