Falls and McLennan County Election Results

Here is a summary of the election results for Falls County, where I live. Pay attention to the numbers in red; we'll get to them in a minute.

President
John McCain: 59.35%
Barack Obama: 39.62%
Margin: 19.73%

U.S. Senate
John Cornyn: 59.17%
Rick Noriega: 39.28%
Margin: 19.89%

U.S. Representative, District 31
John Carter: 59.75%
Brian P. Ruiz: 38.56
Margin: 21.19%

Railroad Commissioner
Michael Williams: 49.76%
Mark Thompson: 47.54%
Margin: 2.22%

Supreme Court, Chief Justice
Wallace Jefferson: 49.73%
Jim Jordan: 47.14%
Margin: 2.59%

Supreme Court, Place 7
Dale Wainwright: 48.64%
Sam Houston: 47.94%
Margin: 0.7%

Supreme Court, Place 8
Phil Johnson: 52.32%
Linda Reyna Yanez: 44.72%
Margin: 7.6%

Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 3
Tom Price: 50.26%
Susan Strawn: 47.06%
Margin: 3.2%

Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 4
Paul Womack: 53.16%
J.R. Molina: 43.81%
Margin: 9.35%

Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 9
Cathy Cochran: 81.91%
William Strange (Libertarian): 18.08%
Margin: 63.83%

State Representative, District 57
Jim Dunnam: 86.03%
Neill Snider (Libertarian): 13.96%
Margin: 72.07%

10th Court of Appeals, Place 2
Rex Davis: 53.50%
Richard Ferguson: 46.49%
Margin: 7.01%

Now for McLennan County.

President
John McCain: 60.19%
Barack Obama: 39.16%
Margin: 21.03%

U.S. Senate
John Cornyn: 61.31%
Rick Noriega: 37.31%
Margin: 24.00%

U.S. Representative, District 17
Rob Curnock: 39.96%
Chet Edwards: 59.29%
Margin: 19.33%

Railroad Commissioner
Michael Williams: 56.70%
Mark Thompson: 40.88%
Margin: 15.82%

Supreme Court, Chief Justice
Wallace Jefferson: 57.60%
Jim Jordan: 40.36%
Margin: 17.24%

Supreme Court, Place 7
Dale Wainwright: 55.25%
Sam Houston: 42.73%
Margin: 12.52%

Supreme Court, Place 8
Phil Johnson: 58.18%
Linda Reyna Yanez: 39.84%
Margin: 18.34%

Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 3
Tom Price: 56.47%
Susan Strawn: 41.07%
Margin: 15.40%

Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 4
Paul Womack: 58.26%
J.R. Molina: 39.64%
Margin: 18.62%

Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 9
Cathy Cochran: 87.76%
William Strange (Libertarian): 12.23%
Margin: 75.53%

State Representative, District 56
Doc Anderson: 86.56
David Meine (Libertarian): 13.43%
Margin: 73.13

State Representative, District 57
Jim Dunnam: 92.11%
Neill Snider (Libertarian): 7.88%
Margin: 84.23%

10th Court of Appeals, Place 2
Rex Davis: 59.79%
Richard Ferguson: 40.20%
Margin: 19.59%

Ok, that was the boring part, I promise. I need to say this before I go any further: I am not a statistician or a political analyst by any means, but I need to do some math.

You see, there are some numbers that stick out to me. Alright, the average margin of victory of Republicans over Democrats in Falls County is 9.285%. In McLennan County, it's 18.19%. For these averages, I excluded races in which a Republican or Democrat was running against a Libertarian because, no offense to Libertarians, but these races were, and usually are, blowouts.

It is my opinion that the down-ballot results are a pretty good way to tell how a county is divided, as far as political parties go. The fact is, most voters are not all that educated on who is running for office, other than the folks at the top of the ticket. Furthermore, I believe that the most "unknown" races are judicial elections. After all, presidential candidates, senators, and representatives know that they must keep their constituents happy to either win office or remain there, so they stay pretty visible througout the campaign season.

