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  • An Awareness Campaign, Please
    September 3, 2010

    Let’s see now.   A week ago a fire destroyed most of Harris County’s election and voting gizmos.

    The Harris County Clerk then went into full scramble mode over the past weekend to put together a plan so the election could move forward without hassles.

    According to the plan, they will have eSlate gizmos at all the regular Early Vote locations and one eSlate gizmo at all of the regular Election Day polling places.  They will also have paper ballots at all of the regular Election Day polling places in case folks don’t want to wait in line to use the eSlate gizmo.

    Anticipating problems, the County Clerk is urging folks to Vote Early.  Of course not everybody gets her emails or reads the Chron or checks out the local news.   It would probably be a good idea for the County Commissioners Court to allocate some serious dollars for a media awareness campaign to urge folks to Vote Early.  It would certainly be money well spent.  It would be worth it if it helps avoid delays, hassles, conspiracy theorists, accusations, and other cluster ___ks on Election Day.

    The ongoing barb throwing between the Dem Party and the GOP Tax-Assessor Collector on the handling of voter registration applications has created a bunch of bad blood heading into the election.  Knowing how both political parties behave, you can bet that partisans from both sides will try to make hay on how the County Clerk conducts the election with her new plan.  A media awareness campaign would go a long toward silencing potential critics.   Of course, NOBODY EVER ASKS ME!

    The Arizona D-Backs first joined the MLB in 1998.  Who is the only former D-Back player to have his jersey number retried?

    The ‘Stros only have 29 games left and only six are against a contender – all six against the Reds.

    Luis Gonzalez of course had his Number 20 retired a few weeks ago.  Gonzo played with the D-Backs from 1999-2006.  He also was a ‘Stro from 1990-1995 and in 1997.

    We have three this weekend in Arizona and folks are now starting to talk about the ‘Stros reaching the .500 mark by the end of the year.  Stay tuned!

     


  • On The Roads Again
    September 2, 2010

    A report came out yesterday ranking the Lone Star State’s most congested roadways.  Of course, one stretch just a few blocks down the street made the state’s Top Ten.  It is a reminder that we don’t have our act together in the area of transportation.  Some say it is lack of funding.  Some say it is lack of planning.  Some say it is a lack of discipline.  Some say it is lack of investment.  Commentary says it is all of the above.  Of course, I don’t think it is going to get any better.

    I’m thinking that the election ought to heat up some after Labor Day.  We ought to be seeing and hearing the TV and radio ads.  Stay tuned!

    The voter registration wars have begun here in Harris County.  I’m wondering what these wars will do for minority turnout.

    CEWDEM calling out the conspiracy fellas on the destroyed voting machines must have worked because I haven’t heard any theories or rumors lately.  I guess they all went and hid behind the grassy knolls or something like that.

    Milo is celebrating his 83rd BD today.  Happy Birthday Milo!   Today’s Chron lists Milo’s all time favorite calls including the Chris Burke dinger against The ATL in the bottom of the 18th inning in Game 4 of the 2005 NLDS.  Who served up the dinger, err who was pitching for The ATL?

    Thanks to a Hunter Pence 3-run dinger, the ‘Stros swept three from San Luis yesterday.  Let’s also thank the ‘Stros pitching staff for not letting Albert Pujols get a hit during the three game series. 

    Joey Devine of course served up the Chris Burke dinger.  Devine is currently in the A’s organization and on the 60-day DL.

    What can I say about being 62-71 and now tied for third place?  We got started late but at least we started.   The team now heads to Arizona – yikes – show them your papers!  Don’t stray too far away from the team hotel!

     


  • Campaigns and Elections
    September 1, 2010

    Campaigns and Elections Magazine came out with their Top 100 Political Influencers in the Lone Star State.  They had Gardner Selby of the Austin American Statesman’s PolitiFact Texas handle the chore of doing the selecting.  They picked 50 GOPers and 50 Dems.  Check out the piece.

    Well what do you know?  Commentary made the list.  If the Texas Truth-O-Meter says it’s true, then it’s true!

    Here’s what Hector de Leon, Director of Communications and Voter Outreach from the Office of the Harris County Clerk sent me yesterday regarding the voting gizmos:

    Harris County will be utilizing the eSlates and Disabled Automated Units (DAU) on Election Day for all voters.  At least one DAU and one Judge Booth Control will be allocated to each of the 736 polling locations to comply with providing Americans with disabilities the opportunity to vote independently. And, the goal is to obtain more eSlates for Election Day allocation. But, in case voter lines develop because of the limited number of eSlates at the poll, paper ballots will be available. By law, there has to be a back-up voting system at every poll. In this instance, the back-up system will be paper ballots. Please note there were 728 polls for the 2008 presidential election. We are schedule to approximately 736 in this election.

