Burnt Orange Report

When Blogs Attack?

By Vince Leibowitz

The Washington Post has an interesting article up that outlines a supposed intraparty rift among Democrats. According to the article, liberal bloggers and interest groups are fighting elected officials trying to "appeal to a much broader audience," and this could "complicate efforts to win back the White House."

The article says that such "activists" "have denounced what they regard as a flaccid Democratic response to the Supreme Court fight, President Bush's upcoming State of the Union address and the Iraq war. In every case, they have portrayed party leaders as gutless sellouts."

Woah. I thought that's what we were trying to do to the Republicans.

Here is one of the things the article mentions I haven't noticed, so I guess I've been living under a rock:

First, liberal Web logs went after Democrats for selecting Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine to deliver the response to Bush's speech next Tuesday. Kaine's political sins: He was too willing to drape his candidacy in references to religion and too unwilling to speak out aggressively against Bush on the Iraq war. Kaine has been lauded by party officials for finding a victory formula in Bush country by running on faith, values and fiscal discipline.

Many Web commentators wanted Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.), a leading critic of the Iraq war who advocates a speedy withdrawal, to be the opposition voice on the State of the Union night. Most Democratic lawmakers have distanced themselves from the Murtha position. "What the hell are they thinking?" was the title of liberal blogger Arianna Huffington's column blasting the Kaine selection.

"Blogs can take up a lot of time if you're on them," Kaine said to reporters Thursday. "You can get a lot done if you're not bitterly partisan."

The Virginia Democrat said he will not adjust his speech to placate the party's base. "I'm not anybody's mouthpiece or shill or poster boy for that matter. I'm going to say what I think needs to be said and they seem very comfortable with that."

Aside from everything else, what does this mean: "Blogs can take up a lot of time if you're on them???" As in, if you are being interviewed by them, if you're reading them, or what?

I also found this interesting:

"The bloggers and online donors represent an important resource for the party, but they are not representative of the majority you need to win elections," said Steve Elmendorf, a Democratic lobbyist who advised Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign. "The trick will be to harness their energy and their money without looking like you are a captive of the activist left."

Oh, really? You mean there aren't far-left wing bloggers, liberal bloggers, liberal-centrist and centrist bloggers out there all working for Democrats? Is that not representative of the majority? As for "harness[ing] [our] energy and [our] money without looking like [they] are a captive of the activist left," how is that any different from using union activists for blockwalking, or taking money from any number of various and sundry PACs?

Finally, and then I'll shut up on this article:

Many Democrats say the only way to win nationally is for the party to become stronger on the economy and promote a centrist image on cultural values, as Kaine did in Virginia and as Bill Clinton did in two successful presidential campaigns.

Ok, this is not Virginia and this is not 1992. Stronger on the economy, yes, a more centrist image, not necessarily. Why be GOP Lite? What is the point? That's what the left wing of the Republican party is for. We are Democrats. By definition, all of us (from ultra-liberals to moderate Democrats) are pretty much on the opposite end of the spectrum from the Republicans on over half of their platform issues. Why pander? Why not offer a real alternative?

Furthermore, what's the difference between what Democrats were doing regarding campaigns (which were mentioned on Kos and Democrats.com) to call our Senators asking them to oppose Alito than when Republicans have done similar things? It's just that the glove is on the other hand, I guess...

DN-C, DN-do

By Jim Dallas

The Hotline briefs us on the progress of the DNC's plan to revitalized grassroots organizing:

"Howard Dean has turned out to be the biggest surprise of the season. He's a good man. And he truly gets it."

Those are the words of Charles Soechting, the TX Dem chair who when Dean announced his bid for DNC chair had Soechting grtting his teeth. At the time, the Texan worried that Dean didn't get the problems parties grappled with and certainly didn't possess the regional sympathy to figure out how to win elections in the South.

But now, closing in on Dean's 1st anniversary as DNC chair, Soechting has seen enough to convince him that Dean "knows what it to makes Texas truly competitive."

Veterans of Dem politics who work on state and local campaigns are eager to praise Dean. In part, that's because Dean has devoted the bulk of the DNC's staff, energy and time to fulfilling his chairman's campaign promise: to revitalize the Dem Party at the precinct level.

Dem strategists in DC often ask their colleagues: "What is Dean good for?" They moan that he's not raising as much as money as they expected or his surrogates promised; that he hasn't been Joe Trippi-like and revolutionized the party's small donor outreach; that he can't shut his liberal mouth. Dean's admirers have ready counter-arguments, but they've lacked something tangible to bat down the critics. But now, they say, the party's investment in states is beginning to pay off.

It goes on with details. Of course I wonder if the 2006 and 2008 coordinated campaign plans will be a little more sophisticated in voter targeting (something that the GOP seems to be running circles around us with).

Martinez v. Martinez

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

South Texas politics, gotta love it.

The wife of a state representative filed Monday to run against her husband in a South Texas race that both candidates said coincides with an impending divorce.

Democratic state Rep. Armando "Mando" Martinez, a 13-year incumbent from Weslaco, faces a primary challenge from his wife, Jessica Reyes-Martinez. The District 39 seat covers part of Hidalgo County.

Reyes-Martinez, 28, filed as a candidate in the March 7 primary only 30 minutes before the Monday deadline, The Monitor reported in its Tuesday edition. She's making her first bid for public office and is now a homemaker.

"I'm actually running for office, not against him," Reyes-Martinez told the McAllen newspaper. "It just happens he's in office right now."

The two live in separate houses in Weslaco, and did not speak with one another after making short speeches at the Hidalgo County Democratic Party kick-off on Monday night.

2008 National Convention

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Houston.
Dallas.
San Antonio.

All three have been invited to make a bid along with around 30 other cities. Where would each likly host the DNC? Do any of them stand a chance?

Sound off.

New Name in the Mix for TDP Chairman

By Andrew Dobbs

As many of you know by now, I left the Texas Democratic Party last week in order to focus on some new business opportunities that I have right now. I was happy to leave on friendly terms and I am excited to be working in new ways to elect good Democrats across this state.

As all of you probably know by now, Charles Soechting is not running for reelection as State Chair. As I understand it, he is not stepping down before the convention in the interest of a smooth primary season and top-notch convention. Unlike 2002 the party won't be running from national Dems, in fact there will probably be half a dozen presidential contenders there. But if things go the way they are now, the excitement will be on the floor rather than the dais.

Early on the names of SDEC members Dennis Teal from Livingston and Boyd Richie from Graham were floated for the job. Boyd Richie is a good man and would make a great chairman in particular (and it'd also be a two-for-one deal with his wife Betty, former president of the Texas Democratic Women, being around also). Now a new name has entered the mix--San Antonio attorney and activist Charlie Urbina-Jones. Charlie is a great guy who I have had the opportunity to talk to at many events and his bio speaks for itself.

Charles "Charlie" Urbina-Jones was born September 13th, 1947 in San Antonio Texas to Virginia Urbina-Jones and Rudolph Oliver Jones, both of his parents were longtime activists in the community helping at-risk kids, immigrants and those in need. He is also the Great-great grandson of Griff Jones, one of first legendary Texas Rangers & one of the founders of Eagle Pass, TX and the grandson of Manuel Anaya Urbina who immigrated from Mexico to go to Baylor University and later became a Baptist minister.

