tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498525082522582900.post89586092876456597..comments2024-03-22T16:02:08.213-05:00Comments on The Wheel: Follow the Money in Dallas College RunoffMark Stegerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02376182294736839659noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498525082522582900.post-81048042069788593042022-06-23T09:32:13.879-05:002022-06-23T09:32:13.879-05:00Anonymous commenters have been given a lot of lati...Anonymous commenters have been given a lot of latitude in this comment thread. That ends now. The commenting rules say, "Include your name. Anonymous commenters are unwelcome." Anonymoust comments will be deleted.Mark Stegerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02376182294736839659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498525082522582900.post-59899065437699062882022-06-23T08:55:47.483-05:002022-06-23T08:55:47.483-05:00Perhaps you should take a look at the campaign fin...Perhaps you should take a look at the campaign finance reports. <br />The Richardson Democrats donated $500 to to Ms Pacheco’s campaign. That’s just with a brief review of the over 50 pages filed 8 days (really 6 days, which may be a violation but I’m not a lawyer) before the election. There was Al lot of money coming in the other side too, don’t be so naive. <br />As for pilciiral machine, that has been used in politics for many years, it refers to the framework and political contacts that parties have in order to influence elections. And I think Ms Pacheco surging ahead in a runoff, with a larger turnout than the race, should at least have people asking a few questions. <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498525082522582900.post-66160065220284907432022-06-22T23:27:52.397-05:002022-06-22T23:27:52.397-05:00Dear Mr. or Ms. Anonymous,
In reply to your post ...Dear Mr. or Ms. Anonymous, <br />In reply to your post of 18-June: <br />What I saw in the recent school board elections was the participation of citizens--not a "machine"--engaged in the (small "d") democratic process of supporting candidates they believed would best serve the needs and interests of public education in Richardson and in Dallas County. <br /><br />I'm not unaware that these races took place against a background of partisan polarization that is playing out across the entire country. Unfortunately, this effectively dictated what became the most important issues in our local board elections. <br /><br />To review, one way this occurred was through the infusion of large amounts of campaign money from an outside PAC, apparently linked to a partisan political agenda. Another came by way of injecting emotionally evocative political issues, especially the teaching of Critical Race Theory, that had <i>no relevancy</i> to our local situation, but seemed specifically intended to inflame political passions, just as it has in our national politics. A third intrusion of politics played out over the past two years, through the politicization of the response to the Covid pandemic that has <i>tragically and avoidably</i> led to more than 30,000 Texans dying unnecessarily, and more than 320,000 nationally. This partisan political issue had an extremely disruptive impact on the RISD board, leading to the resignations of two of our most capable administrators. Yet a fourth political issue came by way of the intrusion of the Dallas County Republican Party into the race, explicitly endorsing two of the candidates as "conservative Republicans", and their opponents as "liberal Democrats". <br /><br />I acknowledge that my own perceptions may be biased, but I'm not seeing where Democratic voters or activists were responsible for this, other than in response. <i>None of the candidates had any formal party affiliations</i>. Nevertheless, given the circumstances, it should come as no surprise that the elections took on a tone where voters <b><i>may</i></b> have felt they had a political stake in the outcome, <i>whether they wanted this or not</i>. <br /><br />In <i>any</i> case, the notion of a "democrat machine" sounds very ominous and frightening. Please bear in mind that you are referring to actual people, who have hopes, dreams, values, and priorities, in much the same way that you do. Referring to them as "a machine" has a sinister quality. I think we all will be better served to regard one another with more humanity. Thanks! JRLJeffrey Levinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12094638587161707861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498525082522582900.post-59139861025207429912022-06-22T10:23:19.353-05:002022-06-22T10:23:19.353-05:00So you are on woth democrats or republicans paying...So you are on woth democrats or republicans paying doe advertising then? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498525082522582900.post-76984250641613811172022-06-21T11:32:34.089-05:002022-06-21T11:32:34.089-05:00I'm non-partisan in my criticism of political ...I'm non-partisan in my criticism of political party involvement in local non-partisan elections: <a href="https://www.marksteger.com/2022/05/the-partisans-are-coming-for-district-5.html" rel="nofollow">"The Partisans Are Coming for District 5"</a>. I'm not against individual Democrats and Republicans supporting candidates. I'm against political parties saying vote for so-and-so because she is a member of our political party. Mark Stegerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02376182294736839659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498525082522582900.post-10597447896802465042022-06-21T11:20:53.873-05:002022-06-21T11:20:53.873-05:00Did you see the democrat machine turn out for Dr G...Did you see the democrat machine turn out for Dr Garcia. Did you see Clay Jenkins endorsement. That seem very nonpartisan to you? <br />How about the fake outrage that the republicans send out a flyer when the democrat machine was out there churning for their two candidates. <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498525082522582900.post-35795330601066275292022-06-18T01:07:46.019-05:002022-06-18T01:07:46.019-05:00Dear Mr. "Anonymous",
Either support y...Dear Mr. "Anonymous", <br /><br />Either support your claim with evidence, or retract it as "disinformation". So far as I'm aware, there has been no "Democratic Party contribution to Vanessa". Unless and until you support your claim with evidence, there's a good reason why the "critique only flows in one direction". <br /><br />Unlike the Dallas County Republican Party and its donors, who have explicitly endorsed Sherry Clemens and Lynn Davenport, praised them as "conservative Republicans", and labeled Vanessa Pacheco and Catalina Garcia as "liberal Democrats", the Dallas County Democratic Party has specifically NOT endorsed anyone in these school board races. <br /><br />I think it's a very good practice to keep school board races non-partisan. After all, the boards are supposed to serve the interests of the entire community, and not pursue a political agenda. Why does the county Republican Party think it's a good idea to introduce politics into the race. I support the non-partisan candidacies of Vanessa Pacheco and Catalina Garcia... and this is in part because they have kept politics out of their campaigns. <br /><br />And really... "Whataboutism"? We can do better than that, no? <br /><br />Jeffrey Levine, Canyon Creek, Richardson Jeffrey Levinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12094638587161707861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498525082522582900.post-44028270647634274362022-06-17T18:02:25.522-05:002022-06-17T18:02:25.522-05:00Why no mention of the Democratic Party contributio...Why no mention of the Democratic Party contribution to Vanessa? Seems the critique only flows in one direction?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com