In the midst of Barack Obama's visit to Texas on Monday, seemingly under reported was his Austin fundraiser. According to Sen. Rodney Ellis, the total raised for the DNC and affiliated groups was just shy of $1 million.
@RodneyEllis: Texans gave 985,000 dollars for this event with the President.
Democratic Lt. Governor nominee Linda Chavez-Thomson introduced the President at the fundraiser but refused to shake his hand... opting instead for a "warm abrazo" (hug), labor style. She didn't shy away from President, introducing him with the following comments.
"He's taken on the economy. He's taken on health care. He's taken on Wall Street. And he doesn't back down.
What he does do, and Texans respect this, is extend his hand across the aisle in a spirit of bi-partisanship. After all, the challenges Americans and Texas families face don 't come with a Party label on them.
But when his offer is not reciprocated, he does what any Texan would do. He does the work himself, because at the end of the day the work still has to get done.
There's nothing brave about ignoring problems. We had eight years of that. Bravery is going out in the hot sun and doing the hard work it takes to make things grow.
And that's coming from the daughter of a cotton sharecropper, so I know what I'm talking about."
The DNC has stated they will be sending $250,000 of the money raised in Texas back to Texas. Personally, I'm hoping that money gets spent on candidates who stood with the President like Chavez-Thompson. After all, we wouldn't want to associate money raised by Obama for the DNC with candidates who wanted to separate themselves from the event. But in case that doesn't happen, you can donate to Chavez-Thompson here.
The Statesman's Jason Embry reports that President Barack Obama will headline August 9 fundraisers in Austin and Houston for the Democratic National Committee and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, respectively.
The event in Austin is "tentatively scheduled" for the Four Seasons with tickets starting at $5000 a person.
Bill White spokesperson Katy Bacon told the Statesman that White "had no plans to attend" either events and said instead "Bill will be talking with Texans about the future of our state." Some will try to twist this into a negative, but White is doing exactly what he should do: focus on his state and his race.
That presents a clear contrast with Rick Perry, who most recently appeared with the national Republican Party's most sought after campaigner, Sarah Palin, in Tyler on June 28. After going on sixteen years of governors who are eager to make their mark on national politics and ignore problems here in Texas, it is time we had a governor whose top priority is the future of Texas, not posturing for higher office.
Thanks to Nhu Le of Austin, TX for this summary of last night's reception welcoming the DNC Asian Pacific Islander American Caucus to Austin, TX! Cross-posted at APA for Progress and AAA-Fund.
Since a number of people have been asking about the schedule of what is going on at the DNC while it is in Austin, here are some schedules for a general outline of what is happening what day.
And here is info specific to Saturday's Youth Council meeting.
YOUTH COUNCIL
When: 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM, Saturday, September 12, 2009
Where: Renaissance Hotel, Concho Room, Austin, TX
Tentative & subject to change
Agenda
Welcome & Introductions
History of the Youth Council and Recap of Projects
Appointment of 12 At-Large Youth Council Members
Election of Council Co-Chairs
Supporting the President's Agenda
Guest Speakers
Texas Democratic Party Chairman Boyd Richie
Travis County Democratic Party Chairman Andy Brown
(Another event for folks to attend later this week during the DNC meeting in Austin. - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
Recognizing the growing opportunities for political change in Texas, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) is holding their next quarterly national meeting in Austin from September 10 through 12.
The Texas Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community has played a key role in the state's tremendous political transformation. AAPIs comprise approximately 3.5% of the state population, but exceed 15% or even 20% in certain political subdivisions in Austin, Dallas, and Houston; additionally, AAPIs are one of the fastest growing populations in Texas. And like other Texans, AAPIs are voting more and more Democratic. According to exit polling conducted by the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, 76% of AAPIs voted for President Barack Obama. Among US-born AAPIs, President Obama's margin was even higher with 87% of the vote.
Democrats believe that Texas and the AAPI community are central to their efforts to achieve meaningful and lasting reform. The Asian American Democrats of Texas - AADT, recognized by the Texas Democratic Party as the representative Texas caucus for Asian Americans, is hosting a reception for local AAPI Democrats, members of the DNC's AAPI Caucus, and local and national party and elected officials. The reception will take place at Chinatown Restaurant at 3407 Greystone Drive near MoPac from 6:00 to 8:00 PM. Complimentary appetizers will be served, and the event is free and open to the public. More information is available at the Asian American Democrats of Texas's website, www.aadt.us, or by e-mailing mail@aadt.us or calling 512.326.0222.
