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Democratic State Convention
June 10, 2008
Beachballing at Democratic state convention
In case anyone has a wish-I’d-been-there feeling about the Texas Democratic Party’s state convention last weekend in Austin, here’s a video flashback from floor action during a break.
I’ll wager there won’t be beachballs afloat at the Republican Party of Texas convention this weekend in Houston.
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June 9, 2008
Texas labor leader switches to Obama
Texas AFL-CIO President Becky Moeller, chosen Saturday to be a superdelegate to the Democratic National Convention in August, has newly urged Democrats to line up behind U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, the presumptive presidential nominee.
At the party’s state convention this weekend, Moeller was a delegate for U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton for president.
“I am confident an AFL-CIO endorsement in the presidential contest will arrive before long, but today I am personally and independently urging Democrats, union members and open-minded independents across Texas to rally around Barack Obama’s historic campaign for the presidency,”” Moeller said in a statement issued Sunday.
“Hillary Clinton’s candidacy made a permanent mark on American political history. As a union activist and as a woman who has fought to break glass ceilings in my career, I joined millions of Americans who saw in Hillary the path to a better, more just society. Democrats in both camps worked to our utmost abilities in this campaign, and it is a tribute to Sen. Obama that he became the presumptive nominee against competition that touched a chord with so many Americans.”
“Now is the time to look at the bigger picture and unite. The issues facing our nation are too important and the gap between the candidates too great to let even the greatest of political primary struggles linger. Sen. Obama has shown he, too, can lead us to a better, more just society. I thank Ron Kirk and all the Obama campaign officials in Texas for declaring that from here on, all Democrats are invited to walk together toward victory in November. At this new juncture, I proudly, wholeheartedly and optimistically support Barack Obama for president. ”
“A new future is at hand for America. We know the path to positive change and we know the path to more of the same. By coming together around Barack Obama’s candidacy, Democrats will write the next chapter in an election for the ages and in the history of our great nation.”
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June 7, 2008
Democratic platform adopted--without a nay
State Rep. Garnet Coleman of Houston watched a moment ago as delegates approved — without a no vote—a revised Texas Democratic Party platform. Coleman, as before, chaired the committee that churned out the 34-page final draft.
One section of the platform takes on the revised franchise or profit margins tax adopted by the GOP-led Legislature in 2006 as part of its finance package to pay for reductions in school property taxes.
“The new ‘margins’ tax is grossly unfair to small business and must be substantially revised to prevent destroying them. It is overly complicated and threatens the financial viability of small employers, which are often the only employers in rural areas.”
I’m not certain, but I suspect such language would be embraced by opponents of the revised tax from the right, including state Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston.
In a section on property rights and eminent domain, the platform demands the closing of “a legal loophole enacted last session that has allowed a private oilman, Republican billionaire and contributor Boone Pickens, to use the power of eminent domain to acquire private property for a private water pipeline and power lines running from the Panhandle to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.” (Peek at an editorial in the Wichita Falls newspaper on Pickens’ activism here.)
Finally the “rights and freedoms” chunk of the platform supports the “protection of free speech, including on the Internet, to ensure equal rights are guaranteed for any individual, business or corporation attempting to access published information.”
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Democrats settle on three added super-delegates
Boyd Richie, the re-elected chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, wouldn’t tell me who he nominated to fill three slots as super-delegates to the August national convention in Denver.
But Garry Mauro, who coordinated Sen. Hillary Clinton’s Texas campaign, said the newbie super-delegates are penciled in to be former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk, who helped steer Obama’s campaign in Texas; Becky Moeller, president of the Texas AFL-CIO (and a supporter of Sen. Hillary Clinton); and Molly Beth Malcolm of Texarkana, a past chairwoman of the state party and Obama supporter. Kirk later confirmed the list.
The once-was-a-Democratic-horse-race punchline: Of the 35 Texas super-delegates, 15 have supported Clinton for president, 16 have been for Obama, and four remain unpledged, as far as I know.
If you read it here first, you’re permitted to say so what.
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UPDATED: Delegates table proposal to change primary-caucus system
UPDATED: It looked like there would be a vote on the convention floor on a proposal to change the Democratic Party’s two-step primary and caucus system for allocating delegates in a presidential election.
