Unhappy Fourth of July
The delay of the primary will throw the runoff elections almost into August (July 31) — 63 days from the May 29 primary date. This seems nuts: Why do we need a nine week runoff period? (I’m going to answer my own question, with help from a commenter. The reason is the federal MOVE Act, which is designed to enfranchise military voters overseas. It takes a long time to send ballots overseas and get them back.) Any late summer date could have a big impact on the makeup of the 83rd Legislature. Most sane Texans will be in Santa Fe, Aspen, or Telluride. That means the stay-at-home crazies will make up the bulk of the electorate. This is the scenario envisioned by supporters of all the wannabes in the Senate race: Dewhurst barely misses winning without a runoff, and Cruz/Leppert/James slips into a runoff and wins, while Dewhurt’s establishment supporters are enjoying fine dining at Matsuhisa in Aspen and the Compound in Santa Fe.
If this scenario comes to pass, it means that the runoff electorate will be dominated by the ultraconservative base of the party, and the majority of the turnout will be tea party types. And the 83rd Legislature will be just as far to the right as the 82nd was.
Anonymous says:
Umm, no. You’re wrong. The runoff will not be thrown into the Fourth of July holiday period.
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paulburka Reply:
February 29th, 2012 at 5:39 pm
Anonymous is right.
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Anonymous Reply:
February 29th, 2012 at 6:32 pm
Thanks for the correction. And to answer your question, the reason we have such a long runoff period is because of the MOVE Act. They need that extra time to comply with federal law to get ballots out and back to military voters. And because the state doesnt want to pay for FedEx. Van Taylor and VDP passed the bill this session.
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Distinguished Gentleman Reply:
March 1st, 2012 at 12:47 am
What/whom do the initials “VDP” stand for?
Anonymous Reply:
March 1st, 2012 at 12:49 am
Senator Leticia Van De Putte
Distinguished Gentleman Reply:
March 1st, 2012 at 12:56 am
I usually see that expressed as “LVP” when people make reference to her in that particular manner.
Wilson Reply:
March 1st, 2012 at 11:38 am
Awesome. This is funny.
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Jurassic Park says:
Can you be a clown and a snob at the same time? Yes, yes you can.
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Fiftycal says:
Gee, maybe you could educate all the swells about early voting? Or vote by mail if they’re off to Bern or Paris for the summer.
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Capitol Observer says:
It is amazing how uninformed you have become. Writing hypotheticals on issues you know nothing about is pointless.
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Anonymous says:
We’ve already have the 82nd Legislature.
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paulburka Reply:
February 29th, 2012 at 5:39 pm
Did we ever.
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Dr. Julius No says:
Paul, thanks for giving me a great name for my garage band: “The Stay-at-Home Crazies!” … what a great name. Look for us playing nightly at the SXSW Farouk Shami hair care product tent.
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WUSRPH says:
Paul, I am sorry to see that you have apparently been infected with the GOP visus that makes you believe that the only “sane Texans” are either rich Republicans or “Trust fund Democrats”…Us old state retirees will be no further away from home on July 4 of anyone day this summer than the nearest book store. Have a good time wherever you are at that time hobnobbing with all those other “worthwhile people.”
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Cow Droppings says:
right paul…as if those wealthy enough to summer in colorado are so large in number that it will make a huge dent in the dewhurst base. You are conflating the money community with the other part of the electorate (the other 90 plus percent) who will be mostly home, the vast majority of whom are not crazy.
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Gen. Sam Houston Reply:
February 29th, 2012 at 5:17 pm
Good to see Cow Droppings back. Perry campaign was like a bad acid trip, eh?
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Stella says:
Wow, you’re kind of an asshole.
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Harold says:
“Most sane Texans will be in Santa Fe, Aspen, or Telluride.”
Jesus, how did you get so out of touch with real Texans? Let me correct this for you: most of Texas Monthly’s rich white advertisers will be in Santa Fe, Aspen, or Telluride. There, fixed it.
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paulburka Reply:
February 29th, 2012 at 5:41 pm
Harold: Surely you can tell that I’m not being literal.
