Burnt Orange Report

David Van Os Kicks Off Campaign

By Byron LaMasters

Last night, David Van Os officially kicked off his campaign for Texas Supreme Court. Van Os is one of our few statewide candidates this year, so I'm looking forward to helping his campaign, as it's one of the few races at the top of the ticket. His campaign website reports on the event:

Tonight, David Van Os formally kicked off his campaign to put a Democrat on the Texas Supreme Court. As is typical with events involving David Van Os, the CWA Union Hall in San Antonio was packed with people from every walk of life, Democrats of every size, shape, color, religion, political experience, career field, family background, education level, financial status - in other words, a diverse cross section of Texas.

After a warm welcome by the union president and a rousing introduction by State Senator Leticia Van de Putte, herself a genuine hero of the Democratic Party and a leader of the fight against Tom DeLay's power-grab, and a cordial letter from State Chair Charles Soechting, the podium was turned over to the next Justice of the Texas Supreme Court, David Van Os.

David, who is rapidly becoming known across the state for his mesmerizing oratory, delivered a blistering attack on the "gang of Right-wing Pinstriped Thugs who are trying to take over every branch of government and defeat our treasured system of checks and balances." He described how our Supreme Court, the last refuge for the rights of the people to be upheld, has instead, been turned into a private club for former (and present) Corporate lawyers, who overwhelmingly and consistently take the side of large insurance companies and big corporations against consumers, individuals and small businesses. He noted that they don't even bother to sign their outrageous opinions, some of which overturn even constitutional protections which have stood for over a century.

This is a race that every Democrat should be intensely interested in, generously contributing to, and actively campaigning for. When David is elected and takes his seat on the Court, the people will start to regain their voice in this most important venue. He might still be outnumbered for a while when it comes time to vote, but the people will start to have a voice in the proceedings, a dissenting opinion to bring to light the legal fallacies of their one-sided decisions, and the secret, backroom dealings will not be so secret any more.

You can donate to the Van Os campaign, here.