Charlie graduated from Jefferson High School and went on to St. Mary’s University where he received a B.S. in geology. He was commissioned upon his graduation from St. Mary’s as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army and was stationed at Ft. Sill, OK and Ft. Hood, TX (1st Cavalry) before being stationed with the 101st Airborne Division, as a forward observer, in Phu Bai Vietnam. He received the Bronze Star, Vietnamese Cross, Air Medal and Army Commendation Medal during his service. Upon his return Charlie served in the National Guard until 1978 and later enrolled in Texas Southern University’s Thurgood Marshall School of Law where he graduated with his Juris Doctorate in 1979.

He has worked as a geologist, a caseworker for AFDC helping low-income families and taught at Rhodes middle school, Lanier High School and Brackenridge High School in San Antonio, TX. Charlie has been practicing law in San Antonio and throughout Texas for 20 years; he specializes in family and criminal law. His law practice is based in the Westside home where he grew up.

Charlie has been an activist since he became involved with the late Willie Velasquez, founder of Southwest Voter Registration. He also helped Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient, the late Richard Louis Rocco organize Veterans Against Drugs and Violence (VIVAD). With VIVAD he along with other veterans and active duty military worked in local schools talking to children and teenagers about staying away from drugs and about leadership skills. For over two decades Charlie Urbina-Jones has championed Veterans issues, at-risk children, small business, immigrants, the environment and civil rights throughout Texas.

Charlie is married to Linda Noltemeier-Jones; they have two daughters (Stephanie Urbina-Jones & Melanie D. Cervantes) and a Wu.

He is a Founder and Member of the Texas Democratic Veterans Association: Current Legal Counsel and Chairman of the Bexar County Tejano Democrats.

A real impressive guy and nice to boot. I'm sure that either he or Mr. Richie would make fine chairmen and I'll let our readers know if or when I make a decision about who I'm supporting.

TCUL Campaign School Wrap-Up

By Phillip Martin

Yesterday, the Texas Credit Union League hosted a Democratic Campaign School about how to run -- and win -- campaigns. Overall, it was very interesting, and while most of what was said wasn't any kind of secret, the panels put together and greatly enhanced pieces of strategy and planning that I've picked up along the way (from my job experience as well as from my countless hours of watching The West Wing). Here are three key things that I learned and/or were greatly emphasized:

1) The most important component of a campaign is organization.

Everyone talked about organization in some way, shape, or form. Campaigns must effectively organize around a central budget, fundraising effort, media plan, message strategy, field team, and administrative outlay that work together effectively and efficiently. From creating a fluid working calendar to compiling all the necessary lists of names and people who can help you win, every campaign -- no matter how popular or well-funded it may be -- is going to struggle without top-notch, cooperative organization.

2) You have to care, and you have to give voters a reason to care.

Why do voters care who you are? Why do voters care about your issues? Why should donors want to give you money? Why should the press write about you? Why should people want to work for you? If a candidate doesn't have answers to these questions, then it's going to be a long campaign. Campaigns must know how to cut through the clutter of most voters' everyday lives and not just talk to them, but affect them. There's countless tactics that surround this -- know your universe, be comfortable talking about yourself, don't just wave at people, reach out to them -- but at the heart of it all is making people care.

3) Without support from blogs, the campaign is doomed.

OK, so nobody actually said that. I just wanted to see if anyone was still reading. But blogs are definitely a part of the political equation now, if for no other reason than they can move information around in a more detailed, more substantive way than newspapers often can. And, they move it to an audience that is already absorbed in politics. That much -- and the fact that BOR is well-liked -- was said by many of the people attending.

Overall, it was definitely a worthwhile experience (and the lunch was way better than the PB sandwich I would have had, otherwise). Thanks to Buddy Gill and all the folks at the Texas Credit Union League for hosting the campaign school.

Four months until March!

Texas Credit Union League Campaign School

By Phillip Martin

The Texas Credit Union League is hosting a Democratic Primary Campaign School tomorrow, Wednesday November 9. It is an all day event at the Driskill hotel here in Austin that runs from 8:30am until 5:30pm, featuring a series of speakers and presentations on general campaign topics. Registration for the event is free, and it's OK if you can only make it to a few of the presentations. You can register at this link to the TCUL website.

To see a schedule of the day's events, download this PDF. The speakers include opening remarks by Buddy Gill, Richard Gose on "Entering the Arena," Dave Beattie on "Texas Democrat Voter Polls," Ross Ramsey of Texas Weekly on "Lay of the Land in Texas Politics," Robert Jones on "Campaign Strategy Planning," James Aldrete (my former boss who gave me a heads up on the event) on "Developing and Communicating Your Message," Kelly Fero on "Working with the Media," a panel on fundraising, J.D. Angle on "Targeting and GOTV," and a panel on dealing with the players in politics.

And That's the Way it Is

By Jim Dallas

Cronkite, you magnificent bastard, I read your letter to the editor (linked through Taegan Goddard):

The key to a Democratic success in next year's Congressional election is clearly in the party leadership's coming up with a campaign that does not concentrate on the Bush administration's failures but offers alternative programs to fix what it believes is wrong with the Republican agenda.

A suggestion by which the Democratic Party could command the greatest public attention for its positive agenda: It could within weeks call an extraordinary midterm convention to draw up its platform.

The convention would not need to be expensive. The delegates could be those who attended the 2004 convention. Their meeting would be open to the public and of course the press.

In sharp contrast to the secrecy of the Bush administration, it would let the public, if only remotely, share in the construction of the Democratic platform.

Although local issues might cause some candidates in next year's Congressional election to veer from the platform on comparatively minor issues, the basic principles of the party would be clearly apparent.

The voting population would for the first time in many years have an unobstructed view of those principles that differentiate the Democratic Party from those of the Republican Party.

I do take issue with one point; sure, it wouldn't be expensive, but it would generate inter-party wrangling and finger-pointing about who is and who isn't invited. And even if the circular firing squad can be avoided (or mitigated), will the media care enough to show up?

A better idea might be like that currently being undertaken by the Change to Win coalition at sinceslicedbread.com.

Nonetheless, the message is clear: there are limits to schadenfreude. Be positive and proactive.

A moment of clarity

By Jim Dallas

The Jeffersonian has a good round-up on the blogospher's reaction to a new report by Williams Galston and Elaine Kamarck saying that Democrats need to move to the center. My two cents:

(1) A conversion strategy is not mutually-exclusive with a base-mobilization strategy; but because Democratic politics have long favored a top-down, candidate-centered approach which necessarily requires tight message-control, base-mobilization will end up being the strategy "tasked" to the thankless grass-roots, while conversion will often be "tasked" to a national media campaign with all the accompanying accoutrements (polling, focus groups, etc.) Our side has been trying to do both for years, and just being completely ineffective at it. Googling around suggests that Ms. Kamarck is intimately aware of this problem.

Where the GOP has done well, it has been in more effectively identifying their base, and more effectively targeting persuasion towards the "weak links" in ours.

It sort of annoys me that discussions about strategy seem to boil down (and I'm not saying this is necessarily Galston and Kamarck's fault) to either-or arguments about "moving to the center" versus "exciting the base." What those arguments about are more "who should be running the national media campaign" than "whether or not we should be mobilizing." Centrist triumphalism versus left-wing triumphalism, basically.

That isn't to say that this debate is mental masturbation; but...

(2) The real problem that Democrats need to think about is how to build something more enduring than the current preoccupation with candidate-centered top-ticket campaigns.

