It Is Always The Right Time To Take Responsibility For Your Future—Ann Johnson Working Hard For Your Vote

Here’s a picture I took today of Texas House District 134 candidate Ann Johnson.

I told Ms. Johnson I’d hand out leaflets for her on Thursday at the early voting place.

It is always the right time to take responsibility for our future.

In this election, I’ve donated to President Obama and Green nominee Jill Stein, blogged, made my case on Facebook, and attended events for Stein and Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown.

My mother has donated to Brown and gone door-to-door for Obama in Cincinnati.

The hopeful work of freedom is up to each of us everyday.

Ann Johnson is to my right on many economic issues. But this is a big world and people are going to disagree.

At the bottom line, Ms. Johnson is somebody who shares my view that we each have to work hard, and that we have to put ourselves out there to help make the world a more hopeful place.

Ms. Johnson is a decent and hard-working person who will listen to everybody and make her decisions based on what she thinks is best for 134 and for the people of Texas. Ms. Johnson is very clear that 134 has many Republican voters and that these are folks  she also wants to hear from should she be elected to serve in Austin.

The Houston Chronicle has endorsed Ms. Johnson.

Here is what The Chronicle said about Ms. Johnson–

The tea party turnout of 2010 gave Republican candidate Sarah Davis the narrow victory she needed to win in District 134, a prosperous swing district that covers areas from River Oaks to Meyerland and the Medical Center, as well.

Davis speaks about politics with a fiery passion, but her passion often seems aimed more at Washington than Austin.

She successfully navigated the minefield of wedge-issue votes that defined the previous legislative session – voting no on the sonogram bill, for example. But voters deserve a representative who doesn’t just avoid bad votes, but leads on good ones. We believe Democratic challenger Ann Johnson can be that sort of leader.

Johnson began her career as a prosecutor at the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, where she was known for her no-nonsense, hardworking attitude. After leaving the prosecutor’s office, she dedicated herself to the world of juvenile law, where she focused on issues like child exploitation and sex trafficking – two issues that need the attention of the Texas Legislature. (In one notable case, she successfully argued before the Texas Supreme Court that girls too young to consent under the law could not be charged with prostitution.)

Johnson’s focus on juvenile issues doesn’t end at the courtroom. On the campaign trail, she rattles off embarrassing statistics on Texas kids – we’re 43rd in high school graduation rates, 45th in SAT scores, and have the highest percentage of children without health insurance. Texas should not be content with these rankings, and Johnson certainly isn’t, advocating smart educational investments like all-day Pre-K and capping class sizes.

Issues like education and health care aren’t just matters of compassion, they’re necessary to ensure that Texas has the healthy, educated workforce we need to power our economy.

In this race, Ann Johnson is the better bet for Texas’ future.

Swing State Miss America Contestants—We Can Respect People While Also Objecting To What They Do If We Choose

Here I am the last month at a Cincinnati Reds game with swing state beauty pageant winners.

These ladies recognized me in Cincinnati as the Texas Liberal blogger and approached me for a picture.

The above sentence is a lie.

On the left is Ms. Ohio and on the right is Ms. Pennsylvania.

Miss Ohio is Elissa McCraken of Ada, Ohio. 

Miss Pennsylvania is one Jordyn Colao of Erie.

I know some folks dismiss these folks as shallow or symptomatic of a sexist culture—and of course it is a sexist culture in very many ways—but I wager life is as difficult for the contestants in these pageants as it is for most of us.

I bet many of them come from blue-collar or middle class homes and that winning the contest takes plenty of personal discipline and hard work.

Here is website of the Miss America pageant.

I believe that the division of the nation is so complete that separate Miss America pageants are now held for solid Obama states, solid Romney states and for swing states.

This is why Miss Ohio and Miss Pennsylvania were hanging out together.  Miss North Dakota and Miss Utah must be on some other circuit.

If you are old enough, you can recall that Bert Parks hosted Miss America for many years.

