Remarkable Story in Texas . . .

You've got to read this ---> Remarkable Story in Texas . . .

Hundreds of students at Prairie View A&M University on Tuesday began rallying for their right to vote.

They say a decision to eliminate all but one early voting location in Waller County makes it hard for students to cast ballots.

The marchers, in black shirts with the slogan “It is 2008 and we will vote,” carried signs and wore demanded changes in how elections are run in the county.

Police estimated that the crowd topped 2,000 as the marchers paraded from the Prairie View A&M campus seven miles to Read the rest and see photos

I heard from a credible source today that like a 1,000 of them voted for Sen. Obama!!!

Here's some video of the march (via Burnt Orange Report)...

Tags:  Other Blogs, Texas Primary, Voting Rights, & Waller County

Primary: Do the Texas Two-Step

Primary: Do the Texas Two-Step

(This is info from the Democratic party and refers to their primary rules only. - ed.)

Texas has a New Hampshire-style primary AND an Iowa-style caucus. This means that everyone must take 2 steps on voting day (March 4).

1. Go to the polling place and vote (we all know that part)

2. Return to your polling place at 7:15 and sign in at your party convention. You do not have to stay and caucus, you just need to sign in.

Here's why you want to do this:

Only 3/4 of the total Texas delegation (126 delegates) will be based on the primary returns. The other 1/4 (42 delegates) will be distributed based on the number of people attending the precinct convention. To "attend" you need only sign in (at which point you indicate your candidate) and then you can leave.

Of course, if you want to stay -- and if you want to actually run to be a delegate -- you can do that, too.

It's vital to go and sign in, because that sign-in number determines the percentage in attendance for Obama vs. Clinton vs. Undecided, and delegates are allotted on that number alone. The choosing of delegates is a subsequent step that is based on the sign-in sheet, but separate from it.

Spread the word about this. Those final 42 delegates could make a real difference.

(The above is borrowed from a recent Video Association of Dallas e-mail newsletter.)

Tags:  Texas Democratic Party, Texas Democratic Primary, Texas Democratic Primary Rules, & Texas Primary,

Yes, We Can!

Tags:  2008 Election, Barack Obama, Obama, Obama 08, Yes, We Can, & YouTube

Tip of the hat to Bart.

Post election day update - my caucus was 92% for Obama and I'm one of the delegates to our State Senate District Convention (as is Esti - we are in different precincts). [And, I can't speak for Esti, but yes I'm a little bothered by some of the things that the media says the pastor (or is it recently retired pastor? I've heard him called both things) of the Obama's congregation has said. I'm doing my own research into this.]

The Historic Debate #9

Very nice of Sen. Obama to pull Sen. Clinton's chair out for her after the debate. Obviously his momma taught him well. I'm just hoping that "Super Duper Tuesday" doesn't decide the nomination. The same goes for Ohio's primary after that. Not that I want a brokered convention (as interesting as that could be), but I want both candidates to stay in play until 4 March when we here in Texas get to vote.

The Historic Debate #8

Finally a question about if Sen. Clinton could control her husband.

Nice political answer, but not very clear about keeping former President Clinton out of the the West Wing.

Ah, my other big question!

Obama-Clinton 08 or Clinton-Obama 08 would either consider the other as a running mate.

Big spike from undecided on "no more yes-men in the White House" line from Sen. Obama.

The Historic Debate #7

That was Steven Spielburg in the audience!

The Historic Debate #7

They are at the Kodak Theatre, better known as the location that the Oscars are given out. Now if either Senator wanted to really nail down California, they'd find a way to solve the issues that are keeping the Writer's Guild of America on strike and do it before the Oscars.

Speaking of celebrity-studded events - they keep showing the audience and every time I see someone, I start playing the "who is that" game.

The Historic Debate #6

Ah yes, the long years of either Bush or Clinton

20 January 1989-20 January 1993 - George Herbert Walker Bush (b. in Massachusetts not Texas)
20 January 1993-20 January 2001 - William Jefferson Clinton (b. in Arkansas and never claimed to be a Texan)
20 January 2001-present - George Walker Bush (b. in Connecticut not Texas)

4 years + 8 years + 7 years, 1 week, 4 days, 8 hours, 17 minutes =

19 years, 1 week, 4 days, 8 hours, 17 minutes during which time I've never seen a Presidential election ballot without the surnames "Clinton" or "Bush" among the choices. And if you toss in the eight years that George Herbert Walker Bush was Vice President, you get 27 years, 1 week, 4 days, 8 hours, 17 minutes.

That's a long time. I've been voting since I turned 18 (1989) and that was after the first President Bush was elected.

The Historic Debate #5

A few things about the CNN.com free live video feed

no commercials other than the one for Cicso, the company sponsoring the debate

there is a choice between the regular live feed and the live feed with the live reaction graph of opinion from undecided voters

Sen. Clinton bashed Bush and got a big spike, Sen. Obama less so when talking about former Gov. Romney (who would be a bad choice for the GOP, not just America)

The Historic Debate #4

"I worked with John McCain, though he might not admit it now." Sen. Obama talking about immigration reform legislation.

In talking about immigration reform legislation Sen. Clinton managed to slip in the fact that in 2004 Sen. Obama was not yet in the U. S. Senate.