(3) And the stumbling block to that has a lot to do with overcoming, or at least working around, the "internal contradictions" within our coalition. That doesn't mean imposing rigid purity tests; rather, it means formulating a clear, consistent message with universal appeal. One of the advantages of doing this is it could (although it could do just the opposite if pushed too far) strengthen party unity and resolve while expanding our party's appeal. I don't really particularly care what kind of "positioning" that entails, just as long as we actually take a position and stick with it.

Note, my position basically amounts to "it's not about ideology, it's about competence." I'm sure Ms. Kamarck will appreciate that.

(4) Heck if I know what THAT is, though. And that last little bit may be Utopian or worse (cue the Will Rogers reference).

Meanwhile, a must read for the blog saavy is the analysis of blog-media-candidate triangles by Peter Daou.

John Courage Leads DFA's Grassroots All-Star Balloting Going into the Final Count

By Damon McCullar

Balloting closed on Saturday in the Democracy For America (DFA) Grassroots All-Star contest with John Courage in the lead. The final ballots are being counted and the winner will be announced later this week in an email sent from DFA.

The Courage for Congress Campaign had this to say via email:

"John Courage and the Courage for Congress Campaign wants to thank everyone for all their energetic support in our effort to win the Democracy For America Grassroots All-Star poll. It has been a very exciting and challenging effort, one in which many people have stepped forward and done some remarkable things to make this a successful effort. We know we can't thank everyone enough and there are many people who did so much that we do not even know about, but we want to express our appreciation to the following people and groups;

Charles Soechting, Chair Democratic Party of Texas

DFT/Austin and all its members and officers including:
Glenn Maxey
Fran Vincent
Marla Camp
Teri Sperry
Nick Lawrie

Jeff Hewitt, Hewitt Campaigns
Nathan Wilcox, SaveTexasReps.com
Richard Morrison 2004 Congressional candidate CD22
Anne and Bill McAffee
Sonia Santana
Peter Clark
UT Democrats and Pres. Alex Hunt

Burnt Orange Report
Karl-Thomas Musselman
Damon McCullar

Trei Brundrett, w/Handwire.com and a host of Texas Bloggers including:
Charles Kuffner 'offtheKuff'.com
Rebekah Martin 'TX21.blogspot.com'

Sally Bolster, Chair Bexar County Democratic Women
Madeleine Dewar
Matt Glazer
Michael Murphy
Tracy Bogert, Pres. San Antonio Democratic League

David Van Os, Candidate for Texas Attorney General

And especially Zada True-Courage, State Democratic Executive Committee SD25

We know there were many others who emailed to countless hundreds of people on their lists and we will remain in their debt.
And to Democracy for America, to each of the other 9 outstanding
Congressional candidates and to the tens of thousands of voters, and DFA members, we want to say thank you and congratulations on a terrific contest. All of us should be proud of the way the poll was run, the way the candidates were all presented and the way Democrats around the country were given the opportunity to let their voices be heard. It was great to know that 60 Congressional candidates applied for DFA's endorsement! It is through participation like this that we will win back the House of Representatives. Every campaign for each of the finalists wins, from an effort like this. Today tens of thousands of Democrats and hopefully many independents around the country know more about some wonderful Democratic Congressional candidates and campaigns. The momentum this is building for these campaigns and for the Democratic Party for our 2006 elections will be unstoppable. John Courage and we're sure every other candidate has been honored and humbled by your attention, enthusiasm and commitment to our campaigns and to bringing about the changes needed in Washington.

We can win in November 2006 and with that win change the direction of this country and get us back on the right track to restore honesty and integrity in government, to restore American's confidence in our governments ability to meet their needs and to restoring the reputation of the United States as the world's leader for freedom, justice and democracy, which this Republican administration has nearly destroyed. Now we just have to wait until next week to get the results.."

Martin Frost Calls on Democratic Leaders to Adopt 50 State Strategy

By Damon McCullar

From Hotline via Fox News:

In an open letter to DCCC chair/Rep. Rahm Emanuel (IL), DSCC chair/Sen. Charles Schumer and DNC chair Howard Dean, ex-Rep.(and ex-DCCC chair) Martin Frost urges they "throw out the traditional playbook and be bold as you plan for" '06. "There is a real possibility that next year's contest will be a landslide for" Dems "and you need to be prepared to win." After pciking up 90 seats in '32 and seeing the GOP pick up 54 in '94, "history could repeat itself in" '06 "but only if" Dems "expand the playing field."

"Why do I think big" Dem "gains loom? The public is rapidly coming around to the view that" GOPers "lack the ability to handle the big issues facing our country," from Iraq to Social Security to the response to Hurricane Katrina.

"Emanuel and Schumer should file candidates in every single" CD and Sen. race "in the country, even those that have traditionally been" GOP. "And the DNC should be encouraging state legislative leaders throughout the country to take similar action. ... It's now time to shoot the moon. Recruit and file everywhere. ... Be prepared to win some seats you don't deserve because 'the force is with you.'"

"It would be great poetic justice to make" GOPers "defend everywhere rather than just concentrating their resources in certain races. Ever if" GOPers "have more money, they won't have enough to fund candidates everywhere and may leave some races short."

Talking With The Chairman

By Damon McCullar

Howdy Folks! I'm starting a new segment here on BOR where I try to get answers to the concerns that I've seen in the comments regarding the Texas Democratic Party. I do this by interviewing the State Party Chairman, Charles Soechting. So read what Mr. Soechting has to say. Agree with it or not, but I ask everyone who comments to be civil in their remarks. By all means raise the issues that you care about in the comments as they will will serve as my basis for the next interview. Without further ado, my interview with the Texas State Democratic Party Chair, Mr. Charles Soechting.

The big news this week is that Ruben Hernandez has been named Texas Democratic Party Executive Director.

DCM: Tell us about yourself; tell us about your past, what you’ve done in the past, and what you’re doing now.

Soechting: I am 54 years old and I live in San Marcos, as ever generation of my family has for the last 5 generations (we’ve been here since the 1850’s) and I just think it’s one of those great opportunities to live where you want to live. I am married to Elizabeth. I was a single parent to a son, Charlie, who is now 28 and a lawyer in Dallas who just took the bar exam and has a legal internship in Dallas for a great Democratic law firm. I also have two darling daughters, Ashley and Caroline, ages 11 and 8, respectively. Background: It seems like I’ve been a lawyer forever, but I was actually 30 when I first starting practicing law. I’ve been a lawyer 24 years this year. I work for a firm called O’Quinn, Laminack and Pirtle, which is a big plus because it is one of the best Democratic law firms in the state. Before that, I was a solo practitioner for 20 years or so. Although a fair amount of my time was spent in Houston, I also tried lawsuits in San Marcos and Austin as well. In fact, when I was elected Chairman, the Republicans said that my election completed the buy out of the Texas Democratic Party by the trial lawyers and it has turned out that I actually have one of the toughest relationships with trial lawyers of any Chairman ever because by virtue of the very fact that I am a lawyer myself, both sides negotiate very hard on what we think is good for the Party. Before that, I was a Navel Officer and I had a commission as a JAG Officer while I was in law school, which is something we can probably leave out because, as I told you about the other day, it’s hard to explain that situation. But, to me, it was a great situation because I got the best of both worlds without having to be there for a long time like you were, but anyway, there was that. Then I was a State Trooper before law school and worked my way through law school as a Deputy Sheriff in the Court System of Houston. My other claim to fame is that probably I am one of the few ever State Chairs to have actually carried a Union Card. Immediately out of high school. I joined the Seafarer’s International Union and sailed on a merchant vessel for about 6 months. I learned that, while that was a good-paying job, it was better for me to go back and get my education at that point.

