First Reading: Linda Chavez-Thompson for Lieutenant Governor

Marc Katz stands in the way! (0.00 / 0)

This is great news, but don't forget that first she'll have to get past Marc Katz in the primary if he runs. The word from one of my sources is that Katz has been trying to file his paperwork for that office now for about two months. He was rumored to have been seen inside the Capitol Annex two days ago roaming around on E2 asking people where he had to go to file for LtGov. I think he could be an electoral dynamo and a force to contend with in a primary because after all his campaign "never kloses!"  

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by: TexianPolitico @ Thu Dec 17, 2009 at 16:23:07 PM UTC

Sounds good. (3.00 / 1)

I'll make the obligatory comment that she could help mobilize Hispanic turnout, which will be much needed for statewide wins next November. However, until other Hispanic-surnamed candidates of cycles past, her organizing background gives me great hope that she will actually do it.  

I'm not a player, I just Tweet a lot: @KathTX

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by: Katherine Haenschen @ Thu Dec 17, 2009 at 17:21:38 PM UTC

Please clarify her educational background (0.00 / 0)

Is the 8th grade the last grade she completed?  Did she ever go back to school?  It sounds an awful lot like you are saying that being a high school (almost middle school) dropout is a credential to be bragged about.

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by: Dale Napier @ Thu Dec 17, 2009 at 17:37:01 PM UTC

Lord knows that you (3.00 / 1)

don't need a college degree to be a Lt. Governor. I don't know what her educational background is, but I find success without an academic background more impressive and a better indicator of performance, then a college degree. And I have a J.D.

What you need to be a Lt. Gov. are organizing and political skills, and the ability to hire good help. An iron will, strong voter base, ruthless discipline and a heavy stick also help.

Houston will turn out for White. Travis would turn out for a yellow dog. Sounds like San Anonio might turn out for Chavez-Thompson. All good.

I think a bigger burden to her election is her Union background. I like unions, but they've got a bad rap in Texas, and unfairly so. She'll lose more votes over that than her any supposed educational deficit. However, she probably didn't have those votes anyway.

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by: DyspepTex @ Thu Dec 17, 2009 at 17:52:30 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

So that means no? (0.00 / 0)

Through your defensiveness you are saying the worst that can be said about this candidate.

She has never gone beyond eighth grade?  Lord knows Texas elected officials are already a national laughingstock (remember Al Edwards on The Colbert Report?), but having a Lieutenant Governor with only eight years of formal education would put us on the map again, and not in a good way.  

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by: Dale Napier @ Thu Dec 17, 2009 at 22:38:36 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I'm not defensive. I'm offended. (3.00 / 2)

I have no knowledge of her educational background, or I would have answered you directly.

As far as Texas politicians being a national laughingstock, I also remember George Bush, Alberto Gonzalez, Rick Perry's secessionism, Dick Cheney's inability with firearms, Jerry Patterson's general bad attitude, Clayton Williams comparison of rape to bad weather, Kinky Friedeman in general, etc. etc.

Rather than being defensive, I'm offended.

The left has been characterized, or even been , by the right for being "intellectual elites." I think it's bullshit, but that's what they do.

Now, we seriously consider a candidate who has a successful life record, but possibly little formal education--and you're disparaging her for not being an intellectual elite. That's B.S., too. You either ARE an intellectual elitist or you're trying to postion the Dems as such.

I welcome someone with Chavez-Thomposon's record to the race, regardless of their formal education. Furthermore, IF she didn't get more formal education it might hurt her in some electoral circles, but it will help her in others and it will make her accomplishments all that much more impressive. Her story would make for a great campaign.

I think a life long record of achievement is far more important that educational achievement or educational opportunity. I've got a great deal more respeect for what Chavez-Thompson did with her opportunities than for what George Bush did with his.

Look, we're losing more than 30% of our Texas high school students before they graduate. These people don't disappear, they just don't have the degree, and on average they have lower earning potential. But that doesn't mean they're either incompetent or unimportant. Hell, they're more likely to be in the Dem voting block IF, and this is a big IF, the Dems can give them a good ECONOMIC reason to turn out. Having a state-wide candidate without a H.S. diploma is not an economic reason. However, it can get people's attention, and get them to listen to and trust a democratic message on economic issues.

