The Great Brown Hope?

The SA Express News has a piece on P-Bush today about a visit to the Rio Grande Valley.  Is P-Bush the vehicle the GOP needs to attract Latino voters?  Check this from the piece:

At a reception for Bush later Thursday, R. David Guerra, president and CEO of the International Bank of Commerce in McAllen, said he is curious about Bush.  “I want to hear his philosophy and try to understand him. Is he a moderate Republican, is he right-wing, old party line, or is he going to be an individual who can compete for statewide office against individuals like the Castro brothers in San Antonio (who) are very politically astute? That’s the kind of young people that are emerging in the state.

I could not agree more.  The P-Bush fella needs to show some substance.  Here is what he said down there:

“Who here thinks taxes are too high?” he asked as raised hands filled the room. “I would agree … we need to dramatically reform our tax code.”

That’s not what Latinos want to hear.

Here is the entire article.

The other side decided to drop a bunch of dough on TV ads for today and tomorrow.  What’s that all about?  We had to do the same.  I’ll have more to say about the race Monday.

Some would say that the 1980 ‘Stros were a pretty good team.  Name the 1980 Opening Day line-up?

My God Daughter and niece Rachel is celebrating another birthday today sorta. She’s a leap year baby.  Happy Birthday Rachel!

In the Chron today there is a story about the Harris County Department of Education hiring former County Commissioner Jerry Eversole to lobby.  I don’t know if that is a good move.  I don’t think it will last.  What were they thinking?

There is a story in the Chron today about dynamic pricing at The Yard.  That’s when they stick it to you when the Yankees or Red Sox come to town or for Opening Day.  I don’t have a problem since it doesn’t apply to Commentary.

Terry Puhl, Craig Reynolds, Cesar Cedeno, Joe Morgan, Jose Cruz, Enos Cabell, Art Howe, Alan Ashby, and J.R. Richard were the Opening Day starters in 1980 of course.

Opening Day is 30 days away!

 

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Final Early Voting in SD6 Special

Early Voting in the SD6 Special is history and here is what we have.

8,780 have cast ballots as compared to 16,511 in Round 1 – that’s 53.2%.

5,526 Voted Early in Person as compared to 5,369 in Round 1.

There is really no point in debating how many voters will participate this Saturday.

In 1962 when MLB first came to H-Town, who was the lead-off batter for the Colt 45s on Opening Day?

The Chron has a story on the SD6 special.  Here is a part:

"Substantively," said Rice University political science professor Robert Stein, "the two candidates, with minor exceptions, are in lockstep … Carol is a new-breed Latina. Sylvia is old school."

The story quotes a couple of Republicans. Check this:

"Rep. Alvarado is an effective leader in the Legislature, and will represent the true interests of her state Senate seat,"  (State Sen. Larry) Taylor said in an email.

Harris County Republican Party Chairman Jared Woodfill disagreed, dismissing both candidates as "very liberal voices" who would promote the "Obama strategy."

I guess Jared didn’t get the memo.

I guess Sen. Taylor didn’t get the memo.

I guess Jared didn’t get the memo.

I guess Sen. Taylor didn’t get the memo.

I guess Jared didn’t get the memo.

I guess Sen. Taylor didn’t get the memo.

I’m glad somebody remembers this:

"I hate to say that’s politics," said (Renee) Cross (associate director of the University of Houston’s Hobby Center for Public Policy), alluding to attack ads that have appeared in recent weeks. "From what I can see, the Garcia campaign came out with negative ads before the special elections. Now, Alvarado is countering before the runoff. It is nasty. I guess that’s not surprising."

Here is the entire story.

With all the talk about money being contributed in the SD6 Special, it turns out that Andrea – a children books author – and former H-Town Mayor Bill White – also our Democratic nominee for Governor in 2010 and a former Chair of the Texas Democratic Party – are Carol’s largest individual donors in this race – add it up.