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Harold Reply:
February 29th, 2012 at 5:46 pm
PolitiFact would SO fail you. And don’t call me Shirley.
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Texian Politico Reply:
March 1st, 2012 at 7:32 am
Harold Cook is spot on here.
Burka, your alleged attempt at humor drastically failed.
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Anonymous says:
Most of Texas Monthly’s rich white advertisers will be in Santa Fe, Aspen, or Telluride because that is where all the ads are from anyway.
Paul, you sound like a real ass in this post. Sane or not, most Texans won’t be in those places this summer because they can’t afford it. Someone has to work in this damn state.
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Stanley Kowalski says:
STELLAAAAA!!! You thought I was common. Well how right you was.
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LL42's SuperPac says:
It’s true. I’ll be in at one of my multiple vacation homes, but my White Trash Following (WTF) who believe that corporate welfare will somehow save them from mediocrity will be voting.
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Sauron Reply:
March 1st, 2012 at 12:44 pm
Dear LL42′s SuperPac,
OMG!! I can’t believe I’m writing you. This is CRAZY. You must get fan letters like this all time. But trust me, I’m not your average fan.
See, I’m also a master of the Dark Arts…some even call me “The Dark Lord.” Believe it or not, we both share the same desire to reshape the world in our twisted image.
Like you, all my thoughts are bent on gathering power in the oncoming chaos and enslaving the world of men. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you and I are like long lost brothers or something. HA HA! JK…I’m totally not on your level yet. But one day, I will be.
But whatevs. So I was conjuring my army of the unholy dead when I thought, “There’s gotta be an easier way to rain despair and devastation upon the righteous.” Then it hit me, “What would LL42’s SuperPac do?”
Don’t laugh, I totally need your advice. Question: Is it better to corrupt men’s souls FIRST and then use money to forever ensnare them into your service?
Or, do you start by giving them money and then let the money slowly rot their souls before you control them like empty puppets?
Can you help? I’m new to using money. I’m used to using horror, death and threat of eternal pain as my weapons of subjugation.
Anyway, I gotta go. A Gossip Girl marathon is coming on. Then I’m impregnating Grover Norquist with a throat maggot…those are good for channeling my voice into his speeches and interviews and stuff.
Follow me on twitter, okay?
Your biggest fan ever,
Sauron – Dark Lord of Middle Earth
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WS says:
To add to the priceless commentary above, the reason the runoff period is extended is because new federal law requires more time in order to send out and process military ballots to ensure they are counted. Specifically, the MOVE Act, passed October 2009, requires military ballots to go out 45 days before an election. That was impossible under the old runoff period. The Legislature, in the form of SB 100 changed the state law to comply which required a longer runoff period.
Add in some poor research to go with the snobbish anti-proletarian attitude documented by previous commenters, and you’ve pretty much embarrassed yourself.
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paulburka Reply:
February 29th, 2012 at 5:47 pm
Good information, thanks.
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Texian Politico Reply:
March 1st, 2012 at 7:34 am
I’m sure Burka agrees that no sane person serves in the military and thus they are also “stay at home crazies”, though perhaps they may be deployed to places other than Aspen, Sante Fe, and Telluride.
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paulburka says:
Okay, I’ll write it serious and boring. Texans who can afford to leave the state for milder climates will do so, while engaged voters will stay home to cast ballots on election day to express their opposition to Barack Obama. Chill.
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LL42's SuperPac says:
I have not seen ” anti-proletarian” in text since my great great great greatest grandad had an orgasm over the construction of the Empire State Building.
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Kathie says:
Oh for Petes sake. Can’t your rich white voters get the forms to vote absentee and be in Telluride also?
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Alan says:
Paul,
Is everything okay? Your posts have been unusually cranky the past couple of weeks and this one makes you seem like the illegitimate child of Marie Antoinette and C. Montgomery Burns.
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Julie says:
I won’t be in Santa Fe or Aspen. I’ll be in Tahiti, so I’ll be able to vote by mail. That assumes the Postal Service doesn’t go broke this year.