So, let's look at the numbers for the judicial races. In both counties, Republicans won every race. In the three Supreme Court places, and the three places on the Court of Criminal Appeals, all six Republican incumbents remained in office. In Falls County the average margin of victory for Republicans in judicial races was 5.08%. In McLennan County, it was just about 17%.

Alright, I am going to try to make this make sense. I am not trying to say that all voters in McLennan or Falls County are uneducated, but I can tell you that there was virtually no campaigning done here for the Supreme Court and none at all for the Court of Criminal Appeals. So, unless you made a point to research the candidates, there would be no way to know much about them. So what's an uninformed voter to do? I can think of three things.

One, vote straight ticket. Two, vote for candidates that you have heard of somewhere before. Three, vote for those who have nice-sounding names.

I think that a little bit of all of these things happened. Falls County is the perfect example of this. We are a small, poor county that does not receive much attention from "outsiders." With so few voters, there's really no reason to campaign here; it wouldn't have a big enough impact. So, when I see election results from my county, I wonder why people voted the way they did.

My argument is that most voters voted straight-ticket along party lines, unless there is something about a candidate that a voter deems unacceptable. The races that I think are most indicative of the political alignment of Falls County were: Railroad Commissioner, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Place 7 of the Supreme Court, and Place 3 of the Supreme Court. These elections were all decided by margins between 0.7 and 3.2 percent, with Republicans holding a slight advantage.

What about the other judicial races? The Democrat lost Place 8 of the Supreme Court by 7.6 percentage points, and Place 4 of the Court of Criminal Appeals by 9.35 percentage points.

Why were these particular races determined by a larger margin than seemingly equivalent elections? Example: what voter knows the difference in candidates of Place 2 vs. Place 8 of the Supreme Court? My argument is that some voters voted not only along party lines, but along racial lines, as well. The candidates that lost by the larger margins were Linda Reyna Yanez and J.R. Molina. Molina was widely described as an unfit candidate, but Linda Yanez was praised and endorsed by major state newspapers.

Let's do some more math. In races (including for president, excluding Libertarians, in Falls County only) where there was no well-known minority or candidate with an "ethnic-sounding" name, the Republican margin of victory was 3.38%. This seems to indicate that the county is pretty well evenly divided along party lines. However, in the presidential election and in races where a candidate with a Hispanic name, the margin was 15.6%. For the record, even though this seems more apparent in Falls County, the margin for a race without a minority in McLennan County was 15.51% and, for races with a minority Democratic candidate, it was 20.51%.

Also for the record, I did not factor Michael Williams's, Wallace Jefferson's or Dale Wainwright's race into this. They are all black Republicans, but, as there was so little campaigning done around here, it is doubtful that voters knew this. Also, they were incumbents and easily won their races.

So, while I am definitely not a "numbers" person, I recognized a trend. I may be reading too much into this, but I have seen so much racism in the days since the elcetion that these results jumped out to me.

Is there an solution to this problem? Probably not. Until racial sterotypes and prejudice are eliminated, and people make it a point to become informed, I doubt that we will see voters voting solely on the issues. There will always those who vote based on the way a person's name sounds. In all fairness, it seems that Democratic judge Sam Houston received a modest boost in numbers, likely because of his name. On the other hand, it also appears that Susan Strawn lost by a larger number than some of the other judicial candidates. Was it maybe because people voted for the male candidate over the female? We'll probably never know.

In conclusion, though there is nothing official about these observations, it is a sad commentary on the state of racial relations in Texas. I'm not black, and I will never understand what it is like to be black, but I am saddened by the reaction that I have witnessed in Central Texas to Obama's election, and I will not stop trying to fix it. I keep harping on the race issue, but let me say this once and for all: racism didn't end with Obama's election. We may have made progress, but there is still a long way to go.

Why Baylor's in the news...

Here's a hint: It's not because they won a football game.

The day after the election, there were reports of a few racially-charged incidents at Baylor University. Apparently, a noose was found hanging in a tree on campus. Also, several students had a bonfire with Obama signs in a barbeque pit near the dorms. Finally, perhaps fueled by the first two incidents, a shouting match between what I have heard described as a group of white students and a group of black students resulted in police being called. No one was injured, but one student described the confrontation as being "filled with hate."

