In a July 4, 2012 article about Houston City Council member (and commited Tea Bagger) Helena Brown, Terrance McCoy of the Houston Press made the following astute observation: It's one of the profound oddities of American politics that in the elections that actually affect the tangible world around us, when pragmatism should trump ideology, when representatives can shape the communities we inhabit rather than dictate platitudes according to party screed, people simply do not vote.