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Whoa Nellie! says:
“Most sane Texans will be in Santa Fe, Aspen, or Telluride. That means the stay-at-home crazies will make up the bulk of the electorate. ”
How nice to be unemployed in this state, with my better half employed by the state university system where there have been no cost-of-living raises in years, and barely able to pay bills let alone take vacations to fancy resorts like those deserving Texans do. I guess the rest of y’all are too busy eating cake to spare a thought for such crazed poor folks like us. Sure makes me want to vote for the biggest wacko I can find.
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Texian Politico says:
It must be nice to be as rich and out of touch as Burka to think that all “sane Texans” can afford to spend their summers in Santa Fe, Aspen, or Telluride and that everyone else is a “stay at hoem crazy.” Nice, Burka. Very nice. Snob.
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Bill51 says:
Not to pile on, but Paul: Read what you wrote. You sound as unhinged as the crazies you talk about. Do you think we all live CultureMap lives?
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Bill51 says:
Meanwhile, Ralph Yarborough once told me that moving the primary from August to May was bad for him because the school teachers didn’t have the summers off to work for his campaigns. There is no need to have campaigns that last all year. Like early voting, it just drives up the cost of campaigns, increasing the role of special interest money but not increasing turnout.
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The Mustache That Dare Not Speak Its Name says:
Perhaps this post should be renamed on honor of Arthur Koestler: The Joke That Failed.
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Goo says:
I’ll be hanging out at the family 4th of July bbq with all the crazies, not voting for Dewhurst. Can’t say I’m unhappy with that scenario.
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JUICE says:
Aspen is awesome in the summer, especially after 40 consecutive days of 105 in Austin, I recommend it highly. It’s easy to get to, as it has a real airport, which allows you to avoid the harrowing, no-shoulder, hairpin turns at high altitude that must be negotiated to get there by car. Of course, last time I went I freeloaded of someone else and incurred no lodging expenses. Next time, someone of my modest means would probably need to stay in Basalt or Glenwood Springs and drive into town to pretend I’m summering alongside the idle rich. But it is really freaking pleasant.
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WUSRPH Reply:
March 1st, 2012 at 8:17 pm
The best time and place is Maine in September…The big crowds have gone..and it is too early for what the locals call the “Blue Hair Tours” of the changing leaves…We did that 5 times in the 90s..but retirement did all that in.
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Blue Dogs says:
All Dewhurst needs to do is get 56 percent in May 29th’s primary vote and he avoids the runoff.
This redistricting issue should have been resolved MONTHS ago, but both sides were bitching too much.
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Distinguished Gentleman says:
Has there been any pronouncement as to the final deadline for candidates (both D and R) to file for office?
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half full says:
Paulie,
Is it the black helicopters flying over United and BCBS lobby HQs that take the people to Colorado?
And when after they have left their freight in cooler climbs do the spectral copters lift your frame elsewhere too?
Tone deaf jokes aside,
The significant part of this post is that you must not have even spoken to the few useless informers on which you usually rely, because even they would have been able to tell your Longitudinally Large Legislativeness that the new run-off length is due to new law.
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heat stroke says:
Well, it will be very difficult to get volunteers to work the polling places!
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Blue Dogs Reply:
March 2nd, 2012 at 9:55 am
You’re talking about the Tea Party folks volunteering to vote in the May 29th primary ?
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Distinguished Gentleman says:
OK, so the Primary date is May 29, 2012.
What is the exact date for the run-off?
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Robert Morrow says:
Here is an interview with John Connally from 1982 by Doug Thompson who had met him on an airplane.
http://www.opednews.com/populum/printer_friendly.php?content=a&id=14368
I do not believe John Connally was involved in the JFK assassination, but Lyndon Johnson was at the epicenter of it. Connally also never accepted the “magic bullet” fantasy and he always insisted that separate bullet hit him and JFK (which of course would mean multiple shooters).
Most folks don’t know that LBJ was trying to get Jackie to ride in his limo(!) or that on the morning of 11/22/63 LBJ got in a loud argument trying to get Connally in his limo and put Sen. Ralph Yarborough into the kill zone.
