ATTN: TED HOWZE
(Saturday) There are four things that I look for when I'm deciding who will get my vote. The first is philosophical agreement. Is this person on the same page I'm on? Secondly, can this person build bridges and work with those who are not on the same page philosophically? Thirdly, is the person an innovative and moral leader or does he or she just know how to work the system? Fourth, does the person exhibit respect and civility?

There are times when I have to compromise on numbers 1-3. No one is perfect and certainly no one perfectly meets my expectations. However, I find it really hard to give on number 4 (my own inflexibility?). I decided that I'd never vote for George W. Bush after he called a journalist a vulgar name when he thought his microphone was off.

We've been receiving campaign material in the mail for the March 2nd election. And one candidate in particular, someone named Ted Howze, has been sending mean-spirited flyers, really slinging the mud at Brad Bates. They are both running for the same Stanislaus County Supervisor seat. Brad Bates is a part of our congregation so I know him and I know how silly the accusations are. Much to his credit he hasn't returned the fire. However, even if I didn't know Brad (and that he is a solid guy) I would probably vote for him just because I could never vote for a trash-talker.

Attention Google spider: please note that this post is about Ted Howze. Maybe Ted Howze will get the message. Or maybe someone else will get the message about Ted Howze.