(For all those headed to the State Democratic convention in Corpus Christi next weekend. - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
In just two weeks, this year's state Democratic Convention will be held in Corpus Christi (June 24-26). We finally have the complete list of caucuses for the convention, starting with the Senatorial District Caucuses and moving to the Issue/Organization Caucuses:
SENATORIAL DISTRICT CAUCUSES
Friday, June 25
3:00-5:00 pm
SD 1: Exhibit Hall B (1), 1st Floor, American Bank Center
SD 2: Riviera 1, Lobby Level, Omni Marina
SD 3: Room 225C, 2nd Floor, American Bank Center
SD 4: Riviera 2 & 3, Lobby Level, Omni Marina
SD 5: Room 226, 2nd Floor, American Bank Center
SD 6: Room 227, 2nd Floor, American Bank Center
SD 7: Padre Island Ballroom A-B-C-D, Lobby Level, Omni Marina
SD 8: Watergarden A (1), 2nd Floor, American Bank Center
SD 9: Room 103, 1st Floor, American Bank Center
SD 10: Bayview Ballroom D, 2nd Floor, American Bank Center
SD 11: Corpus Christi Ballroom A, 3rd Floor, Omni Bayfront
SD 12: Nueces Ballroom B, Third Floor, Omni Bayfront
SD 13: Bayview Ballroom B, 2nd Floor, American Bank Center
SD 14: Bayview Ballroom A, 2nd Floor, American Bank Center
SD 15: Room 225 DE, 2nd Floor, American Bank Center
SD 16: Bayview Meeting Room, 1st Floor, Omni Bayfront
SD 17: Marina View, Lobby Level, Omni Marina
SD 18: Corpus Christi Ballroom C, 3rd Floor, Omni Bayfront
SD 19: Selena Auditorium, Rehearsal Hall, American Bank Center
SD 20: Bayview Ballroom C, 2nd Floor, American Bank Center
SD 21: Room 105, 1st Floor, American Bank Center
SD 22: Nueces Ballroom A, 3rd Floor, Omni Bayfront
SD 23: Watergarden B, 2nd Floor, American Bank Center
SD 24: Watergarden A (2), 2nd Floor, American Bank Center
SD 25: Corpus Christi Ballroom B, 3rd Floor, Omni Bayfront
SD 26: Room 225 A-B, 2nd Floor, American Bank Center
SD 27: Room 101-102, 1st Floor, American Bank Center
SD 28: Riviera 4 & 5, Lobby Level, Omni Marina
SD 29: Room 104, 1st Floor, American Bank Center
SD 30: Exhibit Hall B (2), 1st Floor, American Bank Center
SD 31: Aransas Room, 3rd Floor, Omni Bayfront
ISSUE/ORGANIZATION CAUCUSES
Friday, June 25
9:00 - 10:00am
Progressive Hispanic Caucus, Bayview Ballroom B
9:00 - 11:00am Democrats with Disabilities, Bayview Ballroom D
Democrats for Life, 225 C
Gun Owners Caucus, Room 104
Non-Urban Caucus, Room 226
Reform the TDP Caucus/Primary Process, Room 225 D-E
10:00 - 11:00am Mexican American Democrats, Bayview Ballroom B
Tejano Democrats, Arena
10:30 - 11:30am UAW Caucus, Bayview Ballroom A
11:00 - 12:00pm Hispanic Caucus, Arena
Local Communications and Outreach Coordination, Room 103
11:00 - 12:30pm Small Business Caucus, Room 106
11:00 - 1:00pm Clean, Fair, Public, Voter-Owned Elections, Room 225 C
Coalition of Black Democrats, Watergarden B
East Texas Democratic Caucus, Room 226
Texas Democratic Veterans Association, Bayview Ballroom C
Texas Democratic Women, Bayview Ballroom D
Texas Environmental Democrats, Room 101-102
West Texas Coalition of Democrats, Room 227
11:45 - 1:00pm TX AFL-CIO Labor Caucus, Bayview Ballroom A
12:00 - 1:00pm #TDPSC Tweet-Up, Room 104
12:00 - 2:00pm Education Transformation with State Representative Mike Villarreal, Room 103
Muslim Democratic Caucus, Room 105
Technology Caucus: Democratic Caucus on Computers and Communications, Rehearsal Hall
Texas Blue Dog Coalition, Bayview Ballroom B
12:30 - 2:30pm Texas Stonewall Democrats, Watergarden A
1:00 - 2:00pm Energy Caucus, Room 101-102
State House District 17, Room 227
Jewish Caucus, Room 226
1:00 - 2:30pm Democrats Against the Death Penalty, Room 225 D-E
Texas State Teachers Association, Room 225 A-B
5:00 - 6:00pm Asian American Democrats, Watergarden B
(Remember, after the close of the polls next Tuesday at 7pm there are precinct conventions! Not as busy or sexy as the 2008 presidential caucuses but important for the structure of our party. - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
Big tip of the hat to MarkCamann
Purposes of a resolution 1. To memorialize someone recently deceased.
