Anatomy of a Tweet

This past Saturday I checked my mailbox and I found a mailer that included skeletons and it was an attack mailer on Ben Hall.  I don’t have a problem with this because that is the name of the game.  I thought the skeletons were kind of creative it being 17 days from trick or treat and the skeletons referenced Ben Hall’s closet.

I checked the disclaimer and it said Houston Turnout Project.  I could not find them on the City’s political action committee list or with the Texas Ethics Commission so I put them in the google run and found a not so fresh website.  On one page was a generic message to vote in the 2009 elections and on another was touting the H-Town Mayor running for Mayor before she became a Mayor back in 2009.  I just made the assumption that this was one of those so called independent expenditures not so aligned – wink-wink – with The Mayor’s campaign.  According to the website, it certainly didn’t look like the IE had been doing a whole lot of turning out voters since 2009.

Here is what I tweeted:

@anniseparker to @Benhallforall: “Dem bones, Dem bones, Dem dry bones!”. pic.twitter.com/sLwYxY26yF

The “Dem bones” was a reference to the song “the foot bone connected to the ankle bone” tune to kind of inject a little humor into the mailer and tweet.

If Commentary had seen or heard of Houston Turnout Project activity over the past four years, my tweet probably would have looked different.

Name the Red Sox with the most dingers in a season?

Let’s get back to my Saturday night tweet.  The Chron and a few others retweeted my tweet and called it a negative mailer and it brought a quick denial and pushback from The Mayor’s Campaign.  They said to check out the disclaimer.  The Chron immediately tweeted a correction and Commentary kind of clarified a correction via tweet.

I guess the Mayor’s Campaign had to point out the disclaimer on the attack. Of course all they have done on TV is go negative so stay tuned.

The Chron E-Board as expected endorsed The Mayor yesterday.  They also had a lengthy piece on her.

I would hope that Dems would have enough sense to make sure The Kinkhole isn’t on next year’s ticket.

Some of the Texans players were not happy with some fans booing Matt Schaub when he went down yesterday.  I don’t want to defend the fans that booed but you have to expect this when a whole frenzy is created over a football team and just about everyone in H-Town contributes to the frenzy.

In 2006, Big Papi hit 54 dingers and is the top Red Sox of course for most dingers in a season.

Big Papi hit a game tying grand salami last night as the Red Sox went on to beat the Tigers in Game 2 of the ALCS at Fenway.  It was a Salty and Papi night.

The only thing to say about the Texans is scoreboard.  I wonder when the ‘Stros report to training camp?

 

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Voter Turnout

Commentary is thinking that we could be heading into a very low turnout election where only the hard core voters show up this November.  Here we are on September 19 and there are no TV ads running in the mayoral contest.  The only activity is on twitter or at endorsement meetings and that isn’t going to cut it.

Some of the district races are generating activity but not enough to move the voter turnout needle.  Commentary initially thought that the Dome vote might get some folks worked up but that’s not happening.

I hear a lot more about next year’s race for governor than what is going to happen this November.

Here is kind of a scary thought.  Some folks are saying that the two major mayoral candidates know they are headed to a runoff so they want to hold on to their resources for as long as they can so they can have some in Round 2.  What do I know?

Name the MLB pitching staff that has issued the most bases on balls – walks?

Congrats go to the new Editor of the Chron.  Maybe a set of fresh eyes will get the Chron to start getting serious about covering local political campaigns.  Heck, the SA Express does so why can’t the Chron? 

There are other things to cover in H-Town city politics other than pensions you know.

The ‘Stros pitchers of course have walked 588 opposing batters to lead the MLB.  Walks killed us last night.

If you like the MLB then you have to like watching the Wild Card chase.  The “Stros visit the contending Tribe this evening then next week we go to Arlington.  Hopefully the Yankees will still be relevant when we close out the season with three starting next Friday.

 

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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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We Won, They Didn’t

The Tea Baggers have to get used to The President for four more years.  It is going to be tough to keep hate alive for four more years, four more years, four more years!

Speaking of Obama, name the only player to ever win the World Serious MVP with a first name that begins with the letter O?

I’m not going to say nothing about it being 9 am and the County still only reporting 1,055 of 1,064 precincts with a bunch of judges and candidates wondering what they will be doing in January.

I’m also not going to say much about the H-Town area voters being in a FORgiving mood yesterday on the bonds.

I’m going to miss watching Romney flop and flip.

2016 will begin later tonight for sure.

Orel Hershiser of the Dodgers of course won the World Serious MVP Award of course in 1988.

That’s all I have and nothing 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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Election Eve Observations

Harris County Commissioner Steve Radack is real good at having his county crews go by the county owned Early Vote locations in his precinct and clean up all the candidate signs at the end of Early Voting.  They are usually all gone by noon the day after the end of Early Voting.  His crews did a less than stellar job Saturday morning.  All the Vote Yes METRO signs are still up – interesting.  I also noticed that Vote Yes METRO signs are all over right-of-way in many part of the City and County – also interesting.

When was the last season that the team wore the blue and orange and I’m not talking about throwback gear games? 

On the front page of yesterday’s Chron, Ericka Mellon dusted up HISD Trustee Larry Marshall pretty good.  It was a real stinger.  The good news for HISD bond supporters is that maybe 60% of folks had already voted before the article hit the stands.

Check out Ericka’s article here.

FYI:  Commentary is working for the HISD bonds.

Locally everyone is talking about the 700,216 that voted early in person here in Harris County surpassing the 678,312 in 2008.  How much gas is left in the tank?  How many more folks will vote tomorrow?

The new leader in turnout for Early Voting Locations goes to Champion Forest Baptist Church out on Strack Road way up in North Harris County.  They had 38,329.  West Gray was knocked off the top and fell to numero 3 with 35,639 – down from 35,987 in 2008. What does this all mean?  I’ll let you know later this week!

