Now that the national election is over, most people are settling back into their routines, getting ready for the Christmas season and ignoring the pundits' arguments and pronouncements concerning the incoming administration.  Politics is a seasonal hobby for some, a passion roused only every four years, and every eight if they're particularly lucky. 

Despite this malady of apathy that afflicts every other American, there is a subculture dedicated to politics that never truly sleeps.  It takes the occasional break to sleep off election-induced hangovers or post-sine die malaise, but otherwise, the members of this subculture are devouring news articles and watching hours of legislative chamber footage, tracking bills and attending the occasional city council meeting.  These are the people who began contemplating the 2010 Texas gubernatorial election at 7:01pm on November 4 - and they know what gubernatorial means, to boot.

If you are reading this blog, you are part of that subculture.  As a card-carrying political junkie, I'd like to introduce you to Texas Magazine's new political blog, Drawing the Line, and introduce myself as it's primary author.  

I feel like it's an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting by internet.  Hi, my name is M.J. Samuelson, and I'm a political junkie.  

I first got into politics as a little kid, during the 1988 presidential election.  Every family I knew in my niche of northeastern Oklahoma was supporting George Bush, including my own.  But my grandparents, hardcore, yellow dog, Truman Democrats from Missouri, were supporting Michael Dukakis.  If you ever meet my grandmother, you'll understand - when she tells you who you should be supporting in an election, you get that eerie feeling you've experienced real campaign saavy, because of course you'll support her candidate. At eight years old, how could I say no? 

That was the last time I supported a Democrat for the White House.  I should just get that out now.  I keep an open mind during elections, but I am a conservative and consider my choices through the lens of limited government and fiscal responsibility.

My political worldview was shaped by the events of the late 1980s and the mid-1990s, but it was also honed by my mother.  She grew up a Goldwater Republican, in New York if you can believe it.  She took the four of us kids with her when she voted - and she made sure we all knew she was voting no on every proposed spending measure and tax rate increase.  When she got involved in the Catholic pro-life movement, she took us along.  Politics was not explicitly discussed at our dinner table until we were all adults, but it was an unspoken part of our daily lives. 

The majority of Americans are falling back into their politics-free stupor with the end of the national election. What I learned from my family, what I carry with me today, is a strong sense that ignoring politics is folly at best, dangerous at worst.  Government is everywhere, from the taxes on your grocery bill and the cameras at the red lights, to leash laws and trash ordinances; it is in traffic laws, highway construction, your property tax appraisal and bill, and your child's school.  The national election is one part of an intricate whole, and as a taxpayer, voter, and participant in the economy, it is your duty and right to participate and pay attention.

That is the purpose behind Drawing the Line, to give Texas citizens a place to find out more about the everyday affect of politics and government.  The name comes from the story of William Barret Travis' call to arms at the Alamo; he told the men there that they could stand with him or leave, and drew a line in the dirt with his sword.  Men like Juan Sequin, James Bowie, and many others stood with Travis, taking a stand in a revolution because they believed in a cause greater than themselves.  Our civic duty is not as dramatic as that day in 1836, but it is just as necessary and vital to the fabric of society.  

I began blogging about politics in 2006, picking up momentum with the general election and then the 80th Legislature.  I spent that legislative session in an office close to the Capitol, learning much about the process that so many Texans have no idea about.  My intent with this blog is to help unshroud the mystery that is Texas politics for everyday citizens, who have jobs and work long hours and don't have a chance to spend a day in Austin during the 140 days the Legislature meets every two years.

As stated, I am a political junkie.  I am one so that you don't have to be!  Look for my posts each week atTexas Magazine.  The election may be over, but the fun is just starting!