It has been a busy day. I have been driving around the county going from polling place to polling place recording the voter turnout numbers. The turnout numbers seem to be favorable, especially when you take into account the early voting numbers. Some of the blue districts in Brazos County have already surpassed their 2004 voter turnout numbers, and a few of those had already almost matched the 2004 voter turnout numbers just with early voting.
There are a plethora of campaign signs, but the surprising thing is that even in a country as historically red as Brazos there are still a significant number of Obama signs. At polling places there are also campaign workers working to change minds, and those are the people that can help make the difference. That last contact and last campaign sign that voters see can make the difference.
There will be more Election Day coverage as the day goes on...
I wake up today at 6:30. I seriously do not remember how long it has been since I have woken up that early. But this is the day. We are making or breaking it here. It's the fourth quarter, and there's a minute or two left on the clock. Since America is always a close game, there's no letting back now.
I should arrive at campus at around 7. Maybe a bit later, if I have the trouble getting out of bed and out of my room -- something I'm afraid of. But with the adrenaline rush for today, I should avoid the problem. And all day I'll be roving around the UT campus. Every student here needs to vote -- it would, at the very least, complete their state-mandated U.S. Government education.
I guarantee I'm not the only one. In 2000 and 2004, President Bush won elections with some great Get out the Vote drives. Today, we must do the same. For those UT students reading this: skip class and stop by Governor's Room in the Texas Union; we'll get you some work to do. If you can't skip class, stop by during your breaks. Your help will be appreciated. (and then, you can party at Austin's Pizza with us when the polls close.)
For all of you finished with school, who have paying occupations: at least tell every Democrat you know to vote today. Remember, it's still game time. And in most of Texas, game time isn't over until 7. GOTV is the last drive of this game, and last drives are usually the most crucial.
When Chris Bell ran for governor, he could have tagged voter turnout as one of the things we rank near last in the country for. (Except maybe, Thank God for Arizona?)
Hope Andrade, our Secretary of State, has predicted a voter turnout of 68%. We turned out at a 56% clip in 2004. We haven't voted in percentage numbers as high as predicted since 1992, when 2/3 of the prominent candidates were Texans.
So, simply put, 68% would be extraordinary. But it could be even higher. In our most populated 15 counties, 42% of their registered voters have ALREADY casted their ballots. If that number is consistent across the state, and if turnout becomes 68%, that would mean that 62% of voters early voted. I think it's easily possible that our election-day vote count can exceed the early-vote count.
Is 70 percent a possibility? Get out the vote tomorrow and find out.
President Bill Clinton has recorded a robocall for Larry Joe Doherty that will be used on Monday.
In the call, Clinton reminds voters that, "Tuesday is the day. It all comes down to who shows up to vote."
Clinton calls Doherty, the Democratic nominee against Republican Mike McCaul,"a real Democrat who's standing up for health care, education, and fighting to get our economy back on track."
The call, presumably sent to Democratic leaning households, could also provide a slight boost in turnout in the district that could benefit candidates like Donnie Dippel along with all of our statewide candidates.
A robocall from Bill Clinton is further proof that Mike McCaul is in trouble and national Democrats are starting to smell blood in TX-10.
Why in the world should we support super-rich, out-of-state developers and retailers with our city tax dollars?
Why should they get a $60 million government subsidy to compete against our own homegrown businesses?
Why should a shopping center that caters to rich people get tax money that is needed for the public good?
You don't have to be in Who's Who to know What's What, do you? This giveaway stinks, which is why they're having to dump hundreds of thousands of dollars into a political ad blitz. They're trying to cover up their stink with a Karl Rovian campaign of deceit, hoping to kill our common sense, democratic, true-Austin-initiative, Proposition 2.
Prop 2 is a grassroots message to the Powers That Be. It says "NO" to doling out corporate welfare that does nothing but further corporatize Austin. That's why Prop 2 is supported not only by Austin's local businesses, but also by labor, environmental groups, neighborhood councils, and every political party - Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, and Greens.