I’m not going to give any election predictions even though I did on my Roundtable ballot. 

Maybe I’m getting into a touchy subject here but here goes.  Commentary was watching SNL a couple of days ago and I laughed at the skit where the sign interpreters were used. This morning deaf actress Marlee Matlin slammed SNL for poking fun at sign interpreters.  Isn’t that what SNL is supposed to do?  Oh well!

1993 of course was the last season the ‘Stros wore the blue and orange.

The ‘Stros GM is interested in talking to The Big Puma about coming back to wear the blue and orange and maybe playing DH – interesting.

Check out the story here.

I’m OK with the old new look or the new old look or the blue and orange or the orange and blue but I’ll still wear the brick red on occasion – got it!

 

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More Drop Off

On the last Thursday of Early Voting in Person in Harris County in 2008, 77,139 showed up.  Yesterday 64,315 showed up.  With one day left, we’re at 90.5% of the 2008 total.  With one day left in 2008, we were at 591,027.  With one day left today, we’re at 614,131.

We’re likely to top 2008 Early Voting in Person but not by much.

64,024 mail ballots have been returned with 28,167 still out there.

Since the beginning in 1962, the ‘Stros have won 3,999 games.  Name the team that we have beaten the most?

A former employee dropped by yesterday.  Cristina Garcia swung by yesterday and of course is a very long way from needing touching up.  She has two kids now and works for AT&T.  It was great to see her.

I got my 2012 Roundtable Presidential Pool that I have to fill out before 7 pm tonight.

Earlier this week I got an El Franco Lee mailer and yesterday I got an anti bonds mailer.

From the please don’t lecture me on the moral high ground department:  A couple of more local GOP candidates got campaign contributions from the strip club industry.

The ‘Stros have beat the Reds 399 times of course.

The ‘Stros will unveil their new look this evening – yawn!

 

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Dropping off and the Local Poll

On the last Wednesday of Early Voting in Person in Harris County in 2008, 70,621 showed up.  Yesterday 58,467 showed up.  With two days left, we’re at 81% of the 2008 total.  With two days left in 2008, we were at 513,888.  With two days left today, we’re at 549,816.  It doesn’t make sense to me!

This is from Channel 11’s Doug Miller’s story on a poll taken in Harris County:

The poll shows the president leading in Harris County with the support of 46 percent of surveyed voters, compared to Romney’s 42 percent.  Libertarian Gary Johnson cracked the survey with 2 percent.

In the U.S. Senate race, Democrat Paul Sadler’s 44 percent leads Republican Ted Cruz with 42 percent in Harris County.  With a 3.5 percent margin of error, that’s a statistical dead heat in the largest county in Texas.

And:

Republican crossover voters are helping push Democratic Sheriff Adrian Garcia to 51 percent in this survey, compared to Republican challenger Louis Guthrie’s 32 percent.  Another 13 percent were undecided.

On the other hand, many Democrats told pollsters they’re voting for Republican district attorney candidate Mike Anderson, who’s polling at 41 percent.  Nonetheless, Democrat Lloyd Oliver is close behind with 35 percent.  Another 19 percent are undecided.   That number is especially striking because Democratic Party leaders were so embarrassed by Oliver’s candidacy they tried to remove him from the ballot.

Here is the entire story.

In 2008 in Harris County, 76,187 requested mail ballots and 67,612 (88.7%) were returned and counted. 

As of yesterday 91,529 mail ballots have been mailed and 61,972 have been returned.

Name the last team the ‘Stros played at the Astrodome?

Ken Hoffman devotes his column today to robo calls. 

Check it out here.

I went through three bags of candy last night.  A lot of my neighbors went dark.  Once again most of the kids that came to my door weren’t from the ‘hood.  Who cares?

On October 9, 1999, the ‘Stros got beat by The ATL 7-5 in Game 4 of the NLDS of course and that was the last MLB game played at the Dome.

It looks like the ‘Stros can’t keep anything secret.  It looks like Orbit will return.

 

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E-Board in Cruz Control!

The Chron E-Board endorsed Ted Cruz today for U.S. Senator.  In their endorsement here is what they said about Paul Sadler:

There’s a lot we admire about Sadler, particularly his demonstrated ability to reach across the aisle and work productively with his political opponents for the good of Texas. But Sadler is practically poking at embers to keep his campaign from burning out altogether. Why? Because of a simple lack of interest and support from his own party. Sadler’s candidacy is well-meaning, but an exercise in futility.

Here is the entire endorsement editorial.

The Chron E-Board certainly makes the Lone Star State Dem Party look irrelevant.

The Yankees were swept by the Tigers yesterday.  When was the last time the Yankees were swept in post season play?

Speaking of, Newsweek will no longer be with us next year. 

Here is what the County put out yesterday evening:

As of this evening we have approved 80,311 applications and sent out 78,100 ballots.  We have received 34,104 voted ballots returned.

26,543 have been generated by the GOP and 21,843 by Dems.

It looks like Harris County is on track to outperform 20008 in mail ballot voting so stay tuned!

Early Voting in Person starts on Monday.  Are you ready?  In a few days we will be able to figure out what part of town owns the intensity card.

What’s up with A-Roid being benched?  If you are paying him a kazillion bucks, you have to play him.

It is the Friday before Early Voting in Person and the $1.5 million bond and METRO campaigns still haven’t sent me squat. I’ve heard the METRO ad on Sports 610 and it sounds kind of confusing.  I ran into an HCC bigwig last night and the bigwig isn’t happy with the HCC bond campaign.  Maybe they all think it is in the bag.

The Yankees were swept by the Royals three zip of course in the 1980 ALCS.

The new skipper was introduced to the local media yesterday.

 

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