"Great minds think alike and fools seldom differ"
Dabridgecourt Belchier c.1618
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| Jim Barton, Brownsville Observer |
On my return, I saw that McHale had already dealt with Guerrero's derogation, slamming, put down of campaign forums(thus, the quote above).
Carlos, Carlos, Carlos. Of course, "forums don't win elections," but when someone like yourself, not a known commodity, offers themselves for public service, the public has to get an idea of how you operate, function, perform on the public stage.
Forum participation gives a new candidate like yourself a wonderful, free opportunity to display your skill set to the voters.
After all, the city commission is a public forum too. The voting public wants to know if you can actually perform on that public stage or simply occupy a seat.
Hopefully, John Cowen, the leader in the clubhouse for City Commissioner At Large "A," will also see the need to "pick up his game" with regard to sharing his vision via public forums.
John might have been well served to run for County Treasurer or some other largely bureaucratic position, but, as a city commissioner, we will expect him to come into each meeting well prepared to comment on the issues with enough articulation and poise to make his position known.
We present Jerry's take on the Carlos Guerrero quote below, reposted from the McHALE REPORT:
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| Carlos Guerrero |
Carlos Guerrero: "Forums don’t win elections. Having the knowledge on how to push our city forward, business skills, knowing what’s wrong with our city, knowing what changes need to be made and love for your city does.
But when they send you the questions that are going to be brought up a few days before, I just felt that they are not really being honest on their replies.
Some advice to the forums next time: Please don’t send out the questions you will be asking. You need to make sure they answer with honesty. That way you can really find out if they have any knowledge or clue of what they are talking about. Just a thought."
(EDITOR'S NOTE: At The McHale Report we had early reservations about Carlos Guerrero, but as the campaigns dragged through the winter months and into the middle of spring, we began to warm to the self-made businessman. Unfortunately, he was a political novice and committed a string of rookie errors. We don't know who was advising him, but he didn't receive good counsel. The proof was in pudding in the city elections Saturday night when he finished well-behind John Cowen (49%) and Jessica Bradshaw-Puente (27%) with 15% and ahead of Ismael Hinojosa (9%) for the At-Large "A" seat. One of the reasons for his poor showing was his reluctance to appear at forums. To the best of our knowledge, he skipped all of them, approximately a half dozen in total. It is no secret that he is uncomfortable speaking in front of crowds, but forums are akin to attending the mother-in-law's birthday party. You may not want to pay your respects, but you're going to pay the price with an angry wife and a month exile to the doghouse if you don't adhere to the formality of making an appearance. Forums, at worst, are part of the dog-and-pony show and attendance is required.
John, if you want Carlos’s runoff endorsement, having Little Jerry trash Carlos before he’s endorsed is probably the dumbest thing you could do. You paid Green Ape how much for consulting?
ReplyDeleteJohn Cowen can not hold a candle to Jessica Puente-Bradshaw when it comes to the arena of public persona. The reserved Cowen may have finished with 5195 votes, but 5309 people voted against him. Remember the runoff between Oliveira and Dominguez? Oliveira had significantly more votes and dramatically outraised Dominguez in campaign funding, but Dominguez won that runoff. Maybe Cowen and Puente-Bradshaw could have a forum conducted in both English and Spanish where the voters can listen to their platforms and then make an honest comparison of which candidate they want to have representing them. Hands down, the winner would be Jessica Puente-Bradshaw. She is more articulate, is fluently bilingual, and not afraid to get out there to work hard for what she believes in. Jessica Puente-Bradshaw gets my vote. Jessica Puente-Bradshaw is the smart and only choice in that race.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you 100 percent. I had not voted in a local election for many years and did so for Jessica Puente and Trey because I found them both to be knowledgeable, authentic and commanding.
DeleteI like to read Mr. Barton's column and appreciate his straightforward style. It is very difficult to put your life out there. To interview someone and then make a critique takes guts.
Over the next weeks, Trump will be fighting multiple financial-disclosure fights. He has intervened to stop Deutsche Bank from complying with a congressional subpoena of his bank records. He threatens to fight to prevent Special Counsel Robert Mueller from testifying about Trump’s Russia connections. He’s already lost the first round of the emoluments-clause lawsuit filed by the state of Maryland and the District of Columbia.
ReplyDeleteAs Trump fights to conceal his financial records, loses, appeals, and loses again, it becomes progressively more plausible to Republicans that those records conceal damaging revelations about serious wrongdoing. Trump is ultimately fighting to prove he’s not a crook. He can postpone delivering the records that would prove the matter one way or another. But as he fights to postpone the inevitable, he risks convincing voters that they do not need a subpoena to read his guilt.
I wasn't aware that Trump was in this run off. Go blogsquat somewhere else.
DeleteThe NY Times has Donny Trump's tax summaries? From 1985-94 and an analysis of them. Basically, he was in worse shape than most thought, even before the downturn.
ReplyDeleteIt still astounds me that anyone ever thought he was a billionaire. Billionaire real estate moguls don't need million dollar reality television deals to stay afloat.
Seems like you have a hard on for Trump. He won the election. Get over it. The whining and complaining is getting old. Why don't you try winning an election instead of complaining?
ReplyDeleteTrump blocks Mueller report:
DeleteLock the pussy-grabber up! For all those Russian Trolls that defend him, history will not be kind to the orange turd. Nixon will look like a saint in comparison. Here is yet another example of illegal obstruction.
Okay, there is this: Even now, there are a lot of Americans who believe that Trump is a savvy and successful businessman who knows what he is doing. The actual record, which, thanks to the Times, we now know a good deal more about, suggests the exact opposite. It reveals Trump to be a reckless conman who burned money and relied on his father, even as he was fashioning a myth that eventually took him all the way to the White House. No wonder he is so averse to allowing the American public to see any more accurate information about his financial history.
DeleteJust stop already. Your all's crooked assessed side lost, and with the weird shit you've been trying to sell isn't working and you're going to lose more.
DeleteWho is Carlos Guerrero endorsing???? And will this be his last run for commissioner? Or any other office???? That’s the important question
ReplyDeleteJim that’s a good task for you find out who guerrero will be endorsing and that will tell you who will win this runoff.
We have been trying to get a hold of him but have not succeeded.
Cowen will win. Jessica will be an also ran. Everybody who votes knows she is Tea Party, hardcore Republican. Bye Felicia.
ReplyDeleteI’m hearing Guerrero will be endorsing cowen. But Jessica is speeding rumors that he will be endorsing her. Jim let us know if you get ahold of mr. Guerrero so we can put this to rest.
ReplyDeleteJust give it up. There is no mileage in endorsing Jessica. She won't even get the same showing in the run off.
ReplyDelete