Here is an article about a protest against the Miss World competition in London in 2011.

From that article—

” The Miss World contest doesn’t have a pleasing past as far as its experience with feminist organizations goes. The protest in 1970 against the Miss World Contest in London was a spurring moment in the women’s liberation movement….Girls, will you turn around? host Bob Hope asked the contestants during the live event at London’s Royal Albert Hall so that judges could get a 360-degree view of the participants in bikinis. Hope didn’t have a clue that he was going to be pelted with flour bombs and tomatoes by feminists present in the show. Police later arrested five protesters. Police later arrested five protesters.” 

That is excellent. I wish I had been at that event and seen the protest.

While we need to be respectful of how people live and what people do, we also reserve the right to hold strong opinions and to take actions that we are prepared to accept the consequences of when we disagree with what is taking place.

Joe Biden Knows Just What He Is Doing—I’d Not Bet Much On Paul Ryan Getting The Better Of Him

Above is a picture of Vice President Joe Biden campaigning in Ohio over the past weekend.

(A great resource to learn about the men who have served as Vice President can be found on the U.S. Senate Vice Presidential website.)

While this picture has attracted some national comment, it does not surprise me at all.

There is a popular conception that Vice President is a bumbler of a kind or prone to gaffes that hurt President Obama.

It is so that Mr. Biden sometimes says things that make news in a way that President Obama might regret. At least that may be the case if Mr. Biden’s comment about gay marriage earlier this year was a gaffe at all.

However, it also the case that Mr. Biden is a man who was elected to the U.S. Senate at age of 29 in 1972, and who was selected among all possible contenders to be on the ticket by Barack Obama in 2008.

Mr. Biden overcame the loss of his first wife and his daughter in a 1972 car accident.

I saw Vice President Biden speak at the Hamilton County, Ohio AFL-CIO Labor Day picnic in 2011. Beyond the fact he gave a rousing hard-hitting speech, Mr. Biden also worked the crowd with skill.

He connected with folks and spoke to people as equals. I watched Mr. Biden talk to folks for maybe 20 minutes because he had people skills that were off the charts.

Here is a link to a New York Times story that says supporters of Republican Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan are looking forward to Mr. Ryan getting the better of Mr. Biden when they debate on October 11.

(The Green Vice Presidential nominee is Cheri Honkala.)

Regardless of how you may feel about Mr. Biden or Mr. Ryan, I’d not bet much on the idea that Mr. Ryan will make Mr. Biden look silly or outclass him in some way.

Below are two pictures I took in Cincinnati last year of Mr. Biden talking to people at the Labor Day picnic.

I Donated $20 At The Cincinnati Obama HQ—The Work Of Freedom Is Up To Each Of Us

This evening I went to the Obama headquarters in Cincinnati and made a $20 donation.

Included with this post is a picture of the Cincinnati Obama office. There were maybe 10 people making calls. I thought that was pretty good for a Wednesday night in August.

While I intend to vote for Green candidate Jill Stein for President in my non-swing state of Texas, the folks in this Obama office are decent people who are doing the work of freedom and who merit support.

And at least folks in Ohio are calling people close to home. In Texas Democrats are being asked to call over for the country for Obama while extremist Ted Cruz marches on the U.S. Senate.

I understand Texas is likely a Republican state in 2012. But how long will we be asked to hand our future over to crazies without even a fight? When do we begin to build the foundation of something hopeful in Texas?

In any case, the work of freedom and progress is up to each of us. We each need to take steps to move society in the direction we hope to see it go.

A First Look At The 2012 Green Party Presidential Ticket Of Stein & Honkala—What You Do In Texas Might Not Be What You Would Do In Ohio

Here is a first look at the Green Party ticket for the 2012 Presidential campaign.

On the left is Presidential nominee Dr. Jill Stein of Massachusetts. On the right is Vice Presidential nominee Cheri Honkala of Pennsylvania.