Scott Cobb, an Austin delegate who initiated the proposal, collected enough signatures — 30 percent of the delegates — to force a floor vote on the matter.
Before that could actually happen, though, Dallas state Sen. Royce West moved to table the proposal. West chairs a task force appointed by the state party to study the state’s “primacaucus” approach and report recommendations to the party after hearings around the state.
“We plan on making certain nothing is off the table,” West told delegates.
By a roll-call vote, delegates agreed to table Cobb’s proposal. Seventy-nine percent of the delegates voted to table, 21 percent voted against that.
Party officials had said before the convention they planned to wait to act on the primary-caucus system until they had gathered more information from delegates and held public hearings across the state on the issue.
Cobb’s proposal called for allocating the state’s pledged delegates by the results of the primary vote, though the caucus would continue to elect delegates to the local conventions.
Cobb said before the table turn that regardless of the results in the convention, the successful petition effort showed strong support for a change.
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Richie wins, convention proceeds
Boyd Richie won re-election as party chairman, carrying 63 percent of the delegates’ votes. San Antonio lawyer David Van Os snagged 20 percent, with Fort Worth hospice worker Roy LaVerne Brooks getting 17 percent.
“We’re going to get out there in November and turn Texas blue,” Richie said.
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UPDATED: Watson sips clear liquid, wisecracks
Kirk Watson, the Austin state senator chairing the convention, needs to keep his voice hale and hearty. So he’s been sipping from a plastic cup of clear liquid—what the rest of us call water.
Then again, here’s what Watson said a moment ago, after a sip: “Tito’s Vodka is one of the best vodkas. And it’s made right here in my Senate district.”
I’d write that Watson then tumbled clumsily from view, but that would be incorrect—and plain wrong.
UPDATE: Watson spilled his cup a little while later.
“Uh oh,” he said. “I spilled my vodka.”
UPDATE II: Mindful that delegates needed more time to vote on two party positions, Watson said from the dais that he’d grant them three additional minutes. Besides, he said, that would give him time to go to the men’s room.
“Let’s see if both of us can get it done in three minutes,” Watson said, stepping away from the microphone.
Then he was back, adding: “Yes we can.” That’s an Obama campaign chant.
For the record, he made it back in time.
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Richie replies with a rear-end reference
Boyd Richie, asking delegates to give him a second two-year term, didn’t mention his two challengers. Next up is the roll-call vote for chairman and another party office.
He gave credit instead, suggesting Democratic activists have changed the state’s political pulse. “Because of you, there is no such thing as a safe Republican seat in Texas anywhere,” Richie said, overlooking for the moment any races taking place this year lacking in Democratic nominees.
Richie envisions U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, getting a pink slip and, he said, Sen. Barack Obama proving the next president. “Because of you,” he said, the state party has changed into a “lean, mean campaign-winning machine.”
“We’ve got work to do,” Richie said. “Let’s get out there and kick a little Republican rump.”
Yup, he really said rump.
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Stemwindering, two challengers to Boyd Richie
Taking what appear to be longshot runs at denying Graham lawyer Boyd Richie a second two-year term as chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, two candidates spoke to delegates at mid-afternoon Saturday (though the convention floor at the Austin Convention Center appears to be emptying out, slowly but surely).
Neither one of them mentioned Richie by name—though one painted him as way old-school, out of step with the Obama/Howard Dean spirit of campaigning for Democrats everywhere.
San Antonio lawyer David Van Os vowed to get on a plane to Chicago to visit Sen. Barack Obama’s camaign and give them a “toe-to-toe” what-for to spend money on Texas so Texas will turn out votes for Obama and the Democratic ticket top to bottom.
“I am tired of hearing year in and year out that this is another rebuilding year,” Van Os said. “Now is the time to establish from the leadership of this party, the vision, the winning attitude, the shoot for the stars… we will put Texas in play. And I mean it.”
Fort Worth hospice worker Roy LaVerne Brooks, the state party’s vice chairwoman for the past two years, spoke very briefly. Mentioning the late Barbara Jordan, she said: “We can do it together.”
Richie got final say. More on his remarks soon.
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On the floor
Hillary Clinton’s endorsement of Barack Obama brought Hillary supporters — and many Obama supporters — to their feet as a satellite feed of Clinton’s Washington speech played on gigantic television monitors here at the Texas Democratic Convention.
