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Former Rep. Suzanna Hupp Calls On Libertarian Candidates to Drop Out

PDiddie — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 22:39:25 GMT

Smells like Republican desperation:

Austin American-Statesman: A former Republican state representative called three Libertarian Party candidates for the state House on Friday to request that they drop out of their races rather than take votes from their Republican opponents.
Suzanna Hupp, who represented District 54 in Central Texas for 10 years, said she made the calls Friday because of concerns that the Libertarian candidates would take Republican votes and ultimately give Democrats control over state and national seats.
"The fact is, we've got redistricting coming up in a few years," said Hupp, from Lampasas, who served in the House from 1997 to 2007, "and if the Republicans lose the (Texas) House of Representatives because there are a handful of people mad at them and vote for the Libertarians instead, then we could be in big trouble at the federal level."

One day later, though, she could only recall two of the three districts (HD-64, incumbent Crownover, and HD-9, incumbent Christian) where she made calls to the Lib candidates asking them to quit.

Total lack of recall strikes again. Hilarious.

Photos from Today's State Democratic Executive Committee Meeting

PDiddie — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 04:12:50 GMT

More here.

Attention SDEC candidates

PDiddie — Wed, 28 May 2008 15:32:46 GMT

... as well as candidates for state party office (including DNC):

Proceed to the Campaign for Change website ...

http://www.followtxdemocrats.org/

and complete the questionnaire there for endorsement purposes. If you have a photo suitable for the Web and a short bio, upload it as a part of the survey and we'll include it in your endorsement. When the Campaign for Change endorses you we will also post your information on the website, which you may download, print, e-mail or otherwise use to advance your candidacy and campaign.

The sooner you submit the questionnaire, the sooner we can endorse you, and the sooner we can help you publicize and win your race!

Individuals selected for endorsement will be given an opportunity to speak at the Progressive Populist Caucus on Friday June 6, from 10:30 until noon, Level 3, Rm. 9, A-B-C.

C for C endorsed candidates include:
Bob Dean
SDEC Committeeman SD 19

I am seeking reelection to the committeeman position for Senate District 19, I have been involved in politics for more than 30 years from election clerk to election Judge to County Chair for 30+ years, and have attended the State Conventions continuously since 1976.

Long time progressive populist even before the PPC was formed, living in West Texas which is a mostly conservative area, I have been able to help a lot of Democrats campaign and I know the activists who can help with the campaigns in several of the Counties here in West Texas.

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Brian Hamon
SDEC Committeeman SD 5

I am a life long Democrat that has been active in the party since my brother was shipped off to Iraq in February 2003. Elected to serve as a precinct chair in Williamson County in 2004, I have been extremely active in my county executive committee. Using my skills as a Senior Software Engineer at a Silicon Valley technology firm, I have found ways to leverage technology to build grassroots organization. I led a team of 25 volunteers who used my web-based distributed phone banking application to drive turnout during October 2006. As a result, Williamson county led the state in early voting turnout and Chris Bell netted more additional votes for governor over 2002 than any other county. In 2008, I coordinated the Barack Obama volunteers in Williamson County, and working with the Obama campaign staff helped engineer a decisive 13-point win in the county. In March, I served as the chair of the county convention credentials committee and managed the largest convention in county history, where more than 1,700 delegates and alternates attended.

I will work hard to recruit quality candidates, demand accountability from TDP staff, and build our organization throughout the district. The SDEC's effectiveness is directly related to the amount of effort invested by those elected to serve. Without a focused and effective SDEC, the voices of Democrats are not heard at the highest levels of the state party. I firmly believe that the diversity of the Democratic Party is what makes this the party of ideas. I will recruit candidates that share our views: that lobbyists and corporations hold too much power, that the wealthy far too easily exchange money for power and then use their power to further enrich themselves, and that the United States must become a better global citizen and find ways to avoid violence rather than allow itself to be perceived as an aggressor, and that immediate dramatic changes must be made now to avoid the cataclysm of global climate change. The Democratic Party is the party of reform. Never has humanity been in greater need of meaningful reform. As a member of the SDEC, I will work to position the party to be an agent of reform.

