Burnt Orange Report

"Do You Write For..."

By Vince Leibowitz

I just got back (well, five hours ago, really) from a two-day junket to Austin for Van Zandt County Days which included, among other things, spending a lot of time aimlessly wandering the halls of the Texas Capitol doing lots of...well...eavesdropping, actually, on legislators, lobbyists, tourists and just about anyone who was engaging in a conversation I thought was worth hearing.

Given I'm no stranger to the Texas Capitol and this was like my third Van Zandt County Days celebration, I spent more time visiting folks I knew and listening to the tabling marathon on HB 2 than engaging in all of the ceremonial stuff our group usually engages in.

To start the morning off, our delegation was recognized in the Texas House, which I missed because somehow the time got moved up. But, since the board members of the Council of Van Zandt County Communities (of which I am an officer) wasn't recognized on the floor as initially planned (there wasn't time, we were told), I guess I didn't miss much. Instead, I was in the gift shop searching for a replacement for a pewter state seal lapel pin I had that broke.

After that, we had our photo made with Texas Governor Rick Perry and our State Rep., Dan Flynn (R-Van) and State Senator, Dr. Bob Deuell (R-Greenville). We were right behind the delegation from my native county, Wood County, which was also under the Pink Dome celebrating Wood County Days. They had their photo made with the Governor and their legislators, Rep. Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola) and Sen. Kevin Eltife (R-Tyler).

As we were getting set up for our photo, who should I notice but Jeff Fisher, Executive Director of the Republican Party of Texas (and our former County Judge). He was there to meet and greet some of his former colleagues and constituents. I spoke to him for a little bit, too.

And, Governor Perry was in fine form as well, complaining about his allergies and greeting the two youngsters in our delegation, signing autographs, and even commenting on one of our group member's brightly colored shirts. As much as I disagree with Rick Perry on nearly everything under the sun, he is quite the "campaigner," shaking hands with many within reach (I was standing too far to his left to engage in this, no pun intended) and just chatting away.

I had actually hoped I'd have been standing closer (though I was only on the second row), so to have shaken his hand and introduced myself. I've met him several times before, but, what politician remembers everyone he meets? In addition to hoping he saw the huge nametag I had identifying myself as County Chairman of the Democratic Party of Van Zandt County, I would have casually mentioned, "Oh, I also write for Burnt Orange Report every once in a while," just to see how quickly he would have moved on to the next person. Sadly, I didn't get the chance to do this.

Following this, Sen. Deuell was kind enough to take the youngsters in the group into the Senate Chamber to sit in his desk and have their photos made. I followed along to take pictures.

After this, our delegation was recognized in the Senate. While that was going on, I actually went over to the House side where my state Rep. Dan Flynn, was gracious enough to go and retrieve my uncle, State Rep. David Leibowitz (D-San Antonio) from the floor to meet a few of our delegation and pose for a couple of photos.

After this, who should I see in the halls of the Texas Capitol aside from one of my personal political heroes, former State Sen. David Cain, who is now a lobbyist. We chatted for a while caught up on "local gossip," so to speak.

After that, I and the Executive Secretary of our local party, her husband and their son braved the maze of the capitol annex to find my uncle's office, as their son was going to be a page for him in the House during the afternoon session.

No sooner than I'm greeting the secretary does another staffer ask me, "are you the same Vince Leibowitz who writes for Burnt Orange Report?" Of course, I said "yes, that's me!" I'm just surprised that I would have such name recognition under the dome given that I'm not that frequent of a poster.

But, to give you an idea about this, I was standing outside the doors to House later that day waiting for our delegation's page and noticed a guy who looked like a young lobbyist staring at my name tag. Finally, he, too, asked, "Do you write for Burnt Orange Report?"

But, the true highlight of the day occurred in the House Gallery during the afternoon session. I had gone to see some folks who used to work for David Cain but now work for Sen. Eddie Lucio (where I also complained about the media credentialing process as it relates to bloggers), and then made my way up to the gallery.

I had been thinking all day, "I bet I'll see the lady who writes "In The Pink Texas," one of my favorite Texas Blogs. No sooner than I had sat down in the gallery near some of our delegation and very near an attractive lady with a laptop, did this lady turn to me and say, "Are you Vince Leibowitz who writes for Burnt Orange Report?" Bingo, once again. It turned out to be Eileen Smith, the publisher of the blog live and in person. (And, she mentioned me on her blog!)

What a small world. At any rate, we made fun of Legislators and the tabling marathon that was occuring at that moment until her laptop battery started to die.

Also, since I am sometimes oblivious to my surroundings after a night of little sleep because (a) the air conditioner in the hotel room went out and (b) whoever was in the room next door was having a heck of a party, I was totally unaware I was sitting less than 10 feet from Bill Hammond, head of the Texas Association of Business! It appeared he was napping in the gallery, and I got a great (but slightly blurry) shot of him appearing to snooze. Of course, I didn't take it with my camera, so I won't have the pic until later, but when I do, rest assured (again, no pun intended), I'll make sure it makes the rounds!

At any rate, it was a good trip. I did overhear a great tidbit while waiting in line for the elevators Wednesday morning, but I'm going to have to find a little more about it before I post anything on it. It may turn out to be nothing at all, but it was curious that the people whispering about it made it a point to start to talk about it, look around and see the crowd behind them, and then move right to the elevator doors to "whisper" their conversation in a loud enough whisper that I could make out every single word.