Reasons...

...why I will vote for a particular person.

I am researching my choices for my congressional representatives for 2010, District 23 in west Texas. Right now those choices are:
Francisco "Quico" Canseco (R)
Ciro D. Rodriguez (D)
Martin Nitschke (L)
Ed Scharf (G)
Craig T. Stephens (I)

 First let me start with the ones I will not be voting for. Ciro Rodriguez, he is our incumbent, I really knew nothing about him until just a few months ago when I saw a video of him in a local town losing his cool with one of his (possible, don't know if this person voted for him or not) constituents, I have to say that left a bad taste in my mouth, and that was before I found out what is party affiliation is. I have written to Rodriguez on 2 separate occasions to ask that he vote no to certain things, one was about the forced health care, he did write me back, AFTER voting the way HE wanted to vote, and then told me why he voted yes on it, I guess I'm too stupid to know what is best for me (in his mind anyhow). I do not like the way he votes, nor do I want our government to become any more socialistic than it already is. So for Rodriguez, I vote NO.

I tried to find out something about Martin Nitschke, a Libertarian, I found a website, but can't really read it, there is a big text field over the website stating that the website is currently unavailable, it's been that way for days. I can SEE the website behind the text box, I can read some of what is written there and I would agree with what I read, the problem is I can't take this person seriously, first he didn't think it was necessary to take the few minutes and few dollars it takes to get a real domain name and set up a real website, right now he is using http://martinnitschke2010.ning.com, and for whatever reason, that is not even working, so sorry Nitschke, in a time when unknowns are getting voted in because the people are tired of the same old same old, you don't even get to first base because of your lack of whatever it takes to create a real website with your information, I vote NO.

Next comes Ed Sharf, he is endorsed by the Green party. Link, link. Again, no real website, all I could find was a site put out by the Green party and a couple of other websites, not one he created, come on candidates, how hard is it to pay a kid a couple of bucks to create a website? What I have found is that he is he doesn't live anywhere near me, he is in his mid 70s, is (or has been) a business owner (that's good), has no prior political experience (may be good, may not be good), and has no religious affiliation, looks like he is either afraid to say he is Christian, or he is not a Christian, either way it's not good for me, so I vote NO.

Now there is Craig T. Stephens, Independent, I found a website http://www.letsfixcongress.com, and a Facebook & MySpace page, at least this guy knows how to work the internet. I even like what he has to say, though he does gloss over a few important (to me) items, like God and abortion, he mentions them, but the way I read what he has to say is he isn't running on religion, and the abortion issue isn't as important as getting the finances of the Country back in order. I agree with what he writes, then I click on his "about us" page, he says that 4 years ago, he was running for this same office and he caused a runoff between the Repub and the Dem, apparently the Repub would have won otherwise, because of the runoff, the Dem won, that worries me, Stephens only got 3% of the vote, that was enough to (seemingly) mess everything up so that Rodriguez got in, can I take the risk that this may happen again? I just wrote to Stephens to ask his how he plans to prevent the same scenario from happening again, I eagerly await his reply, I'll post it here. Until then,  sorry Stephens, unless I find out something different between now and voting day, I regretfully may have to vote NO.
I received a timely reply from Stephens, here is what he wrote:

Thank you for contacting me.


You have a very legitimate question and I understand that there is a belief that voting for an Independent is rather like throwing your vote away. This was absolutely true in the past, but I believe that we are past that point and that the Independent Candidate has gain credibility over the past four years.


In 2006 I had 3344 people vote for me, and yes that was rougly 3.5% of the vote. It was not enough to win, but from where I was sitting, it didn't matter to me if a Democrat or a Republican won, I thought then, and I still believe that both parties are unable to do what is right for us. I believe that history has proven this to be true.


I am a U.S. Military combat veteran, a Husband, a Father, a Business Owner and I absolutely love this country. I would never do anything to hurt this country, and if I thought for a moment that my running for office would be detrimental, I would withdraw.


As you watch the news, you will see grass roots organizations springing up all over the country. The most visible is the Tea Party. I think that America has realized that both the Democrats and Republicans are bad for our futures and the futures of our children.


What I am doing to prevent wasting votes, such as yours, is that I'm working tirelessly. You could help me by talking to your family, friends and neighbors about me. This election has a Republican, a Democrat, a Green Party, a Libertarian and an Independent (that's me). The vote will flatten out across the candidates with no one taking a majority. Every vote is of vital importance to every candidate.


This may be one of the rare times in life when the little guys really can make a difference. I'm trying, please help me.


Very Respectfully,


Craig T. Stephens
Independent Candidate - U.S. Congress - Texas 23rd District
craig.stephens@letsfixcongress.com
210-563-8304

I'll be watching Stephens to see what comes of him, I'd like to see him in, but I still have my doubts as to his electability, what I don't want to see is Ciro get back in.

Which leaves me with  Francisco "Quico" Canseco, Republican, he is smart enough to put up a website, http://www.cansecoforcongress.com/, and generally I like what he has to say, I believe he is electable, so chances are pretty good that I will vote for him.I just emailed him to ask about his position on forced health care, aka Obama-care. Let's see how quickly he responds and what his response will be.