Texas is a state of mind and a state full of politicians indeed. Politics is a contact sport as big as football here and probably a bit more hard-hitting. This election maybe a stunner for the Presidential race and hopefully a win for Cruz or at minimum a runoff between Cruz and Dewcrist.

As I was preparing to vote this coming Tuesday, I decided to take a look at the sample ballots to be sure of my selections. Not the big ones, as I’m a Cruz gal for sure, but for the Texas Railroad Commissioners that have quite a lot of clout in our great state, the State Supreme Court Justices, the State Board of Education and the five Propositions on the ballot which are also important. More on that later.

Like all states, we have many other offices up for a vote. Of course all eyes on on the Senate race here but could we see some surprises? It’s likely given the diverse selection of candidates for both the Presidential and Senate races and the number of candidates (still) on the ballot.

We have seen the results of W. VA, KY, and AR where 40+% of the vote has gone for a convict, a ghost (uncommitted) and an unknown (Wolfe).  Well the usual cast of characters including Wolfe are all here plus a couple more on the Dem ticket for President that I’ve never heard of which isn’t saying much, as I don’t care about their side (see sample ballot below). But the interesting fact is that the Republican ballot includes a choice for an “Uncommitted” vote whereas the Democrat ballot does not. It can’t be standard operating procedure since we know that other states had uncommitted as a choice and got votes. Hopefully someone will school me on that issue as I find it strange.

Moving on, there are a combined total of 13 candidate choices on both tickets for President and a total of 13 candidates for the Senate race. I hope it isn’t a bad omen but that 13 number keeps coming up. Nine for Senate on the Republican ballot alone, including the former Mayor of Dallas Tom Leppert and Dewhurst Lt. Governor, so don’t think it was easy for Cruz to get as far as he has come.

The good news in Texas is that there is absolutely no way a Dem is going to win the Senate seat. So after all the great posts about Cruz, I find it amusing and satisfying that they don’t have a snowball’s chance in Texas and no one, not even lib on-line media gives them the time of day. Not to mention that we are fortunate to have so many candidates boasting that they are more conservative than the other and truth be told, any of them would be better than many Senators with a dash R as our RINOs are way to the right of most for example SC (Grahm) or KY (McConnell). I won’t even bother with names for ME or AK.  

The bad news is I’m hearing grumbling that the Rep. leaders think Romney is taking the state for granted, except for the piggy bank, which he’s had several fund raisers here but no stump speeches. They may have a legitimate beef as the makeup of the state is changing and can’t always be counted as pure red in the future, but he’s safe this year. Still, with all of the delegates at stake and the state that will make him the official nominee come Tuesday, perhaps he could stop by and say howdy to the good folks that will also help him win the general election with our sizable 155 delegates. Apparently we lack the charm of Iowa for candidate visits and need to just fall in step and send cash. C’est la vie.

Lastly, we have some interesting Referendums (Dem speak) and Propositions (Rep speak) here, not unusual for our state to be truthful, but a couple Republican topics even Romney has talked about on the campaign trail and other states might be envious of: School Choice Vouchers, Repealing ObamaCare (actual verbiage), Gov’t Can’t Restrict Public Prayer, Balanced Budget and Redistricting the Court Imposed Lines. 

On the Dem side, they have three Referendums: Amnesty for Illegals for College Rates, Affordable College Rates, and Legalized Gambling to Fund College. They are listed below but you have to see the wording; would anyone say no? 

So the proverbial lines in the sand are drawn and the contrasts could not be more stark on the value set for each party. Should be one heck of a Texas Hoe-Down come Tuesday and I can’t wait for the results while I sip on a frozen margarita- Cheers!

Here are the sample ballots fromhttp://www.co.travis.tx.us/county_clerk/election/20120529/sampleballot_dem.pdf

President-DEM (Presidente-DEM)

All precincts /Precintos enteros:

Barack Obama

Darcy G. Richardson

Bob Ely

John Wolfe

United States Senator-DEM(Senador de los Estados Unidos-DEM)

All precincts /Precintos enteros:

Addie Dainell Allen

Grady Yarbrough

Paul Sadler

Sean Hubbard

REFERENDUM 1: Any graduate of a Texas high school, who has lived in the state for at least three years and lived here continuously for the last year, should be eligible for in-state tuition at state supported colleges and universities and given the opportunity to earn legal status through a higher education or military service.

REFERENDUM 2: Because a college education is increasingly necessary for jobs that allow our citizens to achieve middle class lifestyles and become the entrepreneurs who create the jobs that our economy relies on, we call on the Texas Legislature to fund colleges and universities such that tuition and fees can be affordable to all Texans.

REFERENDUM 3: Should the Texas Legislature allow the people of Texas to vote to legalize casino gambling with all funds generated being used only for education?

And now to the Republican ticket:

President-REP(Presidente-REP)

All precincts /Precintos enteros:

 Jon Huntsman

 Rick Santorum

 Mitt Romney

 Ron Paul

 John Davis

 Newt Gingrich

 Charles “Buddy” Roemer

 Michele Bachmann

 Uncommitted

United States Senator-REP (Senador de los Estados Unidos -REP)

All precincts /Precintos enteros:

 Craig James

 Curt Cleaver

 Ben Gambini

 Lela Pittenger

 David Dewhurst

 Ted Cruz

 Tom Leppert

 Joe Agris

 Glenn Addison

REPUBLICAN PROPOSITIONS:

SCHOOL CHOICE: The state should fund education by allowing dollars to follow the child instead of the bureaucracy, through a program which allows parents the freedom to choose their child’s school, public or private, while also saving significant taxpayer dollars.

REPEALING OBAMACARE: Congress should immediately repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (otherwise known as Obamacare) and reject the rationing of healthcare by government or the intrusion by the government into the doctor – patient relationship.

PUBLIC PRAYER: Government should be prohibited from restricting the content of public prayer.

BALANCED BUDGET/CONTROLLING GOVERNMENT GROWTH: Out of control spending should be stopped at all levels of federal and state government through constitutional amendments limiting any increase in government spending to be the combined increase of population and inflation, requiring voter approval.

REDISTRICTING: The Texas Legislature should redraw the court-imposed lines for Congress and State legislative districts in its upcoming session in order to remedy inequities.