Being labeled as "intellectuall elites" obviously hurts the Dems ability to communicate with certain portions of the electorate. Having a successful non-elite campaign for state-wide helps with that problem.

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by: DyspepTex @ Fri Dec 18, 2009 at 16:56:57 PM UTC

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Offended? {Snicker} (0.00 / 0)

If it takes an intellectual elite to graduate from high school, our civilization is already dead and the future of our democracy is hopeless.

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by: Dale Napier @ Fri Dec 18, 2009 at 17:56:08 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I didn't bring up the slam (3.00 / 1)

on her because of her education. You did. You objected to her candidacy based upon solely her level of education.

I never called anyone an intellectual elite, other than imlying you were acting like one. Or, more approriatley, an elitist.  

If you fail to recognize that a person can be a qualified, even inspiring candidate, despite their lack of educational opportunities then, frankly, you are.

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by: DyspepTex @ Fri Dec 18, 2009 at 20:23:10 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Mr. Napier (5.00 / 2)

You must know that women did not have the same educational opportunities or encouragement if they grew up in the 1940s and 1950s. I believe she was born in 1944 and would have been eligible for college in the early 1960s. She has certainly accomplished a lot. I think that speaks volumes for her educational accomplishments. The degree often increases the chances for success. Ms. Chavez-Thompson has obviously lived an exceptional life. Her father didn't think she needed any education:

Linda Chavez was born in Lubbock, Texas on August 3, 1944, the granddaughter of Mexican immigrants. Her parents worked as sharecroppers to support their eight children. Like her siblings, Chavez-Thompson began working at an early age to supplement her family's meager income. She was just ten when she began picking cotton for 30 cents an hour in the small town of Lorenzo.

A few years later, she was asked by her father to leave school to work for the family full-time while her brothers continued their education. His reasoning was that education was not as important for a girl, since she would eventually marry and become a housewife.

In an oft-told anecdote from her childhood, lack of schooling did not prevent Chavez-Thompson from becoming an early labor negotiator.

With the backing of her siblings/workers Chavez-Thompson convinced her father that her mother should stay home and care for the house instead of joining them in the fields. The threat that the children would walk off the job was real enough for her father to agree.

I do believe that this is a very educated woman.  

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by: Elsbeth @ Fri Dec 18, 2009 at 21:01:12 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

It's a serious question (0.00 / 0)

Chavez-Thompson's bio says

Before long she was serving as the union representative to all the local's Spanish-speaking members. She wrote up grievances and spoke for them at administrative meetings while taking organizational classes in her spare time. Chavez-Thompson educated herself so well in labor-related issues that she was even mistaken for a lawyer at one hearing. (emphasis added)

She's clearly a quick study, and if she got a GED, took college-level courses, and got a serious education on her own, then it speaks volumes about her character.

But if she didn't, we've got problems. Bill White's campaign is built on expertise and on the importance of education. A running mate who never finished high school would seriously undercut that message, no matter how much intelligence and determination she brings.  

If that makes me an "elitist", so be it. High school and college aren't just a way to get a sheet of paper that helps you get a job. You actually learn stuff. It doesn't make you any more intelligent or any more virtuous than the guy who didn't go to college or didn't finish HS, but it makes you a heck of a lot more knowledgeable, it helps you to understand the world around you, it helps you to organize your thinking, and it helps you to make sensible decisions. All of that matters. As Democrats we're supposed to be supporting education, not knocking its importance.  

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by: LSadun @ Fri Dec 18, 2009 at 22:48:43 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I"m not knocking the importance of education (3.00 / 2)

I AM knocking the importance of education to the campaign of a candidate who has had such a successful, and long lived career.

It's better to judge people by their results, than the fact they didn't go to college 50 years ago. Seriously!?

WTF? Does her intervening success mean nothing to you? Or course you learn stuff in school. But you also learn stuff working for a life time.

