Sorry for the delay on this one, it's been 30 hours since I went to this event! Hey, sometimes life interferes with blogging, believe it or not. Two family surgeries in one day, both successful, and here I am. Blows my mind that anyone would want to screw up our health care system but as surely as my nickname is BigJolly, they do. More on that inside but all in all, I once again stepped out of my comfort zone - unfortunately, no other conservatives did but hey, I can handle all that responsibility.

Unlike the trendy Ei8ght I was at the night before, the Houston Votes kickoff was held seven blocks east at Pearl Bar. Way more my style, something that felt like home in Pasadena. Mickey Gilley would have been proud, except for maybe it wasn't all that big. Although they do have a huge patio which should count.

Now the bad news, at least from my perspective. If I had held that kickoff, I would have been sorely disappointed at the turnout. At most, and I'm being liberal here (heh), there were 30 people that came out, not including the staff. Again, that is a very liberal estimate - if this were a Tea Party function, my estimate would be that 8 or 9 volunteers showed up. But hey, it isn't always about quantity, right? Uh, no, just ask Joel Osteen or Ed Young. It is about quantity, especially if you are hoping to get enough volunteers to register 100,000 new voters. I wasn't disappointed that no other conservatives showed up because I know that most people simply aren't interested and those that are were probably at another function or resting for a weekend blockwalk, although it would be nice to see other people step outside their comfort zone with me.

Kudos to Texans Together Director of Development Melody Patelis for making me feel comfortable in the absence of my friend Maureen. Although it wasn't necessary, I do appreciate it. She doesn't realize that I'm also shunned at Republican events and have become quite used to it. It happens when you tell the truth or give your honest opinions.

There was a good turnout from the lefty bloggers. Charles Kuffner at Off the Kuff was there, as was Stace Medillin from Dos Centavos and Neil Aquino from Texas Liberal. John Cobarruvias of Bay Area Houston blog was also present, first time I've met him. I'll put the links from their recollections of the event at the bottom.

Also present was Jeff Weems, Democratic nominee/candidate for Railroad Commissioner. I first met Mr. Weems at a Hank Gilbert Meet and Greet, way back when ol' Hank was running for Governor. When I meet people, I know right away whether or not I like them (that isn't the same thing as voting for them). I have to say that I like Mr. Weems, especially since he pointed out last night that he reads Big Jolly Politics. He is running against David Porter, who upset incumbent Victor Carrillo in the Republican Primary. I have no idea who Mr. Porter is or how he won a statewide primary without spending a dime but I don't much care for the snark in this press release from Mr. Weems. It reminds me of the hourly juvenile tweets put out by the Dems in the governors race. For some reason, this snark doesn't seem to fit Mr. Weems, at least the Mr. Weems I've met twice. I'll have to think about that. I also think the spin that Kuff put on the fundraising difference between the two candidates is nothing but spin. Fact is, Mr. Porter has four times the amount of cash on hand than Mr. Weems does.

Shortly before I departed, Judge Robert Hinojosa stopped by. Judge Hinojosa defeated Judge David Farr in the 2008 Democratic judicial sweep in Harris County. They'll be going at it again in November, although Judge Farr isn't able to campaign because he is on active duty in Iraq. He does have a non-political blog up but it is going to be tough to win from afar without a campaign. Before you get all gung-ho about Judge Farr's military service, it is important to note that Judge Hinojosa is a Vietnam Veteran.

As far as the kickoff goes, there were short speeches from Fred Lewis, founder of Texans Together, Melody, and Jessica, who is the volunteer coordinator. Sorry, but I didn't catch her last name and didn't realize it until after I left the meeting. A couple of points from the speeches:

• Travis County has 95% of eligible voters registered, Harris County 65-70%
• Harris County has the second lowest percentage of registered to eligible voters in the country behind Wayne County, Michigan (Detroit)
• Houston Votes will have registered 20,000 new voters by the end of the week
• Houston Votes currently has 50 paid canvassers working four hours per day, averaging 6 registrations per worker per hour
• They are giving away Astros tickets and a condo vacation as incentives to the workers who register the most voters

Can't read the rest of my notes, sloppy writing. Such is life.

Had nice chats with both Kuff and Neil. Kuff in general about the blogging world and about publishing more of the Judicial Q & A's that he helped me with earlier this year. Neil and I talked about the health care bill and we really do have positions that will probably never meet in the middle. My focus, and that of most conservatives, is on health care (as in treatment that people receive) and Neil's is about health insurance (as in how the heck does someone get health care if they don't have insurance). I guess that my daily dose of the health care system through the eyes of my very brilliant wife gives me a different perspective than most because I know for a fact, and yes, it is a fact, that anyone can receive proper care in the U.S. today, insurance or not. But we didn't have a raging argument, just tried to understand a little about where the other guy stands.

And that's a wrap, apologize again for the tardiness.

From the other bloggers in attendance:

• Neil Aquino at Texas Liberal: Blogger Pesters Judge (this is very funny)
• Stace Medillin at Dos Centavos: Thoughts on Viernes 08062010
• John Cobarruvias at Bay Area Houston: Houston Votes

If you would like to see Houston Votes in action, or volunteer to help them, stop by their booth at the 20th Houston International Jazz Festival. They will be there today and tomorrow from 4 pm until 10 pm registering those jazzy voters. And you know who those people will vote for!

A few pictures from the evening.