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Phillip McNutt
SDEC Committeeman SD 4

I am the "ACTIVIST'S ACTIVIST!" Like Governor Howard Dean, I want to reactivate the Democratic Party precinct by precinct, county by county... I am committed to the strengthening of the party. A native Southeast Texan whose family roots go back to Texas' independence, I will actively involve myself throughout Southeast Texas and SD 4. I am a Precinct Organizer, Election Judge, Political Trainer, Co-Founder and Steering Committee member of Democracy For Houston, Texas Majority Builder, Campaign Advisor, event planner, Credentials Chair for SD 4 (Harris County) 2008 Convention, and past Fundraising Chair for the Harris County Democratic Party. My commitment to SD 4 is to put this experience and knowledge to work for the benefit of SD 4 and the Texas Democratic Party.

All of my political actions have been about "CHANGE!" Robert F. Kennedy once stated " Some men see things that are and ask why? I see things that never were and ask, why not?" Progressive change begins within each one of us. I am committed to developing party leadership throughout Senate District 4 so that we can ensure that no Republican runs for office unopposed. I want to bring precinct chair / precinct organizer training to every county. I believe that the Committeman should be accessible and communicate with all Democrats throughout SD 4 on a regular basis.

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Sylvia Samaniego
SDEC Committeewoman SD 20

"Tell me I forget, Show Me, I might Remember, Involve Me I Understand" this is an American Indian Proverb and is basically how I've been approaching life lately, especially in the political arena. Dennis Kucinich's first attempt as a Democratic Presidential Candidate was my introduction to politics. He had so much courage and his platform resonated with me. I wanted to do everything I could to get him elected. I became a precinct chair, joined various groups, protested, wrote letters, campaigned. I firmly believe that when we get people around issues we get more democrats elected.

I'm interested in the Grassroots Committee. I believe that is where our strength lies. We need to get trained and organized but more than anything we need to communicate with our base.

TX exit poll: Clinton 41, Obama 38

PDiddie — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 18:10:08 GMT

Other 17% (presumably Edwards, Dodd, Richardson, and other presidential candidates who have suspended campaigns but remain on the Texas ballot) and Undecided 4%.
This outfit -- People Calling People/Texas Voyager (.pdf, scroll to bottom) -- used an automated interactive call to 408 respondents, self-declared Democrats who have already voted in the March 4 primary. The MoE is 4.85%, and calls were conducted between 6 and 9 p.m. on the evenings of February 26 and 27.

So it's a dead heat.

Neither Kuffner nor BOR, the real gurus for these sorts of numbers, appear to have blogged this yet so opinions as to validity, integrity and so on I'll leave to them and similar experts as to whether or not this is good data.

It seems to contradict the supposition that the "surge x 10" of early voting is driven by the Obama campaign. I suppose we will have to wait and see.

Texas Progressive Populists Caucus annual meeting, Austin 2/23

PDiddie — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 16:51:20 GMT

Please join us for the Progressive Populist Caucus' Annual Meeting 2008: "Texas In Play" with James Galbraith

Keynote Speaker James K. GALBRAITH is the author of Unbearable Cost: Bush, Greenspan and the Economics of Empire.

Professor Galbraith holds the Lloyd M. Bentsen Jr. Chair in Government/Business Relations at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, University of Texas. He serves as a policy advisor to the OBAMA campaign, having previously served in that capacity for the EDWARDS campaign.

When: Saturday, February 23rd from 12-3pm

Where: Conley-Guerrero Senior Activity Center
808 Nile Street
Austin, TX, 78702
Map to Location

Phone: 512-478-7695

All Democrats Welcome (Caucus Membership/Renewal Solicited)

We hope to see you there!

