And Another E-Board For

The Chron has a poll for readers on who won last night’s H-Town Mayoral Debate.

Check it out here.

Today the Chron E-Board endorsed H-Town CM Oliver Pennington in District G.  Again, this is not a surprise.

Check it out here.

The Red Sox are back in the ALCS.  When was the first time the Red Sox won the AL East Division title?

If you support The Mayor you probably think she won the debate.  If you support Ben Hall you probably think he won the debate.  If you support any of the other candidates, nobody cares what you think.  If you support handshakes, you probably think Ben Hall won the debate.  If you don’t think debaters should sit down in chairs that are for sitting down, you probably think Ben Hall won the debate.

If you think that going to Matt Schaub’s house for the purpose of chewing him out in front of his family is a good idea, then maybe you need to get your head checked for brain damage.

Here is a question folks should be debating today in H-Town.  Has H-Town overreacted to the lousy games the Texans’ QB has had the last three or four weeks?  It seems like it has become H-Town’s Numero 1 public policy discussion when it is only a game.   The nation is debating the GOP federal government shutdown.  The state is talking about Sen. Wendy Davis’ gubernatorial bid.  H-Town is talking about our QB situation.  Have we gone overboard?

The Red Sox won their first AL East Division title in 1975 of course and we know what happened then.

The ‘Stros owner talks about the TV mess here.

 

Technorati Tags: Marc Campos,Campos Communications,Houston Mayoral Race,Houston Elections,Houston Astros,Major League Baseball,Mayor Annisse Parker,Ben Hall

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One More E-Board For

Today’s Chron E-Board endorsement goes to District B CM Jerry Davis.  That is expected.

Check it out here.

In Sunday’s Chron there was a story written by the SA Express News’ David Saleh Rauf and Peggy Fikac on South Texas turnout being key to a Sen. Wendy Davis victory.  I don’t have a problem with that.  It would be nice though to see a piece about Houston area Latinos also being a key.  Stay tuned!

The Dodgers advanced to the NLCS last night after beating The ATL in four.  The Dodgers last won the World Serious in 1988, taking the A’s in five.  Name the 1988 World Serious MVP.

A shout out goes to Laura and John Arnold for plunking down $10 mil of their own dough to help keep Head Start running during the GOP federal government shutdown.

Here is the Chron story.

Graci Garces led District I candidates in money raised during the last reporting period.

Ben Hall gave money to Gary Polland  and his Texas Conservative Review which means Hall will be getting Polland’s endorsement. 

Dodger pitcher Orel Hershiser of course won the 1988 World Serious MVP.

The ‘Stros hired a new pitching coach yesterday so now they have to go get them some bullpen pitching

 

Technorati Tags: Marc Campos,Campos Communications,Houston Elections,Houston Politics,Graci Garces Campaign,Houston Mayoral Election,Texas Politics,State Senator Wendy Davis

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For Anna Eastman

The Chron E-Board candidate endorsements continue to be rolled out.  Today they endorsed HISD trustee candidates including District 1 Trustee and Board President Anna Eastman.  Check out this laurel and hearty endorsement:

District 1: Anna Eastman, the board president, has been a thoughtful leader and a strong advocate for tightening the board’s ethics policy. We heartily endorse her re-election.

Eastman, an HISD parent, joined the board four years ago. She believes that the turnover among the district’s best principals and teachers is too high, and that HISD needs to pay more attention to retaining and developing its staff, and not focus only on non-renewal of low performers: "You can’t fire your way to excellence."

She argues that openness is the best way to fight graft. "Corruption isn’t overt," she says. "You don’t see bad people lurking in the corners. It’s far more subtle, an assumption about the way that influence works. The best way to fight it is to make as much as possible accessible to outside third parties."

About Apollo 20, she says, "The program has noble, worthy origins, and I think it’s done an incredible job at changing school cultures. But it’s very, very expensive. The analysis that we’ve done to date shows that its biggest impact comes from the math tutors, which are the expensive part, but we haven’t seen whether their effects last beyond a year. Are there sustained performance gains?"

Way to go Anna!

Check out the rest of today’s HISD endorsements here.

The ATL got beat by the Dodgers in the NLDS opener last night.  How many World Serious titles does The ATL have?

Talk about running scared.  This is from an AP story on AG Greg Abbott saying Wendy Davis supporters worshipped the devil during her filibuster:

"It was a spectacle. There were people walking around the Capitol chanting ‘Hail Satan,’" Abbott said. "I don’t think that’s representative of where mainstream Texas is."

Don’t forget they were also carrying out bags of doo-doo.

Here is the story on the devil worshippers,

Quite a few TV stations across the state covered the Davis announcement live during their 5 pm newscast yesterday.  Perception is going to count a lot in this election.  Stay tuned and stay engaged!

