As noted in many newspapers and magazines in 2008, such as Texas Monthly and The Nation, in 2010, if Democrats are willing to rise to the challenge, Texas will have to opportunity turn Blue.
Electing a Democratic Governor will not be easy, but the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. When Barack Obama announced in 2006 that he was running for President, he seemed like a long-shot, but after months of hard work and determination, we will have a Democratic President.
2008 was a victory for Barack Obama, but it was also the beginning of our journey toward a Democratic resurgence in Texas.
On January 20, 2009, Democrats will gather in Lampasas to celebrate the Inauguration of Barack Obama and to think about the road ahead. Speaking will be Bob Gammage, former US Congressman, Texas Senator, State Representative, and Supreme Court Justice, and a candidate for Governor in 2006.
We hope you will join us on the Square at My Girl's for a dinner of roast chicken, complete with sides, salad, and dessert, served compliments of the Democratic Women and the Young Democrats.
The festivities will commence at 6:00 PM with a social hour and an address from our honorable speaker. At 7:00 we will watch Barack Obama's Inaugural Address, and at 8:00, Daniel Melder, our county chair, will hand out awards to our most invaluable volunteers and benefactors.
Guests from Burnet and Llano Counties will also be in attendance, making this an excellent opportunity to meet Democrats from our surrounding counties and talk about moving Texas forward.
Tickets are $15.00, but the event is free to Sustaining Members. To become a sustaining member for as little as $10.00 a month, contact Casey Norman
Remember, we need your support to pay filing fees for candidates, buy yard signs and bumperstickers, and to pay for events we all enjoy, like the Annual Labor Day Picnic. Your donations make the Democratic Party in Lampasas possible and becoming a Sustaining Member or attending this event, you will be showing the Republicans that the election of Barack Obama was just the begining, and we are ready to fight for the change Texas needs in 2010.
First of all, I want to wish everyone Happy Holidays and hope you all are having a great time with your friends and family.
I was not planning on posting for a few days but Randy's excellent diary about the Primary/Caucus system we have here in Texas prompted me to share Bob Gammage's view on the issue.
Bob Gammage is a great Texas Democrat who has served as state representative, state senator, congressman, and Supreme Court Justice.
Here is Gammage's take on the Two-Step, from an email sent to Houston Democratic activist Carl Whimarsh.
The two-step system brings to mind the vote counting manipulation of the old three-fifths compromise set out in Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution before adoption of the 14th Amendment, only in reverse.
You will recall that in order to obtain support from some of the less populous southern states for the proposed constitution, the convention compromised by agreeing that, when apportioning the number of U.S. House members a state was entitled to, "three fifths of all other Persons" would be added to "the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed." Hence, enslaved persons were counted as three-fifths of a person for purposed of apportionment, even though they could not vote and it would be hard to argue that their interests were represented by those additional White souther congressmen.
Our Democratic Party's current two-step presidential nominating system gives those who actually cast their ballots in early voting and on election day only only two-thirds of a vote and transfers the other third to those who are able to show up on the night of election day, giving them one-and-one-third votes (actually much more if you take into consideration the much smaller number of people who manage to show up for the caucuses).
Whether it was giving White folks three-fifths more representation in congress by including in the count for apportionment enslaved Black folks who were not permitted to vote, or giving well-organized interest groups and activists one-third of a vote more than is alloted to ordinary voters for purposes of presidential nominations, neither system was or is democratic and both are totally contrary the democratic principles of equal representation for which the Democratic Party is supposed to stand.
I was unable to attend the hearing last month in Austin, where my friend Jim Mattox so eloquently spoke out against the two-step system before his untimely death, but I did forward the attached letter to the committee in advance and it was read to the members during the hearing.
Representative democracy is based on the principle that each of our votes should count equally, and any system which expands or diminishes the value of any individual vote is undemocratic and should be anathema to the political party which holds itself out to be the bulwark of true representative democracy.
The two-step system is a breach of the integrity of core Democratic Party values. It serves no other purpose than to give additional clout to organized special interest groups and political activists. It should be abolished.
How ironic it is that Tom Craddick, a member of one of the most famous coalition of elected representatives to challenge the heavy handed dictatorial tactics of then Speaker of the House Gus Mutscher in 1971 with the “Dirty 30,” would become the same exact dictatorial house leader he once worked to reform.
As I was up last night getting regular unfolding updates from BOR one man came to mind who I thought would be a real asset towards understanding what was going on in the House. I got on the cell with my good friend, and political mentor, as well as fellow “Dirty 30” alumnus, Bob Gammage.
Rumors abounded throughout the weekend, chief among them being that former candidate for Governor Bob Gammage was about to endorse Carol Keeton Rylander for Governor. Seeking confirmation, one of Gammage's few former supporters on the SDEC called to confirm or get a denial from the defeated candidate and when the conversation was over, Gammage would not deny that he would endorse Strayhorn.
This is a final request from Bob Gammage in what he wrote me just now.
If you think it is appropriate, please post the following for me. It will be going out to my entire list of supporters very quickly, but there are a lot of your bloggers that I don't have addresses for. I appreciate the forum you give to those who are interested and want to be involved. It is important. You are important. They are important. -Bob Gammage
This is the end, and the official call to action to go forth and unite. The primary and the rehashing is officially over- fresh coverage begins here. I think it's worth it to post Bob Gammage's last comments from his campaign. You can also read Bell's post-election post at his site here and you should go sign up for his campaign if you are not already on it.
We didn't win this race. We didn't win this time.
And just as surely we didn't lose, either -- in fact so much of what we accomplished together in a few short weeks feels like a lasting and important victory.
With little money and even less time, we roused a sleepy party and raised an amazing core of principled, passionate volunteers who lent their hard work and enthusiasm to advancing the best values of the Democratic Party.