Clinton’s speech was interrupted minutes later by technical difficulties as the satellite feed here in Austin broke down. Boos filled the convention hall, but the program regained its momentum minutes ago as a slate of speakers began to address the convention.
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Obama wins Texas -- finally
Unless Democratic officials say otherwise later Saturday, it looks like Sen. Barack Obama will take 99 Texas delegates to the August Democratic National Convention in Denver with Sen. Hillary Clinton landing 94 delegates based on voting on primary day and at battles starting with the boisterous primary-night caucuses. It took this long to say (that’s three months since the March 4 primary) so for sure because the total depended on which Democratic delegates showed up for this weekend’s state convention.
So ink in the headline for sure: Obama Wins Texas.
That result was solidified this morning as Kirk Watson, chairman of the convention, announced the results of the presidential preferences recorded by delegates signing in for the state convention on Friday. Specifically, 7,239 delegates signed in; 4,144 for Obama (57 percent) and 3,088 (43 percent) for Clinton.
The 99-94 Obama edge doesn’t take in how 35 superdelegates from Texas will vote. Our pre-convention count of them had it 14 for Obama, 14 for Clinton and 4 undeclared, with three spots to be filled after party Chairman Boyd Richie nominates them; he hadn’t done so as of 11 a.m. Saturday.
Again: Obama Wins Texas.
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Andy Brown downtown and on stage
Andy Brown, the new chairman of the Travis County Democratic Party, opened remarks to delegates at the state convention with a look back at late-night, early-morning jousting within the delegation representing most of Travis County.
“It is Travis County custom to always stay until 3:30 in the morning at your Senate District caucus.”
Brown urged delegates—epecially Travis County delegates—to take their cell phones out and text “41411” with the message “tcdp” in order to field updates from the Travis County Democrats.
“This is going to help us out, save us a lot of money in the long run,” Brown said.
Overheard on Press Row: “He’s cute.”
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Clinton remarks to be viewed online at confab
Via a Web site, delegates to the state convention are going to be watching a CNN feed of Sen. Hillary Clinton’s expected endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama for president. (Delegates might land a headache too thanks to the loud sound level on the convention floor at the Austin Convention Center.)
How did we do politics before the Internet? Can’t remember.
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Richie wins endorsement for re-election as chairman
A party committee voted Saturday morning to recommend Boyd Richie’s re-election as chairman of the Texas Democratic Party. The Nominations Committee vote occurred after Richie and declared challengers David Van Os and Roy LaVerne Brooks fielded questions from committee members.
Deep skinny: Twenty-four committee members endorsed Richie’s re-election, out of 29 members in attendance; two were absent. The committee consists of individuals elected by delegates from each of the state’s 31 Texas Senate districts (so it’s not Richie-controlled).
Punchline: Van Os and Brooks will not be recommended to all delegates on the floor Saturday afternoon, though each one can be offered as a candidate by a floor motion.
Richie welcomed the committee result, saying: “If that translates into votes on the floor, I’m in good shape.”
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Johnson family calls for unity
Members of the Johnson family called for party unity at a breakfast held in honor of Lady Bird Johnson this morning that filled four ballrooms and served hundreds of convention guests.
As delegates munched on rolls and sipped coffee, Lady Bird’s grandson Lyndon Nugent said that the former first lady would have encouraged the Democratic party to set aside its internal differences as the fight over the presidential nomination comes to a close.
“She would remind us that by working together we accomplish the impossible,” Nugent said.
“In the end we are all in it together,” he added. “And while we may have difference of opinion we must never forget that united we will certainly stand and divided we will certainly fall.”
Earlier in the program, Lyndon Baines Johnson’s younger daughter praised Hillary Clinton for her contributions to the Democratic Party and then moved on to Barack Obama.
“I was there when my father signed the 1965 Voting Rights Act,” Luci Baines Johnson said. “There were only five African American members of the Congress then and because of this law there are now 42 and Senator Barack Obama is the presumptive presidential nominee of our party.”
“He is wise inspiring, educated, noble and thoughtful — all the chararacteristics we have wanted in our presidents,” Johnson added to resounding applause.