The Democratic National Committee posted information about the "anti-reform mobs" that have decided that keeping their own health care plan is obscene, and that no one else in the country should be allowed to have affordable access to health care. They wrote a blog post -- Five Facts About Anti-Reform Mobs that I wanted to reproduce here:
There's been a lot of media coverage about organized mobs intimidating lawmakers, disrupting town halls, and silencing real discussion about the need for real health insurance reform.
The truth is, it's a sham. These "grassroots protests" are being organized and largely paid for by Washington special interests and insurance companies who are desperate to block reform. They're trying to use lies and fear to break the President and his agenda for change.
Health insurance reform is about our lives, our jobs, and our families -- we can't let distortions and intimidation get in the way. We need to expose these outrageous tactics, and we're counting on you to help. Can you read these "5 facts about the anti-reform mobs," then pass them along to your friends and family?
5 facts about the anti-reform mobs
1. These disruptions are being funded and organized by out-of-district special-interest groups and insurance companies who fear that health insurance reform could help Americans, but hurt their bottom line. A group run by the same folks who made the "Swiftboat" ads against John Kerry is compiling a list of congressional events in August to disrupt. An insurance company coalition has stationed employees in 30 states to track where local lawmakers hold town-hall meetings.
2. People are scared because they are being fed frightening lies. These crowds are being riled up by anti-reform lies being spread by industry front groups that invent smears to tarnish the President's plan and scare voters. But as the President has repeatedly said, health insurance reform will create more health care choices for the American people, not reduce them. If you like your insurance or your doctor, you can keep them, and there is no "government takeover" in any part of any plan supported by the President or Congress.
3. Their actions are getting more extreme. Texas protesters brought signs displaying a tombstone for Rep. Lloyd Doggett and using the "SS" symbol to compare President Obama's policies to Nazism. Maryland Rep. Frank Kratovil was hanged in effigy outside his district office. Rep. Tim Bishop of New York had to be escorted to his car by police after an angry few disrupted his town hall meeting -- and more examples like this come in every day. And they have gone beyond just trying to derail the President's health insurance reform plans, they are trying to "break" the President himself and ruin his Presidency.
4. Their goal is to disrupt and shut down legitimate conversation. Protesters have routinely shouted down representatives trying to engage in constructive dialogue with voters, and done everything they can to intimidate and silence regular people who just want more information. One attack group has even published a manual instructing protesters to "stand up and shout" and try to "rattle" lawmakers to prevent them from talking peacefully with their constituents.
5. Republican leadership is irresponsibly cheering on the thuggish crowds. Republican House Minority Leader John Boehner issued a statement applauding and promoting a video of the disruptions and looking forward to "a long, hot August for Democrats in Congress."
It's time to expose this charade, before it gets more dangerous. Please send these facts to everyone you know. You can also post them on your website, blog, or Facebook page.
Now, more than ever, we need to stand strong together and defend the truth.
Thanks,
Jen
Jen O'Malley Dillon Executive Director Democratic National Committee
The Democratic National Committee will hold its quarterly meeting this September 10 through 12 in Austin, Chairman Tim Kaine announced earlier today.
To have many of the national party's leaders in Austin can only be a good thing, especially if either President Obama or Vice President Biden is able to attend.
From Postcards from the Lege, here is an excerpt from an e-mail Chairman Kaine sent earlier today:
Texas is an increasingly diverse state with a burgeoning and politically active Hispanic population that went strongly for Barack Obama in 2008…. (W)e have every reason to feel bullish about our chances in Texas.
Let's hope by that time we have many quality candidates for high statewide office to show off to DNC members.
Update: Texas DNC member Rick Cofer had this to say about the selection of Austin for the quarterly meeting:
The DNC selected Texas for the September meeting precisely because we're on the cusp of turning Texas blue. For over 100 years our state reliably elected Democrats to high office and within the near future we will reclaim the dominant electoral position in Texas.
Our state has a proud legacy of leadership within the Democratic Party. From Sam Rayburn to Lyndon Johnson to Ann Richards, our state has consistently been a source of the best and brightest political leaders in the nation. This DNC meeting marks the beginnings of our reemergence.
There's no question it'll be hard to match Howard Dean's record as chairman of this party. His 50-state strategy was simple and powerful. The Obama campaign adopted it and the results speak for themselves.
The basic point-and the principle I'll carry with me as DNC Chair-is that everybody matters...
...You don't have to be a big donor for your donation to matter.
...You don't have to be an expert for your idea to matter.
...You don't have to be a full-time campaign worker for your effort to matter.
I will be true to that strategy-every state, every community, every person matters.
