I’m Glad The Green Party Will Be On The 2010 Texas Ballot
The Green Party of Texas will be allowed to remain on the 2010 Texas statewide ballot.
(Above–Sometimes Democrats want every voice to count. But other times they do not.)
This despite the fact that Republican operatives funded the petition drive to get the Greens on the ballot.
It is true that taking Republican money would appear to be in contradiction to Green beliefs.
On the other hand, it is difficult to come up with the money for a statewide petition drive in Texas to gain ballot access.
Statewide ballot access in Texas in 2010 required about 44,000 valid signatures. And as anybody who has ever gathered signatures can tell you, many signatures are for various reasons not going to be accepted. You always have to turn in many more signatures than required to be certain you’ll make the ballot.
If any Green candidate in Texas gets 5% on November ballot, Greens will get automatic ballot access for 2012 in Texas.
Because there is a Green candidate in a statewide race this year in Texas where no Democrat is running, this 5% goal may well be reached.
Republicans and Democrats collude across the country to deny ballot access to third parties. Only when it serves the interests of one of the mainstream parties is an exception made to this unspoken pact.
Republicans and Democrats across the country are drowning in corporate money.
The State Democratic in Texas plans to go after money damages as well. (It is at the bottom of the story linked to here.)
What is the point of this but harassment?
Our ballot is not the property of the two mainstream parties. While I will vote for many Texas Democrats in 2010, I will also likely vote for at least one Green candidate as well to help Greens gain ballot access for 2012 and to help Greens build a party structure for the challenges ahead.
Here is what Democrats could do—They could win a statewide election for once. The Green party is not why no Democrat has won a statewide election in at least the 12 years I’ve lived in Texas. The 2006 Democratic nominee for Governor—a man named Chris Bell—could not even muster 30% of the vote.
Here is the blog Ballot Access News.
Here is the blog Green Party Watch.
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Welcome To Texas Liberal
Texas Liberal is a blog of politics and political history.
My name is Neil Aquino. Here is my profile.
I can be reached at naa618@att.net.
Additional focuses of the blog are books, art, poetry, personal relationships and, also, sea life and marine mammals.
( The picture above is of the Houston Ship Channel. A narrow channel can lead to a wide sea.)
The signature post of this blog is the Martin Luther King Reading & Reference List. This list is the best of it’s kind on the web.
Another good post is my reciting the words to the Shaker hymn Simple Gifts on Galveston Island, Texas as a ship passes behind.
I live in Houston, Texas and I do sometimes write about political issues in Houston and in Texas.
I also often write about my former hometown of Cincinnati, and about the great beach city of Galveston, Texas.
I define liberalism as a role for government in the economy to help make life more fair, and a broad acceptance of people regardless of who they are.
This is why it says “All People Matter” at the top of the blog.
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Texas Liberal began regular posting on July 25, 2006.
I also blog at the Houston Chronicle as one of eight featured political bloggers, and on Where’s The Outrage? which posts out of North Carolina.
Thanks for reading Texas Liberal.
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I am of the opinion that more political parties would help us have real majorities in the United States, not any of the 50-50 split we’ve had forever. Look at the Parliament, and how their coalitions mean a real majority and an obvious minority.
I will vote for a Green candidate, too. I like Libertarians, even if I don’t necessarily agree that taxation is a bad thing. Taxes are necessary to actually run a government. But, when they become burdensome on the middle class, I am against.
Good blog, as usual, Neil.
(P.S: No longer a Palin supporter.)
Well, I’ll be damned. I’ve found one blog site that is actually supportive of the Greens being on the ballot in November. Thanks for being so open minded and fair, Neil.
Brandon–Thanks for your kind words.
Kris–Thank you. Please visit the blog again.