Thursday, August 24, 2006

QUICK FOLLOW-UP

SHELLEY SEKULA-GIBBS


Just wanted to do a quick follow-up to a post that I did a few days ago about Ms. Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, the local GOP's handpicked choice to replace Tom DeLay in Texas-22. If you haven't read it, go check it out. Anyway, in that post, I made mention that I found the name sort of annoying to have to type out, noting "...Sekula-Gibbs [dear lord, but that is an annoying name to type!] ... ."
Now, regular readers of this site know that I don't usually just direct readers to other bloggers' or online journalists' work, but for this story I'll make an exception. Over at TPMmuckraker, Paul Kiel notes some interesting problems facing this write-in candidate:

After Tom DeLay dropped out last week, the Texas GOP was forced to try a Hail Mary, throwing their support behind a write-in candidate. But the candidate's name -- Shelley Sekula-Gibbs -- may be a problem.
In short, the Republican strategy is now this: tens of thousands of GOP voters will go to the polls on November 7, ignore the names printed on the ballot, and write in a
hyphenated name of 20 characters (counting spaces).
...
Keep in mind that control of Congress may well hinge on this race. Which means the direction of the country could rest on whether or not enough Texas Republicans can remember a 20-letter hyphenated name and spell it using an awkward trackwheel device.

I'm actually sort of annoyed for not noticing this myself. Regardless, I think that this is freakin' hilarious. Do you think that after the fellas made their decision on Sekula-Gibbs in their proverbial smoke-filled room, that one of them suddenly slapped themselves on the forehead when he realized what a pain in the ass her name was going to be? Maybe they should have thrown their support behind David Wallace after all.

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