When I was a little baby boy in the Texas Panhandle my Grandmother taught me a native American saying: "Don't judge a man until you've walked a mile in his moccasins."
It was true when my Grandmother was born in 1892, when my Mom was born in 1927, it was true when I was born in 1969 and it's sure as heck true in 2007.
And it from the discussions going on in the Texas blogosphere on the eve of the SDEC meeting it sure seems like that's a message we keeping at front of mind.
I wanted to 2nd in a big way something that Susan at KissMyBigBlueButt wrote:
I happened to overhear a couple of SDEC members - who are damned close to being 60-somethings - grin and say, "Hey, they're just like us forty years ago, only they have keyboards whereas we had megaphones."
I applaud the bloggers for gumption. But I also counsel them that understanding is a two-way street. You might be asked how many SDEC meetings you personally have attended before you decided to attend this one. You might also consider giving the new SDEC members a chance to get their rumps in a chair before you attempt to light a fire under it. They may surprise you.
You might keep in mind that some of these SDEC members were in Chicago in 1968 and had their heads bashed. Some of them marched with Dr. King. Some of them went to jail. Some of them went to Nam. Some burned their bras. Some fed and clothed union members on strike. Some of them have more passion for this Party than you can imagine."
Damn straight. I try to honor my ancestors everyday. I sit down to work everyday under photographs of a beloved aunt and uncle to remind me that both my parents picked cotton as children and my father (born in 1921) fought at the Battle of Okinawa in 1945.
But Anna points out that Susan is assuming that "the bloggers" are all in their 20's and 30's like the BOR crew. Wrong,most bloggers and blog readers are in our 30s, 40s and 50s. We own cars and homes, we've got kids, we've worked on campaigns for decades here in Texas, etc.
That's a good point for Susan to know.
There's word choice Susan made that I have to differ with though -- that last sentence, "Some of them have more passion for this Party than you can imagine." Susan, "the bloggers" coming to the meeting have the same amount of passion. We don't just imagine the passion you feel, we feel it equally.
It's a classic case of natural allies at each others throats while their mutual enemies watch.
The fight isn't between the bloggers and the SDEC. The fight is between the volunteer activists who make up both of those communities and the money and power brokers who have been making the big decisions about what the Texas Democratic Party does and doing a terrible job. From the perspective of the big players, the bloggers and the SDEC are just well-intentioned suckers fighting among themselves while they look down and laugh.
That's why my blog goes after folks who have lots of power as I said before:
Now that I've covered so many of my disagreements with the strategic decisions of folks I consider to be great Democrats, stay posted -- we're turning on the traitors who put millions of dollars into Strayhorn's campaign next.
Those guys are named Ben Barnes and Russ Tidwell of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association. Stay tuned.
But in the meantime don't get played for fools. Have a good meeting and get to know each other tomorrow. I think you'll find that few if any of you, bloggers or SDEC members where in the big offices where the bad decisions were made in 2002 and 2006.
In a few hours, I'll be going to a meeting with the Texas Democratic Party. Bloggers were invited, before the SDEC meeting, to sit down, discuss the future of the party, and have an open meeting to come together.
Anna wrote an excellent post on that, as well as what our aim -- as the Texroots -- is for Monday at the SDEC meeting. There had been some serious misconceptions about our intentions, and Anna clears it up quite nicely. I quote briefly from her post:
The average age of members of the Texas Progressive Alliance is 42. We aren't a bunch of children. Sure, the Austin area bloggers skew young (22) but the Houston area folks skew more mature (48). Us D/FW peeps average in at 30 and San Antonio area members average age is 34.
Many of us have been involved in Texas politics for years. I went to my first state convention in 1994. One person on the list went to his first state convention as a guest when he was still in high school. Almost every single one of us holds or has held an elected position within our county parties. Some of us served on committees during the last convention. And yes, one of us TPAs was elected to the SDEC at the convention (Eddie Rodriguez from the Red State).
We'll post more in the coming days about the TDP, the SDEC meeting, and the Texroots. In the mean time, go read Anna's post.
As Burnt Orange Report first reported on October 25th, SDEC District 19 Committeeman Ben Alexander was in violation of the rules of the Texas Democratic Party by openly supporting Republican Lamar Smith for Congress. A day later, we posted photographic evidence provided by one of our readers. Thanks to folks like SDEC member Ken Molberg, the TDP served notice to Alexander about the violation. His refusal to counter the claims has resulted in his automatic removal from the SDEC.
The following letter was sent on November 10th.