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June 6, 2008
Dunnam's line of the night
State Rep. Jim Dunnam of Waco, chairman of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, stilled the convention delegates for a moment Friday night by telling them it’s a tradition to have a moment of silence for members no longer present (some reporters even stopped typing).
Such as, Dunnam said, pausing: “Tom DeLay.” Hollers and hoots.
“And Dennis Hastert,” the former U.S. House speaker. And former GOP Rep. Mark Foley of Florida. And former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. And Karl Rove. And, “thank god, George (W.) Bush,” Dunnam said, fast-forwarding the political calendar about seven months. Nobody hollering in the hall seemed to notice.
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Chelsea Clinton arrives as Watson rouses crowd
Chelsea Clinton has arrived at the Texas Democratic Party convention, the party is letting reporters know. Word spread as state Sen. Kirk Watson, the convention’s temporary chair, roused delegates at the Austin Convention Center.
“Democrats have come together because we must,” Watson said.
“This is our time and this is our cause,” he said.
It’s a speech loaded with imagery — to be posted if we field a copy.
It’s also likely to be overshadowed overnight, at least, by Clinton’s message to the Texas delegates, a message that’ll echo on cable TV for at least 24 hours, I forecast.
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At least one Republican infiltrates Dem confab
At least one Republican managed to get a starring role at the state Democratic convention.
Ed Maycen of Kyle landed the plum post of captain of the honor guard bringing flags onto the floor at the opening of the convention.
Maycen said, though, that he’s not absolutely sold on U.S. Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican and presumptive GOP presidential nominee.
“I’d make him more conservative,” Maycen said, singling out immigration as a topic where McCain is too loose.
The five members of the honor guard are comprised of veterans from conflicts in Vietnam to Iraq, Maycen told me.
PS: The last Democratic presidential nominee to win Maycen’s vote was Jimmy Carter, 1976. That also was the latest year a Democratic presidential nominee carried Texas.
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Hopes for unity in Chelsea Clinton's speech
As the hours count down to Chelsea Clinton’s appearance tonight at the Texas Democratic Convention, Hillary supporters are hoping that the former first daughter’s speech will bring unity to what has often been a divided and bitter race.
“I just want to see the Democratic Party get together and not fight each other,” said Clinton supporter Frank Villarreal of Corpus Christi. “There’s a lot of issues, but we can get around it.”
Monica Rodriguez, a Clinton alternate from San Antonio’s Senate District 26, echoed those sentiments, but said she also hoped that Hillary would keep her candidacy open until the national convention.
Others hoped Chelsea Clinton might make an announcement about her own political intentions as well.
“She’s an up and comer too,” Clinton alternate Vaughn McCarty said. “Maybe 10 years from now we’ll be voting for her.”
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Former Democratic nominee trolling as reporter
Tom Ramsay, the former Texas House member and 2002 Democratic nominee for Texas agriculture commissioner, made a stop-the-presses sacrifice to attend this weekend’s state Democratic convention.
He’s registered as a reporter for his hometown newspaper, the Mount Vernon Optic-Herald.
The cowboy-hatted Ramsay said: “It’s the only way I could get in” to the convention.
He was referring to high-spirited Democrats snatching up all available delegate, alternate, guest and VIP passes.
See the paper here.
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She's got Obama on her arm
Belinda Vaca caused quite a stir when she walked into the Hispanic Caucus this afternoon with Barack Obama — or a life-sized reproduction of him anyway.
Vaca, an Obama delegate from Harlingen campaigning for a seat on Texas’ delegation to the Democratic National Convention, set off an series of cheers and boos which resolved itself into simultaneous “HILL-A-RY” and “O-BA-MA” chants in the heavily pro-Clinton caucus.
Surrounded by a bank of reporters and photographers following her appearance at the caucus, Vaca complained about the caucus’ reaction to her poster and called for Hispanics to unite around Obama.
“They need to get behind him now, and he should be able to pick who he wants for vice president,” Vaca said as a photocopied Obama beamed at onlookers. “And I would not pick Hillary because she will poison him or gosh, who knows.”
“I’m not voting for him because he’s a black man,” Vaca added. “I’m voting for him because he’s an American who knows how to play well with others and he’s going to unite us.”