Now if I could ask each of them a question:

To Sen. Clinton - The founder's most likely never thought that a woman might someday be President of the US, but I have the feeling that they also didn't foresee FDR being elected four times in a row either. After WWII our constitution was amended to limit a President to two four-year terms in office, and your husband has served his eight years. Therefore, how is a vote for you not, in a way, a vote to make an end run around the Constitution and re-elect Bill Clinton? If nominated and elected, what will you do to help the former President remember that he is the former President?

To Sen. Obama - What in your past most prepares you to be not only your party's nominee, but also the President of the United States of America? And in what areas do you feel you lack experience?

And to both - Would you consider being the other's running mate?

The Historic Debate #3

Now Sen. Obama is the one moving his lips while I hear Hillary's voice. I think that the TV feed is about a minute or so ahead of the web feed.

Sen. Obama is making the best points, in my opinion, but Hillary isn't doing too bad. Interesting how great her skin looks on a large HDTV. She's about the same age as my mom (who is only a few days older than former President Clinton) and either has taken well care of her skin or has had some work done. I'm hoping she hasn't had work done, I don't think that plastic surgery is much of a sign of authenticity. Call me crazy but I do look for authenticity in politicians and greatly appreciate it when I can find it.

I also saw the new Obama campaign advert with Caroline Kennedy comparing Sen. Obama to her father. Well done. Positive adverts are much better than mud-slinging adverts in my opinion. Yes, I know about and have seen the famous "daisy" advert that aired in 1964. Though that one of LBJ's adverts only ran once, it was very effective, but that was because it told people what to fear. Sen. Obama's adverts have, from what I've seen, mostly been positive and that is a nice refreshing change.

The Historic Debate #2

Finally audio is working and I can listen to them on my laptop while watching them on Urban Market Cafe's nice big flat HDTV screen, but I don't think the web audio is that well synced with the TV feed, since I hear Sen. Obama talking while Sen. Clinton's lips are moving.

The Historic Debate #1

Watching the historic Obama-Clinton debate on CNN @ Urban Market Cafe, so I'm stuck with reading captions while typing. So far they've talked about Health Care with a little bit on foreign policy relating to Iran (at least Obama touched on that).

Why this debate is historic:

The only two people debating are a woman and an African-American! The only old white guy is Wolf Blitzer from CNN!

Found streaming video/sound on CNN.com, but have to restart browser to run plug in.

Kucinich is out of race

BBC says "Democrat Dennis Kucinich pulls out of race for White House. More soon."

Tags:  2008, BBC, Breaking+News, Candidates, Democrats, Dennis Kucinich, Kucinich, Kucinich pulls out of race, & Presidential Campaign

How a Bill Becomes a Law (School House Rock)

This is just a little off topic, but I loved School House Rock growing up and was so excited when I found the videos on YouTube. This is my absolute favorite and the one I remember best.



Tags:  American Government, School House Rock, & YouTube

well i have to rush....

but i finally figured how to work this thing
so i will be posting things i have written all the time i couldn't figure it out later
i should be wearing a dunce mmmmm kay!!!

Don't just talk the talk, live it . . .

Tags:  Free Rice, World Food Program, & United Nations

Becoming a Delegate

The blockquote below is from a recent e-mail sent out by the Texas Democratic Party and gives a quick overview of the process and more details can be found in a PDF file on the TDP website.

Becoming a National Delegate isn't all that complicated. The important things to remember are that you need to vote in the Democratic Primary, fill out and submit a candidacy form to the TDP between April 21 and May 21, then be elected as a delegate at the State Democratic Convention this June in Austin. The process all starts on Primary Day, March 4th. Don't forget to vote in the Democratic primary and attend your precinct convention, which is held at the same place where you vote on Election Day and begins at 7:15pm.

Tags:  2008 Presidential Campaign, Becoming a DNC Delegate, Democratic National Convention, Texas Democratic Party

PS Esti and I were both encouraged by the large turnout in the Iowa Caucuses and hope that a record number of people are going to the polls in NH today. Personally, I didn't expect Edwards to get more votes than H. Clinton. Her third place finish in Iowa was rather shocking to me. As to her emotional remarks yesterday, I do hope that was her being authentic - if so, then I appreciate that, but if it was some calculated appeal for votes and all an act - and I sure hope it wasn't, but if it was and that came out, then it wouldn't help her win my vote (which is currently leaning towards someone else anyway).

KXAN reporting Kucinich suing DP of TX

KXAN Austin is reporting that Dennis Kucinich and Willie Nelson are suing the Texas Democratic Party because Kucinich isn't on the Texas Democratic Primary Ballot.

Kucinich, along with his faithful supporter Willie Nelson, have filed a civil lawsuit with the U.S. District Court, requesting a temporary restraining order, charging that such a "blind loyalty oath" is a violation of the 1st and 14th amendment.

Found on GoogleNews while looking for last minute pre-Caucus news out of Iowa.

Tags:  2008, Candidates, Democrats, Dennis Kucinich, Kucinich, KXAN, Lawsuits, Presidential Campaign, Texas, Texas Democrats Texas Primary, U. S. District Court, & Willie Nelson

Note:  Coverage of the others will pick up soon and you'll see more balance around here.