Third baseman Bob Aspromonte of course was lead-off batter for the Colt 45s on Opening Day in 1962.

I don’t have anything from Spring Training this morning.

 

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SD6 Special Turnout

Should we be disappointed or surprised that the turnout in Round 1 of the SD6 Special was just under 6%?  After all, in Round 1 both campaigns combined spent over a million in field, ads, and mail and less that 17,000 took the time to vote.

We should be disappointed but not surprised.

This is a race folks aren’t talking about at the office.  The race isn’t on CNN, MSNBC or Fox News. 

In Commentary’s opinion, the local media hasn’t given the race the coverage it deserves.

Folks here aren’t used to going to the polls in January or February.

Some folks probably think that either way a Dem is going to get elected so why invest in thinking about making a pick.

There is probably a little bit of voter exhaustion going on since we just went through a hectic 2012 with late primaries and runoffs and the November elections.

It’s still disappointing.

Excuses, reasons, or factors, or all of the above! 

Everyone knows that B-G-O leads the ‘Stros in getting hit by pitches all time with 285 dings.  Name the ‘Stro who is numero 2 on the all time list?

Congress needs to adopt the shot clock of sorts. U.S. Senator John Cornyn is playing the stall tactic card when it comes to immigration reform.  Check this from the SA Express News:

“I believe we have a long, long way to go,” Cornyn said

Check out the entire piece here.

Here’s the deal.  He can stall all he wants but it is going to bite GOP candidates in the arse in 2014 in districts throughout the country where there are a significant number of Latino voters.

Sen. Cornyn might be OK in 2014, but he is not doing his party any favors by being part of the stall game.  He’s not looking at the big picture.

On the St. Valentine’s Day Commentary wants to give a shout out to the women of the campaign including MariGirl, Vilma, Priscilla, Darcy, Brenda, Yolanda, Ida, Sheryl, Pat, Lisi, and Gaby!  They are doing a heck of a job!  I also want to give a special shout out to Carol – the hardest working candidate on the planet!

BTW:  We’re numero 1 on the ballot!

Commentary is going to try to give up salty language, err swearing for lent. 

The President’s mug across the street from the Breakfast Klub got vandalized again.  Those guys ought to get a security camera installed or ask for Secret Service protection if you ask me.

Baggy of course is second on the ‘Stros all time list for getting dinged at the plate with 128.

Some fella named Robert Ford and former MLB pitcher Steve Sparks will be in the radio booth for the ‘Stros this season.   They met each other for the first time yesterday.  I guess that’s how they do things at The Yard these days.

Happy Valentine’s Day and trying spreading the love for Carol today!

 

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Election Day Denial

A few GOP members of congress and some GOP talking heads are in big time denial when they refer to last Tuesday’s results as a status quo election.  You gotta be kidding!

A president was reelected with a 7.9% unemployment rate.  The GOP only got 27% of the Latino vote (23% according to Latino Decisions), about a third of the Asian American vote, and around 5% of the African American vote.  Three states voted for marriage equality.  Two states voted to legalize pot.  The President racked up 332 electors.  At the beginning of the year, the betting was Dems would lose the Senate but on E-Day we picked up two seats.  None of this sounds like status quo to me.

Oh yeah, I forgot – Karl Rove spent $300 mil and got nada.

Name the skippers who are tied for the most World Serious rings in MLB history as skippers?

Commentary is proud of the fact that I was the first to start talking about Dems needing to engage Latino vote in the Lone Star State.  That was over a decade and a half ago.  Now it seems that everyone is talking about it.   Here is from a story I got off of the Star Telegram:

Political experts and Hispanic leaders say that for Texas Democrats to pull off a transition from red to blue, the party must mobilize Hispanic voters, using the same kind of ground game that the president’s campaign workers did in Tuesday’s election.

And:

"They were in all the key states and it was critical that they turn out," said Valerie Martinez-Ebers, professor of political science at the University of North Texas and an editor of the American Political Science Review.

