Saturday, May 09, 2009

Status Quo: Si; Loose Cannons: No

With 58.41% of today’s vote in, and all of the early votes counted, I am going to call it.

The ticket for change (also known as “keep the change” by at least one of their number) appears to be headed for political oblivion. Carlos Cain and Bruce Albright were decisively turned away by the kind of voter that turns out to vote in May.

A very special kind of voter.

A kind of voter that apparently likes how things are going in Fort Bend ISD, Taj Mahal or not.

Glover and Bhuchar, the ticket of the status quo are the clear winners.

I have to say I am not surprised.

Not surprised given the recent history on the school board. Voters voted in a very confrontational crowd awhile back. A bunch of people that called itself the “new majority.” A crowd of people that turned Fort Bend ISD into a swirling pot of discontent.

Teachers and administrators left the district in droves. The board first ostracized then drove out of office a very capable superintendent. Then they held court while the replacement superintendent was moved to cry whenever they slammed her.

They are mostly gone now.

And that the voters did not want to revisit this bad time? No surprise.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

How does it feel hal to be a status quo lackey?

Anonymous said...

"And that the voters did not want to revisit this bad time? No surprise."

Your're right, it's just better to keep the peace and let the vendors do as they wish. We really should let the superintendents appoint the boards.

carlos said...

Political oblivion? we'll see about that. Remember this. Pigs get fat. Hogs get slaughtered.

Hal said...

Oh good God.

Pork dreams and future-rama. Actually, we probably have not heard the last of Carlos "keep the change" Cain. This is the guy with access to a robo machine.He can place calls.

One wonders about the subject matter. Hopefully it is not about a recipe for brewing tea.

Anonymous said...

If you can't turn out the small number of supporters it requires to win a school board election, you don't deserve to win.

Bruce D. Albright said...

$10 million in the red nd a Rubber Stamp Board. Hal, I'm not suprised you think thats ok. Maybe you even think feeding vendors $15million with out 1 bid is ok. For sone of us who have rel jobs, We don't like paying taxes (66% of ttotal Tax bill is school taxes) so the money can get wasted and feed to the buddy system.

Anonymous said...

I just wanted to thank those people in the community willing to put their butts on the line for the rest of us. Thanks Carlos for speaking up at no personal gain to you.

Anonymous said...

Is it "really" the desire to maintain the status quo or is it apathy? The line is blurred as to which one. But, then, again, I guess the point is moot, since the results are the same, whichever it is.

Anonymous said...

Bruce,
If you couldn't get the small number of votes required to win the election, you have no business trying to run.

Hal said...

Actually I would modify that. Everyone has a right to run for office (well, except the felons). However once the race is run and lost, it's time to stop campaigning.

And with this dismal turnout (4.4%) those who didn't bother to vote have any right to complain at all, just get out your checkbook and fork over your pound of flesh.

Anonymous said...

Only an idiot would think the polling numbers are accurate when 100% were reporting with a broken down truck still out. I personally exit polled one precinct all day and the report claims around 80 voters on election day with a 60-40 split and I know for a fact only 1/3 of that number was at the poll.

Apathy or status quo the numbers don't jive at all. I've filed a JD complaint and I'm encouraging others to over the "broken down truck" incident.

I can't wait to hear half and his insider gop buddies explain this one.

Anonymous said...

"If you can't turn out the small number of supporters it requires to win a school board election, you don't deserve to win."

Actually BOT dynamics would be considerably different if single member school districts were the norm. LCISD and HISD use them. It is unfair to ask people to run a race in the 7th largest district in TX and all "at large" seats. Spending 10-15k in the process is meant to keep the board in the hands of the few special interest, which has been successfully done now for years. That's probably why all the latest and greatest schools get placed in the most well connected subdivisions. Money talks!

Hal said...

Anon, if you have evidence of voter fraud, file it.

Frankly with the numbers the way they are, what difference does it make?

At the very most you can charge that someone committed voter fraud when it was not required, given the numbers.

Anonymous said...

Hey Hal:
Theres another election in March, have your heard? "I'll BE BACK".
BDA

Anonymous said...

Amazing Hal that you would be defending voter fraud at any time. Tells us quite a bit about your character. I remember just a year and half ago you and the d-club screaming about the failure of a paper trail with e-slate and now you defend it. What a hypocrite you are.

I for one am glad average citizens stood up and some even voted on the issues and not the demographics, but sadly not enough to matter.

Hal said...

Voter fraud is code talk these days, Anon. Republican code talk. Voter fraud is assumed by Republicans, not
Democrats.

Democrats screamed abut eslate not because we were afraid of voters, like Republicans are, but because we see the vote counters cheating.

That's the voter fraud Democrats are concerned with. Republicans just don't like it when Hispanics, blacks and the elderly vote and will bend over backwards to see that doesn't happen.

I also beg to differ on voters who voted in the school board election. With a 4.4% turnout they are anything but average. These are your voting addicts, the ones who you can't keep away from the polls. Very probably each and every one who voted was an activist of some sort or another, not your casual presidential year voter.

Anonymous said...

but, but, but.....but. Someone is running out of arguments.

Mark Bankston, Pseudo-Psychic to the Stars said...

I've watched Hal cover politics for over three years now. Trust me, he'll never run out of arguments.

And it will probably be at least 20-25 years before he starts running out of good arguments... Right around the time the Alzheimer's starts kicking in, and he starts losing track of car keys and his blogger login ID.

And his argument here IS good. Anybody talking about voter fraud in a blowout election is simply wasting breath. When the election is razor close, then we can all have fun with our real or feigned outrage. Until that point, you will sound like a person sporting a hat constructed from aluminum foil.

Not necessarily a judgment on the merits, but true.

Take it from someone who just won (Morrison) and lost (Reynolds) an actual pair of razor close elections (867 votes and 187 votes...out of 30,000+ votes) -- Sometimes it's just better to suck it up and move on despite whatever bizarre suspicions you may harbor about the legitimacy of the outcome, whether it be space aliens or ACORN or dirty ads or artificially created rainstorms or a vast demonic conspiracy launched on the 14th green at Sweetwater Country Club.

Anonymous said...

It's funny watching these bottom feeders defending a republican precinct chair. Gotta luv it!