First of all, I do not think that burning Obama signs in a barbeque pit is inherently racist. I could potentially envision bitter and immature people burning Hillary Clinton signs if she had ended up as the Democratic nominee and eventual president-elect. These students may have had racial motivations for burning the signs, but this was not made clear. However, this does nothing to improve Baylor's image, or Waco's either, for that matter. Waco will be forever associated with the Branch Davidians, Daivd Koresh, and Mount Carmel. Waco citizens will have to deal with this stigma forever.

As for the shouting match between students, I do not know how it started or what was said, but tensions have been running high since the election. Campus police seem to have handled the situation well, and no one was hurt. Racial slurs may have been thrown around, but, consitutionally, we have the right to free speech. I will revere the right to free speech until I die, with one exception that I have mentioned before: speech that incites violence.

A noose hanging from a tree on the day after we have elected our first black president is not a prank or practical joke. It is a threat. Baylor needs to investigate this incident, and take swift and decisive action. The person who did this, if they are a student, should be expelled. The atmosphere around the Waco area has been tense enough for the past couple of days, and an incident like this could be enough to cause the situation to ignite. There is nothing funny about lynching, which has been a tragic part of Waco's not-too-distant past.

In 1916, Jesse Washington was lynched in Waco for the rape and murder of a white woman. Whether he actually committed the crime or not is questionable. In 1916, this did not matter. A trial was held and Washington was convicted. On his way to jail, he was swept away by a mob of Waco citizens. He was then hanged and burned to death. One person who was there later wrote:

The boy was beaten and dragged to the suspension bridge spanning the Brazos River. Thousands roared, "Burn him!" Bonfire preparations were already under way in the public square, where Washington was beaten with shovels and bricks.Fifteen thousand men, women, and children packed the square. They climbed up poles and onto the tops of cars, hung from windows, and sat on each other's shoulders. Children were lifted by their parents into the air. Washington was castrated, and his ears were cut off. A tree supported the iron chain that lifted him above the fire of boxes and sticks. Wailing, the boy attempted to climb the skillet-hot chain. For this the men cut off his fingers. The executioners repeatedly lowered the boy into the flames and hoisted him out again. With each repetition, a mighty shout was raised.

This incident has become known as "The Waco Horror."

Washington is believed to have still been alive in this photo.

This image was made into a postcard that said, "This is the barbecue we had last night...Your son, Joe."

This is what a noose hanging from a tree at a college campus in the South, in Waco, represents. Baylor needs to take a stand.

Yes We Did

I just got back from watching history.

There will be time for analysis and criticism later. For now, I just want to reiterate how proud I am to be an American. As I watched Obama give his victory speech tonight, I couldn't help but feel that my future, all of our futures, had somehow depended on this election.

Looking at the crowd at Grant Park in Chicago was awe-inspiring. Actually, it was just inspiring. People of all ages, races, and ideologies gathered to watch history. As Obama thanked his supporters, I forgot all about the partisan sniping and attacks of the past few months. Obama praised John McCain as a great American, and I believed him. I decided that all of the complaints that I have about this election, the Republican Party, and politics in general could wait until tomorrow. I sincerely hope that we can all get behind Obama to make America, as my hero Barbara Jordan once put it, "as good as its promise."

There is one thing that cannot wait until tomorrow, however. I cannot abide the contined racism and fearmongering that some sore losers are still participating in. As the night progressed, and an Obama victory seemed inevitable, I began to get phone calls and text messages from people that I know who are small-minded bigots.

"I wonder if there might be an assassination attempt tonight," one wrote. Another, "Lol he is winning because of sympathy vote his mom died of cancer [sic]." One more, "I swear if Obama wins, someone is gonna hang him!!"

As much as listening to Obama speak tonight makes me feel like I should be better than stooping to the level of racist and ignorant people, I cannot emphasize strongly enough that this is unacceptable. I want to go on one of my usual foul-mouthed tirades, but I cannot. My only consolation is that one day, you people will burn in hell I saw tonight that there is still good in this country, and that if we work together, we can change things for the better.

Dear Joe the Plumber,

You have had your fifteen minutes, now please shut the hell up.

