For springtime local elections in Richardson, the "October surprise" comes in April. Right on schedule, this year's April surprise has dropped, in the form of a Richardson Coalition PAC "2013 Voters Guide -- Senior Citizen Edition."In American political jargon, an October surprise is a news event deliberately created to influence the outcome of an election, particularly one for the U.S. presidency. The reference to the month of October is because the date for national elections (as well as many state and local elections) occurs between November 2 and 8, and therefore events that take place in late October have greater potential to influence the decisions of prospective voters.
Source: Wikipedia.
The surprise is not that the Richardson Coalition PAC has published a "Senior Citizen Edition" of its voters guide for the first time, although there's nothing in it that appears to address issues that are of particular interest to seniors instead of voters at large. That's a curious matter, but irrelevant to our surprise.
The surprise is not the usual innuendo and half-truths. Richardson voters have come to expect that from the Richardson Coalition PAC's "Voters Guide." The surprise is not even that the Richardson Coalition PAC would stoop to springing April surprises. Maybe, in the end, there's nothing surprising about how Richardson politics are playing out this year. I had hoped that our city was better than this, but I can't really say I'm surprised.
After the jump, the April surprise.