February 2014 Newsletter
We are just weeks away from the Primary election, and only days away from the start of early voting. By now your mailboxes are being flooded with political mailers, pieces that are designed to look like mail ballots and slate endorsements disguised as magazines or other non-political literature.
Remember our mantra: Get Informed. Get Involved.
Let me add: Be discriminating.
Your vote is valuable; be discriminating if you consider using someone else’s guide when you go into the voting booth. It is well documented that many of the “sample mail ballots” and voter’s guide “magazines” are really thinly disguised attempts at getting you to vote for candidates that have paid for those endorsements – putting a lot of money in a few pockets– at the expense of the integrity of our election system. It is such a lucrative business that a new “pay to play slate”, the “Harris County GOP PAC”, has been reconstituted.
There are some – just a very few – slates in Harris County that are not “pay to play” slates. Research them – find out what their principles are and what criteria they utilize to determine their endorsements. If you agree with their principles and criteria, you can feel much more assured that their endorsements are more in line with your beliefs concerning the candidates for whom you don’t feel adequately informed.
If you are looking for extra guidance, I recommend that the only slates you pay any attention to are United Republicans of Harris County, Houston “C” Club or the Houston Realty Business Coalition. All three have websites that will give you lots of information. A good source of information on the “pay to play” slates can be found poking around on the web site www.bigjollypolitics.com.
The best way to learn about candidates is to use every opportunity that you have to see them, talk to them, and learn about them. Then work hard for the ones that you think will be the best public servants and represent you.