You have implied that Barack Obama is anti-American, and you are the one that started this whole socialism thing. Now, I see a picture of you in the paper this morning, standing in front of a row of U.S. flags agreeing that a vote for Obama is a vote for the death of Israel.

I was one of the people who thought that it was unfair that you were attacked because of the attention that McCain gave you during the last debate. I didn't think it was fair that your background was investigated and personal information about was published in newspapers and on the Internet.

Now the gloves are off, Joe.

You don't agree with Obama, fine. But please stop throwing out these buzzwords for hateful, ignorant people to latch on to. You sparked the "Obama is a socialist trend" and now people who have no concept of what socialism even is are practically calling for his head. This is the kind of behavior that prevailed when good old Joe McCarthy was running the show, and I thought we were past that. Apparently not.

Now you are an expert on Israel? Wow, the Republican Party must do one hell of a job of teaching foreign policy. Did you have the same teacher as Sarah Palin? Can you see Israel from Ohio?

Anyway, while I originally thought that it was a low blow to go after you, Joe, I am going to suggest that you are anti-American. Here's why:

You apparently don't pay your taxes. It is our obligation as Americans to pay taxes, why should you be any different? Furthermore, why should you be concerned about Obama's tax plans if you aren't going to pay them anyway?

You're not even real. Your real name is Samuel Wurzelbacher. You're not a licensed plumber. "Joe the Plumber" is a character that John McCain invented to win votes (kind of like Sarah Palin). You were used by the Republican Party and are now making an ass of yourself by playing along (kind of like Sarah Palin). When this election is over, you will be chewed up and spit out by the same people who made you famous (kind of like Sarah Palin).

You're bald. Maybe you're a skinhead. Are you a Nazi, Mr. Wurzlebacher? Are you secretly hoping that Obama's impending win will doom the nation of Israel? Are you anti-Semitic, Joe?

No? Well, you have to admit that these allegations of being anti-American are inflammatory and don't paint a very pretty picture of you, Joe. They are probably also false. But, for an uninformed person reading this, this might sound plausible. This is what you (and others, many others) have done to Senator Obama. By planting the seeds of fear in ignorant minds, you have helped create an unstable, distrustful environment in America. Come on, Joe, we've had enough of that. It's time to come together.

You are in the public eye now. Don't be like every other ignorant jackass that only spews talking points and knows nothing of the facts (once again, kind of like Sarah Palin). If you disagree with Obama, that's great. That's what makes America so wonderful: we can have respectful and informed disagreements without having to provoke fear or incite violence.

Sincerely,

Everyone who is tired of listening to ignorant, empty words.




***UPDATE*** Okay, I was only joking that Joe is a skinhead, but apparently I am out of touch with what people are talking about, because there is a ton of stuff out there that he is a "raging skinhead plumber." This is likely just due to his bald head, but I still stand by my intial request that he shut the hell up.

This is the first of what will probably be many rants during the next few weeks...

**Disclaimer: For those of you that are tired of hearing me bitch about politics (specifically about Republicans), please do yourself a favor, and don't read this. I don't really care if you read it anyway, but I just need to blow off some steam. This way is better than telling the first person that I see at work, or school, or whatever, and risking offending someone.**

I have seen several things in the past few days that have really pissed me off. Here they are.

1.) Blatant Racism Directed Towards Barack Obama

The late Barbara Jordan once said, "One thing is clear to me: We, as human beings, must be willing to accept people who are different from ourselves." That was 1994.

Fast forward to 2008. A man holds a monkey doll with an Obama sticker at a McCain rally. Another man screams "kill him" when Obama's name is mentioned. At another rally, a woman insists that Obama is an "Arab," despite McCain's half-hearted attempts to convince her otherwise. At Sarah Palin's speaking events, things are getting even nastier and, apparently, speaking out against racism is not something that she has rehearsed.

I am not suggesting that McCain himself is a racist, but by taking his campaign negative, abandoning the issues, and questioning not only Obama's character, but seemingly his very essence, McCain has basically invited the crazies and the racists to come out of the woodwork. It is probably for the best that the congresswoman is no longer around to see how little progress we have made.