2. To congratulate a person or group.
3. To amend the Rules of the Texas Democratic Party (TDP).
4. To amend the TDP Platform.
5. To urge Democratic elected officials, especially in the Texas Legislature and the U.S. Congress, to advocate certain positions on policy issues. As the delegates assembled at the state convention are the highest authority within the TDP, such resolutions should carry weight with elected officials as the consensus of the grassroots of the party.
I didn't realize it when I woke up this morning, but today was a day of American Political Renaissance.
Today's delegation breakfast was accompanied by some awesome speakers: Rick Noriega, Paul Begala, Eddie Bernice Johnson, Kirk Watson, and Chris Bell. All the speakers were excellent, but Paul Begala particularly impressed me with his wit, energy and passion when he spoke about uniting the party.
We picked up our credentials and signed in for the roll call vote at the hotel. Many of us got our pictures taken while signing. (There was a little fuss about making sure the votes were legit, and having an observer there, yada yada... But Boyd Richie handled it pretty well.
I didn't have any plans for the morning, but I met an antique store owner on the light rail to downtown. She had a list of things to do, so I joined her. She had a lot of good conspiracy theories to share! She also had a key chain set of 7 keys - a mock of McCain's ambiguous homes.
We ended up watching an independent film called "Trouble at Water". It was a documentary about a lady from the 9th Ward who not only survived Hurricane Katrina, but she filmed her own documentary before, after, and during the disaster.
Quite frankly, I never really thought about the implications of how FEMA/Bush Administration handled New Orleans. You could say, I gained an important perspective that I did not have before...
Now, how do I begin to describe what it feels like to have been at the Pepsi Center tonight? Should I start with the Roll Call Vote and how Arkansas unanimously gave all their votes to Sen. Obama? How N.J. did the same? Or should I talk about how Sen. Clinton brought grown men to tears when she motioned to end the Roll Call?...
Capital City Young Democrats will be hosting a fundraiser this Saturday, June 28, 2008 from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. at the home of Kim Hokanson and Vincent Cho in Austin, Texas. This fundraiser is in honor of CCYD members who are going to the National Convention in August, including delegates, an alternate, and a new DNC member! Proceeds will help convention-goers with the costs of traveling to Denver.
Now that one of the most remarkable primaries in our nation's history has concluded, attention is turning to the Democratic National Convention in Denver. In less than three months, the Mile High City and the Rocky Mountain West will host this historic event for the first time since 1908.
The Convention also coincides with Denver's 150th birthday - a
century-and-a-half of progress and innovation since its birth at the height of the Colorado gold rush. A hub of opportunity for people seeking new frontiers, people come to Colorado seeking much more than gold these days. The spirit of visionary zeal and limitless possibility is as strong as ever in the New West. So it's fitting that as the Democratic Party marches toward its own new frontier, it will do so through Denver.
A message to all of you in Texas: you don't have to be in Denver - or on the Convention floor - to get in on the action though. The Denver 2008 Convention Host Committee has organized two interactive ways for people anywhere in America to get involved. We're convening a national conversation about democracy and community and invite everyone to participate.
At this year's state convention, the resolutions committee approved what was probably a record-breaking number of resolutions (approximately 100). Although most of these didn't come up for a vote on the convention floor, the remainder have been sent for consideration by the State Democratic Executive Committee.
The temporary resolutions committee met two weeks before the convention and considered the approximately 2,000 resolutions approved by county or senatorial district conventions. This task would have been nearly impossible without the monumental work by Carl Betancourt. He prepared for the meeting by organizing all the resolutions by topic, and determined how many senatorial districts had passed each resolution.
At the temporary resolutions committee meeting, which was chaired by SDEC committeeman Dr. Dennis Teal, members divided up the topic folders of resolutions, selecting what they felt were the best resolutions for the committee to vote upon. About 180 were recommended to the permanent resolutions committee. Resolutions on matters pertaining to the party rules were forwarded to the rules committee. Resolutions concerning the primacaucus or superdelegates will be forwarded to an ad hoc committee chaired by State Senator Royce West, whose committee will recommend rules changes for the 2010 convention. The 180 resolutions recommended to the permanent resolutions committee were photocopied, with one copy going to each member of the permanent committee. Those that were not recommended, including those that were not selected for a vote, were kept in the folders so that the permanent resolutions committee members could still act on them, if they chose to do so. An index was compiled of those resolutions recommended to the permanent committee.