DCM: Alright. And now, you’re Chairman of the State Democratic Party. Tell us how that happened.

Soechting: Yeah, all the way from an engine room on the ST Avenger to being Chair of the Party. There are a lot of similarities to those two jobs, but anyway, Chair of the Democratic Party is a complex job. You are constantly working to better the Party and at the same time better the situations of all the different diverse interest groups in the Party. But, it’s a job that is easily done as long as someone understands that every interest group in our Democratic Party deserves to be heard and has a great wealth to bring to the Party as a whole. An average day in the life of a Chair is trying to determine where all I can go, where the Party’s resources are best spent, and working as I was just when this interview started with Representative Aaron Pena on trying to bring a caucus system back to Texas to increase the relevance of a huge state like Texas. We are huge in land size, number of people, and in diversity. Last Friday, I had lunch with Representative Alonzo and then today a conversation with Representative Pena working on just exactly how to make all of this happen. I’m proud to report that those two State Reps get it and that this could be something huge for Texas. I’m actually going to let them take the lead on that.

DCM: Alright. How long have you been in office now?

Soechting: Since October 25th of 2003.

DCM: So, what is the role of the Texas Democratic Party in politics in the state of Texas?

Soechting: Well, it depends on how active the Chairman chooses to be and how active Democratic office holders have been. My administration has been a different role for several reasons. For one, there are no statewide officeholders, and I hope to change that situation. The role of the State Democratic Party is to administer the primaries and that in and of itself is a huge task but we work very well with the Secretary of State’s office in doing that. We also convene the biannual state convention and adopt Party rules, platforms and resolutions. For instance, I was talking to someone from Senator Feingold’s office today about him coming to Texas and they were telling me that the State of Massachusetts has not had a convention in either 8 or 18 years—I’d have to find my notes to remember which one—but we have a great convention here, and it appears that we are on track to have the largest state convention in 2006. Our convention last year was roughly 10,000 in attendance. Only one other state contends to have that many people and they have 8,000. So, we’re gearing up for that and we’re going to make it a success story because we’re going to have John Edwards, Wes Clark (who have already committed), Senator Hillary Clinton is thinking about it, another invitation has gone out to Bill Clinton so it would be interesting to get two Clintons there at once.

DCM: So basically, the Party’s responsibility is for primary races and the State Convention?

Soechting: Well, you know, your responsibilities are as much as you’ll let them be. We have undertaken candidate recruitment, candidate training schools, grassroots training, hiring a political director and field organizers, working with the Democratic National Committee to see that proper organization goes on around the state so, yeah, our statutory duties are few. Our actual responsibilities are many. You can be as lazy in this job as you want to be and thankfully, we have a staff that is neither lazy by nature nor content to be that way. We have a very hardworking and good staff.

DCM: Tell me more about the staff. What kind of positions do you guys have?

Soechting: Well, currently, Political Director, Executive Director, which I call the Chief of Staff, which it all means the same, but that is the person who is responsible for administering the day to day operations of the Party. Tell me, when do you think this interview is going to go online?

DCM: Oh, I want to get it up as soon as possible.
Soechting: Well, the reason I say this is that we are going to announce a change in the next two or three days so why don’t we let it be that you get the first. The new ED is going to Ruben Hernandez. He comes to us from a great background with Congressman Frost and SEIU, which is a labor union. It’s going to be a big change and it’s going to be a great opportunity for this Party to move forward. Under Mike Lavigne, the current ED, we’ve already moved as far as our relations with the State House goes to a point where it is just truly awesome to see the relationships there. Mike has done a great job interacting with the press and so I think people have a very positive perception of the Texas Democratic Party. And we had some rebuilding to do when I was first elected. It was the year that the State Reps had gone to Ardmore and for whatever reasons; I cannot imagine how everyone would not understand how good a thing that was. Some people did not appreciate that so I think we’ve done a great job showing the people in the state of Texas that was not only a smart move, it was a courageous move. So, then you have the Political Director, who essentially works with the SDEC, the County Chairs—everywhere from the Precinct Chairs to the State Chair and there are a lot of people in between there. Then you have the field organizers who work under the direction of the Political Director and right now, it is small, but that staff will be increasing with our DNC hires in the next several weeks. Of course, there is no idea yet who those hires are going to be. We are actively soliciting resumes from around the state so we should be hoping to start evaluating those hires pretty soon. Our greatest emphasis must be paid to the Hispanic Community because it is the one community that has had the least attention paid to it and so I’ll be talking to a special committee that I’ll put together just for that purpose—to see what it is we need, where it is we need it, and then we’ll sit down and figure out who it is that will be working on that.

DCM: Can you speak more about the new DNC hires? What role will they have in the State Party?

Soechting: Well, they will be field organizers, and that means that they will be working in the field organizing grassroots efforts, campaigns, etc. They are going to be invaluable at working in areas that have not seen on-the-ground Democratic operatives in a while.

DCM: And can you tell me where they will be active? What areas will they be in?

Soechting: You can expect that you are going to see special attention paid to any Hispanic area with great attention being paid to the valley, a lot of attention being paid to inner-city El Paso, everywhere from El Paso to Houston. And, of course, we have large interest in Dallas County as well and even in rural areas in places like Walker County we have pockets of Hispanics, so we’re going to be working where we need to work. But you can expect the greatest attention to be paid along the river from El Paso to Brownsville. Or Boca Chica. You know where Boca Chica is, don’t you?

DCM: I have no idea.

Soechting: It’s on the very, very tip right as it flows into the Gulf of Mexico.

DCM: Are there any other offices in the Texas State Party that you’d like to talk about?

Soechting: Yeah. We have my Executive Assistant, which is April Larsh, who probably does as much as anyone in this Party trying to make sure that we all go in the right direction at the right time for the right reasons. She’s been an invaluable hire. She just learned she’s expecting a baby and so we’re going to try to figure out how to work that in—there should be one more Democrat on the ground here soon. Then we have Shelley Smith and Evan Hicks who work finance for the Party who have more work than they can possibly say grace over, but we hope to have a new fundraising component coming online shortly and that will do a lot toward making their life unbearable because it’ll be more work than they already have (and I’m laughing when I say that, but it’s good for the Party when they are really, really busy!)

DCM: Some folks have criticized the State Party over the current level of funding. Can you speak to that at all?

Soechting: You know, I think it’s natural to criticize, especially when you don’t have a real good grasp for what’s going on, but the dynamics of funding have changed since McCain/Feingold and for those that don’t understand that and don’t see those change that would be a natural criticism. But, if you understand the realities of how campaign finance laws have changed, you understand that we are probably in better shape than we are in right now. But, no, funding is slow, absolutely. But a lot of the people that do some of the criticizing would be helpful if they would do some of the work to help resolve that problem. They can donate, come in and volunteer, etc. It’s easy to criticize and it’s easy to be frustrated, but for these folks, if they would come down and see how we make-do on the resources that we have, I think most people would be very impressed to see that we do as well as we do. The thing is, when I assumed the Chairmanship, this was a Party that had not had much success at winning races. That was not because of any current Chair, but it was because of the current state of politics in Texas. I think we’ve done a good job driving the information to show that the change was not good for people and people are starting to understand it. I mean, if you can’t find a farmer in El Campo hardly that claims he voted for Rick Perry, you can’t find a guy that works in the shops in the Houston that claims he’s a Republican anymore. You can’t find people standing in gas lines that say that they’re happy with George Bush and the price of gas, so I think there’s a lot of things that are going to start turning our way that just took a while for people to be screwed long enough. I’ll be the first to admit that George Bush will smile at you and screw you quicker than anyone who has probably held a public office anywhere, but he does it very effectively. Rick Perry made people think he cared about kids and education and school teachers. I sure like Lon Burnham. I sure like when he sent a strong message by refusing to cote for Tom Craddick, and I think all of those others that joined him this time sent a strong message and I hope that next time it’s an even stronger message.