I think someone over at the nonpartisan local League of Women Voters office forgot they were nonpartisan when they sent out the following tweet right before Sen. Wendy Davis announced:

LeagueOfWomenVotersH‏@LWVHouston

I’m with Wendy! Join me and support @WendyDavisTexas for the next Governor of TX! http://www.wendydavistexas.com #TXGov #TeamWendy

Oops!

The ATL has three World Serious titles of course:  1995 in The ATL, 1957 in Milwaukee, and 1914 in Boston.

The ‘Stros sent us a note yesterday saying things would be better next season.

 

Technorati Tags: Marc Campos,Campos Communications,Anna Eastman Campaign,Houston Politics,Texas Politics,State Senator Wendy Davis

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For Adriana Tamez

The Chron E-Board started rolling out their candidate endorsements today.  The HCC Board of Trustee candidates are first up including Commentary’s client Adriana Tamez for HCC District 3.  Check this:

District 3: To finish the remaining two years of an unexpired term, we recommend Adriana Tamez. The Denver Harbor native combines intimate familiarity with the southeast Houston district and strong credentials as an education professional. We believe her presence would be a particular help in changing the board tone and direction.

Way to go, Adriana!

Check out all the Chron E-Board HCC endorsements here.

Name the only numero 53 jersey to be retired in MLB?

Tea Party Sen. Ted Cruz is getting blasted big time by his GOP colleagues.  Check this from Politico from a closed door meeting of GOP senators yesterday:

“It was very evident to everyone in the room that Cruz doesn’t have a strategy – he never had a strategy, and could never answer a question about what the end-game was,” said one senator who attended the meeting. “I just wish the 35 House members that have bought the snake oil that was sold could witness what was witnessed today at lunch.”

And:

“He kept trying to change the subject because he never could answer the question,” the senator said. “It’s pretty evident it’s never been about a strategy – it’s been about him. That’s unfortunate. I think he’s done our country a major disservice. I think he’s done Republicans a major disservice.”

Here is the entire Politico piece on the Cruz-out-of-control.

Don Drysdale of course had his numero 53 retired by the Dodgers.

The Tribe are out of the playoffs and nothing of importance to report from The Yard.

 

Technorati Tags: Marc Campos,Campos Communications,Adriana Tamez Campaign,Senator Ted Cruz,Houston Astros,Major League Baseball,Tea Party of Texas,Houston Politics,Texas Politics

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It’s Your Shutdown, Own It!

The Tea Party consultants have sent out the talking points trying put the blame on anybody but themselves on their federal government shutdown. It isn’t working.  Here are the talking points:

· Obamacare is a job killer.

· It’s Harry Reid’s fault.

· The President won’t negotiate.

· Tip O’Neill shutdown the federal government seven times.

America isn’t buying it and are calling it the GOP shutdown.  You asked for the GOP shutdown so stop the cowardly act and own it!

Name the MLB team that had the most base runners caught stealing this past season?

Check out the New Dome PAC here.

Commentary received a mailer from the Rogene Calvert for At-Large 3 yesterday.

It was actually nice to see a local candidate get decent coverage on their announcement for a change.   The Chron and some local TVs were there to cover Kim Ogg’s announcement for DA. 

The Rangers lost in a playoff to try to get into the playoffs.  Got it!

The ‘Stros of course got caught stealing the most this year with 61.

The ‘Stros owner says things will get better next year. 

 

Technorati Tags: Marc Campos,Campos Communications,Houston Politics,Houston Elections,Tea Party of Texas,President Obama,Houston Astros,Major League Baseball

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UNNECESSARY REMOVAL

In Saturday’s Chron there were punches being thrown in the Mayoral contest.  I think that is going to be the norm over the next few weeks so don’t even bother to stay tuned.

Check out Kuffer’s interview of HISD Board Prez Anna Eastman here.

Kuffer also mentions that Kim Ogg will be running for Harris County DA as a Dem. I am all in for that and think she will be an outstanding candidate.

Check it out here.

As expected the Chron E-Board endorsed saving the Dome.

Check it out here.

The ‘Stros set the MLB record for most strikeouts in a season.  Guess how many?

The ‘Stros announced yesterday that our two preseason games at The Yard next season will be against Rojos del Aguila from Veracruz from the Mexican Baseball League.  I’m OK with that.  We have had puny crowds the last few seasons for the two exhibition games.  I’m thinking folks of the Mexican persuasion will show up at The Yard to check out the games.  We should have good crowds.

