Political Wars

There haven't been any lipstick-on-a-pig comments yet.

Ector County's contested offices may not have all the fervor and controversy of this year's historic presidential election, but there are some definite hints at fiercely opposed political views in town - the kind that might prompt someone to steal a campaign sign or harass an opposing party member.

County Democratic Party chairwoman Bobbie Duncan said she witnessed it firsthand at the Permian Basin Fair in September. She said some passersby verbally abused workers manning a booth there about Democratic candidates and the party.

"We've become a one-party system in Odessa," Duncan said shortly after the incident.

Carol Traut, professor of leadership studies at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin, has had several campaign signs stolen out of her front yard.

"A woman would come along in a van in the morning, and her kids would pile out and tear up the signs in my yard," Traut said. "You just wonder. People seem to have lost self control or any understanding of how to display their preferences or opinion in a way that doesn't result in vandalism or theft."

Traut and local political leaders polled recently said elections have always been nasty, but today's technology makes it easier for mudslinging to hit voters square in the face.

"We're just inundated with it," said Shane Marler, county Republican Party chairman. "TV, the radio, Internet - you can't get away from it."

All that negative, character assassinating-type information is turning middle-of-the-road voters off, Traut said, decreasing overall voter participation and leaving do-or-die partisans in the foreground.

"People who have restrained themselves in the past feel less restrained," Traut said, "I think it's kind of a coarsening of society. We resort to physical violence and character assassination."

Marler had a few of his campaign signs stolen when he ran for a school board position a few years back. He said the nonpartisan race didn't get out of hand, but keeping it that way wasn't always easy.

"You're in a difficult place because you're trying to contrast yourself with your opponent," Marler said. "You point out things about them that you consider to be detrimental. That's part of the drama of it all."

Couple that with short attention spans and you've got a perfect storm for misinformation and personal attacks, Traut said.

"We're less likely to sit and listen to explanations," she said. "We want to reduce it to sound bites. Technology is geared toward sound bites, and we don't demand as a people more in-depth explanations."

Traut said voters should attend more town hall-type discussions and get into the grassroots instead of relying on cable news commentaries, blogs and e-mail blasts. That way the finer details are up for interpretation with the help of more ideas.

"It doesn't help to do it in a stadium, because it takes individual analysis," she said.

IMPORTANT DATES

>> Monday: Last day to register to vote or file an address change.

>> Oct. 20-31: Early voting.  

>> Oct. 28: Last day to turn in an application for a mail-in ballot.  

>> Nov. 4: Election Day.

WHO'S RUNNING:

Contested races.

>> Precinct 1 county commissioner: Linda Young Anglley (D) vs. Freddie Gardner (R).

>> Precinct 3 county commissioner: Dale Childers (R) vs. Barbara Graff (D).

>> Precinct 2 constable: David Lewallen (R) vs. Norman Witcher (D).

>> District 81 state representative: Tryon Lewis (R) vs. Elmo Hockman (Libertarian).

UNCONTESTED RACES:

>> 161st district judge: John W. Smith (R).

>> District attorney: Bobby Bland (R).

>> County attorney: Cindy Weir-Nutter (R).

>> Sheriff: Mark Donaldson (R).

>> Tax assessor-collector: Barbara Horn (R).

>> Precinct 1 constable: Steven Brennan (R).

>> Precinct 3 constable: Dean Johnston (R).