A hangman's noose in the boss' office

PDiddie — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 15:01:58 GMT

A supervisor with CPS Energy (San Antonio public utility) displays a hangman's noose over two separated bibles -- a symbol of white supremacy -- in his cubicle at the downtown office. Photo here. Management has not responded to numerous complaints about it.
Almost as incredible is the fact that the CEO of CPS Energy, "the nation's largest municipally-owned energy company providing both natural gas and electric service", is an African-American, as is the chief administrative officer.

With everything that's been in the news of late regarding nooses ...

KSAT (TV-12) did a report on last night's newscast and there is video also at the link.

Kronberg: "A Hispanic with charisma (and money) will transform Texas politics"

PDiddie — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 15:12:17 GMT

Last week I attended a town hall forum with the editor of Quorum Report, Harvey Kronberg, sponsored by my previous state representative and my current one. Truth to tell, I went mostly to see and hear them. I respect what Kronberg does, I just think there are a few of us New Media types -- such as Charles and Vince -- who do what he does better and without the annoying $300 subscription.

Let me first say that I left with a tremendously increased respect for Kronberg, who after 18 years of following the Lege is probably better connected than anyone. Better than Burka, better than Selby, better than Radcliffe. What I never really got from him before is the insights from all of that history. Most of you know I'm a history buff; "lessons/doomed to repeat" and all that.

In an evening filled with one cogent analysis after another -- at one point I saw even Rep. Cohen taking notes -- the one that kept my ears ringing a week later is the one in the headline. But I'll come back to it in a moment.
Kronberg doesn't get back to Houston all that often apparently, and speaks to the public even less frequently, but the Kaplan Theatre at the Jewish Community Center in Meyerland holds a special place for him. He grew up in Houston, went to Bellaire High School, and his first summer job was as a projectionist "up there", as he pointed to the booth over our heads. He also noted that he was perhaps the only journalist who is also a "practicing capitalist" -- as the owner of two flag and flagpole businesses, in Austin (where he lives) and Houston -- so he knows about the challenges of making payroll, meeting the onerous small business regulations, and so on. This appears to give him, in his media role, the philosophical ability to cross seamlessly from one side of the aisle to the other, keeping amiable acquaintance with both D's and R's while at the same time buffing his non-partisan credentials.

The first observation I noted was that redistricting marginalizes the general election voter. Every two years the voters get to choose their representative, and every ten years (or less) the representatives choose their voters. With the inherently polarizing nature of the redistricting/gerrymandering sausage-making, the end result is that a successful politician is compelled to accede to the wishes of his district's most active voters, i.e. his or her "base", also known as the Democratic and Republican primary voters. Primary voters in both parties are not known to be moderate or centrist. In fact, quite the opposite. Because the districts have been specifically populated to elect and re-elect a Democrat or a Republican, then the real electoral challenge comes -- you guessed it -- in the primary. Thus, in November many contests between the parties are viewed as no contest.

What kind of politician does this produce? The kind viewed as "extreme" -- by both ends of the political spectrum.

The second observation Kronberg made was of the Republican Party at large, not just in Texas -- the social, libertarian, and economic wings of the GOP are splintering, and thus their dominance of government is coming to an end.

He's dead solid perfect in this analysis. Just look at how the xenophobic crackers, the base of the party for too long now, are abandoning Bush and the rest of the Republicans who are pushing for the compromise Senate legislation on immigration.

One of this coffin's final nails will be driven in 2008 by a neoconservative third-party presidential challenge from the likes of Tom Tancrazy or another of that ilk. And the popularity of Ron Paul's quixotic bid among a Kucinich-sized segment of Republicans points out how, *ahem*, "diverse" the GOP is suddenly becoming.