So-called Dreamers, undocumented children who were brought to the United States by their parents illegally, played a key role in that movement, Martinez-Ebers said.

Here is the entire piece.

Run “Latino vote” through your local search engine these days and you’ll pull up stories about the Latino vote riding in like the cavalry and saving some states for The President – cool.  Now you see some GOP leaders starting to talk about The DREAM Act and a pathway too citizenship.  Si se puede?

Here is one more story from the Chron yesterday on the Latino vote and the Lone Star State.

Dems need to invest and start working.

Commentary hardly spends anytime talking about college sports because those guys don’t get paid anything.  You have to hand it to the Aggies and their huge win over the Crimson Tide.  I think they have adjusted quite well to life in the SEC.

Commentary isn’t going to spend time on the general and his biographer. What is the point? 

I’ll tell you what, there aren’t going to be very many Thanksgiving Dinners in H-Town next week starting at 11:30 am – that’s for sure.

The late greats Joe McCarthy (Yankees – 1932, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941 and 1943) and Casey Stengel (Yankees – 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1956 and 1958) have seven World Serious rings apiece of course.

I don’t have anything from The Yard.

 

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Credit The DREAMers

I was out in Northwest Harris County this morning before the polls opened and there were lines forming.

Name the ‘Stros that had dingers in the 2005 World Serious? 

For today’s take, I think it is appropriate on this E-Day to put in an op-ed that ran in yesterday’s HuffPo that MariGirl help put together. The op-ed is authored by Cristina Jiménez, Managing Director of United We Dream.  Here goes:

The influence of immigrant youth leaders, also known as DREAMers, was felt in June with the announcement of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and will be felt again on election day. DACA, announced by the Obama Administration on June 15, allows a specific group of undocumented youth to live without fear of deportation for 2 years, and to fully contribute to America. This policy came as a result of years of hard work by DREAMers, their allies and their families. For 2 years DREAMers led a grassroots campaign to stop the administration from deporting them and won relief. While this may seem like the only victory they have achieved, it is not. They have also won the hearts and minds of Latino voters. The victory of DACA is directly responsible for the increased enthusiasm by Latino voters.

Both Democrat and Republican talking heads have made deferred action and the protection of DREAMers the number one talking point when it comes issues that matter to Latino voters. Accomplishing this feat wasn’t easy. Under President Obama’s tenure, DREAMers saw an alarming increase in cases of DREAMers being detained and shuffled into deportation proceedings. As immigrant youth leaders, we came together and created campaigns to stop these deportations, while pointing out to the nation and the administration that the immigration policies they were enforcing were failing spectacularly.

Every day, we saw stories of undocumented youth and their families being detained and put into deportation proceedings and the Latino community took notice. Immigration is a key filter issue for Latino families. Jobs, health care and the economy are important but immigration is what will get you into our living room to discuss those issues. It didn’t take long for Latino leaders to hold the Obama Administration’s feet to the fire. There were just too many injustices happening and our community was not going to stand on the sidelines while families were being separated. The Latino vote was up for grabs and it wasn’t very happy with President Obama.

When the announcement was made, we celebrated. It was as a step in the right direction but our work continues. Our mothers and fathers, tios and tias, are still being detained and deported. And while deferred action was one step in the right path, some states still refuse to grant those of us who have been approved for deferred action driver’s licenses. Immigration — particularly as it affects us young, law-abiding, hardworking, aspiring citizens — resonates more and more with Americans, not just Latinos. We still need a permanent solution, and it remains our top priority.

Latino voters are critical in determining who will win the White House and control Congress. That is why DREAMErs have intensified their voter education and mobilizing efforts is states like Arizona, Colorado and Florida.

That work is already paying off — in Arizona, where SB 1070 is law, 60 percent of Latinos are more motivated to vote this year than four years ago. In Colorado, 69 percent of Latinos were "very enthusiastic" about voting in two weeks. In Virginia, an astonishing 73 percent of Latinos expressed similar levels of enthusiasm about voting this year. And in Florida, possibly the most swing state this past decade, 53 percent of Latinos stated that deferred action made them "more enthusiastic" about voting for President Obama.

