
"Yeah, you know me."
I'm trying to imagine an older, not-so-Internet-savvy Texan hearing "Deez Nuts" from the recorded voice of the pollster, and not being able to process those two syllables in any language.
This isn't the only major revelation in the latest Public Policy Polling survey for Texas. First, there is also the question of whether ACORN will steal the election for Hillary Clinton. Fortunately or not, only 24% responded that it will; 39% said no, and 36% were not sure.
In case you weren't sure yourself, ACORN was driven to extinction in 2010.
That news is bound to loosen the bowels of people like me, who have claimed for months that Texas will award its 38 electoral votes to the Republican nominee without hesitation, so votes for Jill Stein will not affect the outcome in this state.
Stein herself is hovering at 2% in the Lone Star State. If she takes 2% on Election Day, or about 160,000 votes, will that make a difference one way or the other?
I'm in Stein's camp on the difference between Trump and Clinton. It's not that Clinton is the lesser evil, but that Clinton and the Democrats represent "smiley-face evil" versus the Republicans' "scowly-face evil." Amongst Republicans, it is still socially acceptable to hate women, minorities, and the poor—and to do so out loud. Meanwhile, establishment Democrats make lots of noise about how they value human beings of every ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, etc., whilst implementing policies that torture, poison, and starve them.
Regardless of which major party wins, Wall Street wins bigger. Deportations continue. Burning of fossil fuels increases. Drones still drop bombs on civilians.
What I worry about, on a more personal level, is that I have a lot of friends who still vote for the Democrats, who proudly identify as Democrats, who believe that Hillary Clinton will pursue a progressive agenda. These are good people, believers in peace and justice, who also believe that they are voting for good people. They will never let me live it down if the candidate and party I have promoted so vociferously throw the election to the Short-Fingered Vulgarian.
Even if far more Democrats in Texas vote for Trump than for Stein, echoing the Florida Democrats who voted for George Bush in 2000, these friends (bless their big blue hearts) will have no room in their brains for the facts.