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The lunch-box vote
Plenty has been said about the record number of young voters coming out to primaries and caucuses for Barack Obama, but what about the pre-teens and grade school students?
With many delegates driving to the convention from hundreds of miles away, quite a few children are tagging along with their parents. Some are just along for the ride; others were decked out in campaign paraphrenalia and singing the praises of their candidate.
David Gould, 10, who was volunteering at the convention with his mother and twin sister on Friday afternoon, said Clinton is the best candidate to “get us out of the war.”
Not all his fourth-grade classmates feel the same way, though.
“I’ve been asking many of my friends who they’re for,” said David, who said that his classmates often talk about the presidential race. “One is really against Hillary. He’s going to move to Mexico if Hillary wins.”
Asked what he thought of Obama, David frowned and made a thumbs-down sign.
His mother, Jennifer Gould, laughed sheepishly.
“Now, I’ve been trying to teach them that they should stay open to their options,” she said.
Gould, a Clinton supporter like her son, said she has been trying give her twins a political education, taking them on campaigns throughout the Midwest and bringing them to Austin with her.
“I really don’t want them to think of [politics] as a personality thing,” she said. “I want them to know all the things behind this.”
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Noriega speaks at Hispanic Caucus
Rick Noriega, democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, just gave a brief speech at the Hispanic Caucus at the Texas Democratic Convention to resounding applause and the occasional mini-foghorn blast.
“This election will not be about the Obama family. It will not be about the Clinton family. It will not be about the Noriega family,” he said as hundreds of caucus-goers prepared to elect a chair and vice-chair. “This election will be about those Texas families in south Texas who still don’t have health insurance … this election will be about our kids who still can’t go to college.”
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'From the courthouse to the White House'
“From the courthouse to the White House” — that refrain is the already well-worn battle cry that has emerged from the Texas Democratic Party Convention.
And to make that across-the-ballot victory happen, party leaders know they need the Texas Democratic Women, which held a women’s caucus Friday morning.
“I usually wear a little button the says: ‘Roosters crow, hens deliver’,” party Chairman Boyd Richie told more than 300 women at the caucus meeting.
By the number of women wearing yellow Hillary Clinton T-shirts and hats, a good number of the women in room might be a little less enthusiastic about the White House ticket than the were just a few days ago.
“Some of us are seeing a little red right now,” State Rep. Veronica Gonzales said. “Hillary has been picked on.”
Delegate Chalet Jean-Baptiste, a Dallas college professor, was not buying it that women support only Clinton.
“Don’t put us in a box,” said Jean-Baptiste.
“You have to vote what fits right for you,” agreed fellow Dallas delegate Michele Holmes.
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The smoker's caucus gets wet
Here at the Texas Democratic Convention where there’s a caucus group for everyone — East Texas Democrats, Progressive Hispanics, Texas Military Veterans — one core Democratic voting bloc has literally been left out in the rain.
Banned from smoking inside the convention center, groups of cigarette-toting delegates have taken to congregating outside the convention center, talking politics while they take drags on their Marlboros.
“This is a smoker’s caucus,” Clinton Delegate Jeff Johns said laughing as he sat outside with two other smokers — also Hillary supporters — discussing what they would do now that Clinton seems to be dropping out of the race.
“Obama’s got a lot of admirable qualities,” Priscilla Wofford of Dallas said. “When you start looking at McCain’s record and his statements, it’s just a continuation of what we’ve had.”
“I’m just going to vote for whoever gets the Democratic nomination,” said Gentry Powell of Amarillo, who had just met Johns and Wofford on this cigarette break.
And would Johns vote for McCain if it came down to Obama and McCain?
“Smoking is the only politically incorrect thing I do,” Johns said laughing.
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"O-BA-MA, O-BA-MA"
Some Obama supporters have been trying all morning here at the Texas Democratic Convention to get a chant started with little success, but for about ten seconds just now, about 15 Barack-fans got an “O-BA-MA, O-BA-MA, O-BA-MA” going.
Most convention-goers didn’t react — the buzz of thousands people milling around the convention center nearly drowned out the effort — but a duo of Clinton supporters, looking peeved, turned around from a Velocity ATM machine and started chanting in response: “HILL-A-RY, HILL-A-RY.”
No response from the crowd. Obama, 1. Hillary, 0.