A couple of weeks or so ago I got an anonymous email about the letter to District I candidate Ben Mendez from Rev. Bill Lawson letting Mendez know  that Lawson was pulling his support from Mendez’s campaign.  It turned out the letter was true.  The same anonymous source sent me and others an email Saturday with a copy of a letter from former District I council member Ben Reyes to Mendez telling Mendez to stop saying that Reyes is supporting Mendez.  We will see if the Reyes letter is genuine.

Commentary has heard that Reyes is playing in a few local campaigns this campaign season.

Commentary watched Sen. Ted Cruz yesterday lamely try to put the government shutdown blame on Majority Leader Harry Reid.  Nobody’s buying it.

Over 100,000 showed up for the weekend with Yankees.  We got to see Andy Pettitte pitch a complete game Saturday night.  We got an apology from Mariano Rivera yesterday saying he wanted his last time on the mound to be at Yankee Stadium.  Some folks booed The Rocket.  The ‘Stros set the strikeout record yesterday, and yesterday’s game went into extra innings.  We got swept and a lot of Yankee fans were there.

Saturday night I tweeted this:

Got run out of my seats for interfering with ball hit down the line. #MLBReplay.

Here is what happened.  Robinson Cano smashed one down the right field line.  I thought it hit foul and I thought the umpire called it foul.  I reached over hoping to snag my seventh of the year. It zipped in and out of my lid.  The ball was fair and the ump called interference so the security folks escorted me out of my seat.  I was met on the concourse by six or seven security folks and they wrote me up on some MLB form so now I’m on some sort of MLB offenders data base. 

I was then escorted by a security guy to the fan accommodations booth where I was handed off to another security pair. After a few awkward seconds they asked me what I there for.  I told them that I was there to pick up my two Insperity Club tickets for Sunday’s game.  They looked perplexed and I walked off.  What a joke!

Yesterday when I showed up one of the security guys that wasn’t involved Saturday night told me that the play was reviewed after the game and it turns out that the Yankee fan sitting next to me reached over me and touched the ball first so there was no reason for me to be removed.  Of course they didn’t offer to apologize.

The ‘Stros now own the MLB strikeout record of course with 1,535 Ks thanks in large part to Chris Carter 212.

Well we ended the miserable season on a 15 game losing streak.  It was awful, awful, awful!   They better get them some better players.  I feel good about our future starting rotation but we need better bullpen arms.  I don’t feel so good about the position players.  Other than Jason Castro and Jose Altuve, I really can’t tell you who deserves to be in MLB.  We still have a long way to go.

I was presented with a cool looking baseball bat yesterday for being a loyal fan.  I am. 

 

Technorati Tags: Marc Campos,Campos Communications,Houston Elections,Houston Politics,Anna Eastman Campaign,Texas Politics

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The Big Question

This is from last night’s story by Channel 11’s Doug Miller on a poll they conducted:

Annise Parker seems headed for a runoff in her campaign to keep her job, but she commands more than twice as many supporters as her leading challenger in a newly released poll commissioned by KHOU 11 News and KUHF – Houston Public Radio.

Still, just six weeks before Election Day, roughly half of all surveyed voters either didn’t know or wouldn’t say how they’re going to vote.

Parker leads the pack of candidates at 34 percent, with former city attorney Ben Hall at 14 percent. About 48 percent of voters are classified as undecided, indicating the incumbent mayor will have to fight to keep the post to which she was narrowly re-elected two years ago.

“I don’t see the mayor losing this race,” said Bob Stein, the KHOU political analyst who conducted the survey. “I’m not certain she’ll win it in the general election, like she did in 2011. But the mayor, who tends to get high marks as a mayor, simply doesn’t get what I’d call great public support as a candidate.”

Here is the entire story.

So the big question is to runoff or not to runoff.  

Should the 48% undecided surprise folks in the know?  Well, has anyone seen a TV ad lately or a piece of mail?  Enough said!

The Pirates are in the playoffs after 21 years.  Their record is 90-67.  What was their regular season record in 1992 – the last time they made the playoffs?

According to the ratings, absolutely nobody in the H-Town area watched the ‘Stros this past Sunday.  I didn’t because I had the football game on.  What else did you expect?

It is just wild.  I’m talking about the Wild Card races in the AL. The Rays and The Tribe are being chased by the Rangers, KC, Yankees and B’More.

Here is how it looks for the next six days.  The Rays are at Yankee Stadium for three then close out the season with three in Toronto.

The Tribe host the White Sox for two then close out the season in Minnesota with four.

The Rangers host the ‘Stros for two and host the Angels for four.  They have a shot.

Here are the long shots.  KC has two in Seattle then close out with four in Chicago against the White Sox.

The Yankees host the Rays for three then visit The Yard for three.

B’More host the Jays for three then host the Red Sox for three.