The announcement yesterday of Michael Bloomberg's resignation from the Republican Party -- meant to fuel his own political ambition -- is an example of the moderate conservatives getting out from under the GOP's tent. (I predict we will very shortly see a similar announcement from Joe Lieberman. The only difference is that he stopped being a Democrat years before Bloomberg did.)

Abortion, taxes, property taxes at the state level -- all issues that the social or libertarian or economic zealots feel strongly about, but their respective counterparts grimace in distaste over. That spells doom for the legislative coalition that Jerry Falwell and Ralph Reed and Newt Gingrich cobbled together almost twenty years ago.

(Good riddance to bad rubbish, I say.)

The remaining observations I scribbled down were more Texas-centric but no less accurate: that members in both chambers pushed back successfully against their leadership. Lt. Gov. Dewhurst stepped into a big pile of his own dookie when his office released the letter that was hyper-critical of the Senate's efforts to throttle the voter ID bill. Kronberg noted something that he found to be one of the most profound developments in his tenure of covering the Lege, and that was the Senate's virtual unseating of its leader for a two-week period following the dustup.

Senators, Kronberg noted, operate almost as chief executives of their regions. They have, for example, a near-gubernatorial power to veto the governor's appointments of people -- judges, state commissions, etc. -- who happen to reside within their district's boundaries. Dewhurst, after all those years presiding over the Senate, simply forgot or perhaps ignored the fact that he serves as their leader at their pleasure. And they pointedly reminded him of that fact.

Speaker Craddick's self-inflicted troubles are already well-documented, of course.

One other politically astute thing Kronberg pointed out was the percentage of voters within a statehouse district who opposed Proposition 2 -- the one banning gay marriage, in 2005, which passed with 76% of the statewide vote -- might indicate a district that could be ready to flip from red to blue ... if that percentage was somewhat closer to 50%.

And finally, to the Q&A:

-- Kronberg anticipates a special legislative session over property taxes. And after that, perhaps one on Voter ID.

-- Harvey does not agree with me that Hillary Clinton is bad for Texas Democrats down the ballot in 2008. He says, and I quote as nearly verbatim as possible, that "there are already too many districts voting R at the top and D down-ballot" for this to be a problem.

-- And to the headline, as well as to both the voter ID and the immigration brouhaha, Kronberg noted that he was puzzled by the conservative hysteria over both issues. "Texas Latinos who are legal now and don't vote make up more than 50% of the state's population. The numbers are huge in west Texas." With that comment I suddenly flashed on my experience in Plainview -- hardly "west" Texas, between Lubbock and Amarillo -- as a Junior Achievement counselor at the high school there, and a remark made by one of the school's administrators: that over 50% of the children in grades K-12 were Hispanic. This was in 1988.

Texas, you may recall, became a majority-minority state in 2004.

The Hispanic vote, statewide and nationwide, appears to be waiting to be motivated by the right candidate, I believe probably irrespective of party affiliation. They will be an electoral tsunami, completely altering the political landscape -- once the tide finally reaches the shore. Who will be the candidate that does this? Will it be Bill Richardson?

Or Rick Noriega, perhaps?

UT fires director of financial aid

PDiddie — Tue, 15 May 2007 00:40:50 GMT

NYT has the news. I find some of these revelations extraordinary:

The University of Texas announced today that it had fired the director of financial aid at its Austin campus for improper conduct, saying that he had more ties to a student loan company than were previously known and had begun recommending the lender to students a few months after he purchased stock in its parent company.
The university announced the dismissal of the director, Lawrence W. Burt, who had been on paid leave since April, as it released a 33-page report with more than 100 pages of exhibits prepared by its general counsel. The report provides the most detailed public documentation yet of how lenders sought favor inside a university, and of how one financial aid office responded.
The report described a university financial aid office that was oblivious to conflicts of interest but that kept meticulous track of “lender treats” like ice cream, happy hours and birthday cakes that apparently were considered in deciding whether to put loan companies on lists recommended to students.

