Cure for the turnout blues

Texas is going for Bush. If that didn't happen, it would be a miracle and I might actually begin to believe in god. So while I speak about national politics more than state politics on this blog, I only do so because the Internet reaches far beyond my state. Locally, if politics come up, I try to remember to remind people to vote because in our newly divided state, every vote counts more than ever is staffing Congress properly.

That being said, I will say that I was much heartened today. My family came down, and they are a bunch of Bush supporters, like much of Texas. After they dogged me about my signage supporting Lloyd Doggett, we decided to go to the brand new South Congress festival today to check out some shops and some music. There were tons of people out there registering people to vote and to the very last one they were decked out in either anti-Bush stuff or pro-Kerry stuff. (One exception: a group that wants to recall Mayor Wynn, a group that is truly pissing in the wind. Most people I know like Mayor Wynn, if only because he gutted the attempts to ban smoking downtown.) For a determined liberal-hating Republican, it would be difficult to hate these people. They had their signage, but their words and smiles were different. "Are you registered? Whatever you do, wherever you live, whoever you vote for, please register."

Looking at all these people, I thought to myself that if these folks can come out and both campaign for Kerry and register voters, even though they know that Kerry isn't going to win Texas, then there's no excuse for the rest of us not to vote. Especially those of us who live in states where it won't be a walk. Every little bit counts. Kerry won't win Texas, of course. But if he gets alot of votes here, it could cause our bug-eyed right wing element to reconsider their beliefs that everyone here agrees with them.