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Democratic chairman faces two challengers
Boyd Richie, a lawyer from Graham, stands to face two challengers as he seeks election to a second two-year term chairing the Texas Democratic Party during the party’s state convention opening Friday evening in Austin.
Richie’s opponents are both lively figures who would automatically rate as longshots if this were a typical Democratic confab peopled by activists accustomed to teaming up and going forward together. My point: The wild card in this convention is the impact of many newbie delegates who just might leap to a new chairman or chairwoman — just to stir things up.
Roy Laverne Brooks of Fort Worth, elected vice chair of the party two years ago, has been stumping for a spell. She told me the other day that Richie has consistently treated her with disrespect — at one time advising her that her role was to sit tight and be quiet at executive-level party meetings.
“I feel like the good ol’ boy system is excluding women from the table,” Brooks said. “I am running to turn Texas back to blue. I know I can truly make a difference and he can’t.”
Richie said he never told Brooks anything about her role. He also said he has no relationship with her, period.
There’s a subtext tussle afoot here, too, that boils out to whether Richie will recommend that the convention choose Brooks to fill one of three available super-delegate vacancies to attend the party’s national convention in Denver in August. Turns out, Brooks has been told, that’s her only avenue to attending the national convention, because she’s due to be replaced as the state vice chair by Saturday night.
Richie told me that Brooks has not asked him to be recommended for one of the superdelegate slots, though he’d consider her if she did so. “This is a convention we need to be focusing on unity and starting the healing process with regard to this long primary season. That’s what I would like to see,” Richie said. “But she is free to do whatever she’d like to do. And I don’t hold any ill will regarding that.”
Here’s her site and below is her video pitch:
The other declared candidate is David Van Os, the feisty San Antonio attorney who was the party’s 2006 nominee for Texas attorney general.
Van Os committed to trying for the chairman’s mantle on Thursday.
His declaration:
“Dear Fellow Democrat:
“At the urging of many grassroots Democrats from across Texas, I respectfully offer my services to you as your next Texas Democratic Party Chair.
“In 2006 as the Democratic nominee for Texas Attorney General, I personally met with voters at every one of the 254 county courthouses in Texas, from Orange to McAllen to El Paso to Dalhart to Texarkana and every county seat in between. I did this because every voter counts and every part of Texas counts. The Texas Democratic Party must campaign in 100% of Texas and when I am State Party Chair we WILL conduct a 254-county Democratic campaign.
“Time and again I have spoken out for the Texas Democratic Party to support 100% of the Democratic candidates at every level of government, and when I am State Party Chair we WILL campaign to SWEEP Texas for our national, state, and county tickets, instead of merely targeting a few legislative districts as the present leadership of the Party has unfortunately done in past elections.
“In each of my runs for statewide office as a Democratic candidate (Texas Supreme Court, 1998; Texas Supreme Court, 2004; Texas Attorney General, 2006), I took on powerful Republican incumbents in uphill battles, never flinching, never retreating; confronting the corrupt and the greedy 100% on behalf of the people. When I am State Party Chair we WILL carry the fight to the robber barons and corrupt profiteers on behalf of the people of Texas.
“Time and time again I have spoken out against backroom dealing and insider control within the Texas Democratic Party because I insist that the Democratic Party belongs 100% to all Democrats equally and must be self-governed as a democratic institution. When I am State Party Chair all of us together WILL self-govern this party democratically and openly.
“For 32 years I have worked as a union-side labor lawyer and Constitutional lawyer, fighting for workers’ rights and defending the Constitution, putting my principles 100% into my work. I’m a Life Member of the NAACP and a member of the ACLU because I am 100% determined to preserve and defend civil rights and the Constitution.
“I’m a lifelong Democrat, having attended every state convention since 1976; having served as a precinct chair, a county chair, and a club chair; having volunteered on numerous campaigns; and having run for public office as a Democrat; because I believe 100% in the principles and values of this Party.
“And I am 100% determined that the Texas Democratic Party deliver in November and carry this state for our Presidential ticket, for our U.S. Senate candidate Rick Noriega, for our statewide judicial candidates, and for every other level of government on the election ballot.”