Here is a recent article on Dr. Stein from The New York Times.

From the Times article—

“The Green Party of the United States expects to be on the ballot in at least 45 states and to spend about $1 million on its campaign. At the moment, it has secured ballot access, an organizational test in itself, in 21 states, including the battlegrounds of Colorado, Florida, Michigan and Ohio… Ms. Stein, a physician on leave from her practice… a native of the Chicago area who lives northwest of Boston with her husband, a surgeon (they have two adult sons)..Ms. Stein says she emphasizes issues like ecological sustainability, racial and gender equality, and economic justice. The centerpiece of her platform is a Green New Deal, a twist on the Roosevelt-era programs intended to stimulate job growth and the depressed economy. It could be paid for by ending the presence of American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, the campaign says, and by eliminating waste in the health care system. Beyond that, Ms. Stein favors a progressive income tax that would raise rates on the wealthy.”

My own view about the Green Party in 2012 is that this election is sufficiently important to support the corporate-owned Mr. Obama in states where the outcome might be doubt, but that if you live in state where you have been disenfranchised by the Electoral College you should consider your options.

Ms. Stein is on the ballot in Texas and has my vote. If I were still in my longtime home state of Ohio I would vote for President Obama.

There are very meaningful differences between Mr. Obama and Mitt Romney

At the same time, President Obama has done substantial damage to the progressive and liberal cause by never at any point in his term truly offering any real measure of hope and change to a power structure in our nation that increasingly offers opportunity only to an elite few.

The President has not spoken frankly about the stark realities of our changing economy, or about the evermore apparent fact of climate change.

There is rarely a clear answer to the conflict between short-term realities and long-term hopes that is part of any political activity.

This is why I offer the split decision of hoping for Mr. Obama’s reelection and supporting Dr. Stein here in Texas.

I’ll have more to say about all this in the weeks and months ahead. For now, I ask that folks please give a first look to the 2012 Green ticket.

Here is the website of the Stein campaign.

Here is the Facebook page of the Stein/Honkala campaign.

Rick Santorum And Hillary Clinton Are Of One Mind—Super Tuesday Update From Ohio

Rick Santorum sided with Hillary Clinton to allow convicted felons to vote. The TV ad shown in this post is proof. Why else would would Hillary Clinton be shown with Rick Santorum if the two had not once had an affair?

Or at least voted the same way on many issues when both were in the Senate.

I saw many ads today for the Ohio presidential primary on Super Tuesday. ( I’m in Cincinnati at the moment.) A number of the ads were paid for with Super Pac money, as part of the great free speech victory of the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United.

The picture is somewhat tilted because I was shocked by what I was learning. I was jolted. I’d thought Rick Santorum was a real conservative.

According to the ads I saw today, it is in fact Mitt Romney who is the true conservative.

I’ll keep Texas Liberal readers up to date in the days ahead from the Stupid Tuesday campaign here in Ohio.

Pictures From The First Day Of Occupy Houston—Learn About The Occupy Effort On Your Own And Determine What You Think

Today I attended the Occupy Houston event in Downtown Houston.

(Update 10/7/11–Here is an update on day two of Occupy from the Houston Chronicle.) 

Here is why I got involved in this effort.

Though Houston police estimated the crowd to have been about 200, I think the crowd was larger than that. It may have been closer to 500 at the beginning.

In any case, the event had some energy and it felt like a good start.

Houston police officers were helpful. They helped the march run well.

In Ohio, the Republican governor and the Republican state legislature essentially ended the right of police officers to collectively bargain. Police officers are working people just like anybody else.

If the Tea Party/Republican Party will mess with politically popular police unions, what chance do other working people have with wages and worker’s rights?

Below are some pictures I took of Occupy Houston —

Below are folks this morning organizing for the day ahead at Market Square Park.

From Market Square Park, people walked to the Chase building Downtown and rallied there for a time. Below are people at the Chase Building.