DCM: Speaking of that, we just finished up our second special session of the summer, and there wasn’t anything accomplished as far as education and finance goes…

Soechting: There was nothing special as it relates to education in this special session. The telecom industry did well, which maybe they needed that relief, but kids needed to have some answers to the education plan in Texas.

DCM: Yeah, I’ve had some of our readers criticize the State Democrats as being obstructionists and not getting anything accomplished and not being willing to accomplish anything on school finances. Do you have anything to say to those folks?

Soechting: Sure, tell them they’re Republicans and it’s good to see that they’re reading a good Democratic blog because maybe they’ll figure out sooner or later that the Democrats are looking out for them. I don’t think any Democrat would say that.

DCM: Can you talk to us about the Hochberg amendment?

Soechting: Well, yes. What do you want to talk about on it?

DCM: Well, you know, basically…

Soechting: Well, what Scott called for was level of funding that would help bring Texas more into step with the rest of the nation. Yes, it was going to take some big commitment out of legislators to raise taxes in this state, but what Scott was, I think saying at first is, “Let’s see what our level of commitment is to education.” And then, of course, once you show that you have the level of commitment, you can sit down and figure a way to pay for it. Is it going to cost some? Yeah, but you know what? The way that Tom Craddick and Rick Perry had this education bill set up…The taxes for the rich in this state went down and the taxes on the poorest people went up and that’s not right.

DCM: Well, school is starting for me in a couple of days here at the University of Texas and fortunately for me, my tuition is taken care of, but it’s awfully expensive these days. Do you know how much it is?

Soechting: I was shocked to learn today when talking to one of our employees at the Party.

DCM: Why was that?

Soechting: The cost of tuition is outrageous. It’s criminal. It’s unbelievable that anyone in the legislature or in the public universities would have let something come to this point. I’m of course one of those liberals who thinks a public education ought to be free to whomever wants it and especially if they can’t afford it, but when I learned when talking to my staffer that his was going to be $ 3,800.00. .

Soechting: There is going to have to be a commitment from the legislature that they are going to take back the reigns of this tuition deregulation and get it back to where people can afford it. Period. Giving it to public education and telling them that they can charge whatever they think is fair…that was just an avocation of its role. They just flat said, “We don’t want to deal with this—you handle it.”

Duffy Crane's Hat Not in the Ring

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

The following is an e-mail forwarded to me by two sources within minutes of each other. Major hat tip to both of you guys.

Subject: District 48

As you know, I have been seriously considering running for State Representative in District 48. After careful and deliberate evaluation, I have come to the conclusion that now is not the right time for me to run. This has been a difficult decision for me, but I am confident that this is the right choice at this time. I have the luxury of knowing there are other qualified candidates in this race who have the ability to challenge and beat the incumbent.

I cannot tell you how important your support and encouragement have been to me during this process. Having a community that is willing to recruit and support good candidates is an essential element of our representative democracy. I am very proud that each of you believed that I should serve as your State Representative. I am honored by your faith in me and your commitment to expend time, energy and money to elect me as a representative for District 48 who would reflect your values.

Despite that I will not be a candidate, I intend to continue my work in the community and remain committed to empowering people to effect positive social change. This election cycle is extraordinarily important for Texas and I hope that each of you will be actively involved in it. There are several House races that provide a unique opportunity to elect a new slate of representatives who will address issues like education and health care on the merits, rather than playing politics with them.

One of reasons I considered running for this office is my increasing concern that some of our elected officials are willing to sacrifice the basic institutions of our democracy for short-term political gain. I saw this in the redistricting that took place here in Texas and see it on the national level with the intervention by Congress in the Terry Schiavo matter and the threat of the nuclear option. At this time, I believe I can have the greatest impact by dedicating my energies to recruiting and supporting candidates who will respect the institutions and processes that make our democracy work for all of us.

Thank you again for your support and encouragement.

- Duffy Doyle Crane

Run. Everywhere. In Nebraska

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

At the same time that we should be building our candidate bench, we need to build our infrastructure. That can't happen if a state party cedes entire counties to the opposition. Just as it would be stupid of the Texas GOP to give up on Travis County, we shouldn't give up on Bandara County or dozens of others.

But it looks like someone gets it over in Nebraska...

Today, Democrats are organized with party chairpersons in only about half of Nebraska's counties. The majority of missing county organizations are in western and central Nebraska's vast 3rd Congressional District.

But in many unorganized counties, Democrat regularly meet in coffee shops or restaurants in small towns and county seats.

The state party plans to tap into those local resources, build Democratic communities in every county and help with candidate recruitment, voter registration, campaign services and grassroots training.

"Give them the tools," Russell said.

...

The Democratic rebuilding strategy in Nebraska has been bolstered by a $100,000 commitment from the party's national committee. But the key ingredient for success lies at the local level, party leaders said.

"It's your plan," Mello said. "We got it from you" by seeking community ideas and feedback before building a strategy.

"They know better than we do" about what will work, Russell said, and who the local candidates should be.

In devising its plan, the party decided its first obligation was just to "show up" in counties it had previously abandoned or simply forfeited to Republicans.

No longer, it decided, would Democrats in some communities be left alone on an island.

Hispanic Leadership Summit

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

The DNC's 3rd Hispanic Leadership Summit has wrapped up in San Antonio, part of the DNC's listening tour as it prepared to launch the results into it's message rollout in October. The Tejano Insider has some reporting here, as well as a call for the DNC to keep its eye on the TDP. Latinos for Texas has a great write-up as does the Red State.

TDP Chairman also announced (or maybe re-announced as I've heard this before months ago) some news on new field officers.

The summit -- the third overall and first in Texas -- was designed to collect feedback from the party's Hispanic faithful nationwide and to help shape a new marketing campaign in October, Dean said.

In a show of support for Hispanic voters, Texas Democratic Party Chairman Charles Soechting announced Saturday that four new field officers for the Lone Star State -- three of them Hispanic -- will be funded by the national committee.

Jackie Soliz Chapa was the last Hispanic staffer at the state party and left a few months ago.

Dean in South Texas

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Thanks to PinkDome and the Tejano Insider for the reminder.

Democratic National Committee
For Immediate Release
August 4, 2005

***Press Advisory***
CHAIRMAN DEAN TRAVELS TO TEXAS, MEETS WITH HISPANIC COMMUNITY

Friday, August 5th

Who: DNC Chairman Howard Dean
When: 7:30pm - 9:30pm
What: Welcome Reception for Hosted By Congressman Charlie Gonzalez
Where: Plaza Juarez, located behind La Villita Assembly Hall (South Presa Street at La Villita Walkway), San Antonio, Texas

Saturday, August 6th
(below the fold)

Who: DNC Chairman Howard Dean When: 9:15am - 9:35am What: Opening Remarks, 3rd Annual DNC Hispanic Summit Where: Regency Ballroom West, Hyatt Riverwalk Hotel, 123 Loyosa Street, San Antonio, TX

Who: DNC Chairman Howard Dean
When: 1:15pm - 2:00pm
What: Keynote Address, 3rd Annual DNC Hispanic Summit
Where: Regency Ballroom Center, Hyatt Riverwalk Hotel, 123 Loyosa Street, San Antonio, TX

Following Chairman Dean's speach there will be press availability.