    The Chron’s E-Board also weighed in today on the voting gizmos and
    here’s what they had to say.

    Stay tuned!

    This afternoon we meet San Luis for the last time this season.  Tony La Russa has been a skipper since 1979.  How many times have La Russa teams gone to the World Serious?

    The Chron said the ‘Stros would go 13-16 in August.  We went 17-12.  The Chron said we would be 60-72 on September 1.  We’re 61-71.  What do they know?

    Milo turns 83 tomorrow but the ‘Stros will be celebrating his BD a day early this afternoon at The Yard.

    Five of course as La Russa’s A’s went to the World Serious in 1988, 1989, and 1990 and his Cards went in 2004 and 2006.

    The ‘Stros may not be going anywhere this year but they certainly are playing like they want to go somewhere as we shutout San Luis again last night.  Our pitching has held them to five hits in the last two games.   San Luis fans in attendance last night looked pretty glum as they appear to be headed in to the Wild Card chase and maybe we can get a sweep this afternoon.

     


  • And the Vote Goes On
    August 31, 2010

    Harris County Commissioners Court unanimously gave the A-Okay to a voting plan presented by the County Clerk yesterday. Check out the Chron story on the matter.

    It appears to be a good plan with the paper ballots as back-ups.  The key to this working is educating the public on what to expect and more importantly educating the election judges.  A dumbarse election judge can certainly screw up the day for a lot of voters.  The judges have to know what to expect and how to handle things correctly, fairly, and politely.  Stay tuned!

    Folks are starting to provide their takes and theories about the fire that destroyed the voting gizmos.  I think I’ll just wait until the Fire Marshall has something to say before I open my pie hole on this.

    Albert Pujols didn’t do us any damage last night – whew!  Pujols was drafted in the 13th Round of the 1999 MLB Amateur Player Draft if you can believe that.  Who was the first player drafted in 1999?

    It looks like six candidates are in the race for HISD School Board Trustee, District VIII. 

    Josh Hamilton of course and now with the Rangers was the first player taken in the 1999 Draft, but he was taken by the then Devil Rays who are now the Rays.  Other first round draftee notables that year included Barry Zito, Josh Beckett, and Brett Myers.

    What can you say about J.A. Happ’s two-hit shutout last night in a 3-0 game that lasted just two hours?  What can you say about Numero 45 and his dinky bloop double down the line that scored a run?  What can you say about putting a damper on San Luis’ play-off run?

     


  • Vote Early For Sure
    August 30, 2010

    Early Voting begins in 48 days and here in Harris County we don’t have a voting machine that functions.  The Harris County Commissioners Court will meet today in an emergency session to hear the County Clerk’s plan for making sure we have a smooth election.

    The County Clerk has already said that we need to push to get folks to vote early because we will probably not have as many machines as we have had in the past.  Maybe the county needs to set aside some funds to do some sort of awareness campaign on this.

    This could be a blessing in disguise of sorts in that we’ll be talking more about how the election will be conducted and more folks will end up going to vote.  On the other hand, going to vote might be portrayed as being a hassle and folks will stay home.  Stay tuned!

    In today’s Chron Sports section, there is a blurb about Albert Pujols of San Luis and Joey Votto of the Reds chasing the Triple Crown which hasn’t been won since 1967.  The Triple Crown of course is a batter winning the batting average, dinger, and RBI titles in one year.  Who won it in 1967 and what were his numbers?

    My Dad (Tony Campos) was one of the Trailblazers honored Saturday morning by the Harris County Democratic Party.  It looked like a packed house and it was a pretty cool event.  My Dad definitely enjoyed the morning.  He even enjoyed folks coming up to him and asking for an autograph.

    The Angelika Theater in Downtown H-Town abruptly closed yesterday.  They are out of business.  That is pretty sad.  I liked going to catch some flicks there.  I wonder why they shut down.

    Carl Yastrzemski of course of the Red Sox in 1967 was the last MLBer to win the Triple Crown.  He batted .326, had 44 dingers, and 121 RBIs.  The Red Sox went to the World Serious that year but lost to San Luis in seven games.

    Commentary checked out the Emmys last night and I had never heard of most of the nominees or the shows.  What do I know?

    I’m not going to say anything about Albert Pujols and Tony LaRussa showing up at the Beck-Palin rally in D.C. this past weekend.  They gave Pujols an award for community service.

    The ‘Stros are home for three with San Luis starting tonight then they go back on the road.  They went 6-4 on their just completed road trip and J.A. Happ is on the mound tonight.