From the Chase building, people went to Houston City Hall. Below are folks in front of Houston City Hall.

Here again are Occupy Houston backers at Houston City Hall.

This fellow citizen you see below took the work of freedom and democracy into his own hands. This is the type of effort that reflects well on free citizens of any ideological leaning.

Below are some of the signs from Occupy Houston.

The plan is for Occupy Houston to camp out at Hermann Square in front of Houston City Hall.

Over time I imagine there will be public speakers and other events at that location.

What will constitute success for this effort?

This is not clear as of yet.

It does not yet have to be clear. 

The Occupy Wall Street effort and other such efforts across the nation, have helped put issues of corporate greed and the declining condition of the American worker back on the table.

These are the issues we need to be discussing rather than more cuts and austerity.

Here is the Occupy Wall Street web page. 

Here is the Occupy Houston web page.

Occupy Houston is taking donations to keep the operation going for the long haul.

There are also Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Houston pages on Facebook. There are Occupy pages for many cities on Facebook.

Take the time to look around the web for yourself to see where this cause is headed.

It may flame out or it may last for a long time.

President Obama commented today on the Occupy movement.

From Bloomberg Businessweek–

“The Occupy Wall Street protests came to Washington today, as marchers gathered near the White House and President Barack Obama said the demonstrations are “giving voice” to frustrations with the financial system. “The American people understand that not everybody’s been following the rules, that Wall Street is an example of that,” Obama said at a White House press conference. He stopped short of endorsing the movement that began three weeks ago in Lower Manhattan and has spread to cities from Houston to San Francisco with the help of postings on Twitter and websites.”

Mother Jones magazine has a great interactive map of Occupy events across our great nation.  This link also includes a timeline of the Occupy protests.

Mother Jones also has a great series of charts for you to see for yourself the wealth inequality in our nation.

The issue is not resentment of the rich. The issue is the ability to get a good job in America. The overwhelming number of people in America just want to work and be able to earn a decent living.

The crowd in Houston today was good-natured and hopeful. The police were helpful. More passing motorists honked in support than yelled out something nasty.

If you are in the Houston area, go down to Hermann Square and see what is happening. Follow Occupy Houston on the web and on Facebook.

No matter where you are—You can learn about this movement on your own and determine what you think.

My own view is that it is great to have a possible counterweight to the Tea Party, and it is great that everyday people are getting involved in the work of taking back our country from big money.

Ohio Republican Gov.-Elect Kasich Goes To Washington To Ask Barack Obama For A Lot Of Federal Money To Be Spent On Many Different Projects & Programs

What does Republican Governor-elect John Kasich of Ohio want?

Federal money for Ohio is what Republican Governor-elect John Kasich of Ohio wants.

From the Cincinnati Enquirer—

“Gov.-elect John Kasich said Thursday after a meeting at the White House that he’s not optimistic that the Obama administration will let Ohio use the money intended for passenger rail to upgrade freight lines…Kasich has said the $400 million federally subsidized 3-C corridor project, which would provide passenger rail service among Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland, would be too costly for the state. He wants flexibility to use the money for other transportation needs. He’d also like flexibility in how the state spends federal money designated for job training, Title I (education) and Medicaid….Kasich said he was confident that the state would get the $400 million Race to the Top grant that the state won under outgoing Gov. Ted Strickland. Kasich has said he wants to make changes to the state’s education system, and some have voiced concern that his changes would jeopardize the money. “I have no reason to believe that we’re not going to get that,” Kasich said.”

Mr. Kasich wants money for freight rail instead of for passenger lines.

Where is his call for free enterprise for freight rail?

Must Ohio’s freight rail industry be burdened by socialism? Where are the freight rail executives in opposing this socialism?

Mr. Kasich wants job training, Title I, and Medicaid money.

Where is all the Tea Party/Republican talk about the federal government staying away?

Mr. Kasich says the federal government denies him flexibility in how federal money will be spent.