"High school and college aren't just a way to get a sheet of paper that helps you get a job. You actually learn stuff. It doesn't make you any more intelligent or any more virtuous than the guy who didn't go to college or didn't finish HS, but it makes you a heck of a lot more knowledgeable, it helps you to understand the world around you, it helps you to organize your thinking, and it helps you to make sensible decisions."

None of your criticism holds water. What you're saying is that a newbie college graduate is more qualified than someone with Chavez-Thompson's experience and record? Wow. That's just damned silly.

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by: DyspepTex @ Fri Dec 18, 2009 at 23:03:05 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

You need both (0.00 / 0)

Education lasts forever. The specific facts and details we pick up may not stick, but the understanding and mental training do. So yeah, (not?) going to high school or college in the 60s still matters.

I'm really glad that President Obama was a top Harvard Law student who actually understands the constitution that he's sworn to uphold. I'm also really glad that he was a community organizer (also a long time ago) who worked with real people, and not just with books. Neither fact can replace the other, and without both he wouldn't be nearly as qualified to lead us.

From her life experiences, Linda Chavez-Thompson understands many things that others just don't get. Great! But there are plenty of things that you learn best from teachers, and books, and assignments, and full-time study. Our Lt. Gov damn well better understand those things, too.  

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by: LSadun @ Fri Dec 18, 2009 at 23:52:53 PM UTC

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There are exceptions to every rule (0.00 / 0)

Maybe hard to believe that someone can achieve so much without the benefit of full-time study. (Especially if one's own life has been spent in academia.) But believe it or not, there are those who make life their classroom. And they achieve success and respect in spite of their lack of formal education.

They continue to do their homework long after everyone else has graduated. And without a real grade or recognition for their long hours of study. They are motivated by their hunger for learning. From what I've learned about her, it appears that Ms. Chavez-Thompson is in this category. I seriously doubt she could have achieved what she has without being a studious person.  

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by: Elsbeth @ Sat Dec 19, 2009 at 05:48:13 AM UTC

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Exceptions are rare (0.00 / 0)

I don't question Linda Chavez-Thompson's achievements. You can achieve great things in a particular area without extensive formal training. Chavez-Thompson is a self-taught expert on labor relations, and in that area her lack of schooling doesn't matter any more.

But if you want to go beyond your chosen specialty, and especially if you want to be lieutenant governor of a giant state, you have to understand a ton of stuff outside your chosen field. Unless you're a one-in-a-million reader, passionate about learning everything you can, that means school.

Don't confuse education with job training. High school and college do a lousy job of giving people the specific skills that they need for their future employment. That's why we have on-the-job training, and it works. But education, the opening of eyes to the world beyond the horizon, the understanding and appreciation of math, science, history, literature, philosophy, art, etc., and the combining of this understanding into a world-view, is a different story.

There's a centuries-old American myth that book-learning doesn't matter, and that common sense and good old American spirit trump everything else. That's why we have people denying global warming, or evolution, or the need for vaccines, since their common sense says that the scientific evidence is wrong. That's why we have people saying that separation of church and state is a myth, since actually learning American history (and European history) isn't needed. That's why we have accounting tricks twisting budgetary decisions, because learning math isn't important. That's why politicians like Sarah Palin, who wear their ignorance as a badge of honor, have lots of supporters.

I'm not writing Chavez-Thompson off, and I'd be delighted to hear about ways that she has overcome her dropping out of school. I hope that she is the one-in-a-million reader, and that she'll make the importance of school a part of her campaign ("I learned things the hard way -- y'all should stay in school and avoid my mistake.")

But not finishing high school is in no way a credential, and we shouldn't even think of treating it as one. It's a giant problem to be overcome.

(Then again, this could all be moot if Chavez-Thompson doesn't run, now that Ronnie Earle is in the race.)  

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by: LSadun @ Sat Dec 19, 2009 at 17:55:08 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

There are plenty (3.00 / 1)

of right-wing conservatives who have bucket loads of education. George W. Bush and Rick Perry.  I'm certain they both studied math, science, history, literature, philosophy, art, and more. Somehow the "world view" they ended up does not exactly promote lifelong intellectual pursuits.