Regardless of the election results for president and congressional races, we will continue to push for permanent solutions that provide a path to citizenship for our families, ending enforcement policies that have broken up so many families, and focusing on action at the state level, so aspiring citizens can be granted licenses and benefit from in-state tuition at state universities.

Nice job MariGirl!  If the Latino vote helps turn this election, give major credit to Cristina, MariGirl, United We Dream, and DREAMers  all across the U.S. of A.

Morgan Ensberg, Mike Lamb, and Jason Lane of course had dingers in the 2005 World Serious.

It is just about all over but the crying so go vote and vote for outstanding candidates like Traci Jensen.

Former MLBer and four-time All Star Dennis Martinez is now bullpen coach for the ‘Stros. 

 

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Sandy Votes Too and the Ticket to Ride

Sandy decided to cast her vote and there isn’t a single GOP Voter I.D. law or voter suppression effort out there that can stop her.  Sandy also decided to get involved in the campaign for Prez.  I don’t know what impact she will have but she certainly has most of the media coverage today. One thing is for sure, if the Prez wins, Tea Baggers will call foul and demand a rerun claiming Sandy originated in Kenya.

The Chron E-Board yesterday said that voting the straight ticket is a disaster and a menace.  I don’t know about it being the end of the world.  Here is from the E-Board:

Straight ticket voting is entirely too widespread, not only in Harris County, but all across Texas. It is a menace to our democracy beyond even robo-calls and pollsters calling at supper time.

Here is the entire editorial.

I’ll say this.  If any of those running on the GOP side tell me that the Tea Party if full of s__t , that they support The DREAM Act, that they don’t have a problem with marriage equality, and that they think that cutting education funding was a huge mistake, and that they know that The President was born in Hawaii, then maybe I’ll consider not voting the straight ticket.

My baby don’t care, my baby don’t care. My baby don’t care!

After Day 7 of Early Voting in Person in Harris County we’re at 362,827 compared to 314,252 after Day 7 in 2008.  We’re at 53.5% of the 2008 total.  Locally, Clear Lake is at 55.7%, Cypress Top 63.4%, Tomball 58.6%, Franz 49.2%, Tracy Gee 54.7%, Acres Home 42.8%, Northeast 50.6%, Sunnyside 57.6%  Ripley 49.2%, HCC 47.2%, and Baytown 52.5% – got it!

The Tigers only scored 6 measly runs in their World Serious four game flop.  What are the most runs ever scored by a team in a single World Serious game?

The good news from Latino Decisions latest polling:

Obama has the support of 73% of all Latino registered voters, compared to 21% who favor Romney.

The best interviewer in campaign politics bar none is CNN’s Soledad O’Brien.  She shreds the talking points.  Here is from a Politico story today:

O’Brien says this isn’t a partisan objective: “It’s about doing a good interview,” she said. “If someone is lying to you on the left, or if someone is lying to you on the right, as a journalist you’re going to be embarrassed because you didn’t catch a lie. You have to catch people if their spinning you. You can’t just let people come on and spin and spin and spin you.”

Check out the entire piece here.

Go Soledad!

The Yankees scored 18 runs of course against the Giants in Game 2 of the 1936 World Serious.

The ‘Stros new logo was accidentally leaked this past Friday and it looks to be a remake of the orange star and white H.  We will know for sure this Friday.

 

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Tomorrow Evening

Don’t forget to join us to celebrate the life of a great journalist and our dear friend — Lori Rodriguez.

From 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday (Saturday), June 30, 2012 at the Downtown Club at the Met. 

You enter through the 6th Floor of the Parking Garage at the Allen Center, 340 West Dallas Street.

I am honored that I have been asked to say a few words tomorrow.  We hope to see you there.