We can't match the PR blitz of the corporate interests, but we can use our grassroots networks to spread support for Austin's Proposition 2. They've got the Fat Cats - but we've got the Alley Cats, and there are many more of us!
Please blast your email lists, make calls, leaflet polling places, and otherwise stand up for Austin by standing up for Prop 2.For more info on how to help, Call Brian Rogers at 366-5000.
Thanks for all that you do to make this such a unique and great city. Keep Pushing!
I missed this AP story from late Thursday. Been wondering about all the mailings and robocalls coming from Republican Karen Wiegman. She's running for TX HD-106 ~ the seat that Democrat Kirk England currently holds.
AUSTIN - As Democrats eye a rare takeover of the Texas House, Republican donors have injected a late infusion of cash - nearly $1 million - into party coffers since Monday, records show.
The Texas Republican Party got $928,177.06 in contributions over the last three days, including a whopping $275,000 from New York hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer, $100,000 from Houston homebuilder Bob Perry and $100,000 from Dallas businessman Harold Simmons.
House Speaker Tom Craddick, R-Midland, who is fighting to keep his leadership job with the support of Republican legislators, pumped $130,000 into the Texas GOP, according to last-minute "telegram" reports disclosed to the Texas Ethics Commission this week.
When combined with the donations he gave earlier this year, Craddick has given about $1.1 million since July 1 to help Republicans stay on top in Texas.
...
It wasn't immediately clear where all the late money is going. But in an indication that House seats are in play all over Texas, Grand Prairie Republican Karen Wiegman got $82,000 to buy TV ads and other campaign expenses from the party on Tuesday. She's running against Rep. Kirk England, D-Grand Prairie, who switched from the GOP to the Democratic Party and had been considered a relative shoo-in. [emphasis added.]
Wiegman's bizarre mailings have been intense for several weeks now. All of these mailings are coming from Texas Victory '08 in Austin, by the way. Not from any local address.
Even got a robocall today from a local Hispanic business owner claiming that Kirk England supports illegal "aliens." The mailings have been horror shows.
And with today and tomorrow left for the early vote, this is surely a pretty cool thing to read from the Travis County Clerk's office:
Travis County voters broke previous Early Voting turnout records Wednesday. More than 229,500 voters have cast a ballot, topping the 2004 record of 222,085. More than 15,000 votes had been cast mid-way through the voting period Thursday.
Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir said that vote totals are steadily climbing toward what she expects to be a fantastic finish to the Early Voting period on Friday.
"We won't be surprised to see 50,000 voters on the final day--about twice the first-day turnout," DeBeauvoir said. "We're still trying to spread the word that voting early is going to be more convenient than voting on Election Day."
If you haven't voted yet, make sure you set some time to do so later today, tomorrow, or Tuesday. If you want to vote in costume tomorrow, feel free. (Just don't dress as a party, candidate, with a mask, or with mask on, or with a weapon.) Regardless of whether you look like yourself when you cast a ballot or not, I think we all know the importance of your ballot being cast.
Pictures of an Hispanic man flashing a gang symbol, another Hispanic man in the custody of immigration officials, and an Hispanic male in a kitchen with a rifle adorn the lastest race-bating mailer sent out by ex-state representative Bill Keffer (R-Dallas) in his grudge match against State Rep. Allen Vaught (D-Dallas).
The mailer, which was paid for by Keffer's campaign, alleges that Vaught says the illegal immigration issue is a "political gimmick," but cites no source to illustrate that Vaught ever made any such statement.
In a list of this year's top 10 worst legislators of the country, including 4 Democrats and 5 Republicans, John Cornyn is listed:
Cornyn has taken up Rick Santorum's cudgel on gay marriage, but whereas Santorum's dark visions were man-on-dog, Cornyn dreams of state-sanctioned unions between man and turtle, and of "a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife." Whoa. None of our business, senator. But you'll have to work it out on your own time.
Obviously, Esquire endorsed Rick Noriega in this race. They have a whole slew of Texas endorsements, giving a good non-partisan look to them all. Below are a couple selections from other key Texas races. (Oh, and by the way, they endorsed Barack Obama.)
