Dig Deeper Texas

In case you hadn’t heard, local resident Gene Kelly almost forced Democrat Senatorial candidate Rick Noriega into a run-off. Gene Kelly took 27 percent of the vote. The Express-News editorial wonders why people would have voted for Kelly who apparently doesn’t campaign–he just likes putting his name on the ballot and getting votes. Well, Carry Clack has the answer.

MySA.com: Cary Clack

Many of the people who voted for Kelly no doubt had their minds blown by Kelly’s opponents. They couldn’t vote for Noriega because they thought he was the former Panamanian dictator (now in jail). They didn’t cast a ballot for schoolteacher Ray McMurrey because they didn’t like the television series “My Three Sons” and thought he was its star, Fred MacMurray (now dead.) And they couldn’t quite trust security guard Rhett Smith because they thought he was the legendary sports columnist Red Smith (also dead.)

I’ve always wondered why candidates put out so many of those “vote for” yard signs. I couldn’t imagine anyone voting for a person just because she saw the candidate’s name on the yard sign. But with almost 600,000 people voting for Kelly, I guess I need to stretch my imagination some. Maybe some forward thinking Democratic couple should name their next child “Ronald Reagan.”

Technorati Tags: Rick Noriega, Gene Kelly

Filed under: Gene Kelly, Rick Noriega