Last night Commentary accepted the Best Politics Blog Award at the 2012 Second Annual Houston Web Awards presented by the Houston Press.  MariGirl couldn’t make it so 20/10 went with me.  There were a lot of folks in attendance.

One of the highlights of the evening was spending a little time with fellow recipient Houston Texans linebacker Connor Barwin who took home the Best Local Sports Star Twitter Award.  (Later on today you can go to my website and check out our photo together).   Barwin is all muscle for sure.  He was definitely enjoying the evening and having fun.  He was very appreciative when I told him it was great to see him come out in support of marriage equality.  A couple or so months ago Barwin was interviewed by Outsports Magazine where he said he was for marriage equality – cool. 

If they ever give an award for Best Class Act Ever on Television, my vote goes to no longer “Today Show” Co-Host Ann Curry.  She said a tearful adios yesterday with this memorable line:

"For all of you who saw me as a groundbreaker, I’m sorry I couldn’t carry the ball over the finish line but, man, I did try.”

For the past week or so while the lawyers worked out her departure details she could have just packed it in and slept late.  Instead she showed up to work and yesterday she handled her farewell with class and dignity.  Good luck Ann!

Obamacare!  From the 1931 classic: “Look! It’s moving. It’s alive. It’s alive… It’s alive, it’s moving, it’s alive, it’s alive, it’s alive, it’s alive, IT’S ALIVE!”

Befuddled outrage is the best way to describe the reaction of GOP right wingers to yesterday’s decision by the Supremes.  They thought they had the votes.  Heck, I thought they had the votes.   That’s why yesterday’s decision was highly anticipated because most folks thought the individual mandate was going into the trash can.  A 43 appointee saved The President’s most prized accomplishment of his first term – go figure.  The Chief Justice now gets on the cover of today’s Time Magazine, a couple of weeks after The DREAMERS.   There is a lot of teeth gnashing and hair pulling going on in halls of the right wing.   It’s been fun watching the GOP’s supreme reaction the last couple of days.  Heck, I even listened to that Rush fella just to hear him bawl.  Scoreboard POTUS!

Who was the last ‘Stro to bat in a post season game?

My fellow Dems will probably get mad at Commentary for giving advice to the GOP on the Latino vote.  I’ll give it anyway because they won’t listen to me.  It is about talking immigration smack.   You won’t listen to your own GOP consultant Ana Navarro who says the GOP needs to come up with an immigration plan that Latinos can embrace.  They won’t listen to her.  If you are not going to listen to her then keep quiet.

Immigration and The DREAM Act have become one of those hot button issues in our community.  Sure we also want jobs and a more stable economy but immigration and The DREAMERS stir things up because you are talking about me – you talking to me?  Then when the media and talking heads provides a backdrop like Latinos can make the difference in places like Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, and New Mexico, that really gets the sangre flowing.  

Following Navarro’s advice with a gimmick free DREAM Act and pathway to citizenship immigration reform would score huge points in the Latino community.   Of course, the GOP is not going to follow Navarro’s advice because the Tea Baggers won’t let them.   Then the GOP allows Arizona GOP Governor Jan Brewer to be one of the faces of their immigrant bashing rhetoric.  That’s like riding into the barrio waving the Jolly Roger.  Every time her mug is shown on Univision it is met with a chorus of boos throughout the Latino community.

The H-Town City Council Committee on Ethics, Elections and Council Governance chaired by CM C.O. “Brad” Bradford will meet on July 9 to discuss the term limits proposal.  They will hear presentations from Dr. Michael Adams from Texas Southern University, Dr. Robert Stein from Rice University, and Robert Lemer with Citizens for Public Accountability.  I may drop by since the ‘Stros are on All Star break that day.

Former ‘Stro Orlando Palmeiro pinch hit of course in the bottom of the ninth with two outs in Game 4 of the 2005 World Serious and grounded out to shortstop for the final out in our 1-0 loss to the White Sox.