The report found that Student Loan Xpress, the company with which Dr. Burt had financial dealings, had the No. 1 spot on the university’s preferred lender list for four out of five years since 2001, even though no employee of the aid office “was able to articulate a compelling case” for that decision. Its customer services to students, for example, were often rated as “average,” while its “visibility” — “based on number of lunches, breakfasts and extracurricular functions” for financial aid staff — was “very good.”
The report found documents showing how lenders sought access to students through gifts to university officials. Just last February, Tom Ramaeker of Access Group, another lender, sent an e-mail message to a financial aid officer to find out whether his company “made the cut” for the 2007-08 preferred lender list. He went on to offer to take Dr. Burt and a subordinate to play golf. ...
It found that Dr. Burt sent an e-mail message to a company representative telling him how he wore a loan company shirt while giving an interview with Fox News. “I did a billboard for you,” Dr. Burt wrote. The loan company official responded by asking about football tickets to a coming university game. He added that he was willing to pay for Dr. Burt’s football tickets to a game and that Dr. Burt could stay at his house.

Progressive organizations host Dennis Kucinich in San Antonio

PDiddie — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 16:28:51 GMT

Progressive Alliance Conference of Texas
Saturday, March 10, 2007
The Toolyard
4500 Wurzbach Parkway
San Antonio, Texas
Progressive Alliance Conference of Texas
March 10, 2007
The Toolyard at 4500 Wurzbach Parkway
San Antonio, Texas

9:30 a.m. Progressive Democrats of America - Texas regional meeting
Julie Coniglio, Director, Texas Region

10:15 a.m. TDP SDEC Campaign Finance Committee proposal

11:00 a.m. Progressive Populist Caucus annual meeting, election of officers, proposed changes to standing rules, awards

12:00 noon Lunch (Box lunches available for $10)

12:20 p.m. Whistle Stop Tour - David Van Os

12:40 p.m. Roy LaVerne Brooks, Vice Chair, Texas Democratic Party

12:50 p.m. Charles Soechting, past Chair, Texas Democratic Party

1:00 p.m. Andrea Schlesinger, Director, Drum Major Institute

1:30 p.m. Impacts of Free Trade to the Progressive Agenda
Panel discussion led by Charlie Urbina Jones
Marc Jacobson, Director, Texas Fair Trade Coalition
David Wells, Sierra Club

2:10 p.m. American Civil Liberties Union of Texas
Marti Garza, Associate Director

2:20 p.m. Progressive Democrats of America - Work of the PDA
Julie Coniglio, Director, Texas Region PDA

2:30 p.m. Progressive Action Alliance - Forming Alliances
Bill Crosier, Co-chair, PAA

2:40 p.m. Veteran's Alliance of South Texas
Dr. Garza

2:50 p.m. Progressive Populist Caucus of the Texas Democratic Party
Sheril Smith, State Chair

3:00 p.m. Congressman Dennis Kucinich and wife Elizabeth, keynote address

To register and reserve a box lunch for $10:
http://www.paa-tx.or...

Top down, or bottom up?

PDiddie — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 23:22:58 GMT

The following is a letter from David Van Os to one of his core supporters following last week's SDEC meeting, where the existence of a campaign/GOTV budget of $400,000 for the 2006 cycle was discussed by finance chair Dennis Speight, prompting questions from several SDEC members.

I asked DVO for permission to reprint it here. I removed only the name of the party to whom it was addressed in order to preserve that person's confidentiality.

I would be interested in BORers' thoughts regarding the ideas advanced here.

