HouDecides08's Blog

Heres the picture. The primary voting ends. The precinct judge(accoring to the workers there) leaves. Just leaves. Leaves without establishing a plan or a chain of command. Chaos reigns. The staff tries figure out what to do. They do nothing. Well, almost nothing. They lock the doors. The crowd grows more restless. They bang on the doors. Someone calls the police. They  arrive.  The officers says "If your intention was to look like a bunch of idiots tonight  you've succeeded. " Not surprisingly  that actually inflames the crowd.  Long story short, three hours after polls close the the caucuses at this location get rolling. The last one wraps up around midnight.  Will Rodgers once said " I don't belong to an organized political party, I'm a Democrat."  This was probably worse than anything he imagined.  It's been a long dayy.

John Donnelly

The Clinton Campaign accuses the press of trashing Hillary while giving Barack Obama a free ride.   "Saturday Night Live" even produced a skit about the perceived favoritism shown Obama.  The press loves Obama, the Clintonites contend, and aren't holding him accountable.

The media lovers of the Illinois senator, however, are about to turn into scorpions, stinging Obama at every turn, even when it hurts the candidate they not-so-secretly support.  That's the prediction of Susan Estrich, a former top Democratic Party activist who now teaches law and writes a column in Southern California.  Estrich, a Clinton supporter,  writes the press won't be able to help itself when it starts knocking Obama off the political pedestal. 

Of course, the media loves to build up heroes, only to eventually cut them off at the knees.  That's the nature of the media beast.  Is the beast about to tear into Obama's character, background, and voting record?  Estrich predicts it will happen.... soon.   Do you agree or do you think the media has treated Obama and Clinton equally?

Ford Atkinson

Okay, so covering the primaries most of us knew that Hillary was going to have a weak February. Many of the states that held contests in February were predicted to go to Obama. Which leads me to wonder had Texas and Ohio, which earlier in the year were expected to favor Clinton, come earlier would Clinton now be the frontrunner? No doubt winning 11 straight has given Obama the edge and momentum. How much does it all come down to timing?

Sibila Vargas

At the end of the day both candidates (on both sides) will have to rally behind the parties choise.  Doe that mean that each will take back what they have been saying about the other?

Traffic Diva

If you live in Harris County, the names Pat Lykos, Kelly Siegler and C.O. Bradford should be as familiar to you as Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain.  That's because either Lykos, Siegler or Bradford will likely be the next Harris County District Attorney, a job that probably has more influence on our every day lives than the presidency.

Barring a major upset in the republican race,  Siegler or Lykos will be the republican nominee.  Siegler is a top prosecutor in the D.A.'s office, but some republican insiders fear she may be tainted by the email scandal that sent her boss Chuck Rosenthal packing.  Lykos is a former cop and district court judge, who was very unpopular with prosecutors and defense attorneys during her tenure on the bench.  

In years past, the republican nomination was tantamount to election.  Not this year, especially if Barack Obama tops the democratic ticket.  He could carry the democratic nominee into office.  The nominee will be C.O. Bradford, the former Houston police chief who is running unopposed in the democratic primary.  Bradford hopes to be the county's first African American D.A.  Like Siegler and Lykos, he carries baggage into the campaign, particularly his supervision of the discredited Houston Police crime lab. 

Once the dust settles in the presidential sweepstakes, the Houston media will focus more intently on the D.A.'s race.  Fasten your seatbelts.  It could get nasty.  The perceived "sins" of the nominees won't be swept under the rug.  Are you ready?  Do you  have a favorite in the race? 

Ford Atkinson

Some call it a "softball" - a question tossed slowly into a politician's wheel-house so they can CRUSH an opponents position or action.

Today on the trail with Mike Huckabee I made referenece to John McCain's recent flub when he insisted he was a "proud, LIBERAL, conservative republican".

The former pastor took a pass - saying he didn't want to find fault with "slips of the tongue" (even the freudian kind) because others would certainly do the same when he botched a line.

So what do you think - is the good former governor living by the Golden Rule or is he angling for a veep-slot and just making nice with the inevitable nominee ?

Greg Groogan