I don’t even want to talk about coming home last night and watching Brett Myers’ meltdown and turning a 3-1 lead into a 7-3 loss in the ninth inning – ouch!

 

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Happy Birthday, MariGirl!

MariGirl is celebrating her 27^th BD at home today.  She had a freak accident a couple of nights ago and dinged up her right leg and is now on crutches.  That’s way too bad considering the great news she received last week.  Oh, well!  Happy Birthday Marisol Valero!!!

Commentary will be at the following next Saturday and you are welcome to attend:

Join us to celebrate the life of a great journalist and our dear friend — Lori Rodriguez.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Downtown Club at the Met.
6th Floor of the Parking Garage at the Allen Center
340 West Dallas Street (Between Clay Street and the Pierce Elevated)

Well here it is.  I’m talking about the first details of the proposed $1.9 bil HISD bond program.  It is a whopper for sure.  Ericka Mellon of the Chron kind of echoes what Commentary has been saying the last couple of weeks.  Check this:

Early polling says more voters would support than resist an HISD bond, though organized opposition and other referendums on the ballot could be threats to passage.

I’m sure the proposed package will be amended before it gets to a ballot near you so stay tuned.

Check out the Chron story here for details.

What happened at The Yard six years ago this evening (6/22/06)?

Mitt Romney spoke to NALEO yesterday and said he would move forward on an immigration plan.  This is the same fella that a few months ago said he would veto The DREAM Act and wanted folks to self deport.  I can’t wait for Romney and The President to debate this issue later this fall.  Commentary considers State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer one of the Lone Star State Dems better spokespersons on the key issues.  He’s as good as they get.  Here is from the Chron:

"I’m glad I heard this speech at Disney World, because it shows he is living in a fantasy land," said Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, a Texas House member and president of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus.

The President speaks to NALEO today.

I kind of have knowledge on things like the “Today Show”.  Every morning since the ‘70s I’ve been sharing my mornings with Barbara Walters, Jane Pauley, Deborah Norville, Katie Couric, Meredith Viera, and now Ann Curry.  As I said yesterday there are stories out there that say NBC is going to replace Curry because the ratings are down.  Some folks say she is not suited to co-host a morning news show because she’s too stiff and not too chipper.  As we all know, morning news shows are not all hard news.  They do a lot of entertainment news.  They do consumer product segments and they do a lot of live cooking.  Some folks are saying she’s not good at the give and take banter and one liners that these shows require.  I don’t know about that.

I do know that she is the only “Today Show” female co-anchor that has color in her blood.  Curry is half Japanese.  Of course I don’t want to go there because Bryant Gumbel is African American and they were number one in the ratings when he left.  According to reports, Savannah Guthrie would replace Curry if Curry is shown the door.  I also don’t know about that.  Why pass over Natalie Morales who just happens to be half Brazilian and the other half Puerto Rican? 

Beginning next year H-Town will have five sports talk radio stations.  Right now we have Sports 610 that Commentary listens to and CBS owns.    We also have Clear Channel’s 790 AM, 97.5 FM, an ESPN Radio affiliate, and 1560 AM, the flagship of Yahoo! Sport Radio.  Now we are going to add CBS’s 650 AM.  It doesn’t matter to Commentary because I just listen to Sports 610 unless one of the other stations is carrying a game I want to hear.

On June 22, 2006, The Rocket had one of his un-retirement debuts of course as the ‘Stros lost to the Twins 4-1.  The Rockets pitched 5 innings, gave up two runs, and took the loss.  The Rockets was also wearing his numero 22 on June 22.

Commentary has not heard back from the ‘Stros on what The Rocket will be doing but the Houston Press lists the following “dimensions” The Rocket would add so check it out.

The Tribe is in town for 3 as they hand out B-G-O bobbleheads this evening.  I’ll be there of course!