Yet Ohio will still get the Race To The Top money despite the change in Ohio from a Democratic Governor to a Republican Governor.

What a bunch of hypocrisy is so many respects from Mr. Kasich and from the Republican Party in Ohio.

I lived in Ohio for 18 years and I go back to Ohio twice each year.

Here is what I’d say to fellow Ohioans—

“You can elect every government-bashing Republican you want, but in the end the federal government and government in general has a role to play in helping Ohio.

Your new Republican Governor is tripping over himself looking for federal money. He is going to the White House and asking Barack Obama and Joe Biden for federal money.

Mr. Kasich is doing this because the reality is that government is a needed part of life and because private industry, while essential, can’t meet all the requirements of our lives.

Life and and society is more complex than what the Tea Party/Republican Party is talking about. Most folks in Ohio know all these facts full-well despite the recent Ohio election results.”

This is what I would say to my fellow Ohioans.

Ohio Endorsements From Texas Liberal

(Blogger’s Note–With Election Day tomorrow, I’m rerunning my Ohio endorsement post from last week. I lived in Ohio for many years.)

While I live in Texas today, I lived in Cincinnati, Ohio for 18 years. I left Ohio in 1998.

( Above–The flag of the great State of Ohio at Lake Erie. Photo taken by Matthew Trump.)

Since I still have a number of connections in Cincinnati, I’d like to offer up a brief slate of Ohio endorsements.

In the race for Governor, I encourage all to vote for incumbent Democrat Ted Strickland. Governor Strickland has moved up in the polls in recent days and appears to have a shot at winning. Governor Strickland will help President Obama carry Ohio again in 2012, and will make a big difference in redistricting Ohio’s many Congressional seats for the decade ahead. After so many years of a Republican Governor in Columbus, Mr. Strickland has restored priorities that benefit average Ohioans.

For the United States Senate from Ohio, I endorse Socialist Dan La Botz. The idea of a Socialist U.S. Senator is not as odd as it may seem. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont is a self-declared Socialist. His presence in the Senate has not caused the Republic to fall.

Mr. La Botz offers the hope of an alternative to the two major parties that will take the needs of working people into greater consideration. Many elected Democrats are decent people. But the role of big money in our politics has become such that an additional option merits a look.

Endorsements For The Great State Of Ohio—My Home For Many Years

While I live in Texas today, I lived in Cincinnati, Ohio for 18 years. I left Ohio in 1998.

( Above–The flag of the great State of Ohio at Lake Erie. Photo taken by Matthew Trump.)

Since I still have a number of connections in Cincinnati, I’d like to offer up a brief slate of Ohio endorsements.

In the race for Governor, I encourage all to vote for incumbent Democrat Ted Strickland. Governor Strickland has moved up in the polls in recent days and appears to have a shot at winning. Governor Strickland will help President Obama carry Ohio again in 2012, and will make a big difference in redistricting Ohio’s many Congressional seats for the decade ahead. After so many years of a Republican Governor in Columbus, Mr. Strickland has restored priorities that benefit average Ohioans.

For the United States Senate from Ohio, I endorse Socialist Dan La Botz. The idea of a Socialist U.S. Senator is not as odd as it may seem. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont is a self-declared Socialist. His presence in the Senate has not caused the Republic to fall.

Mr. La Botz offers the hope of an alternative to the two major parties that will take the needs of working people into greater consideration. Many elected Democrats are decent people. But the role of big money in our politics has become such that an additional option merits a look.

There was a time when many Americans voted for Socialist candidates. The Socialist candidate for President in 1912, Eugene V. Debs, won 6% of the popular vote. The 1912 Socialist platform called for such things as a minimum wage and progressive income tax.  Sometimes it takes an outside voice  to call for what the people need most.

The Democrat in the U.S. Senate contest, Lee Fisher, appears to have little chance of winning. Make your vote count by sending a message that no matter how nasty our politics have become, you can still imagine a better future.

