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July 28, 2008
Out Of The Closet?
It is no secret that incumbent Republican Harris County elected officials up for reelection in November are running scared. Lousy poll numbers, a sea of scandals involving local officials, an energized Democratic base and a damaged GOP party brand have given these folks good reason to be nervous.
Though conventional wisdom is that most downballot countywide Democratic and Republican candidates will sink or swim with their party's top of the ticket performance, it hasn't stopped many of them on both sides of the aisle from campaigning hard.
Since the mid-1990s, when Republicans seized total control of county government, a local GOP elected official's job security has been predicated on keeping the party's right wing social conservative base happy. By towing the hard line, one might avoid a potentially fatal primary challenge from the sanctimonious right, which has dominated the Republican Primary for years. My how quickly things change.
We have been particularly interested to learn in recent days that at least a few Harris County incumbent Republican judges have been actively seeking the endorsement of the Houston Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Political Caucus -- HGLBT for short.
This development is eye-opening to say the least. Perhaps more than any other group, the GLBT community has been the recipient of venom from religious conservatives. And the idea that any incumbent Republican official here would actively seek the Caucus' endorsement, much less accept it if offered, would have seemed laughable just a few months ago. Apparently, fear of losing can be a powerful motivator.
Don't get us wrong. We are glad to see some of these judges now acknowledge what many of us have known for a long time, that the GLBT community matters, just like everybody else, and that its votes count too, much as that may bother certain people.
So, it's good that some of these Republican judges have decided to screen with the HGLBT Caucus and seek its endorsement. But what will the neighbors say?
Posted by houtopia at 09:39 PM | Comments (1)
July 24, 2008
Edwards Visits ACORN
Yesterday we had the opportunity to attend a very interesting roundtable discussion at ACORN's new digs in Midtown, an event headlined by former U.S. Senator, presidential, and vice presidential candidate John Edwards.
For those of you not familiar with ACORN, it is the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, a nearly 40 year-old, nationwide grassroots group with over 400,000 members, that focuses on issues facing low- and moderate-income families.
While Edwards' remarks opened and closed the event, the bulk of the program focused on a fairly in-depth discussion of basic economic issues facing non-affluent Texans, from mortgage foreclosures and unscrupulous mortgage bankers, to the need for expanded access to education and healthcare, to the importance of increasing participation in the mainstream banking system. The panel featured current and former elected officials, including Harris County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia, Houston City Controller Annise Parker and former City Council Member Gordon Quan, as well as policy experts and a few ordinary ACORN members with painful but all too common stories about low wages and bad mortgages.
The substantive hour-long session covered a lot of ground fast, and underscored the myriad basic economic problems facing too many Texans today. And in the face of many, many depressing statistics, the thrust of the meeting remained upbeat and forward looking. Perhaps this was due to the presence of Edwards, who appeared here as part of his ambitious project "Half in Ten", aimed at reducing poverty in America by 50% in the next ten years.
Ordinarily, we would be skeptical of the efficacy of such an effort, but given the growing gap between the ultra-rich and everyone else, and the breadth of economic pain being felt in this current downturn, perhaps they have a shot at making some real progress. We sure hope so.
Posted by houtopia at 10:40 PM | Comments (5)
July 22, 2008
What The Cell's Going On?
As sometime pollsters and public opinion researchers, we have often wondered how the steady migration of the American public away from landline phone use might skew polling -- particularly political polls-- given that nearly all polls sample landline users only.
The ever-reliable Pew Center is out with a new study on the subject, and it's worth perusing. A new survey of about 2,000 American adults includes a significant (about 500) number of interviews of cell users (on their cell phones.)
The results are interesting. The cell group was more likely to support Barack Obama and Congressional Democrats in the upcoming November election, though less likely to actually vote.
In our judgment, as American society continues to evolve technologically, the inclusion of mobile phone users and online interviews will be key to the continued relevance of public opinion research, though there are significant challenges to including them in a truly representative way.
We are glad Pew is studying the issue.
Posted by houtopia at 10:47 PM | Comments (0)
July 21, 2008
Hello, Dolly!
Our first Gulf storm is upon us, and Dolly is her name. Currently a Tropical Storm, Dolly is expected to strengthen to a mild hurricane and make landfall around the Texas-Mexico border later this week.
Reporting on the storm for several days now, the Chronicle's "SciGuy", Eric Berger, has continued to distinguish himself as one of the paper's best assets. He was on top of this storm early, passing along different forecast models, and admonishing readers to pay attention without sounding alarmist.
Of course, his calm, reasoned analysis didn't stop those trusty Chronicle commenters from labeling him a hysteric (if that isn't the pot calling the kettle black, we don't know what is), but let's be honest -- the freakshow that is the comments section significantly adds to any story's entertainment value. We kept waiting for somebody to blame Dolly on illegal immigrants, but there's time yet.
As heavily populated areas of Texas now appear to be out of any serious danger, Berger astutely switched to a potentially positive aspect of Dolly's arrival -- drought-quenching heavy rain. Here's hoping for a good drenching; we need it.
Posted by houtopia at 10:18 PM | Comments (1)
July 20, 2008
Returning To The Fray
Just a quick note. After several weeks absent, even missing Netroots Nation up the road in Austin, we will rejoin the blogosphere this week. Apologies for the lack of posting, but we have been otherwise occupied. Not an excuse, just an explanantion!
Posted by houtopia at 11:38 PM | Comments (0)