Getting Votes in the South

[ctaylor1973]

My First Day in DU 

If we are to get some control back in Texas (or else where) we
have to show people we are ready to take the issues to the
mat. 
Here in Texas we have people in and out of state who are just
pissed off that people in New Orleans. We have to remind these
people, get them involved, get them established, get them
REGISTERED TO VOTE. I am not an organizer or planner. Just a
guy who thinks that with the right campaign we can give the
REP. a run for their money down here in Texas or in the whole
of the south.

Here are the issues as I see them:

- if the storms had been a terrorist attack we would have been
screwed. this was not 9-11 we had 4 weeks to prepare.

- the Reps. where prepared for the storm (they where setting
up construction contracts for there buddies)

- it wasn't a matter or black or white in New Orleans it was a
matter that the poor (uneducated, non-voting poor)where left
to suffer.

I am willing to work very hard for this effort. Can anyone
help me? We need to:

-get these people established as citizens of the state they
are in so the REP. Party cannot block them at the voting booth
in the 2008 elections.

-remind them of what the REP. party did for them in the first
24 - 72 hours after the storm.

- get other states in the south doing the same thing.

[napi21]

1. I agree with you, but there's other BIG problems in Tx.

Here's a clip from an email I received from a friend in Houston. I had asked her if Houston was back to normal after the storm. Here's her response:

"I don't know if Houston is ever going to recover because we've had a big increase in crime since the Katrina evacuees moved here. Kingwood has the lowest crime rate in Houston and we're having cars stolen and broken into. The city is spending millions of dollars and expects to be reimbursed by FEMA. I'm not happy about having sex offenders, drug dealers, and all kinds of criminals moving here. There's good people too, of course but now so much has happened that we don't know which ones to trust anymore. A couple of weeks ago, a 77 year old lady who brought 3 evacuees into her home and tried to help them was murdered. She had brought them home from the church shelter and they killed her just to steal her car. Almost every day there's something in the news about crimes committed by evacuees. Hopefully things will get better in Louisiana so that people can go back home."


I don't know how widespread this problem is, but it's much more of a top concern to the people who live there, than who they're going to vote for a year from now!

[ctaylor1973]

2. Some Bad Apples

I haven't heard very much in the way of this kind of thing going on. Kingwood has lacked crime because it is so far from the city. I keep my ear to the ground and quite frankly things where going down hill crime wise due to mismanagement well before the storms. Most of these people are polite, hard working people trying to get back on top of things. I am sorry about the lady dieing, but there are also stories about a lesbian couple being taken in by an ultra conservative that is working out great.

The criminals are not the people I am talking about in this message. I am talking about the honest, angry ones who in the past have seen no reason to vote. These are the people that have seen the mismanagement of the country up close and personal.

[napi21]

3. She also sent me a link to an article in the Houston paper.

http://www.click2houston.com/news/5271063/detail.html

I guess this is another "a few bad apples spoil the entire bushel" situation, but it really does seem to be a big concern for the local residents.

It's going to be difficult for anyone to tell the good guys from the bad apples.

[ctaylor1973]

5. It is an issue

I agree and I didn't know. that being said this post has nothing to do with the lose Sex offenders.

This post is about how we can get people registered to vote. In the past Reps. have blocked people who didn't look to be favorable for the Rep party. Due to one tech or the other.

[Gildor Inglorion]

4. Welcome to DU!

As a citizen of Mississippi, I know what you're talking about. Apathy, hopelessness, etc. - so many people just don't believe their votes would make a difference. Also, the Repukes station "poll watchers" at every polling place to scowl and try to intimidate voters. PLUS the whole state now uses the Diebold "automatic fraud" voting machines. But having said all that, I think even a large number of poor African-American citizens would still vote for the Repukes as long as they campaign on their anti-choice anti-gay platform. It may take another generation or even two before the current ignorance and superstition pass away and people actually begin to vote in their own best interest.