Lubbock Left

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!

Well, the PAC opposing packaged alcohol sales in Lubbock has a website up: TAAS Lubbock, or “Truth About Alcohol Sales.”

Their acronym of choice has unfortunate memories for me — the TAAS test in high school. (It was an easy test, but teaching toward standardized tests like that is hurting our educational system.)

Not much on their website yet — basically a logo and some contact info.

One wonders how much opposition they will actually provide…

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.

After the success of last Friday’s Presidential Debate watch party (we packed the pub!), we Lubbock Democrats have decided to do it again!

Come join Lubbock Democrats for a VP Debate watch party this Thursday:

VP Debate Watch Party
7:00 p.m., Thursday, October 2
Murphy’s Irish Pub
3502 Slide Road, Lubbock, TX
Debate starts at 8:00 central
Sponsor: Lubbock County Democratic Party

Since it’s an Irish pub, mooseburgers may not be available…

(But the fried pickles are delicious. Seriously.)

See you there!

Friday’s debate watch party, sponsored by the Texas Tech Democrats and the Dwight Fullingim for Congress campaign, is still on.

DEBATE WATCH PARTY
6:30pm - 9:30pm
Murphy’s Pub
35th & Slide Rd.

The party’s on, come McCain or shine.

The race for Lubbock County Commissioner Precinct 3 is heating up. Perennial Republican candidate Frank Gutierrez is running against Democrat Gilbert Flores for the seat. Neither candidate is the incumbent; the office is currently held by Democrat Ysidro Gutierrez.

However, there’s a problem:

Frank Gutierrez’s signs, seen above, are illegal and misleading.

The signs are illegal because the word “For” does not appear between the name of the candidate and the office sought. This is necessary since Frank Gutierrez is not the incumbent.

The signs are deliberately misleading because Frank Gutierrez is a Republican, not a Democrat. Nowhere on the sign does it say that he is a Republican, and the sign has the word “Democrats” in big letters. Precinct 3 is a heavily Democratic precinct, and Frank Gutierrez is likely trying to pass himself off as a Democrat.

Lubbock County Democratic Party Chair Pam Brink held a press conference two weeks ago to address this issue, and she indicated that Gutierrez had a week to remove the signs before the Party filed an official complaint with the TEC. Two weeks later, the signs are still up.

I hope the Party has filed the appropriate complaint.

The 2008 South Plains Fair is in full swing, and — thanks to Texas Democratic Women of the South Plains — the Lubbock County Democrats have a booth! So far, the energy at the booth is great, and the response from fair-goers has been very positive.

Grace, a volunteer working at the booth, was kind enough to pose for the above photo.

The Democratic Party booth features free campaign literature for County Commissioner races all the way up to House and Senate and our next President Obama. Campaign buttons, stickers, and T-Shirts are available for reasonable donations. Deputy voter registrars can register you to vote on the spot.

We also have free balloons for the kids!

Stop on by the booth and get your picture taken next to a life-size cutout of Obama!

I’ve been told that there will be an important press conference tomorrow (Friday) at 2pm at Lubbock County Democratic Party Headquarters (2809A 74th St).

I have no idea what it’s about.

And there you have it.