YDA Convention in San Francisco

By Katie Naranjo

August 3rd through the 7th young democrats will be congregating from all over the U.S. to discuss youth issues. Texas Young Democrats will be in attendance with 35 delegates from all over Texas. Programs will consist of chapter building, candidate workshops, and, of course, turning your red state blue. One highlight for Texans attending will be Chris Bell’s speech at the convention on Saturday. For those interested check out young democrats www.yda.org for more info on the events and issues to be discussed. I'll be attending the convention as part of the delegation and blogging when I can.

Atrios makes a silly

By Jim Dallas

The usually-lucid Atrios:

I've never heard of [Kenneth] Baer before, but given that he's described as a "a Democratic strategist and the founder of Baer communications" I assume he's someone foolish candidates pay to tell them how to lose elections. The idea this has anything to do with serious contemporary policy debates is ludicrous.

From Baer Communications, on Baer:

...former White House speechwriter, author, and analyst -- who has extensive experience as a communications adviser to public figures. He was Deputy Director of Speechwriting for Gore-Lieberman 2000 and Senior Speechwriter for Vice President Al Gore.

From CNN:

Gore 50,996,116 Bush 50,456,169

To be sure, there's a lot of Gore team consultants who deserve to be discredited. But Kenneth Baer, DLC-and-all, was one of the good guys.

There's a lot of righteous indignation to be directed at the consultant class, but a little discrimination might be well-advised.

DCCC's Role In Lampson's Decision?

By Vince Leibowitz

Sources in D.C. and Texas this morning tell me that, though Richard Morrison withdrew from the CD 22 race on his own and for personal and financial reasons (see earlier post), the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and some of its major donors played a major role in getting former Congressman Nick Lampson to enter the race.

Evidently, in spite of the fact that Richard Morrison has a large grassroots base in CD 22 and came closer than anyone has to beating Tom DeLay, the DCCC and some of its major donors reportedly recruited, encouraged and possibly even promised Lampson financial support if he would enter the race. My sources indicate to me that Beltway, D-Trip-types--many of whom couldn't find CD 22 on a color-coded map with written instructions--determined that Lampson was the more "electable" candidate than Morrison.

Interestingly, in his last race, which I'd think the DCCC would consider, Lampson vastly outspent his opponent, former State District Judge Ted Poe, and still lost. However, Richard Morrison raised relatively little compared to DeLay's warchest, and came just as close to DeLay as Lampson did to Poe.

Lampson garnered 42.91 percent of the vote in his district, while Morrison got 41.09 in CD 22.

Furthermore, Lampson, who was a fine Congressman (not trying to attack anyone here, just reporting what the sources tell me), can't be terribly well-known in CD 22. I'd venture to say that, in a name recognition poll, Morrison is more well known in CD 2 than Lampson is in CD 22.

If I were Richard Morrison, I would have given Lampson a challenge similar to one that was brokered but never utilized when Ted Kennedy first ran for U.S. Senate in the Democratic Primary against Edward McCormick, nephew of then-U.S. House Speaker John McCormick (the late House Speaker Tip O'Neill covers it in his book, Man of the House, if you want to read about it):

Why not commission a poll of voters in CD 22--both likely election-day voters and likely Democratic Primary voters in separate polls over separate periods of time. Ask who the the voters are most likely to vote for: Morrison or Lampson. Also, poll on Lampson vs. Morrison name recognition.

After the poll (and, what the heck--both sides can conduct one by the same methodology using their own pollsters), compare the results and the guy with the best chance stays in the race.

To me, that seems like the most fair way to go about something like this.

SDEC Meeting

By Vince Leibowitz

I haven't seen anyone blogging on this weekend's SDEC meeting, so I thought I might share a few thoughts of my own with regard to Saturday's session--though what little I have to say could hardly be considered a comprehensive account. Further--though the journalist in me says otherwise--I firmly feel that most of what happens at the SDEC is private to those of us within the party and probably shouldn't be disseminated except among those in the party.

But, since no one has shared any thoughts, I'll just throw out a few.

First and foremost, you can't attend an SDEC meeting without realizing how full our party really is of vibrant county chairs, activists and party leaders. The full house of people from across the state that attend these meetings is testament to that.

I was priviliged to be at the meeting and sitting with the SDEC as proxy for Dr. Martha Williams, our very capable SDEC SD2 member from Terrell, who was unable to attend. As such, I felt more a part of the "action" as opposed to the "audience," which I was part of in other SDEC meetings.

There were a number of resolutions discussed and acted on, and I was very proud of our party and its leaders for the very classy way it was all handled. Major gatherings of bodies of this sort--whether political or not--can sometimes descend into chaos when it comes to dealing with tough issues. However, the SDEC was able to discuss the issues in a very dignified and appropriate manner.

Although there were a couple of moments that were somewhat tense relating to a committee report, the meeting seemed to go very well.

In the press earlier this year (and on this blog) there was some discussion of party finances, particularly with regard to the $250,000 set aside for purchase of a headquarters building which was instead used on elections. It resulted in some criticism of our party and especially our Chariman, Charles Soechting, for his "command decision." Shortly after the post on the Statesman article, fellow BOR contributor and TDP staffer Andrew put up this post talking about the Chairman and some of his impressions.

I will admit that I was an early critic of Chairman Soechting. And, as a county chair, I nearly flew off of, into and through the wall when he sent all county chairs a letter asking us to raise $5,000 and send it to the state party.

However, time, more experience and interaction with the party, and being a beneficiary of some of the program's Soechting funded as Chair while working on Dr. Bob Glaze's campaign in THD 5 last year have made me--I must confess--a Soechting supporter.

I do believe he is the leader we need right now. And, in saying that, I may be going against some of my east and northeast Texas colleagues who may think--as I did when Soechting took over--that we need a chair from a smaller rural county because, well, most of our counties aren't mega-counties like Harris and Dallas. I initially thought Soechting would be "out of touch," with the people in counties like mine, but I've quickly learned that he's not. He knows what's going on and knows what we're facing out here in the trenches. Whether it's because he researched it, because a staffer or adviser has told him, or because he's been to some of the "non urban" counties, I don't know. But I do know from my brief dealings with him personally, that he seems to have a handle on what's going on--even in little old Van Zandt County.

No one has asked me to write or post this and, I suspect, I'll probably receive some heat over my "conversion." But, that's just the way I feel. The manner in which the way the Chairman conducted himself at this weekend's meeting--sometimes in tense situations--to me speaks volumes about what kind of leader we really have at the TDP. If you do something, "take the heat or get out of the kitchen." Chairman Soechting may have made a decision or two that was unpopular with some folks. But, he's taken the heat, taken steps to make things even better, and he's still in the kitchen--hopefully cooking up a way to make the party even better.

Remove Al Edwards from the DNC

By Byron LaMasters

Exactly what Greg said - there is no excuse to allow the one "Democrat" who voted with Republicans for HB 3 - the largest tax hike in Texas history - to continue serving on the DNC.

