Lubbock Left

Wow, after a mere one hour of the polls being open, over one thousand people have cast their ballot at one of a dozen early voting locations here in Lubbock.

We are indeed headed for a record turnout in this election!

According to the Lubbock County Office of Elections, Lubbock County has approximately 164,000 registered voters for the November election.

Approximately 6,400 absentee ballots have been mailed so far. This means that roughly 4% of Lubbock County registered voters are voting absentee. This rate seems higher than normal, but I’m not sure.

I imagine that we are going to see record turnout in early voting and election day.

It’s that time again!

League of Women Voters: Meet the Candidates

Thursday, October 16
5:30 pm - 7:00 pm

Garden Room
St. John United Methodist Church
1501 University

Come on out to support our Democratic candidates and engage them directly.

But seriously folks, the political right is sounding pretty desperate these days.

Two upcoming candidate debates, starting tonight:

Democrat Dwight Fullingim and Libertarian “Chip” Peterson (and an empty podium for Randy Neugebauer) will debate tonight:

District 19 Congressional Debate

October 13, 2008
7:00 pm
Allen Theater
Texas Tech University

Also:

Commissioners’ Open Forum

Republican, Democrat and Libertarian Candidates, County Precincts #1 and #3

Tuesday, October 14
6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
YWCA Legacy Building
14th & Avenue O

Sponsor: SPARTAN
Moderator: Mikel Ward

And, of course, one more rockin’ Democratic Presidential Debate Watch Party:

DEBATE WATCH PARTY

7:00 pm (debate starts at 8:00)
Wednesday, October 15

Murphy’s Irish Pub
3502 Slide Road

See y’all there!

Are you looking for an easy way to help Lubbock Democrats win in November?

This year, Lubbock County Democrats are undertaking an epic phone banking effort.

To that end, the Party is holding daily phone bank workshops at noon at Party HQ, 2809A 74th St (behind Furr’s and the Science Spectrum). The 30-minute trainings are led by the indefatigable Sue W, who knows what the hell she is doing when it comes to organizing and GOTV.

Free phone bank training every day.

Thousands of opportunities to contact Lubbock Democrats and turn them out to vote.

No excuses!

Be warned — the following videos are not easy to watch.

Outside a Palin rally in Strongsville, Ohio, one guy with a camera asks attendees “Is Barack Obama a terrorist?”

And insults are the order of the day outside a McCain/Palin rally in Bethlehem, PA:

These videos are scary.

If this is what the Republican base is like across the nation, then I worry even more for this country. How can they be so hateful?

How have we gotten to a point in our political discourse where people who are engaged in the political process actually believe that a major Party presidential candidate could be a terrorist?

“He’s got the bloodlines.”

“Just look at his name!”

How have we gotten to a point in our political discourse where one candidate’s supporters shout epithets at another candidate’s supporters like it’s 1950?

“Commie faggots!”

“Get a job!”

“Go to Russia!”

The Republican Party has a serious problem: they have let hatred and intolerance into their national platform and into their national leadership.

I urge Republicans of conscience to oppose this kind of behavior in their own Party. I know there are reasonable Republicans out there, and this election is making it clear that they need to reassert themselves before it’s too late.

One of the things I love about being a Democrat is that the artists are on our side.

Zina Saunders is a talented painter/illustrator who is absolutely on top of the 24-hour news cycle with her work. Take an example based on last night’s debate:

Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words.

Have a couple more examples:

Also check out “Lieberman’s Heartbreak” if you’re browsing her site — it’s my overall favorite.

www.zinasaunders.com

I had a lot of fun at tonight’s debate watch party at Murphy’s. Big hello to everyone I got to meet tonight!

Rumor has it that the local Republicans had to switch venues because of some bad behavior at their VP debate watch party last week.

Another rumor is that the Republican watch party at their new venue was very under-attended tonight. I heard 20 people or so. We had 50-80 at our party. PLUS the Texas Tech Democrats had their own watch party elsewhere, and that organization is HUGE this year.

Looking forward to the final debate! (There will, of course, be another Democratic watch party at Murphy’s for it.)

edit: Local ABC affiliate KAMC-28 had good coverage of both debate watch parties.

Back by popular demand. The Lubbock County Democratic Party will sponsor another Debate Watch Party this Tuesday.

DEBATE WATCH PARTY
7:00 pm (debate starts at 8:00)
Tuesday, October 7

Murphy’s Irish Pub
3502 Slide Road

Come share the experience with fellow Democrats.

Judging by the experience of last time, we should pick a word other than “maverick” for drinking a shot…

…you know, for safety.