I'll take Linda Chavez-Thompson's "world view" and political successes over any of the current crop of right-wing "educated" elite. These politicians seem more intent on keeping political power and taking advantage of the less educated than in providing wisdom and rational ideas for their constituents.

Maybe this lack of formal education will end up holding Ms. Chavez-Thompson back. But if her past is any indication, I seriously doubt it. I believe she will have a lot of appeal to a lot of people.  

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by: Elsbeth @ Sun Dec 20, 2009 at 02:08:32 AM UTC

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You're setting up a straw man (0.00 / 0)

C'mon Elsbeth! You know that I never said that a right-winger would be better than Linda Chavez-Thompson, or (as DyspepTex implied) that a newbie straight out of college would be better qualified.

All I said is that her leaving school after 8th grade is potentially a big problem, depending on what she's done to make up for it. Ignoring that problem is foolish, and pretending that it's actually a point in her favor (which is how her official bio is written) is absurd.  

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by: LSadun @ Sun Dec 20, 2009 at 04:04:27 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Picking cotton (0.00 / 0)

makes up for a lot of perceived inadequacies.

And I never said that you said that a right winger would be better than Linda Chavez-Thompson. I did mean to say that an educated man or woman can turn away from what they may or may not have learned in college. Oh, that pesky straw man.

What it's like to pick cotton in Texas:

"I could see in my mind's eye my hard working father and the five of us children moving slowly down the cotton rows, a canvas sack strapped over our shoulders, picking the soft, fluffy white cotton out of the bolls, often pricking our fingers on sharp prongs which held the cotton firmly inside the boll," she wrote in her 2001 memoir, "A Long Way from the Cotton Patch."

Indeed, though the hard work associated with the cotton patch arguably helped to kill rural Texas by sending young people to the cities to escape the excruciating labor, raising cotton tended to instill a strong work ethic in those who survived it. A long day at the office definitely beat picking cotton. Or hoeing even the short rows. [emphasis added.]

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by: Elsbeth @ Sun Dec 20, 2009 at 15:29:47 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

From a Biography (0.00 / 0)

Did some googling, and I found this little thing here.  

The most relevant text:

The course of Chavez's life would perhaps have been much different had she not resisted her father's demands that she leave school at age 13 to work for the family full-time by cleaning the house and making meals. The family was facing a financial crisis at the time, and her father believed that it was more important that his sons receive a proper education, since Chavez's likely destiny was to get married and become a housewife. Thus, she remained in school through the ninth grade and left at age 16.

Though it seems like once she got into her activist work, she made sure to learn her stuff, and she succeeded, too:

Before long she was serving as the union representative to all the local's Spanish-speaking members. She wrote up grievances and spoke for them at administrative meetings while taking organizational classes in her spare time. Chavez-Thompson educated herself so well in labor-related issues that she was even mistaken for a lawyer at one hearing.

"Let us tenderly and kindly cherish therefore, the means of knowledge. Let us dare to read, think, speak, and write."  -  John Adams

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by: Michael Hurta @ Mon Dec 21, 2009 at 17:28:02 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Van de Putte? (0.00 / 0)

I'm still hoping Leticia Van de Putte will jump in, but if Chavez-Thompson gets in, she will be the second best Democratic candidate running for statewide office.  So it's still good news.

"Let us tenderly and kindly cherish therefore, the means of knowledge. Let us dare to read, think, speak, and write."  -  John Adams

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by: Michael Hurta @ Thu Dec 17, 2009 at 17:46:50 PM UTC

I'm just happy we have someone running (0.00 / 0)

for Lt. Gov. I kept worrying that the Dems weren't going to field anyone. (though I knew they probably would).

I'd rather have a Senator run for lt. gov. just due to the relevant experience and electability thing. But, if I could get anyone elected, I'd sure as hell prefer a Latina Union rep with an organizing background over just about anyone else.