The statement that the $400,000 raised by Boyd Richie was "for the statewide candidates" is a falsehood. Whoever told you that lied to you. I am not trying to fight with you, ______. I am informing you that someone lied to you. I have my supposition as to who that someone was -- let's just say the individual is probably one of the SDEC standing committee chairs and part of Boyd Richie's leadership team.
This lie about the $400,000 is one of the party lines they have come up with to try to deflect the grassroots anger over the state party's nonsupport of the statewide ticket. The money was used to support the races of the reportedly 17 state rep candidates who were selected by the TTLA, HDCC, and/or the Trust, i.e., the consultantocracy of Ed Martin, Russ Tidwell, and Matt Angle. The statewide candidates' names, with no message information, were perfunctorily added to "vote straight Democratic" fliers in those districts to give the lip service it was felt would be needed to deflect the anger.
The other party line the insiders are using as a deflection tactic is, "there just wasn't enough money to give any to the statewide candidates." It's not about the party giving money to candidates! It is about the party promoting an environment of support and confidence about the candidates and their messages through its public and press communications. In politics, money follows excitement and hope. It wasn't the TDP's job to give money itself to the statewide or any other candidates. (Though it no doubt did so to some of the favored 17.) But it was the state party's job to build an atmosphere of excitement and hope to motivate potential donors. Some who read this will try to insult my intelligence -- and the intelligence of the fellow statewide candidates to whom I am cc'ing this email -- by claiming the TDP did use its communications abilities to promote the statewide candidates. My fellow statewide candidates and I say that it consciously and deliberately did not seriously do so. I will publicly debate this point, with evidence, anytime and anywhere the insiders want to do so. Ideally, it should be debated in front of the SDEC at the next quarterly meeting. So to anybody who's ready to challenge me publicly and in person -- I'm ready; let's get it on.
I am not talking about promoting just Chris Bell for governor. I am talking about promoting the whole ticket, all the statewide candidates. They were all selected by Democratic voters in the Democratic Primaries. No party officer or staffer has the prerogative to decide that any Democrat nominated by Democratic voters in the Democratic Primary is not worthy of his/her candidacy and message being promoted by the party with vigor and confidence.
Every election the inside consultants and staffers decide which Democratic nominees are worthy of support and which aren't. The party then promotes press coverage and donor interest for those who are selected and tells the others, you're on your own. The process is the most closely guarded ugly little secret in Texas politics.
And what happens? Year after year, good Democrats who offered themselves up for the intense level of activism involved in running for office see that their participation wasn't wanted, so they go away instead of staying around to contribute what they learned in their campaigns to the party's store of knowledge and experience. Likewise, their networks of supporters and volunteers, discouraged at the way the party treated their candidates, go away and don't come back.
And so the downward spiral of non-inclusion goes on and on, and eventually Texas Democrats find themselves unable to defeat an incumbent Republican governor who can't top 40% when a large number of should-be Democratic voters record their accumulated frustration over insider politics by voting for independent candidates.
The issue that arose toward the end of the January 8 SDEC meeting is at the heart of the matter. The Texas Democratic Insiders Consultant Money Party is going to fight tooth and nail to try to beat the pending motion to put the TDP's general election GOTV campaign strategy and budget in the hands of the SDEC. If the SDEC takes control of the process on behalf of the Texas Democratic Party of the People, the favored consultants won't be able to deliver the goods -- favored targeting -- to their principals. If the SDEC takes control, the big money special interests -- such as the mega-trial lawyers -- won't be able to control the party's political expenditures. And -- heaven forbid! -- we might end up with grassroots-directed general election campaign strategies that actually make a whole lot more people who don't have special interests in the process but just want to take our state back feel included and get involved. Then statewide Democratic tickets might actually carry the whole state!
THE TEXAS DEMOCRATIC PARTY IS AND WILL REMAIN A WORTHLESS ORGANIZATION UNTIL AND UNLESS IT KICKS OUT THE INSIDE CONTROLLERS AND CONSULTANTS WHO UNDEMOCRATICALLY PASS JUDGMENT EVERY ELECTION YEAR ON WHICH DEMOCRATIC NOMINEES ARE WORTHY OF PARTY SUPPORT AND WHICH AREN'T.
David Van Os
Fight 'em on the ice.