The permanent resolutions committee, consisting of one member elected from each of the 31 senatorial districts, and three members appointed by State Party Chair Boyd Richie (one of these appointees being Vince Leibowitz) met on Saturday, June 7 from 8:00 am to nearly 6:00 pm, with a 30-minute recess during the state party chair vote, and two 5-minute breaks. Dr. Teal chaired the permanent committee also, and the committee was greatly assisted by SDEC committeeman Bill Perkison, who had compiled a database to track all of the resolutions.
The operating procedure for the permanent resolutions committee was for each member in turn to offer a single resolution for discussion and a vote. When necessary, a subcommittee was created to rewrite the resolution and bring it back for a vote. We managed to get through only three and a half rounds, so that each committee member had a chance to offer at most four resolutions for a vote. About a hundred resolutions were approved by the committee, a result that could not have been achieved without the extensive work of Mr. Betancourt and Mr. Perkison, the skilled leadership of Dr. Teal, and the dedication of committee members to do their business expediently.
(You certainly can't complain about a shortage of things to do tonight in Austin as the State Convention delegates arrive. - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
It's time for Texas Democrats to come together to defeat John McCain and take back the White House for the Democrats!
To help encourage party unity, Obama and Clinton suporters are teaming up to host a "Unity Pub Crawl" tonight to welcome statewide convention delegates to Austin. Both the Obama and Clinton campaigns are hosting parties at nearby bars on Red River Street, and the goal is to encourage Texas Democrats to intermingle and kick-start the unity process.
This Unity Pub Crawl is within walking distance of the Hilton Hotel, so come join us tonight as we "paint Red River Street blue"!
When:
8:00pm - midnight Thursday, June 5
Clinton Anchor Party:
Bull McCabes Irish Bar 714 Red River St Featuring Hillary Harp Pints and Irish Mules with a Clinton Kick
Obama Anchor Party:
Club de Ville 900 Red River St Ron Kirk will speak at 9:30pm Featuring Obama-rama Ritas and Barack Beers
2008 will be a Democratic year, and the unity process starts tonight!
(If you have some time tonight, drop by the Austin Convention Center to help out! - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
Over 15,000 delegates and alternates are attending the state Democratic convention this weekend, and we need your help.
We're trying to stuff welcome bags for every delegate, and we've made significant progress today. Our goal is to finish these bags tonight, so if you have some time this afternoon or evening, please come volunteer at the Austin convention center, exhibit hall #4. (It's located on the Trinity Street side of the convention center.)
Tonight is the night that Obama became the "presumptive Nominee." The timing could not be more interesting for the Texas Democratic Convention which convenes June 6. I cannot help but wonder what this means for all the pre-convention negotiations between Obama Delegates and Clinton Delegates, block voting, people who are considered party "regulars" and people who feel that they finally got a voice in the party.
On the other hand, the convention is not just about Presidential politics; it is about building the Texas Democratic Party of the future- and on this our concerns should be united on the basis of what our most common beliefs are; not the beliefs that separate us as Clinton and Obama supporters, but the beliefs that separate us aa Democrats and Republicans. At the convention we should be looking to put together the best teams to move Texas forward.
Nationally, Texas has a significant impact. However, the impact of our local choices in Democratic leadership, candidates, policy and strategies are something that we not only have greater control over, but can indeed have a significant impact on our day to day lives and the quality of life we enjoy in our cities, neighborhooda, and schools.
So, while we wait for the National party leadership to make peace or not with the results of the primaries, our selection of leaders for both the Texas Democratic Party, its committees and Senate Districts should reflect the peace and cooperation we need to move forward productively and that we want to see at our Party's National level. In our Counties and even in our precincts, neighborhoods and clubs, where the differences between colleagues supporting different Presidential choices have made things tense, it is time to come back together, and show our National Party leaders how to unite. We can afford nothing less.
Dot Nelson Turnier
dothcdp@earthlink.net
Harris County Democratic Party
www.hcdp.org
(can't wait to see you all there - promoted by Matt Glazer)
At long last, we have an issue caucus schedule for the TDP convention in Austin next month - all meetings are scheduled for Friday, June 6 and all rooms are located in the Austin Convention Center unless otherwise indicated.