Dear Mr. Alexander:
This letter is to advise you that according to The Rules of the Texas Democratic Party, your seat on the SDEC for Senate District 19 is hereby declared vacant.
Under the Rules, you were given ten (10) days from receipt of the original letter of complaint, dated October 27, 2006, in which to respond to your alleged public endorsement of Lamar Smith via a signed, written denial directed to the Chair, which specifically denied the aforementioned alleged rule violation. The certified mail, return receipt, confirms delivery to you on October 31, 2006.
Since the Chair did not receive your signed, written denial within the prescribed ten (10) days from your receipt of the complaint letter, the Chair is required to declare your Senate District 19 seat vacant, effective immediately.
As such, the County Chair is now entitled to initiate the steps required to fill the vacancy for SD 19, and I respectfully request that you cease from any and all activities related to the now-vacant seat.
Very Truly Yours,
Boyd L. Richie
The Rules state the procedure for filling the replacement.
(f) SDEC Vacancies. When a vacancy occurs on the SDEC, the vacancy shall be filled by the majority vote of the members of the SDEC. The new member shall be an eligible person of the same sex and from the same senatorial district as the vacating member. The Senatorial District Committee of the affected district shall meet to nominate a person for such position. The State Chair shall mail written notice of the meeting to consider such nomination to the members of the Senatorial District Committee and, if known, the Chair of the affected district's Senatorial District Caucus at the last State Convention, at least two weeks prior to the meeting. The Committee shall report its nominee to the SDEC. A vacancy shall be filled no later than the next meeting of the SDEC following written notice of the vacancy by at least five weeks.
Burnt Orange Report has learned that State Democratic Executive Committeeman Ben Alexander (SD-19) is apparently openly supporting Republican Rep. Lamar Smith over Democrat John Courage. According to sources in San Antonio who confronted him in the last 24 hours, Alexander, who lives in TX-21 and has a Smith sign displayed in his yard, has also been paid $10,000 from the Smith campaign since the 30 day FEC filings (and won't show up until the 8 day reports due at the end of October).
According to the source and the Courage campaign, Alexander when asked about these allegations stated that 'he can support whomever he pleases in the congressional race'.
BOR calls on the Democrats of SD-19 (and TX-21) to contact their SDEC Rep Ben Alexander to confirm this information and if true call on him to resign his SDEC seat, denounce Lamar Smith, and return any money from the campaign that is verified.
From the TDP website:
Committeeman SD 19
Ben Alexander
San Antonio
(210) 337-4486
Ben_alexander2003@yahoo.com
The Rules of the Texas Democratic Party quite clearly state that such actions require removal from his Party position in Article III, Section H.
H. Removal From Office For Endorsing Opposing Party or Candidate
1. A Party Officer shall be removed from office if during the current term of office such officer publicly supports or endorses an opposing party or ,nominee of an opposing party, a person seeking the nomination of an opposing party, or a non-Democratic candidate seeking an office in an election in which candidates may file by party affiliation and a Democrat is seeking the office in question.
2. The terms “publicly supports” and “endorses” shall include, but not be limited to, serving on a campaign committee; giving financial support, including contributing money or its equivalent such as equipment loans, services or supplies; willingly and knowingly allowing the officer’s name to be used in any kind of letter, public endorsement, news release, or advertisement; or actively soliciting votes by making a public appearance or a door-to- door solicitation of votes.
Austin City Council Member Jennifer Kim has just been appointed to the Texas Democratic Party State Democratic Executive Committee (SDEC). At the last state convention, it was decided that two add-on seats to the SDEC would be allocated to the Asian American community through the Asian American Democrats of Texas and Councilmember Kim was one of the two selected.
Kim recently launched a newly designed website and is also a registered user of Burnt Orange Report. McBlogger is reporting (did I just say reporting?) that the Asian male seat has gone to an AJ Durrani of Katy.
For the past few days a very lively dialogue has been occurring on Burnt Orange Report and Texas Kos regrading the priorities of the State Democratic Party Convention Planners. I think that the dialogue is important. It shows that Texas Democrats CARE about Candidates Winning Elections. The dialogue is basically about priorities. I think that it is important that we cease saying "This is o.k. because it's how we've always done it." We need to band together and continually be seeking the BEST WAY. Sometimes that is what we are currently doing. It is not necessary to change EVERYTHING. If it works, don't change it. If it doesn't, let's find a better way.
