One of my blog posts was republished as a guest editorial in the Nov-Dec 06 Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing. Here’s the link to the article (.pdf) in case you’d like to check it out.
It’s about my experiences with Camp Periwinkle, a summer camp for childhood cancer patients.
I haven’t gotten much political mail this year, which is a shame, but surprisingly, the bulk of what I have gotten has been from Republican Lt. Governor David Dewhurst. Furthermore, every campaign and get-out-the-vote call left on my machine has been from the Dewhurst campaign.
Most of the fliers are nice, glossy, full-color brochures explaining all of the things Dewhurst will do to help and protect Texas’ children (I wonder if I’m being microtargeted since I’m a teacher or is everyone getting this stuff?) I’ve always thought Dewhurst was one of the few state-level Texas Republicans who really does want to do right by Texas kids, and if I thought Chris Bell would win the governor’s race or the Democrats would get some kind of power in this state, I would consider voting for him.
Unfortunately, he lacks backbone. The Lietenant Governor in Texas, as president of the senate, has the potential to be the most powerful person in the state and yet Dewhurst has balked at exercising this power. If the welfare of kids is truly at the top of his agenda, why hasn’t he used his position to push it through instead of rolling over for Perry and Craddick?
Still, getting all this mail all of a sudden is odd considering that Dewhurst seems to be a shoe-in for reelection and his opponent has very little name recognition. But, could what she lacks in name recognition be off-set by her hispanic name: Mary Luisa Alvarado?
Vince at Capitol Annex theorizes:
Yes, Dewhurst is afraid of something that a lot of political insiders and consultants talk about, but only behind closed doors: that Hispanic surnamed candidates are attractive to Hispanic voters.
Perhaps there’s something to this, but I wonder if it might be something else. I haven’t seen any polls for the Lt. Governor’s race (are there any?) but I can’t help but wonder if the anti-Perry vote (somewhere in the mid-60s) could also be trickling down to affect the Lt. Governor’s race where there are only three candidates instead of five. Could the anti-Perry vote, which despite being massive is so splintered it will keep him in office, actually be moving against Dewhurst?
Now that my blog seems to be working again, and I’ve emerged from my candy coma, I can finally post the Halloween pictures.
We stayed home as we usually do and handed out candy to the kids who are brave enough to face the occasional barking of the pups, who were dressed to impress.
Here’s Captain “Jack-O-Lantern” Joe, terror of the high pond near our house…
Phearsome Phoebe, the Good(?) Witch of the Greenbelt…
And, keeping a low profile, as is her wont, Dangerous Daph, just as likely to trick as treat…
