Observation from afar

I've been reading the blog posts from my friends back in the RGV regarding Gov. Goodhair's (Sergio Sanchez's term) visit with local mayors for their endorsement. I have just a couple of points to make. The first, is that Democrats assume that they have a guaranteed vote in the RGV no matter what they do. In this I agree with Earn My Vote. You Dems, recall them I'm not one, take the RGV for granted. They need to start earning our vote rather than getting a blank check every election. People are starting to question "what have you done for me lately?". With Republicans, you know going in that you can only ask for so much. With Dems, on the other hand, the RGV gets promised the sun and the moon; only to get squat. On top of that, the Democratic leadership is NOT Hispanic. Seems like a lot of lip service to me on the left side.

 

My other point is that if you are an RGV mayor, your job is to get as much funding for your municipality as possible. You go for the party that can yield results. Let's say RGV Mayors endorse Kinky Friedman, an anti-politician. He's promised to do as little as possible while in office. How's that going to help? If they endorsed the tough grandma, who has alienated Republicans, who just happen to be in power, how does that help? If they endorse the Democrat, Chris Bell, who will have to fight with Republicans in the legislature to get anything done, how is that going to help? With resources running scarce due to the Middle East conflict on the Fed level, our local leaders have to rely on state resources. Any mayor worth their salt and interested in doing good for his community would and should do the same. You have to think about what's best for the community. What are you going to do, replace a Dem mayor with another Dem? That's brilliant!

 

If you are shocked or disappointed that our mayors are endorsing Rick Perry, you are a Dem who is more loyal to the party than the people you want to serve. Again, what has the Democratic party done for the RGV, lately? I'm not talking individual politicians. Some of our local reps actually do stuff for us. I'm talking about the Democratic party of Texas and at the national level. When I vote for mayor, I expect results, not party loyalty. Anybody running for mayor in the RGV will obviously run as a Dem, so what's the difference other than somebody willing to get things done rather than stick to party lines. Is this an open-minded thing to do?