Within a week we'll meet together and select a new leadership team for the Texas Democratic Party. Some of that team will probably be folks who've served or are currently serving on the SDEC. We all know that we need to make some changes in how we do things. I think it is also important to understand why we do things. We need to understand OUR KEY VALUES and evaluate how we are doing thing to be sure that it is in line with our Key Values.
I really think the most imporant thing we need to consider when choosing a leader for our Democratic Party in Texas is:
1. to select a person who comprehends the PRIORITIES the party must have
2. and is skilled at working with others to communicate those priorities and
3. to see that the work is completed which is necessary for translating these priorities into goals
4. and those goals into milestones of accomplishment!
The person at the top need not be able to do everything. But he or she must be able to see the broad picture and be able to work with individuals and groups of people who can do the many things necessary to turn the Party's PRIORIITES, VALUES, VISIONS into realites.
I'd like for others to join in a discussion and let's describe the LEADER WE NEED. PLEASE let's keep names of candidates out of this discussion. This is not to be a Glen Maxey or Boyd Ritchie or Charlie Urbans-Jones roast or campaign blog for anybody. It is to be a forum where we can explore what we think is important in the leader. Let's set aside the campaign rhethoric and really get down to the nitty gritty task of creating a job description for a really effective leader for our party.
There will be few big suprises today as the SDEC is set to give the Interim Chair position to fellow SDEC member Boyd Richie in today's 63 person vote. So what to look for considering that Glen Maxey is not running in tomorrow's election?
-How many votes for Charlie Urbina-Jones
-How many Abstain votes
-Any Maxey votes (none expected as I believe he's told members not to cast any for him)
Also, the Progressive Populist Caucus will be meeting today, and will be endorsing a candidate for the TDP chair vote at the June State Convention. David Sirota, author of "Hostile Takeover : How Big Money and Corruption Conquered Our Government--and How We Take It Back", will be the keynote speaker.
So this weekend, Chairman Soechting officially announced his resignation to the SDEC. A number of other rumors have also been circulating about what all went on.
First of, there is a very detailed report from Bexar County Precinct Chair John McConnell posted at Capitol Annex. Some of the highlights...
The Treasurer’s Report was brief. I believe he stated that income for the period was $256,000, expenses, $233,000, leaving a balance on hand of $23,000. I assume the details are on hand for all to see if they wish. More on this later.
Next Soechting spoke announcing his resignation and dwelling on his need to spend more time with his family and a job opportunity that he could not afford to turn down. He stated that he had asked Ken Molberg to run for Interim Chair, but that Molberg had turned him down to avoid the appearance of favoritism. I was surprised to hear him say that the low voter turnout in the Primary was "No big deal," that we would make up for it in the fall.
Bob Slagle next explained the procedures that would be followed in electing an interim chair at a special session of the SDEC on April 22.at the Red Lion Hotel. He stated that only "statutory" SDEC members would be able to vote as happened the last time this situation arose. SDEC members need to assure themselves that the rights of our add-on members are not being violated. I can uncover no reason why add-on members can not vote on this matter. Someone whose name I am not sure of told me "This is a Bob Slagle decision."
...
A very forceful and dynamic speaker (I did not catch her name, but I want her on my side). gave a report on the 2006 State Convention in Ft. Worth, June 8-10. She said that we would have a Convention to make the Democratic Party proud. There was but one sour note in her presentation—we don’t have enough money to do the job right. Everything depends on the Kick Off Reception and the Blue Star Breakfast to pay the bills.
And then some of John's personaly commentary on the SDEC...
Finally we got to New Business. There was no new business. Again, I was shocked. Not one SDEC member rose to represent the concerns of his or her constituents in the Senatorial Districts. Can it be that there are no problems to be dealt with out there? With a statewide turnout of less than 10%?
A few announcements were made which I couldn’t hear because of people moving about, talking–and leaving.
It appears to me that SDEC members have forgotten that they were elected to represent the Democratic voters in their districts, not as cheerleaders or rubber stampers for the State Chair, Party officers and members of the staff. But that is all they did at this meeting. They cheered, applauded, and voted unanimously to approve everything placed before them.
Other points include SDEC members pledging to support Barbara Radnofsky and defeated State Rep. Jesse Jones of Dallas possibly entering the race for TDP chair soon, following his loss in the March 7 primary. These come from Carl Whitmarsh's post on the events. But as pointed out in an e-mail to me, Whitmarsh's writing does not appear to be wholly accurate.
The parts about Bell and Radnofsky are correct. I didn't hear any rumors about Gammage or Jones. Several of us have talked to Charles about running against Barrick, and I know there are some people in SD13 who are very dissatisfied with Griffin.