I think she might have the union backing. What do ya'll think?

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by: DyspepTex @ Thu Dec 17, 2009 at 17:56:00 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

What -- (0.00 / 0)

you don't consider the pastrami king to be "anyone?"  

I'm not a player, I just Tweet a lot: @KathTX

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by: Katherine Haenschen @ Thu Dec 17, 2009 at 19:11:38 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

i know Linda (3.00 / 1)

she is a firecracker.

she is passionate and has a rolodex the size of Nebraska.

i worked with her and her folks last municipal cycle in SA. she has a great story and a great energy.

Please refer to KT's signature.

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by: colin @ Thu Dec 17, 2009 at 18:01:19 PM UTC

Size of Nebraska? (0.00 / 0)

Nebraska is pretty small. Only three congressional districts. It'd be better if she had a database of names the size of California or perhaps Texas. Also, who still uses a Rolodex?

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by: TexianPolitico @ Thu Dec 17, 2009 at 20:25:24 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Being funny. (3.00 / 2)

If he had been serious, I think he would have capitalized it. He capitalizes when he's serious. Saying she has a rolodex the size of Texas sounds like a Rick Perry platitude. I like conservative estimates myself.  

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by: Elsbeth @ Thu Dec 17, 2009 at 20:40:46 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Maybe he means physically the size of Nebraska n/t (0.00 / 0)

"In this world of sin and sorrow there is always something to be thankful for; as for me, I rejoice that I am not a Republican." - H.L. Mencken

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by: PI Lawyer @ Fri Dec 18, 2009 at 18:49:38 PM UTC

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It's Big (0.00 / 0)

I think it's a nice size.

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by: Elsbeth @ Fri Dec 18, 2009 at 19:42:38 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

The size of California or Texas is still bigger even physically. n/t (0.00 / 0)

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by: TexianPolitico @ Fri Dec 18, 2009 at 21:37:17 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

seriously? (3.00 / 2)

this is your great contribution?

okay, you win: she has a HUGE "list of contacts".

jackass.

Please refer to KT's signature.

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by: colin @ Sat Dec 19, 2009 at 00:44:10 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Wow, this is big. (0.00 / 0)

This would get national attention and national support.  Linda Chavez-Thompson is a superstar in the labor movement.  Her candidacy would absolutely help with turnout in South Texas and among progressives, and I guess she even has a little Panhandle appeal!  Of course Democrats would still lose the Panhandle bigtime but any little bit helps.

Her qualifications and experience in executive and policy-related positions are proven.  I don't know about her education after 9th grade but I highly doubt she didn't at least get a GED later in life.  

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by: jfung79 @ Thu Dec 17, 2009 at 23:54:52 PM UTC

Seems like a good candidate, but the ticket... (0.00 / 0)

She would fill the gap we have in the Lt. Gov.'s race, but there is still Land Com. and Comptroller. Eliot Shapleigh, and Nick Lampson, please don't let us down.

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by: DallasDavid @ Fri Dec 18, 2009 at 00:10:04 AM UTC

Yes, the ticket... (0.00 / 0)

We really do need good candidates for Land Commissioner and Comptroller.  

As for Comptroller, I'd hate for the only Democratic candidate to be Carole Grandma Keeton McClellan Rylander Strayhorn, Democrat, or rather, Republican, better yet, Independent, or perhaps Democrat? Which party is this again?  Kevin would know, where's Kevin? Yoo hoo, Kevin?  Where are you?

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by: MarkCamann @ Fri Dec 18, 2009 at 17:50:40 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

We got a candidate. (0.00 / 0)

Ronnie Earle filed today!!!

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by: DallasDavid @ Sat Dec 19, 2009 at 06:14:37 AM UTC

For what it's worth... (3.00 / 2)

I hope Linda Chavez-Thompson keeps her hat in the ring despite Ronnie Earle's rather sheepish filing on Friday.  I'm excited about the idea of a strong woman at the top of the ticket.

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by: MeanRachel @ Sun Dec 20, 2009 at 02:07:26 AM UTC

[ Parent ]