In Ohio’s First Congressional district, please consider voting for Democrat Steve Dreihaus. In sharp contrast to my Senate candidate, Mr. La Botz, Mr. Driehaus is a moderate to conservative figure.

We live in a nation of 310 million people that has only two major political parties. While the Republican Party has moved to the extreme right in almost all cases, Democrats still welcome many views.

Mr. Driehaus did the brave thing and supported President Obama’s Health Care Reform. Health Care Reform has already helped many Americans by stopping insurance companies from booting you off coverage because you get sick and by stopping the practice of lifetime limits on policies.  Mr. Driehaus should be rewarded for his vote with another term .

For the Hamilton County Commission, please vote for Jim Tarbell so that Democrats can retain control of the commission. It took Democrats so long to win the commission, it would be shame to lose it back.

Lastly, I encourage Ohio liberals and all Democrats to be certain to vote all the way down the ticket in the state legislative races.  The next legislative session will take up redistricting. It is important that Democrats have a major say in how the lines are drawn.

As a fellow Ohioan, I urge all Buckeyes to consider new options on the ballot and to please vote in a way that offer hope for our future instead of anger or resignation.

(Below–Picture I took last summer of Downtown Cincinnati. I’m glad to say that I still make it to Cincinnati twice a year.)

Think About Whatever You Wish As You Watch This Barge Pass By On The Ohio River

Above is a video of about one minute and 40 seconds of a barge slowly moving down the Ohio River on a nice summer’s day . If you turn on your speakers you’ll hear crickets, the wind, and some general background noise.

I filmed the video from the Eden Park Overlook in Cincinnati, Ohio.

You can look at the barge and think of the direction you’re headed in life. You can think of the direction that society and the world is headed. Though the barge in the video is only going one way, you can bet it will at some point turn around and go up the river the other way. 

It’s possible that the barge in the video was on course for the Mississippi River.

There are options about what direction we can follow and where we can go.

You can watch the wake the barge makes and think of the effects your actions have on others. You can think of people trapped by circumstance in a world they did not make themselves.

You can look at the Ohio River and think about how the Ohio connects to the Mississippi and how the Mississippi connects to the sea. Everything is connected.

You can listen to the crickets and think about bugs and insects.

You can look across the river to the Kentucky side of the river. Not far from where the barge is there are a number of bridges that take you across the river. You could think about the ability for gaps to be bridged. Or you could think about how you would likely drown if you tried to swim across the river to reach the other side.

You can think about anything you wish at whatever pace suits you.

Ohio Putting Slots In Racetracks Is A Lousy Idea

Trying to hit the trifecta on the first race at Suffolk Downs was a mistake. I made this foolish wager watching Suffolk on simulcast from Cincinnati’s River Downs.

Gambling hardly ever works out. Despite this fact, the State of Ohio is trying to add 24 hour slot machines to Ohio racetracks. The state hopes this move will gain revenue.

More likely what will happen is that any revenues gained by slots played by poor folks will be offset, by a failure to enact progressive tax policies that would mandate the wealthy to pay a fair share.

2009 Summer Vacation—Buffalo, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh & Galveston

Where should you and your family take a summer vacation this year? Or where should you go by yourself or with that someone special for an excellent 2009 summer trip?  

The answer is clear enough.

Buffalo, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Galveston, Texas are the places to go.

I have visited all these cities in the summer and I can say they are nice places to go and see.

These cities have long-established museums and interesting neighborhoods to explore. They have good restaurants. They have grand old buildings. Each of these cities has a river, a lake or an ocean to enjoy.

The wife and I—though she was not the wife yet at the time—spent a summer week in Buffalo and Niagara Falls in 1998. It was fun.

(Below–Buffalo)

Here is information about visiting Buffalo and the Niagara region.

I took a family vacation to Cleveland in the early 1980’s. Nothing is nicer than the Great Lakes in the summer.

