Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.
Posted on 01/21/2010 2:48:53 PM PST by GeezerConservative
The 18th Congressional District of Texas: Can Sheila Jackson Lee Be Unseated? By Brenda Z. Page Beginning north of Houston, Congressional District 18 (CD18) includes Bush International Airport, the Heights, downtown Houston, a swatch of the ship channel, and continues south to encompass several institutions of higher education. It is 228 miles of an ethnically and financially mixed population of over 650,000. CD18 is one of the most important districts in Texas because it is the minority majority district gerrymandered for African-American Democrats.
Some would argue that the district was designed for Barbara Jordan, the widely respected first Congressman of CD18. Jordan was the first black woman from a southern state to serve in the House of Representatives. She represented the district for 10 years beginning in 1972.
Sheila Jackson-Lee has been the congressional representative of CD18 since 1994, but is a far cry from Barbara Jordan. Lee historically votes contrary to the ethics and causes Jordan previously championed. Lee parrots the vote of House Speaker Pelosi, contributing to the out of control spending in Congress, and mortgaging our children’s and grandchildren’s futures. The incumbent, along with her fellow Congressmen, gave themselves a salary increase of $10,000 each over the next two years while stopping cost of living allowances for social security.
Few would dispute that there is dissatisfaction with the way liberals are handling the state of our country’s economy. With our national debt clock ticking at over 12 trillion dollars and the erosion of Constitutional rights, it’s time for a change.
Voters in this district are angry over the bill that could well tax Black talk radio out of existence. They also remember that Jackson-Lee backed Hillary Clinton, not Barack Obama. But, is job loss, a devastated economy, bad press and a district neglected for more than 15 years enough to unseat the notorious Congressman? If you look to the Democratic side of the ballot, the answer is likely “yes,” because for the first time in a very long time this incumbent has competition from her own party. And, if you look to the Republican side of the ballot, you find another serious female contender, Brenda Z. Page.
Why a Republican Can Win
Democrats are offering nothing new in the way of substance on their ballot. Currently, Democrats have three candidates to choose from in the CD18 primary election: (1) an incumbent career politician who we’ve discussed at some length, (2) a local career politician, and (3) an unknown career attorney. Regardless of who wins, voters will get politics as usual on the Democratic side of the ticket.
CD18 has been unshakably Democratic for 39 years. Naysayers like to tout that it’s impossible for a Republican to win CD18. We will prove them wrong in the upcoming election. The excitement being offered this year is a change in district demographics, the right political climate, and a Republican ballot with a real contender for the district’s congressional seat. Voters have the chance to make a difference for the future of this district!
Three Republicans are currently on the ballot for CD18, two are white males, but in this minority district, the odds are against a white man winning this election. African-Americans have carried this district from inception, electing a woman Congressman to the position the majority of the time. At the top of the Republican ballot now comes a woman with a strong financial background, who is a small business owner, and an attorney - not a career politician. Republicans and conservatives have someone who can go nose to nose with Sheila Jackson-Lee and win!
Why this is an Election to Watch?
Four things are working together to make CD18 an election to watch: (1) voter intolerance for politics as usual, (2) an incumbent who embodies the arrogance of liberal Democratic Washington politicians, (3) a shift in voter demographics and interest, and (4) a serious, hard-working Republican candidate running on the ballot.
Though this is not a race about race, you can’t ignore demographics in any election. It’s true that the African-American population has decreased, so are there enough voters in the district that want real change? Will this Democratic sanctuary fill the polls for the primary, only to lose interest in the general election? Hispanics have had less success getting out the vote in CD18 even though their population has increased. Can a conservative Republican woman draw Hispanic voters into the polls to vote their traditionally conservative values? Will voter turnout be enough to see the pendulum swing to the Republican side?
Tired of Sheila shenanigans, CD18 constituents may well be looking to free up the incumbent’s future. After all, we’re in a fight for our nation, for the born and the unborn, for our future. This does not come without hard work, perseverance, and difficult choices. It is up to each voter to research the issues and vote for the person who would best serve the community. Only you can make the changes you want to see in CD18.
Perhaps former Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Colin Powell said it best:
“A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination, and hard work.”
Brenda Z. Page is a candidate for U.S. Representative of the 18th Congressional District of Texas.
Sure she can.
I haven’t lived in my hometown of Houston for 38 years and that woman STILL embarrasses me! What an idiot!
‘Unseat her’? Hell of a hoist required, but Texans like a challenge, right?
Hell, yeah! Let's just make sure 0bama get's the memo that she needs help down there and to put her on his 'stump' agenda! :>)
LOL!
I would agree but I still don’t think it will happen.
