By Faith Chatham - Sept. 26, 2018
I think part of the break down in the American political system rests with too many people demanding that the CANDIDATE do all the work in reaching them with enough information to inspire them to vote.
There is one candidate and 28.3 million other Texans. There is only so far one person can go in reaching 28.3 million people. Texans must take responsibility to exert some effort to find out about the candidates.
We should research and actually SEARCH for the necessary information to make our decision and then TELL others.
We have a RESPONSIBILITY to exert our VOICE to confront the darkness. Sitting on our hands and complaining because the candidate we suspect more closely shares our values does not run as many TV ads, or we do not see them as frequently on social media or get as many mailers is IRRESPONSIBLE and IMMATURE. Being a grown up means finding out what we need to know and doing what we need to do to get the best outcome for our families. We can sit in a corner and wait and we will be stuck with the same outcome.
More Texas Democrats are active in GOTV efforts this year than every in the history of this state. More individuals have done their homework and are actually working to get out the vote for Democratic nominees in Texas than ever before. .Use of the Democratic Party's MiniVan mobile app is one indicator. In 2016, there were 153,513 Texans who logged into the MiniVan, We have already exceeded 218,189 people have logging onto the app
Numbers of Texans showing up at Town Hall meetings and rallies for Democratic candidates in 2018 are consistently higher than in previous midterm election cycles. Giving to Democratic challengers running in districts in Texas where there are few Democratic incumbents is higher also. Even with these indicators, the likelihood of every Texan being reached with enough messages to persuade them to vote is unlikely.However, there is enough information out there for people to make informed decisions.
It is my opinion that we -- the citizens -- are responsible for our electoral process. it is our responsibility to recognize the realities and work to combat the irregularities, the gerrymandering, the incumbent advantage. It is our responsibility to research whether the policies the incumbents impose actually work for Texans. It is our responsibility to discern between photo ops and sound clips and actually support or opposition to adequately funding our schools, fiscal priorities, ethics, diversion of dedicated funds to other uses, failure to address life threatening issues while wasting legislative time on wedge issues.
I had a woman who alleged that she is a PhD, activists, precinct chair with degrees in political science complain on a Facebook thread this week that she does not know Lupe Valdez's position on healthcare, immigration or education. I asked: "What planet have you been on! Use google!" If she is an educated activist precinct chair, it is her responsibility to communicate about the Democratic nominees to others in her precinct. Not understanding the Democratic Governor Nominee's position on key issues this late in the election cycle is dereliction of her duty as an elected precinct chair. The candidate can only do so much. It is the responsibility of the rest of us to do our part.
Those who complain about not receiving enough messages to understand the candidates' position on issues are slackers. In the age of the internet and search engines, it is out there and if you are reading this post you have the information only few key strokes away. This nation was not founded on the premise that good government would be handed to us. It is our responsibility to PARTICIPATE to improve and preserve it! If you are reading this, you are on the internet. If you are complaining on Facebook, you are on the internet. Type something into the scroll bar and hit "Enter". Then read, evaluate, decided. Then COMMUNICATE with your family, friends and neighbors. This is what MATURE CITIZENS do in a Democracy.
If you are in the category I have branded "slacker", you can catch up. Please do because we are all in the same boat and we'll end up with the same fate.
Some websites of Democratic Nominees in Texas:
www.lupevaldez.com
www.collierfortexas.com
www.betofortexas.org
www.joifortexas.com
US Congressional Democratic Nominees are:
US TX 1 - Shirley McKellar
US TX 2 - Todd Litton
US TX 3 - Lori Bunch
US TX 4 - Catherine Krantz
US TX -5 -Dan Wood
US TX-6 - Jana SanchezUS TX-7 - Lizzie Fletcher
US TX 8 - Steven David
US TX 9 - Al Green
US TX 10 - Mike Siegel
US TX 11 - Jennie Lou Leeder
US TX 12 - Vanessa Adi
US TX 13 - Greg Sagan
US TX-14 - Adrienne Bell
US TX-15 - Vicente Gonzales
US TX-16 - Veronica Escobar
US TX-17 - Rick Kennedy
US TX-18 - Shelia Jackson Lee
US TX-19 - Miguel Levario
US TX-20 - Joaquin Castro
US TX-21 - Joseph Kopser
US TX-22 - Sri Preston Kulkarni
US TX-23 - Gina Ortiz Jones
US TX-24 - Jan McDowell
US TX-25 - Julie Oliiver
US TX-26 - Lindsey Fagan
US TX-27 - Eric Holguin
US TX-28 - Henry Cuellar
US TX-29 - Sylvia Garcia
US TX-30 - Eddie Bernice Johnson
US TX-31 - MJ Hegar (Mary Jennings Hegar)
US TX -32 - Colin Allred
US TX 33 - Marc Veasey
US TX-34 - Filemon Vela
US TX-35 - Lloyd Doggett
US TX 36 - Dayna Steele
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