(Below—Cleveland)

Here is information about visiting Cleveland.

I lived in Cincinnati for 18 years. It is a pretty city in the Summer. There is more than enough for you and your family—unless maybe you would like to enjoy some time by yourself— to do for a few days.

(Below–Cincinnati)

Here is information about visiting Cincinnati.

The (future) wife and once spent a weekend in Pittsburgh. The weekend was not enough to see and do all that Pittsburgh offers.

(Below–Pittsburgh.) 

Here is information about visiting Pittsburgh.

Galveston, Texas is my home away from home. I’ve lived in Houston for 11 years and I go to Galveston every six weeks or so to take a walk on the sunny shores of the Gulf of Mexico. Galveston is on the rebound from Hurricane Ike and is open and ready for visitors.

(Below–Galveston)

Here is information about visiting Galveston.

Maybe you live near one of these cities. Maybe you’d like go somewhere where there is some history and some character.

Give one of these cities a try. Disney does not need your money. Visit places where they will be really happy you came.

You’ll be glad you did!

Am I A Real Texan? What Makes Someone A Texan?

In addition to this blog you’re reading, I’m also a featured politics reader-blogger at the Houston Chronicle. At that space, I’ve often been criticized by readers for not being a native Texan. They say I’m a carpetbagging Yankee.

Here’s how the subject was addressed by a Chronicle  blog reader who goes by the name typical_white_man——-“TexasLiberal=Yankee nit-wit! The whole piece is worthless because as 5genTexas so aptly provided the definition for treason, which the YankeeLiberal (there is nothing Texan about this idiot!) was clueless.”

This reader was writing in response to my post that Texas Republicans are talking treason.

Am I a real Texan? What makes a real Texan?

Let’s see—

I was born in 1967 in Worcester, Massachusetts. I did not live there long.

Between 1968 and 1980 I lived in Providence, Rhode Island. Below you see a picture I took last year of the Providence hurricane dam. Just as I could tell you about Hurricane Ike, my father could tell you about the 1938 New England Hurricane.

While living in Rhode Island, I was a Rhode Islander.

Between 1980 and 1998 I lived in Cincinnati, Ohio. Below you see a picture of Cincinnati I took from a city park maybe two years ago. (Here is a story on the damage Hurricane Ike did in Cincinnati last year. My parents were without power for a time.)

While living in Ohio, I was an Ohioan.

From 1998 until the current day I’ve lived in Houston, Texas. Below is my windswept rainswept Hurricane Ike photo of a flooding Buffalo Bayou to show that I do live in Houston, Texas.

What am I while living in Texas?

You got it!— I’m a Texan!

It does not matter that I spent 13 years in New England or that I lived for 18 years in the Midwest.

All that I need to be a Texan is to live in Texas. I’ve been a Texan for 11 years.

Texas has 24 million people. No one thing defines all these people except the fact that they live in Texas. Definitions of what makes someone a “real Texan” or a “true Texan” are sure to leave many people out.

All I’ve got to do to be a Texan is live in Texas.

A better way to identify people would be to see them as individuals. This is better than creating a definition based on one’s own inevitably limited and erroneous assumptions of what defines a certain place. (Here is my autobiography in 220 words.)

If what you see below is your image of a Texan, you are free to have that thought.   But when you try to impose that notion on others, I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to ride off into the sunset.

A History Of The Ohio Primary

Going back the Progressive Era origins of nominating primaries, the Ohio Presidential primary has a nearly century long history.

( Here are some basic facts and a brief history of Ohio. The population of Ohio is approximately 11.5 million. George Bush carried the state 51%-49% in 2004.)

Here is a history of some notable results from Ohio since the first primary in 1912.

The first Ohio primary featured something modern political observers can grasp—An ideological fight among Republicans.

Progressive challenger, former President Theodore Roosevelt, defeated incumbent President William Howard Taft, a more conservative figure, by a 55%-40% margin. President Taft was from Cincinnati. This outcome shows the bent of the Ohio Republican electorate at the time and offers a clue why the progressive reform of the primary was embraced early in Ohio.