2006: SJL 65827 (77%), Hassan 16418 (19%).
2008: SJL 148617 (77%), Faulk 39095 (21%).
What might work in a challenger’s favor is extremely low turnout. I would think the challenger would need s few additional breaks.
Unseat Sheila? Be still, my heart.
When they were having the big funeral for Michael Jackson in California, Sheila traveled there. When she got back, an enterprising TV reporter asked her where the money came from for the trip. Was Government money used for the trip? Sheila said, “No.” The reporter asked again where the money came from. She said, “I have my sources.”
As far as I know, there was no follow-up.
There may be a scandal there.
Finally, I get to reply to my own posting! Send your prayers to Brenda, she’s the Republican in this race who has any chance to unseat Sheila. Check out her website, www.pageforcongress.com.
Well, Georgians got rid of Cynthia McKinney so anything is possible. Here’s to praying.
So are they, overwhelmingly, else they wouldn’t vote 95% Dem year after year.
I can come to no other conclusion.
SJL is a well-informed ignoramous.
SJL is a well-informed ignoramus.
It is definitely true that replacing SJL with a Democrat will result in politics as usual. So many so called “conservative” Democrats have fallen in step with the party’s platform. All across the country, every so called conservative Democrat has failed to back their stated values. They never buck the party’s position. So long as the Democratic party is hard left, there can only be one solution. We need a Republican conservative we can count on.
It is a mistake to select a candidate based on appealing to various voting blocs. That is why we are in the mess we are in. So called experts like Colin Powell believe we need to run candidates with certain racial and gender profiles to win elections. If they are moderates, these so called experts think that’s the perfect solution. They had their perfect profile the last election with John McCain. Because he lacked the convictions of a strong conservative, he missed several opportunities to expose Obama’s record and agenda during the debates when everyone was trying to determine if Obama was “presidential material”. Sarah Palin did not “fit” the perfect profile but you can sure bet she would have exposed Obama if she had been at the top of the ticket and she would have won the race for the Republicans. A strong conservative who is willing to expose the liberal opponent will not only win the conservative vote, it will also win the moderate middle as proven time and again by Ronald Reagan and the Republicans in the 1994 elections. The liberal is always doomed when a strong conservative debates them and is willing to expose them because the liberal position is based on idealistic emotion and not on true facts. People in the center see this very plainly when a true conservative lays it out for them. Republicans have been getting their clocks cleaned because they haven’t distinguished themselves as being that much different than Democrats in an attempt (That doesn’t work) to attract the independent and moderate votes. As a dyed in the wool conservative, John Faulk won’t be making that mistake.
A strong conservative is only half the battle. The other half is someone with strong campaign organization and good name recognition. The ideal candidate is the one who has both of these ingredients regardless of their race or gender.
On this count, John Faulk is clearly the better candidate. John Faulk has already run a race against her, and received more votes in a decidedly Obama year than any previous challenger. John Faulk has walked the neighborhoods, run a previous campaign so that he now has a well organized campaign, and he has built up name recognition with his hard work during the last election. And John Faulk is an accountant instead of the typical lawyer that currently occupies most of our Congressional seats today. These lawyers are the ones who have wrecked our country through their reckless spending to buy votes. John Faulk is an accountant who is going to make sure these lawyer thugs are held accountable by exposing them.
I doubt a Republican could win that overwhelming Black district. I think the best thing we can hope for is that she is unseated by a sane dem in the Primary.
Why in the world are we gerrymandering? Redistricting must be done again next year.
Ever hear of the Civil Rights Act? It mandated minority set asides in certain states, south only maybe. Texas still comes under that mandate. Thus any redistricting has to be approved at the federal level and show that the district meets the minority criteria set up by the feds.
I think the best thing we can hope for is that she is unseated by a sane dem in the Primary.
I think the Houston City Council member that is running against her has the be chance. He’s elected from a council district that is included in the CD district. So he’s got support within the CD. It will be a tough fight for him but with some help he may pull it off.
However that said I know nothing of his political persuations other than he was an Obama supporter. So my guess is the political agenda won’t change much if at all.
36.9% White
40.4% Black
3.4% Asian
35.6% Hispanic
0.4% Native American,
0.5% other
I seem to remember somebody getting their whacker whacked because of how ridiculous it was. Maybe it was GA or NC. You had districts running in the median of interstate highways just to connect up areas to make them majority minority.
Texas has asked to be removed from the oversight but the feds won’t release them. Texas has some gerrymandered districts for sure. It may even get worse as Texas should get either 3 or 4 additional CD this upcoming redistricting. I’m sure at least one will have to be a set aside.
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