Footnote: Glen Maxey, the former Travis County member of the Texas House, challenged Richie in 2006. He’s not intending another run this time; Maxey is in charge of making sure delegates for Sen. Barack Obama do what they need to do at the convention in Austin to sew up a majority of the state’s 228 delegates to the party’s national convention in Denver.
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Some Clinton supporters say 'no' to Obama
Although anticipation of Hillary Clinton’s expected endorsement of Barack Obama tomorrow seems to have dampened campaign fervor nationally, Clinton supporters in Austin are still enthusiastically supporting her — some even saying that an Obama ticket would not get their vote.
Clinton Delegate Linda Seeliger from Austin, who clutched an “Austin 4 Hillary” sign as she waited to enter the convention space this morning, said Clinton’s expected endorsement of Obama has had no effect on her enthusiasm for Clinton’s candidacy. Many Clinton supporters, Seeliger said, might even stay home from the polls if Obama gets the party nod.
“We’re going to take direction from her — what she wants her supporters to do,” said Seeliger, whose friend and fellow Clinton delegate Judith Gedalia nodded in agreement. “But we’re not going to vote for Obama unless she’s on the ticket.”
Gedalia said she was unsure whether she would vote for McCain or stay home from the polls — but others had already made that decision.
Maryann Martinez of Houston, a Clinton alternate, said she would cross party lines and vote for McCain if Obama turns out to be the Democratic nominee.
“I will always choose my country over a party,” said Martinez, who added that she supports Hillary because of her love for Bill Clinton. “I really think Obama is the worst thing that could happen to this country.”
Martinez, who said she has been a lifelong Democrat, said FOX News’ reports on Obama and “all of the trash” that the network has unearthed has convinced her that McCain would be a better choice for the presidency.
“I’m a patriot. I served in the U.S. military. And I respect John McCain for all the service he did,” Martinez said. “I think he’s a good man. I don’t really see him as an opposing person.”
Not all Clinton delegates were ready to abandon Obama, though.
Estelle Aleman of Midland, a Clinton delegate, said she will vote for whichever Democrat ends up on the ticket. She said that most Clinton supporters she knows would do so as well, and that people who would do otherwise were “narrow-minded.”
“It does bother me that some people think that they’d rather go McCain than (Clinton) just because she didn’t win. That’s sad.”
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June 4, 2008
Eyebrow raiser: Virginia governor at Dem convention
In what I take as a strong sign that Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois will not be swinging through Austin this weekend, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine has been announced as a speaker at the Texas Democratic Party’s state convention.
Kaine—whose left eyebrow should be a landmark—is an Obama campaign national co-chair. Translation: He’s a “super surrogate,” meaning he stands in for the candidate when called upon.
Kaine’s stop could take away attention from Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Rick Noriega, the Houston state representative who is likewise penciled in to speak on Friday.
Here’s a look at Kaine speaking in Iowa, saying he was the first major public official outside Illinois to endorse Obama for president:
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Live online, Democratic spokesman to yak
Can’t get enough info about the upcoming state Democratic convention? KOOP FM, at 91.7 on Austin’s dial, plans to quiz Hector Nieto, spokesman for the Texas Democratic Party, from 2:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. today.
Listen online by going here.
“The Texas Democratic Party has had a good year so far,” write promoters of the station’s fairly new program on Texas politics. The show, Texas Politics Today, is co-hosted by Deece Eckstein and David Kobierowski.
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June 3, 2008
Austin resident's "dangerous" pitch to Texas Democrats
Kinaya Ulbrich, who lives in Austin’s Clarksville neighborhood, knows she’s in for a battle to make it to the Democratic National Convention in Denver this summer as a delegate for Sen. Barack Obama.
Thousands of delegates to this weekend’s Texas Democratic Party state convention in Austin seek to be considered for 190-plus national delegate slots to be filled this Saturday. Some are sending e-mails to delegates pitching their loyalties to their candidate and their political strengths. Others have sent “snail mail” letters — and stumped delegate to delegate (think drive time).
Ulbrich reminds delegates that she’d be serving as a national delegate and representing a neighborhood founded by a freed slave.
A good bet: She’s sure to stand out just as much for her online Obama pitch to the song “Dangerous” by Kardinal Offishall. It’s here:
“These are very exciting times,” Ulbrich said. “I feel like I’m a part of history in the making!”
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