2.) Sarah Palin Shutting Down a Protester

At one of Palin's rallies the other day, some guy yelled out something, probably about the war in Iraq. She responded by saying something like, "Bless your heart, my son is fighting in Iraq for your right to protest."

Okay, let me first say that I support our troops 100%. That is precisely the reason that I would like to see them out of Iraq. We are not fighting for our saftey, or for our rights; we are fighting because Bush wanted to fight.

I hear people say that our soldiers are dying in Iraq so we can have free speech, or so that we can listen to dirty music, or whatever conservatives are complaining about at the moment, and this is a great soundbite in support of the war. But think about it critically for a moment. Iraq did not attack us on 9/11. Plus, and this is what gets me the most, our right to free speech was granted in 1791 when the Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution. Freedom of speech is not something that we are fighting to obtain; we already have it, and it has been around a long time.* Has Sarah Palin never heard of the 1960s? Or the 1970s?

While I admire her son (and Joe Biden's son) and every other person who has chosen to serve in the armed forces, I would rather see them home. They are fighting because people who have had everything handed to them their entire lives decided that they would fight. It's not about free speech or any other American ideal.

*Proof: an anti-war poem written in 1933, "The Unknown Soldier" by Billy Rose. Part of it goes: "I wonder if the kings, who planned it all/ Are really satisfied?/ They played their game of checkers/ And eleven million died."
I guess history really does repeat itself.

3.) Shut Up and Sing

I watched "Shut Up and Sing," a documentary about the aftermath of Natalie Maines's (of the Dixie Chicks) comment that she was ashamed that President Bush was from Texas. First off, this happened in 2003, when his approval ratings were sky high. People went crazy. They burned Dixie Chicks CDs, held protests, and made death threats. One old hillbilly made a remark to the effect of "Free speech is great as long as you don't criticize the government." That's what the Nazis said.

Anyway, Bush is doing so great in the public opinion arena lately, so the Dixie Chicks have mostly been forgiven. But I am still appalled that people freaked out so much. I hate to say this, but their fans (probably about the same demographic as NASCAR fans) are ignorant. I am from the South, but many Southerners make my skin crawl. True, I have a bit of an accent, but I don't think like a Texan at all. I have to question the intelligence and overall competence of a person who, in 2008, is still afraid of those who are different from themselves. Speaking of that...keep reading.

4.) Rebel Flags...Everywhere

If I never see a confederate flag again, I would be just fine. People who wear them, have them over the gun rack in their truck, or have tattoos of them say that it's not a racist thing, it's a historical reminder of the South. Ok, you ignorant hick, what was the Civil War about? Southerners thought they had the right to own people and use them as workhorses. Oh, that is something to be proud of. I want someone to explain to me exactly what Southern pride is, and why it has nothing to do with racism because I don't buy it. So you like country music, ride horses, and have a Texas drawl? Okay, but why must you revive a symbol that should have died a long time ago?

Oh, and by the way, the South probably isn't gonna rise again...Someone told me that the other day, and I wondered what that meant. I hear it all the time, and I know where it comes from, but really, the only literal meaning that I can take from that is that Southerners want to own slaves again. That's really the only thing that they lost in the Civil War and haven't gotten back...
Ignorant, inbred rednecks...

5.) Sarah Palin...In General

Okay, she's pretty. She's a hockey mom, with 75 children, that can see Russia from her house. Good for her. She is also barely literate and completely incompetent. You people are afraid of Obama? Imagine life with Sarah Palin in the White House. Imagine Dick Cheney, only not as smart, and continually winking at you as she screws you over. If anything were to happen, and McCain was unable to lead, this woman would be our PRESIDENT. I don't think that people realize that. Most people think that the VP is unimportant...until they have to step up and lead. Sarah Palin's looks or parental status do not qualify her to be the leader of the free world.
We can't take another four years of this...we would have the same president with a different accent.

Ok, I'm done and I feel much better, until I have to watch Fox "news" at the gym, or read an editorial that pisses me off. In that case, as Sarah Palin would say with a wink, I'll get back to ya!