Update: Via comments and Houston Democrats is how Rep. Edwards explained his vote:

Representative Edwards took my phone call this afternoon and was very gracious in his explanation of his vote for HB3. And he had a very good reason. The conference committee will not include any members that voted against the bill. In order to ensure that the Democratic Party has a voice in crafting the final version of the bill, Mr. Edwards and the Democratic leadership decided one Democrate would have to vote for for the bill, since voting against it would not have prevented its passage. In addition, he feels that a positive aspect of the bill is the broadening of the tax base to include business that currently are exempt from the franchise tax.

Well, this is certainly better than voting for the bill on the merits, but voting for a bill to get a seat at the table in order to get crumbs of what you want, isn't worth giving Republicans even the smallest amount of political cover.

Dallas County Dems Get Redesigned Website

By Vince Leibowitz

I hate to be a bloghog, but I guess I've just had several interesting posts to make today, not the least of which is that the Dallas County Democratic Party has a newly redesigned website.

According to my sources, the DCDP's previous webmaster resigned from assisting the party with any functions that aren't fee-paied, though he will continue to host the site.

Not sure exactly what caused the change over, but I understand it had something to do with the party's "Weekly Update" e-mail newsletter.

All of this follows the controversy of a couple of weeks ago which both Byron and I posted on extensively. Perhaps Byron can shed some light on this new development.

Regarding Charles Soechting

By Byron LaMasters

I read Andrew's post on Texas Democratic Party Chair Charles Soechting with a bit of confusion, as I did not realize that there was controversy / negative press regarding Chairman Soechting. Apparently, Andrew's comments were in the context of this article in the Austin American Statesman:

Almost two years after Texas Democratic Party leaders agreed to stow away $250,000 toward owning rather than renting their Austin headquarters, campaigns and other needs have soaked up the money.

In April 2003, the State Democratic Executive Committee voted that $250,000 be "set aside for the future purchase of a permanent home" for the party. [...]

Party Chairman Charles Soechting said he made a "command decision" last year to tap the funds for election needs such as legislative campaigns, a bus tour of the Rio Grande Valley, modernized voting records and vital staff pay raises and furniture.

"It's more important to have a viable political party than it is to worry about your address," Soechting said, noting that the party gained ground in the Texas House for the first time since 1972 when it picked up one House seat last year and welcomed local gains in Dallas and Harris counties.

Purchasing a long-term headquarters should be a priority for a state party, or major organization. While a short-term hassle, such moves save a great deal of money. However, in an election year, the number one priority should be electing Democrats. I agree with Kuff that it would be a story if the party spent $250,000 on a new headquarters instead of throwing in another $10,000 or so at state rep races that might have made the difference for people like Mark Strama, Hubert Vo, Mark Homer, Jim McReynolds, etc.

Furthermore, purchasing the modernized voter files and pay increases to ensure a professional staff are critical long-term investments. If there is reason to believe that there has been any malfeasance, an independent audit of the account might be necessary, but I see nothing from the article to suggest as much.

More at Dos Centavos.

On Charles E. Soechting

By Andrew Dobbs

I've been meaning to write this for a while, but I haven't gotten around to it until the attacks in the Statesman today finally made me say something. I'm not writing this because of my job, but because I want to say it.

Charles Soechting is the toughest boss I've ever had. For comparison, I'll throw in all the bosses I had at the restaurant I worked at in High School- including some rather tough ones, Joe Trippi, all the people at the Capitol, on the various campaigns I've worked for and I'll even throw in my High School football coaches. He's tough, but for all the times I've been mad at him, he's a good boss.

I think the best example of why he's a good boss and a great chairman is the way I got my job. It all started after his selection in October of 2003 when on October 25 I wrote a piece that began

Well, it looks like the forces of cronyism, institutional short-sightedness and a desire to run our party into the ground once and for all prevailed again here in Austin as the State Democratic Executive Committee selected longtime TDP General Counsel and integral part of the 8 year campaign for obscurity Charles Soechting as the new Chair of the Texas Democratic Party.

Not exactly the thing you want to say about a future boss. Then, two days later Byron put up a post that was nicer, if still skeptical about Soechting. I put a comment that said:

I will say that this story caught my eye as well and that it made me feel a little better about things. Finally, casting your vote for Soechting just because he isn't Mauro is the kind of short-sighted bullshit that threatens to send our party the way of the Whigs and Greenbacks. We need someone with as much fire but a little more independence of the failures of the last 6 years, i.e. Garnet Coleman or any of the other people you mentioned a minute ago. Oh well, here's hoping he'll make it to a UDem meeting so I can ask him some questions myself.

A bit nicer, but still pretty mean. He never made it to a UD meeting (though I'll try and get him to one this semester- no promises), but he did one better. He put a comment up on the post himself. It read:

Hello Andrew and others, this is Charles. If you want to meet me, get ready. I am the Chair and if you are as sick and tired as I am of the lies that the Republicans have told you need to do more than get online and gripe. You need to work with us. Our office number is 478-9800 and we are looking for volunteers. I have monitored your concerns during this election and understand your frustration, it's natural to be frustrated. Change is here and we are ready for your help. Thanks, Charles Soechting, Chair, Texas Democratic Party.

Just so you'll know, that is still the number for the party (512 area code, of course) and we are always looking for volunteers. But I digress. I called that number and emailed him and he got back to me. He set up a meeting with Byron, Jim and me and gave us each a couple hundred bucks (out of his own pocket) to create the Yellow Dog Blog, which has since withered away. A couple of months later, I was broke and needed a job so I called him up. He gave it to me on the spot and I've been here ever since- more than a year later.

All this to say that Charles Soechting isn't the kind of guy to hold grudges against anyone except Republicans and their allies. He doesn't try and make enemies- he even brought David Van Os and Garry Mauro into the process (his opponents in the Chair race) because he realizes that we have enough enemies on the opposite side that we don't need to be making them amongst ourselves. He wasn't an insider- he had a low level party post and had been fighting for change for years. He was General Counsel, and let me say that we talk to our current GC- the talented, intelligent and friendly Chad Dunn- maybe once or twice a month. Charles was exactly what we needed, even if we didn't all realize it.

Having said that, he is tough to work for at times. There have been times when I have wanted to give him the finger and tender my resignation. But when I cooled off and thought about it, he is usually right. He tells us to keep our offices clean, because part of winning is looking like a winner. He gets mad when we aren't working, because he is a person for whom "tenacious" is not quite strong enough a word ("take no prisoners" would be better perhaps). He wants to know what we are doing to elect Democrats, because that is his singular goal in life. He is intense, to say the least.

A lot of it probably has to do with the fact that coming from nothing to everything is the story of the guy's life. He grew up dirt poor in San Marcos- his childhood house stood where the median between I-35 and the access road is today- and worked hard to try and get into a community college. He got top grades there, because he couldn't afford anywhere else, and when he graduated near the top of his class he went on to be an officer in the US Navy. After that, he served for 10 years as a State Trooper. Ask anyone who knows what DPS training is like and they will tell you it separates the men from the boys. My Dad is in law enforcement training and has known men who were Marines, who were even in Army Special Forces and they said that DPS training was considerably tougher. Soechting thrived in that environment and became a respected agent. After a decade of the low pay and thankless work, he began studying to go to law school. He got a scholarship and went to South Texas College of Law, graduating near the top of his class again. He is now a top dog at the super-firm of O'Quinn, Laminack and Pirtle where he has distinguished himself as a trial lawyer. And after decades of Democratic activism, including stints as a candidate for State House, Hays County Chair and General Counsel for the State Party he was elected Chairman. During the first year of his term he had major back surgery and was diagnosed with prostate cancer. After both surgeries he was back in the office about 2 or 3 weeks later.