 

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First and Last

This is the first time (I think) and hopefully the last time we have ever had an Election Day the day after a national holiday.  We really can’t measure it against anything in the past and hopefully we will never have to measure against anything in the future.  For Dems here in Harris County, if more folks vote during early voting than vote tomorrow, turnout is going to s__k atrociously rather than s__king normally.

In 2010, in the Harris County Dem Party Primary, 33,771 voted early in person and 6,959 voted by mail.  In 2012, 30,142 voted early in person, and to date, 7,735 have mailed in their ballots.  There are still 5,352 Dem mail ballots out there that still haven’t been returned.

West Gray (2,188) was knocked off of its perch and fell to third place and replaced by Sunnyside (2,599), followed by Fiesta (2,239).  Palm Center was fourth (2,132), Northeast was fifth (1,960), and Acres Home sixth (1,897).  Now that is interesting.  

Remember when we were little the grown-ups used to tell us to be careful and not play with matches because we could start a fire.  I guess the Lite Guv and Ted Cruz campaigns didn’t listen to the grown-ups.  It seems like the incendiary immigrant bashing by the GOPers started a kitchen fire of sorts.   The Lite Guv’s campaign has an ad running accusing Ted Cruz of supporting amnesty and the Cruz campaign pulled the crybaby act.  Check out from the Star Telegram:

The Dewhurst campaign made available for comment Jacob Monty, who serves with Cruz on the board of the Hispanic Alliance for Prosperity Institute and said the right-leaning policy group has "been champions of immigration reform since 2002."

Monty added of Cruz, "he defended our position. But that was pre-tea party."

"I think it’s a fallacy that, in order to be elected, you have to use illegal as a noun and call people ‘illegals,’ " he said. "Ted Cruz was there with us. He’s not there now."

The Cruz campaign countered with its own surrogate, George P. Bush, who serves on the boards of both the Hispanic Alliance for Prosperity and the Hispanic Leadership Fund.

"It’s very disappointing to see David Dewhurst resort to blatantly false attack ads," Bush, nephew of former President George W. Bush, said in a statement. "I was offended not only as a Hispanic but as a Republican."
Awwwwww!

Here is the entire Star Telegram piece.

I pulled this from the Trib:

"When I first heard this false attack ad, I was offended not only as a Hispanic but as a Republican," Bush said in a statement. "We are a party of inclusion that welcomes the fastest growing demographic in our state that largely shares our conservative values of limited government, strengthening the family and supporting small business."

Shut up!  You don’t belong to the party of inclusion and your party is not interested in helping out the fastest growing demographic!  In fact, your party would love to figure out a way to make us Latinos disappear!  Callate! 

Everybody knows that the MLB Wild Card was started in 1995 and this year we will have two Wild Card teams in each league.  Name the teams that have been the Wild Card winners the most in both the AL and the NL?

This election season we have learned that conservatives have four caucuses.  We’ve got severely conservatives, movement conservatives, establishment conservatives, and constitutional conservatives. Got it? 

If the Lite Guv doesn’t put Ted Cruz away tomorrow, over the next to months we will also get introduced to the rabid conservatives and the frothing at the mouth conservatives.

Roll Call:  On Friday I received a Cindy Vara-Leija for Precinct 1 Constable mail piece, on Saturday I got a Zack Fertitta for DA robo call, yesterday I received a Sheriff Garcia robo call, and last night I got a Back to Basics PAC live call for Judge Kirkland.

The Red Sox of course have been the Wild Card team 7 times (1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, and 2009) to lead the AL and the Rockies of course have been the Wild Card team 3 times (1995, 2007, and 2009) to lead the NL.

Speaking of the Rockies, the ‘Stros play this afternoon and evening in a scheduled doubleheader at Coors – cool.  We’re 22-25 as we were only able to get one at Chavez Ravine this past weekend.  Let’s play two!

 

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Tacos and Voters

First things first:  Commentary’s Mom is celebrating her BD today.  Happy Birthday, Mom!

Julie Luna is celebrating her BD today.  Happy Birthday, Julie! (My Best Friend Al is Julie’s hubby).