Read carefully what Connally says in this interview from 1982 but not published until 2006.
March 29, 2006
Is deception the best way to serve one’s country?
By Doug Thompson
The handwritten note lay in the bottom drawer of my old rolltop desk, one I bought for $50 in a junk store in Richmond, VA, 39 years ago. “Dear Doug & Amy,” it read. “Thanks for dinner and for listening.” The signature was a bold “John” and the letterhead on the note simply said “John B. Connally” and was dated July 14, 1982.
::::::::
The handwritten note lay in the bottom drawer of my old rolltop desk, one I bought for $50 in a junk store in Richmond, VA, 39 years ago.
“Dear Doug & Amy,” it read. “Thanks for dinner and for listening.” The signature was a bold “John” and the letterhead on the note simply said “John B. Connally” and was dated July 14, 1982.
I met John Connally on a TWA flight from Kansas City to Albuquerque earlier that year. The former governor of Texas, the man who took one of the bullets from the assassination that killed President John F. Kenney, was headed to Santa Fe to buy a house.
The meeting wasn’t an accident. The flight originated in Washington and I sat in the front row of the coach cabin. During a stop in Kansas City, I saw Connally get on the plane and settle into a first class seat so I walked off the plane and upgraded to a first class seat right ahead of the governor. I not only wanted to meet the man who was with Kennedy on that day in Dallas in 1963 but, as the communications director for the re-election campaign of Congressman Manuel Lujan of New Mexico, I thought he might be willing to help out on what was a tough campaign.
When the plane was in the air, I introduced myself and said I was working on Lujan’s campaign. Connally’s face lit up and he invited me to move to the empty seat next to him.
“How is Manuel? Is there anything I can do to help?”
By the time we landed in Albuquerque, Connally had agreed to do a fundraiser for Lujan. A month later, he flew back into New Mexico where Amy and I picked him up for the fundraiser. Afterwards, we took him to dinner.
Connolly was both gracious and charming and told us many stories about Texas politics. As the evening wore on and the multiple bourbon and branch waters took their effect, he started talking about November 22, 1963, in Dallas.
“You know I was one of the ones who advised Kennedy to stay away from Texas,” Connally said. “Lyndon (Johnson) was being a real asshole about the whole thing and insisted.”
Connally’s mood darkened as he talked about Dallas. When the bullet hit him, he said he felt like he had been kicked in the ribs and couldn’t breathe. He spoke kindly of Jackie Kennedy and said he admired both her bravery and composure.
I had to ask. Did he think Lee Harvey Oswald fired the gun that killed Kennedy?
“Absolutely not,” Connally said. “I do not, for one second, believe the conclusions of the Warren Commission.”
So why not speak out?
“Because I love this country and we needed closure at the time. I will never speak out publicly about what I believe.”
We took him back to catch a late flight to Texas. He shook my hand, kissed Amy on the cheek and walked up the ramp to the plane.
We saw Connally and his wife a couple of more times when they came to New Mexico but he sold his house a few years later as part of a bankruptcy settlement. He died in 1993 and, I believe, never spoke publicly about how he doubted the findings of the Warren Commission.
Connnally’s note serves as yet another reminder that in our Democratic Republic, or what’s left of it, few things are seldom as they seem. Like him, I never accepted the findings of the Warren Commission. Too many illogical conclusions.
John Kennedy’s death, and the doubts that surround it to this day, marked the beginning of the end of America’s idealism. The cynicism grew with the lies of Vietnam and the senseless deaths of too many thousands of young Americans in a war that never should have been fought. Doubts about the integrity of those we elect as our leaders festers today as this country finds itself embroiled in another senseless war based on too many lies.
John Connally felt he served his country best by concealing his doubts about the Warren Commission’s whitewash but his silence may have contributed to the growing perception that our elected leaders can rewrite history to fit their political agendas.
Had Connally spoken out, as a high-ranking political figure with doubts about the “official” version of what happened, it might have sent a signal that Americans deserve the truth from their government, even when that truth hurts.
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