Posted on 10/30/2006 7:12:24 PM PST by anymouse
President Bush, his collar open and his sleeves rolled up, told 2,000 cheering Republicans in Sugar Land today that they should "bring your pencil" to the polls and write-in the name of Shelley Sekula-Gibbs to succeed Tom DeLay in the U.S. House.
"I always feel better when I'm in Texas," Bush said to the crowd packed into a hangar at the Sugar Land airport, before urging them to take the extra steps necessary to vote for Sekula-Gibbs.
Most voters won't really need a pencil to cast write-in votes because they'll use electronic voting machines. If they write in the councilwoman's name, they'll turn a dial selecting the 18-letter name a character at a time.
"I know I could have given you an easier name and next time I'll think about that," Sekula-Gibbs told the crowd as they waited for the president. Bush was expected to deliver a 45-minute speech before heading by helicopter back to Ellington Field and departing on Air Force One.
Sekula-Gibbs is the party-backed write-in candidate to succeed DeLay, R-Sugar Land, who resigned from Congress after winning the Republican nomination for a 12th term.
A new Chronicle-11 News poll indicates that the race is close, even though Democratic nominee Nick Lampson and Libertarian Bob Smither are on the ballot for the term that begins in January and Sekula-Gibbs isn't.
She is on the ballot in a separate, special election for the final weeks of DeLay's term.
"It's not every day the president of the United States comes to help a girl from Floresville campaign," Sekula-Gibbs said, referring to her south central Texas birthplace.
Also speaking at today's rally were U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, state Sen. Kyle Janek, R-Houston, and state Rep. Charlie Howard, R-Sugar Land.
A handful of protesters walked along Texas 6 near the airport carrying signs against the war in Iraq , but they never were close to the president or the rally.
Lampson kept a low profile as Republicans awaited the president today, meeting privately with donors. He planned to attend a small event tonight at a cousin's house in Pearland.
Lampson campaign manager Mike Malaise issued a statement saying Bush came to town "to try and stir up the base for one of our opponents because she is such a hard sell to that base."
Add your reports here also if you would......
2,000? Local TV news at 5PM said 7,300. Hmmm.
If it was only 2,000 it sure was a noisey 2,000. The hanger was pretty full for 2 o'clock to 6:00 and I didn't see anyone leave. I noticed at the end - minimual cleanup required.
Oh, great. And no doubt if they get one letter wrong it will be thrown out.
What ever happened to "voter intent" with the hanging chads?
Oh, yeah - I don't disagree on that. Nice rally, but bigger is better, especially if it's the truth.
We're hoping "Gibbs" will count as a vote, since none of the other possible write-ins could be confused with that - however, it's still a matter of interpretation of the "voter's intent" - and you know how that goes sometimes.
The exact rule is vague, in that it doesn't tell us which variants of her name will be acceptable, or even specifically whether "Gibbs" alone will count.
She was Sekula even when she was married to Sylvan Rodriguez, well-liked local TV anchor who fought a very public and very valiant battle against cancer - which was what brought her to the public eye initially.
After he died, she got into politics and has remarried. She is a doctor and was well known to patients by the Sekula name, so has to keep it out front for recognition.
"Shelley Gibbs" doesn't instantly bring her to mind like Sekula does, relating to her medical practice and her name as Sylvan's wife.
If she gets in, she can have it written out on the ballot next time around.
Let's hope.
I just knew we could find a way to make this harder. So find a write-in candidate with three names. You can just imagine the Harris County registrars office deciding that they don't want to count the write-in ballots which say "Gibbs" or "Sheila" or "Sekula" but rather the ones which say "Sheila Sekula-Gibbs" exclusively. Harris county, no run by the GOP, could be our next Palm Beach county hand recount nightmare.
It seems a little unfair to make it so difficult to be a writein candidate--having to turn the dial for all 18 letters. They should come up with a keyboard for the machines. If the lady was a Dem, they would have already won the suit requiring the keyboards.
If she were a Dem and it were any other county than Fort Bend, they would just have her name as the default when you mark "X".
President Bush, right, joins Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, center, R- Texas, and Republican congressional candidate Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, left, during a get-out-the-vote rally Monday, Oct. 30, 2006 in Sugar Land, Texas.
Sekula-Gibbs is running against Democrat Nick Lampson for the congressional seat vacated by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay
No, because of the special election.
If they vote for her in that, the intention will be clear on whom they were voting for.
The Special election is what is going to make the difference and very difficult for the Democrats to contend against.
Also, her name is on a piece of paper with write-in candidates in every booth, so it is not hard to spell it.
She is going to win this race, no one wants Lampson to steal this seat.
I really get weary hearing from the MSM how hard a write-in is.
Most write-in candidates are marginal protest votes.
Shelly is the Republican Party representive.
Lampson's only hope is for a division of votes and they are sending out literature with the hope that Republicans will vote for another Republican candidate.
I was seated a couple of rows behind TX Rep. Charlie Howard, seen here behind Dr. Shelley, Sen. Kay Bailey and President Bush.
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