Posted By: Kristofer Cowles on Monday, February 22, 2010 @ 9:02 AM

I was talking to my banker on Friday, February 18, the day after the Texas Senate District 5 Candidate’s Forum. He summed it up this way: “Ogden is an elitist.”

Steve Ogden looking bored while asking Ben Bius a question

That’s the impression I got, too. And my banker wasn’t even at the forum – though he has lived in this community for decades and has served at the highest level in the Chamber of Commerce. It’s an impression of Ogden that does not need to be perpetuated and rewarded by sending him back to Austin. Steve Ogden seems to represent that which we have been deploring for over a year now – the aristocracy of the incumbency. If you wanna “throw a bum out”, here’s a good place to start. Though Ogden is anything but what that pejorative implies, the colloquialism fits.

Just look at the picture. Ogden, on the right, is actually asking Ben Bius a question while he has his head in his hand, with a vacant “Why am I even bothering with this trite little exercise?” look on his face that he had all night.

The Ogden re-election bid is a bit of a saga, which I won’t cover here but you can find if you just Google “Ogden reelection”. There’s enough there to inform you.

Mr. Ogden was very well-dressed, and Ben Bius was, too, though he seemed a little unkempt compared to Ogden’s well-fitted and expensive attire. Ben could use a trim, Steve was well-manicured.

All-in-all, Ogden’s appearance and attitude boosted Bius’ appeal.

And then we got to the issues.

There wasn’t a whole lot of difference, except that Ogden has a record in the Senate that’s a bit spotty and seems sort of out of touch with the little people. But I wasn’t overwhelmed by Ben’s grasp of the issues, either.

Ogden looks bored moments into the forum

Eventually, though, during those 45 minutes, I found Ben’s approach refreshing though not completely informed, and the fact that he was still grasping some of the concepts allowed him to say “I don’t know” once or twice which, in my book, at least reveals he is human.

Steve really turned me off with his constant accusations that what Ben was proposing was already done or illegal, without backing it up, and the fact that he just sat there nearly all night with his head in his hand.

I got the impression that Steve thought this was his Senate seat and nobody could take it away from him.

Well, my vote’s going for Ben.

It’s my seat, not Steve Ogden’s.

I’ve posted the forum audio from WTAW. Please listen and make an informed decision. And listen while looking at these pictures. That should help inform your decision.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 49:20 — 19.8MB)

Tags: audio, bius, ogden, State Senate District 5

This entry was posted on Monday, February 22nd, 2010 at 9:32 AM and is filed under Brazos County Conservative Watch, Political Analysis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.