Burnt Orange Report

That's a bigger loss than any of us will fully understand, I fear, until election night, November 2006. Good luck Dallas Dems, you're going to need it.

All I can say is Yippee! There's no loss there Scott I suspect that Susan Hays couldn't get elected dog catcher.

Scott:

I cannot disagree with you more. At no time have we as Dallas County Democrats ever been more united!

We have committees working on strategy, fundraising, precinct chair recruitment and communications now, on the ground and running.

For the first time that I can recall, the grassroots, rank and file democrats, have stood up and said "WE WANT CHANGE"; not next November, not next march, but now when it makes all the difference in the world.

If that had been a small group of malcontents, nothing would have come out of this. But these were precinct chairs, candidates, elected officials, labor leaders and activists who were convinced that we can win in 2006.

Chair Hays insisted on following the Austin Beltway mentality that Money is more important than grassroots. I even advised her that if she just showed the Precinct Chairs and Activists a minimal amount of respect, they would jump through flames for her... AND SHE REFUSED!!!!

The "New" Democratic Party, is going to have to be a party of fundraising and grassroots, you cannot have one without the other, and you cannot ignore one group without the other.

There is not one of the many potential candidates for 2006 that is dropping out, they are even more excited not as they were before. I am rolling up my sleeves and helping get my party back to work.

Come on up some time Scott, we'd be glad to have you.

Michael Moon

What a pity I didn't read your comments a month ago Scott - until your post I was completely unaware that the future success of the Dallas Democratic Party was solely dependent on Susan Hays as DCDP Chair! All this time I thought it had something to do with the combined efforts and inidividual initiative of hundreds of Democratic volunteers, neighborhood leaders, donors, precinct chairs, clubs and organizations, union members, and progressive activists. Silly me.

I wish Dallas Dems well. I also think Susan deserves her due credit for the local party's recent successes, and I'll bet the sheriff, the only countywide elected Dem, would agree with me if Dallas Dems would have listened to her at that much-ballyhooed meeting. Success has a thousand authors; failure has but one. When Susan took over in Dallas there wasn't as much to crow about, as I recall. I hope your success continues. I just wish so many people didn't think that moving forward required trashing a woman who tried her best, did what she thought was right, and was rewarded with more success than anybody'd seen there recently. It wasn't only Susan, of course - elections are about the contributions of enormous numbers of people - but she played a big role, she worked very hard, and it appears to me all that's radically undervalued by the rank and file. Buena suerte.

Scott:

I am always willing to give credit where credit is due:

Thanks to the candidates that worked hard on getting the vote out.
Thanks to Martin Frost, Katy Hubener, and Harriett Miller for getting 15 - 20,000 new voters out that would have normally not came out.
Thanks to Judge Don Adams for mailing out 20,000 post cards before election day, with no support from the county party.
Thanks to the Democratic Clubs who ran their own campaigns without any support from the county party.
Thanks to Dallas for Kerry members and other clubs and individuals how raised their own money, then built and distributed 5,000 Kerry Edwards Signs for no cost, instead of gouging new democratic voters for signs.
Thanks to the Stonewall Dems who arranged for rides to the polls during early voting, and distributing 15,000 newsletters in 18 precincts, which resulted in two solidly red precincts in suburban areas going blue.
Thanks to Martin Frost, for getting Republican Robert Frost moved off of the butterfly ballot next to Martin's name when the County Chair wouldn't.

Scott, any proof that you have that Susan or any of her stratigies got one new voter out, I would be glad to hear. But I have work to do getting Democrats elected and anything that gets in the way of that goal needs to go. Susan was in the way of our victory in 2006, and she need to go.

Scott:

Sherrif Valdez is not the only countywide elected Democrat. We love her but we also love our other winners last election cycle...Judge Lorraine Raggio, Judge Denise Garcia, and Judge Don Adams.

Michael Moon is right the real success is the folks who worked on these and other campaigns (espcially Martin Frost, Katy Hubener, & Harriet Miller) because they pulled voters to the polls who hadn't been going. You can't discount the amount of money spent and energy of these candidates and give it all to Susan Hays.