The theme of his life? Work. The guy knows what its like to start out with nothing and the only way to move up is to work harder than everyone else. As chairman he started out with nothing and he's working his way up. He has very little patience for people who don't work as hard as he does, and that can make things testy at times. He woke me up at 6:30 this morning, telling me to get to the office. He's done the same thing on weekends and in the middle of the night. I don't mind though, because I care about this party and I'm proud to serve it. I can do so because Charles Soechting gave me a chance.

I don't mean for this to sound like a puff piece- the guy is as imperfect as any of us, in some ways more than a lot of us. But he is perfect for the job. In the post where I decried him that led to him giving me a job, I said

We need someone who will shake things up, rebuild our grassroots, develop a much better GOTV effort, recruit candidates, raise money, hone our message and disseminate it and convince people who have voted for the GOP over the last decade or so that they ought to come back home to the Democratic Party. Perhaps Soechting can do this, but I have my doubts- he has been an insider and is rooted in the sort of fuzzy-headed dwelling in the past that plagues our party leadership.

Here’s hoping I’m wrong about all of this.

I was very wrong. Targeting bad Democrats in the primary shook things up. Getting on the case of lazy SDEC members and County Chairs has rebuilt the grassroots. Our GOTV effort was good this year and it will only get better next time around. We had some phenomenal candidates this year, many of them ran because Charles asked them to. He's hard at work on 2006. He's raised money and has recently hired a professional fundraiser and has promised that if she doesn't raise enough to cover her fee, he'll pay it out of his own pocket. Our message is clearer, tougher and spread better than ever before and people are starting to come back to our party. Charles Soechting proved me wrong and just to rub it in he let me be here next to him while he did it. I'm proud to say that I was wrong and I'm proud to work with him.

Once again, no one asked me to write this, I just felt that I had to say something. Next time someone says something rotten about Charles Soechting, show them to this post (especially if it is me).

Watering the Grass

By Jim Dallas

Chris Bowers of MyDD wins the Dallas Award For Best Use of The Word "Ontological" with this post.

I adhere to the theory that each individual voter is cross-pressured, and has many different components of his/her identity that are politically relevant. Engaging different voters involves hitting them in the right identity "sweet spot." Taking a one-size fits all mentality runs the risk of swinging... and missing, like the Iowa Perfect Storm did. These "network" theories of organizing are interesting to me.

Fact: for most Americans, politics is intrusive and disruptive. That's why it used to be good manners not to talk about politics in mixed company. Now that it's all too easy for voters to simply turn the channel (mentally speaking), expanding our campaigns is going to be necessary.

One concern, though, is how far you want to take this. If it's done ham-handedly, it'll come off as oafish. If it's done too effectively, people will worry that the traditional seperation of the public and private sphere that we value in a liberal society such as ours has been breached. Chris titles his post "How Democrats Can Seize The New Civic Space." The problem is that "civic space" is a very blurry concept to begin with, and any attempt to replace the traditional institutions which have defined "political space" with ones that extend politics into "civic space" (one which, while still conceivably in the public sphere, is considerably more intimate) inevitably will step on some toes.

Anyway, this is probably the future of politics; the subversion of the Democratic Party as an institutional hierarchy and a new reality of the party as a community of communities. Get used to it.

On second thought, I'm wondering why I thought this was all so revolutionary: there's a far-left-wing wannabe-academic inside of me that's screaming that this is more confirmation of the effects of late capitalism or post-modernism or whatever.

On third thought, I am reminded that, even after stumbling across some nutshell summaries of Habermas's Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere years ago, I have yet to get around to checking out a copy from the liberary and attempting to read it. I'm probably not smart enough to understand it, but it might help me pick up hot dates.

Where do you draw the line?

By Byron LaMasters

A question worth exploring came up in the comment thread of my post yesterday on a possible primary challenege to State Rep. Vilma Luna. I stated that I would support a primary challenge to Vilma Luna based on her vote for the redistricting bill in the 2003 session. Luna, along with Ron Wilson were the only House Democrats to support the Tom DeLay re-redistricting scheme. Luna is also a member of the Craddick House leadership team. She represents a reliably Democratic district, where a generic Democrat can expect to get at least 55-60% of the vote.

Some commenters argue that she should be given no more of a pass than those Democrats who voted on other Republican bills such as the CHIP-cutting bill, etc. I argued that Luna voted for bills that cut CHIP as well - I disagree with her vote, and that of other Democrats on that issue, but I don't see that as grounds for defeat in a Democratic primary. Her position on the redistricting issue, however, is something that I find unforgivable. That vote not only ended the careers of SEVEN Democratic congressmen, but also chopped up my neighborhood in central Austin into three congressional districts, deprived the state of Texas of decades of seniority in Congress, and most likely will make it impossible for Democrats to regain a majority in Congress until the next redistricting cycle. That led commenter JW to ask this question:

Should an ideological outsider (a) play the game, gain influence and make a real difference, even if it's just at the margins; or (b) play the role of loyal opposition and fight every fight, even if your cause may be harmed in the long run? There are two schools of thought and both have some merit. Let's see what your readers think.

Personally, I'm typically a proponent of the latter approach, because I find that usually - particularly considering the leadership tactics of the modern day Republican Party - those who "play the game" end up doing more to legitimize the opposition (Republicans) than they do in affecting positive legislation. Thus, in my opinion, the negative effects outweigh the positive ones.

I would say that approach (a) offers a short term gain (i.e. crumbs of positive legislation), but a long-term loss (enabling and legitimizing a governing party that is not in our best interets). Whereas I would say approach (b) offers short term loss (less pork for your district or positive legislation), but is a long-term gain - as it allows to opposition to point out the abuses of power and corruption of the governing party in order to win elections - the tool that will ultimately change the equation.

Anyway, I got to run, but let me know what you think...

Frost an FNC contributor

By Nathan Nance

According to TVNewser, former Dallas congressman Martin Frost has been hired as a contributor for Fox News Channel, much like former Democratic senator Zell Miller.

I don't want to get into an argument on whether or not Frost is a "conservative Democrat" and a DINO. We can save that vitriol for other places. Frost's record speaks for itself and he's no DINO. In fact, he came very close to being the chairman of the DNC.

I really want to know what people think of the fact that both Miller and Frost were branded as it were (Miller for a very good reason) as "GOP-lite" and now both are contributing to FNC. I'm sure some might think that maybe we should be more lenient on some withing our party who reach across the aisle to get things done. I'm sure others will think that Martin Frost was too close to the Republicans and its good that he's not the chairman and that he's relegated to appearing on a conservative network. I'm looking for a debate here on what, exactly, you think about this.

I'm also interested in hearing what you think the chances are that Frost can influence coverage that is more favorable to the Democrats on FNC.

If you must have vitriol, here's more at dKos.

Recap of the DNC Meeting - Part Two

By Byron LaMasters

Texas DNC member David Holmes has posted twice on his Yahoo Group recapping the events of the DNC meeting over the weekend. I posted his thoughts from the first day here, and this post is