Election day is one week closer and my political awakening is well under way. Since my last post I have attended two guest lectures to enhance my political awareness and to prepare me for Election Day.
I attended a lecture by Dustin Lance Black, screenwriter of Milk, this past Thursday. Black talked about his life as a gay man, the making of the movie Milk and the past, present and future of the gay rights movement. Black criticized the Democratic Party and President Obama for ignoring the movement and advised students to look at gay rights as a social issue, not a party issue. After all, members of the Republic Party such as Laura and Barbara Bush are becoming more vocal and more active in the gay rights movement than members of the Democratic Party.
I also attended Rally to Restore Competence with Bill White on Tuesday at the UT Austin Tower today. The event was put on by Students for Bill White and University Democrats. Bill White’s daughter, a college student at Rice University, introduced him as a man who is “the same person at home as he is on the campaign trail.” Bill White then gave a 10-minute speech about higher education in Texas. A few policies White highlighted were to reverse the 92 percent tuition increase, offer flexible school hours for students who have to work and provide a reduced tuition rate for college students who do community service.
“Consider what it would it be like if we had a governor who understands that higher education should be accessible to all Texans, and that teachers should teach what is necessary to prepare people for college and careers,” said Bill White.
I would like to make one interjection. As a public relations major I was distracted by the name the event. The rally name claims that Bill White will “restore competence.” This word choice alludes to the lack of ability or knowledge of current governor Rick Perry. To believe that Bill White will restore competence one must already believe that the current governor is incompetent. This might step on some toes and I am curious to see how this affects public opinion.
To read more about what happened at the rally go to http://www.dailytexanonline.com/content/white-pushes-education-reform-west-mall
After the rally I spoke to a young woman with Students for Bill White. I told her that I had not fairly evaluated Rick Perry’s policies yet. She said that she unsuccessfully tried to get an accurate depiction of Rick Perry’s policies as well. His website and his office did not provide detailed assessments of his policies.
Rick Perry also denied to debate with the other candidates for governor Tuesday night. The debate featured Bill White as the Democratic candidate, Kathie Glass as the Libertarian candidate, and Deb Shafto as the Green Party candidate.
Visit Rick Perry's website to view his policies. http://www.rickperry.org/issues You will see that Rick Perry generally lists accomplishments instead of his plans for the future. The public could view this move in many ways. They might view this as a sense of confidence because he has been governor for the past 10 years. Such confidence will most likely annoy voters and make them feel taken advantage of. Others might view this as a lack of plans for the future. If Rick Perry isn't sharing his plans, perhaps he doesn't have any or plans to keep current policies in place. We will not know the extent of this public relations move until November 2.
Readers, keep the questions coming! I will respond to your comments in my next blog. Thank you for your interest and don’t forget to vote November 2!
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