On the other side, Ohio Governor Judson Harmon defeated Woodrow Wilson.

Judson had defeated Warren Harding in 1910 to become Governor.

(In November of 1912 in Ohio it was Wilson  41%, Roosevelt 27% and Taft 22%.)

In 1920, Ohioans had the chance to vote for locals in both primaries. The Republican winner was Senator Warren Harding who beat General Leonard Wood by an unimpressive 47%-41%. ( Maybe Ohio voters knew from experience that Senator Harding would be a bad President. He was in fact terrible President.)

Democrats in 1920 supported Ohio Governor James Cox with 98%.

However, despite the lack of unity in the primary, Harding beat Cox 59% -39% in November.

( The only time since 1920 that both major party nominees were from the same state was 1944 when Franklin Delano Roosevelt beat New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey.)

Ohio Republicans in 1932 gave incumbent Herbert Hoover only 6%. The winner was Favorite Son Jacob Coxey.

Hoover was easily renominated despite winning only 33% of all primary votes in 1932.  It would not be until the 1970’s that primaries would begin consistently influential in the nominating process.

Coxey had been involved in politics since leading poor people’s protests in Washington in the 1890’s. He is interesting to read about.  

(Jacob Coxey)

President Taft’s son, Senator Robert Taft, was the 99% winner of the 1940 Ohio Republican primary. This was the beginning of a series of Taft efforts to reach the White House. Seen as a father of modern conservatism, and an author of the terrible Taft-Hartley Act, Taft was the choice of an “unpledged” slate of delegates that won the 1948 Republican primary. Taft also won the 1952 primary.

(Robert Taft)

For 1956, ’60 ’64 and ’68, Favorite Son candidates were the winners in both party primaries in Ohio. The only exception to this outcome was Richard Nixon’s nearly uncontested win in 1960.

The 1964 and ’68 Republican favorite son choice in Ohio was Governor James A. Rhodes. An outspoken so-called “law-and-order” politician, it was Governor Rhodes who ordered the troops in at the killing of anti-war protesters at Kent State in 1970.

The Democratic primary was sharply contested in 1972. Party establishment choice Hubert Humphrey was the 41%– 40% winner over liberal Senator George McGovern.

The 2008 Clinton–Obama fight seems an echo of the ’72 race to some degree.

While conservatives Taft and Rhodes had found favor with Ohio Republicans in the World War II and post-war era, a more moderate wing of the party prevailed in 1976. In ’76, incumbent President Gerald Ford beat Ronald Reagan 55%-45%. Not strong for an incumbent, but better than W.H Taft or Hoover had done in the Ohio primary.

The 1980 Democratic primary, contested in June when the race had already been decided, gave President Jimmy Carter a 51% 44% over Ted Kennedy. Another weak showing for an incumbent who would go on to lose.

Democrats in 1984 though went for the challenger to the party establishment. Senator Gary Hart defeated Walter Mondale42%-40%. The wonkish high-tech Hart’s win over a lunch-bucket union regular like Mondale in a state like Ohio showed the weakness of the Mondale campaign.

(Gary Hart)

In 1988, ’92 and ’96, the Ohio primary took place late in the process. Voters in each party primary voted for the eventual nominee of the party.

For 2000, Ohio moved it’s primary up to Super Tuesday March 7. ( Please click here for a history of Super Tuesday.)The George W. Bush/John McCain battle was still alive at that point. The more conservative Bush won a 58%-37% victory. This confirmed again the dominance of the right in Ohio Republican politics.

In March of 2004, John Edwards won 34% against 51% for John Kerry. This was one of Edwards’ strongest showings outside the South.

Texas Liberal is leading the way in political history blogging in 2008.

(Post card is of Youngstown in 1910’s. Please click here for a history of Youngstown. )