I am in awe, I am humbled and I am forever thankful to the thousands of you who rose of your own accord and worked tirelessly at the difficult job of beginning to rebuild our state on the basis of timeless principles and honorable values.
We called on you to stand up for your beliefs and you did, as Democrats and Texans and Americans. The story of the Democratic Party, and of democracy itself, is fundamentally a story about people who stood up for their beliefs, lost some battles, stood up again and kept standing up, over and over, as many times as it took, until they triumphed.
Often in life, as well as in politics, victory is not about whether or not you are beaten. It is about whether or not you yield.
And this campaign -- which means all of you -- did not ever yield, even in the face of long odds, from the first day to the last hours of this race. You did not yield to apathy from the public and the media, and you did not yield to scorn from pundits or the partisans of other candidates.
Most important of all, none of us yielded to the temptation to hide the truth to gain popular appeal or political advantage.
Some of you have said I inspired you, but it really was the other way around.
It was all of you who inspired me every day of this campaign -- to run this race, to criss-cross this big state from border to border, and to fight every day to tell the people of Texas that Democrats are as passionate as they ever were and as committed as they always have been to their principles, their faith, their community, their state and their nation. Please keep delivering that message.
Through it all, you gave me and my family your truest gift of steadfast support and we are forever grateful for your efforts and your commitment. We will continue trying to earn it. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
Looks like we're headed for one of the lowest turnout primaries in Texas in a decade. The Statesman has a morning report.
New electronic voting machines in Caldwell County might provide the most excitement in Central Texas on this primary election day.
Election officials there as well as in Travis, Williamson and Hays counties reported slow, uneventful mornings at area polling places.
Except for a few no-show election volunteers, Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir voting has gone remarkably smoothly.
The Secretary of State projected 13% overall turnout for both primaries. I think that's high and would project more like 10% and it's (as we have already seen), going to be regionally based. For Republicans it's going to be the Leininger 5 districts, SBOE, and SD-7-like areas. For Democrats, it's the SD-19/CD-28 triangle between Laredo, San Antonio, and El Paso.
I'd project maybe 15,000 votes to be cast here in Travis County today giving us around 23,000 total votes, down from 44,000 in 2004. Statewide, me bets are on a Dem turnout between 500,000 and 600,000 total votes.
The big question is who will win the next Champion of the Republic award for voter turnout? Is this election even one in which they are awarded?
(If you'd like to see a picture of Gammage with UDems last night, check the extended entry. I'm holding up the left side of the banner in yellow.)
I got in from the Gammage Rally and Sign distribution a few hours ago. About 45 people showed for an event with 24 hours notice, so not too shabby I must say. About 350 signs went up to polling locations in Austin over 2 hours.
Left in a comment on another thread, we have different number that indicate Bell/Gammage ratings from just Democrats. If true, it appears more Democrats know of Gammage but remain neutral, while sligtly fewer (within MOE) know Bell but have a favorable opinion. Overall, I think winning the primary and the coverage that follows will do more for moving either candidate's numbers at this point than anything else.
Yesterday the Gubernatorial campaigns held the last Sunday rallies in the race to Tuesday. The Statesman reported...
Former U.S. Rep. Bell held a rally at Nuevo Leon restaurant in East Austin, drawing about 30 people and state Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos of Austin, who endorsed Bell. Bell said he is concerned with the quality of public education.
Gammage, a former Texas Supreme Court justice, drew several hundred people to an El Paso rally, spokesman Jeremy Warren said. Gammage described himself as a fighter willing to stand up to corrupt Republicans in Washington, Warren said.
I will say only this, that for gaining both Austin newspapers endorsements as well as our State Senator it does not appear that it has translated into an appreciable amount of grassroots support or physical bodies for Team Bell in Austin, where every local grassroots group that has endorsed, has endorsed Bob Gammage.
Speaking of that, Gammage will be here at UT tonight at 7:30 pm (in just a few hours) at the Littlefield Fountain in front of the Tower for a Student led "working rally" as we prepare to head out getting up signs at polling locations. You are all invited of course, and we heard the Statesman and other outlets will be there.
Judge Gammage was endorsed by University Democrats last month. Since the endorsement, the group has worked tirelessly to make the difference that pushes Gammage over the top. In addition to phonebanking and extensive get-out-the-vote efforts, the University Democrats have distributed thousands of doorhangers to central Austin homes with the Austin Progressive Coalition.
"Judge Gammage has the experience necessary to be a viable candidate for Governor in November. Texans are disappointed with the current administration; with Bob Gammage as our nominee, Democrats will stand the best chance of winning the highest office in the state since Ann Richards," said Sukanya Misra, Public Relations Director for University Democrats.
WHAT: Pre-Election Rally for Bob Gammage
WHO: Bob Gammage and supporters
WHEN: Monday, March 6 at 7:30pm
WHERE: Littlefield Fountain on the UT-Austin campus (21st and University)
Oh, and you guys apparently like the Gammage ad, it's been seen almost 900 times now on BOR.
The question just occurred to me this evening, and I got to wondering - how many of the folks on both sides of this have been through a hotly contested primary before?
And not to step on anyone's feelings or toes, but the outside view of this contest is that it is 'low temperature' however badly any of us may feel they have been treated on this web site or any other.
(Busy Sunday for both gubernatorial campaigns. - promoted by Alex Hunt)
Team Gammage will be having a little impromptu pre-primary party at Mother Egans Sunday night around 6:00. We're going to try to set up the TV projector so we can laugh at the Oscars and get geared up to WIN ON TUESDAY!
Hope you can come! Mother Egans is at 6th and West on the SE corner (next to Molotov).