Commentary will be on Access TV today talking about local races so check it out at 6 pm today.

222 taquitos, err folks showed up to vote at Bayland this past Saturday thanks to the Tacos and Votes community gathering.  The 222 was the second best of the day among Dem locations.  West Gray was tops with 232.

The following help put together the event Saturday – it is from their press release:

Participants in the consortium of non-partisan groups and individuals: Familias Inmigrantes y Estudiantes en la Lucha (FIEL), Greater Houston Civic Coalition, Latino Giving Houston, League of Women Voters of the Houston Area, Mexican-American Bar Association of Houston (MABAH), Mi Familia Vota, NALEO Educational Fund, National Hispanic Professional Organization (NHPO), NHPO Leadership Institute, Texas League of Young Voters Education Fund and the UNO Project.

The Chron has a story today on EV and mentions the Bayland event.  Here is a taste:

Bayland Park, where the event was held, is located in District J, an area that has historically had low voter turnout, said Claudia Ortega-Hogue, state director for civic engagement for the National Association of Elected and Appointed Officials. Latinos make up 60 percent of the voting age in District J, but only about 17 percent are registered to vote, she said.

While the upcoming general election will center on the presidential race, Ortega-Hogue said the Latino community needs to remember to participate at the state and local level.

More must be done to energize the community, advocates said.

"We see this as a first step in Latino civic engagement," (Mi Familia Vota state director Carlos) Duarte said.

Here is the entire Chron article.

It was great to see their efforts pay off.  Way to go!

West Gray voters read Commentary – that’s for sure.  They are getting off of their arses.   After EV Day 7, West Gray is poised to take back the lead in Dem EV turnout.  They are at numero 2 with 941, right behind Sunnyside’s 951.

Two years ago, 33,771 Dems voted early in person in Harris County.  After 2012 Day 7, 11,580 Dems have voted early in person.  Let’s see how the rest of the week goes.

With 2,504 career wins as a MLB skipper, this former skipper is numero 4 on the all time career win list.  Who am I talking about?

Bonus:  At The Yard this past weekend, there were three players that saw action that were all picked in the First Round of the 1999 MLB Amateur Player Draft – name the three? 

The Stop the Magnet, err Madness folks were at West Gray yesterday gathering signatures on their immigrant bashing petitions.  Stay tuned!

According to a just released UT-Texas Trib poll, the Lite Guv and Ted Cruz could be headed into a run-off in the GOP U.S. Senate race.  I’m OK with that.  The Lite Guv dropped by West Gray yesterday.

Here is a Chron.com piece on the poll.

Roll Call:  Friday’s mailers included Traci Jensen for SBOE, Dist. 6, Constable Precinct 1 candidate Cindy Vara-Leija, and the Houston GLBT Caucus endorsements card.  I got a live call from the Lane Lewis for Dem Party Chair Campaign.

Kristen Wiig got a nice send-off on “SNL” the other night.   She got hugs and kisses from her fellow cast members while the Rolling Stones’ "She’s a Rainbow” and "Ruby Tuesday” played.  It was definitely a teary eye TV moment.  Mick Jagger was a great guest host.

Former The ATL skipper Bobby Cox sits at numero 4 of course with 2,504 career wins.  Cox is celebrating his 71^st BD today.

Ranger Josh Hamilton (1^st pick by Rays), ‘Stro Brett Myers (12^th pick by Philly), and Rangers Colby Lewis (supplemental, 38^th overall by Rangers) were 1999 first round draft picks of course and all saw action this past weekend at The Yard.  Hamilton is celebrating his 31^st BD today.

As expected, there were a whole lot of Ranger fans at The Yard this weekend.  Saturday was SRO.  We were only able to take one and it was a doozey of a thriller that ended in a weird DP that went Numero 45 to shortstop Jed Lowrie to closer Brett Myers – huh!  The Cubbies are now in for three.

 

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