Together, we'll do some new things-because we can never rest on what worked yesterday. But we will never again as a party write off states or regions or people.
...
The 50 state strategy is now and forever what Democrats do.
If Kaine keeps his word, it appears that reports of the demise of the Fifty State Strategy were greatly exaggerated. Good news for Texas.
That's what Chris Bowers of OpenLeft says the DNC, under the new leadership of Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, is planning.
During the festivities here in D.C., I ran into a source close to the transition at the DNC who was able to provide an update on the new outlines of the DNC strategy, which does diverge from the current form of the fifty-state strategy in multiple ways:
Increasing Centralization: The shift in resources away from paid media and toward on the ground organizers will continue. However, these resources will be more directly controlled by the DNC itself, rather than by state parties. In other words, the SPP program where the DNC pays for organizers chosen by the state parties themselves is, as previously reported, done. Instead, the DNC will likely hire and assign organizers themselves. State party grants will also likely be transformed into more centrally directed expenditures by the DNC.
More swing state, less fifty-state: Many, if not most, states will have more resources spent on them during the next four years than during the previous four years. In addition to increasingly centralized control over how these resources are spent, there will also be a return to a swing-state focus for 2012. However, it is important to keep in mind that the Obama campaign's version of a swing state strategy was broader than either the Gore or Kerry incarnations.
In short, the DNC will be moving away from the long-term, decentralized, fifty-state strategy of Howard Dean's tenure, and toward serving as a short-term, centralized re-election effort for President Obama in 2012. It will continue the move away from paid media ushered in by Howard Dean, maintain or increase the amount of resource expenditures in most states, and the number of states it targets will be a broader effort than the narrow focus we saw in 2001-2004 (but more narrow than 2005-2008). However, it will return to the traditional role of the DNC as a supplement for the sitting President's re-election campaign, rather than as the long-term, localized institution building operation that is was from 2005-2008.
The fifty-state strategy of 2005-2008 is going to be replaced with the "re-elect President Obama" strategy of 2009-2012. Both have their advantages, but I still consider firing the 200 state party organizers a real blow to the long-term development of local Democratic Party talent and infrastructure.
Obviously planning for the re-election of President Obama is important, but investing in an aggressive Fifty State Strategy like the one Howard Dean has implemented is an investment towards Democratic victories in 2010, 2012, and beyond.
Some of us had reservations when the Obama campaign moved volunteers out of Texas, but overall I think the Obama team really understood the upside of the Fifty State Strategy. Unlike the 2004 campaign of John Kerry, Obama's campaign seemed to get "it."
The change in attitude that came to the DNC with Dean's January 2005 election helped Obama win in places like North Carolina, Virginia, and Indiana.
Since Dean took over at the DNC, Democrats have won U.S. Senate and House races in many areas not traditionally friendly to Democrats. As Gov. Dean said on Morning Joe yesterday, the 2006 elections, which included Democratic Senate pickups in Montana, Virginia, Missouri and Ohio, "gave our strategy credibility."
So what exactly happened to justifty getting rid of the 50 State Strategy?
It is unclear of course what influence, if any, Emanuel (who I still believe is a great pick for CoS) had in killing the strategy of Dean. The two had many disagreements over 50 state vs. swing state issues when Emanuel served as Chairman of the DCCC.
It is not all gloom and doom though. Bowers makes a good point that Obama's swing state strategy is significantly broader than that of Gore or Kerry.
If Texas Democrats can continue to make progress and win a few statewide offices in 2010, perhaps there is a chance we can end up on the swing state list. If we do, there will be a lot of people to thank. Howard Dean will be one of them.
The Huffington Post is reporting that Governor Howard Dean will step down as Democratic National Committee Chairman after serving just one term.
Dean, who has been serving in the post since 2005, has said in the past that he would serve only one term, though his successful work with the Obama campaign had led some Democrats to wonder whether he would stay on into the next administration. This won't be the case, officials at the DNC confirm. He will serve as chair until his term ends in January. The party will settle on a new head when it hosts a meeting during the week of Obama's inauguration.
The Huff Post is also reporting a name being floated around as a possible Dean replacement is one of the president-elect's closest allies: Claire McCaskill, the junior Senator from Missouri and a national co-chair of the Obama campaign.
The key for states like Texas will be if the next chair will remain committed to the 50 State Strategy. It has absolutely relieved the burden on local and regional organizations to help organize 254 counties and helped turn Texas blue.
Going into a redistricting year, regardless of who chairs the party infrastructure, we need national support to protect big gains in red and purple states.