In the NL, the playoff teams are set with three teams battling for the NL Central title – San Luis, Cinncy and the Pirates.

San Luis host the Nats for two and then host the Cubbies for three.

Cinncy host the Mets for two and host the Pirates for three.

The Pirates are at Wrigley for two then head to Cinncy for three.

The 1992 Pirates were 96-66 of course.

We’re 51-106 and stink real bad.

 

Technorati Tags: Marc Campos,Campos Communications,Houston Mayoral Race,Mayor Annisse Parker,Ben Hall,Houston Astros,Major League Baseball,Houston Politics,Houston Elections,Texas Politics

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The Wizard in IMAX and 3D

Seeing that “The Wizard of Oz” is my third best flick of all time, I plunked down $14 Saturday night to go check it out on the IMAX screen and in 3D.  They didn’t need to do that.  The 1939 classic was never intended to be in 3D.  3D flicks are supposed to make you react to stuff.  There were not any flying monkeys coming at you or trees throwing apples at you or stuff like that.  The only real cool 3D moment was the snow falling on the poppy fields.  What you do get on the big screen and in 3D is a closer look of the makeup on the witch and on the Munchkins.  It is kind of a garish look.  It also didn’t need to be on IMAX.

Name the MLB club with the worse team batting average and it ain’t the ‘Stros?

Commentary put out a tweet Saturday about Team Parker leaving a bilingual door hanger with H-Town CMs James Rodriguez and Ed Gonzalez on my door knob and someone with Team Parker retweeting it and calling me out as a #Haters.  What is up with that?

A lot of folks were bummed out yesterday afternoon after the Texans got their arses whipped.  Hey, on any given Sunday!

The ‘Stros said the other day that they haven’t decided which coaches will return with the Skipper.  The Skipper then said he would handle base running coaching next season.  First base coach Dave Clark currently handles base running coaching so I’m thinking he won’t be coming back.

Jeff Daniel picked up an Emmy last night for playing Will MacAvoy on “The Newsroom.”  Take that!  I think everyone was surprised.

The Fish of course have the worse team batting average with a measly .231.

The Rangers are lucky we will be in Arlington for three.  Of course, it would be nice if we ended out nine game losing streak this evening and thwarted the Rangers’ wild card hopes.

The Yankees are on life support so I don’t know  if this weekend series will mean anything. 

 

Technorati Tags: Marc Campos,Campos Communications,Houston Mayoral Race,Mayor Annisse Parker,Ben Hall,Houston Politics,Houston Elections,Texas Politics,Council Member James Rodriguez

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Not Surprising

The following is on Chron.com.  Nobody made this up. The Rev. Bill Lawson letter referenced was apparently floating around the past couple of days.  This really doesn’t come as a surprise.  Here it is:

Eastside city council candidate Ben Mendez’s campaign claims he is being smeared by rumors and innuendos, and denied Mendez blamed a gang rape of an 11-year-old girl on the clothes she was wearing.

Campaign manager Joaquin Martinez confirmed community leader Bill Lawson has withdrawn his support for Mendez in the District I race. Lawson, a respected former pastor, wrote a letter saying he had “serious problems” with Mendez remarks on the sexual attack, as well as what he called negative campaigning against candidate Graci Garces.

“There have been people saying Ben made insensitive remarks, but Ben didn’t make any,” said Martinez. “Throughout the campaign we’ve had several people who have tried to smear Ben Mendez as a candidate, because he is the frontrunner right now.”

In the letter, Lawson wrote that he admired Mendez as a civic leader, businessman and a friend, adding he would make a good city representative for the council district. “I simply cannot continue to take a stand for underclasses and give public endorsement for someone who would ignore them,” Lawson wrote.

Here is the link in case you don’t believe me.

There is really not anything else you can say about this.  It is no wonder that this campaign has to resort to juvenile tactics and steal campaign signs. 

When was the last time a ‘Stro led the NL in RBIs?

I don’t know if the ‘Stros will be much better next season.  They have to shed bonehead thinking like last night when pinch runner Jake Elmore got picked off at second in a close game.

The Dodgers and Red Sox have clinched playoff spots.  The Yankees barely have a pulse.

The Big Puma of course led the NL with 128 RBIs in 2002. 

We have to go 4-5 the rest of the way to avoid setting another club record for most losses in a season.  Good luck!

 

Technorati Tags: Marc Campos,Campos Communications,Houston Astros,Graci Garces Campaign,Houston City Council Races,Major League Baseball,Ben Mendez,Houston Politics,Houston Elections

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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.

 

Technorati Tags: Marc Campos,Campos Communications,Houston Mayoral Race,Houston Politics,Texas Politics,Houston Elections,Houston City Hall

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