Texas Democrats reeling after statewide defeats in 2008 campaign

[derby378]

Put simply, we got our asses kicked last night. Instead of capitalizing on the gains we made statewide with the election of Nick Lampson, Ciro Rodriguez, and a slew of new local Democrats in Dallas County and Hays County, Republicans have staged a massive counterattack and blunted our momentum.

No Larry Joe Doherty. No Eric Roberson. No Rick Noriega. And, worst of all, no more Nick Lampson. His district is back in Republican hands ever after suffering from years of DeLayism.

The good new for North Texas is that Carol Kent managed to unseat Tony Goolsby, Chris Turner defeated Bill Zedler, and Robert Miklos beat Mike Anderson by only 527 votes. We have at least three new Democrats in the state house, and now there's talking of trying to unseat Tom Craddick as Speaker of the House. If the state legislature remains majority Republican, however, three new House seats may not be enough.

We still remember what happened with the 2003 redistricting debacle. Texas Democrats are still reeling from this injustice, but our state party has been unable to sustain their momentum from 2006. What this means is that as of this morning, Texas Democrats are in big trouble - and the 2010 census is just around the corner. If we want to avoid a replay of 2003, we need to figure out what our major malfunction is, and fast.

On a happier note, however, let me take you back to a hotel bar in Dallas back in 2004. ginbarn and I were at a Kerry rally, and ginbarn struck up a conversation over drinks with Ken Molberg, who was then co-chair of SD16. Ken inspired ginbarn to seek election as a state delegate and gave her a quick tutorial on the whole process, from the precinct convention to the state convention. It worked. ginbarn wound up at the 2004 state convention in Houston as an alternate, but got promoted to full delegate status in short order. The same Ken Molberg who helped inspire my wife to become a full-fledged Democratic activist has just been elected as judge of the 95th Civil District Court.

Hearty congratulations and thanks to Ken!

[HereSince1628]

1. Until Texas is un-gerrymandered Dem wins are going to be very uphill battles.

I doubt it has much to do with poor Democratic strategy.

[derby378]

2. Boyd Richie may still face a battle in 2010 to remain state chair

A common complaint that I've heard is that the Texas Democratic Party consists of Dallas County, Hays County, and maybe a couple of folks in Austin's HQ. Now, that is of course a gross oversimplification, but Richie has been faulted by some Dems for not energizing a collective statewide effort to support our candidates. This could come back to haunt him at the next state convention.

[girl gone mad]

3. I must have seen 30 Cornyn ads for every 1 Noriega ad.

We still aren't as competitive financially. Religious groups still get out their vote. We were largely ignored by the DNC and the Obama campaign since we aren't a swing state. Big business skews R here because of the good ol' boys oil network. Texas hasn't been hit as hard as other places by the recession.

I'll be interested to see the demographic results. We are becoming younger and more diverse, which I think bodes well for the future.

[derby378]

5. Hurricane Katrina turned Texas into a swing state

So many who were displaced by Katrina made new homes in Texas, and they helped us dislodge Republicans who helped make the deterioration of New Orleans possible.

I blame both our state party system and the Obama campiagn for not capitalizing on this fact and allowing Texas to slip from battleground status right back into the "red" column.

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

30. I NEVER saw a Rick Noriega ad

Of course, I don't watch much local TV. But those damn black and white Cornyn ads were CONSTANTLY on MSNBC.

[TBF]

6. Exactly right. We tried really hard to keep Lampson. I'm in his district.

The "redistricting" is the culprit.

[SoCalDem]

36. Texas Dems should hire Howard Dean to help them turn it around n/t

[ananda]

37. Good idea!

Dean would be a great asset in Texas!

[Horse with no Name]

47. You know when I was sifting through the Texas results last night

I smiled because one of the main people that the gerrymandering sought to unseat was Lloyd Doggett.
Yet still he has hung on because he is one of the good guys and even THAT transcends it all.

[David Van Os]

58. It has everything to do with the strategy

Please see my comment below at post #57.

David Van Os

[desktop]

4. Williamson County got first Democratic State Representative since 1992

A small victory down here in the northern suburbs of Austin, particularly since every other office holder in the county is Republican.

[derby378]

8. That IS encouraging...

Hope that little ray of sunshine inspires more folks in Round Rock, Pflugerville, etc. to take another look at their Democratic candidates during the next round!

[WolverineDG]

16. That's saying a lot right there!

Good work! :patriot:

dg

[LanternWaste]

7. Wendy Davis beat out 20 year incumbent Kim Brimer for...

Wendy Davis beat out 20 year incumbent Kim Brimer for the TX State Senate. :)

[redqueen]

9. I saw effective ads run against him nearly every morning.

Once in a while I'd catch one from his side, trying to defend himself.

Sadly though, Tarrant county went for McCain.

[Horse with no Name]

48. Those were VERY effective ads

and IMHO...what made the difference.

[derby378]

10. Yes!

I'm feeling a little better now... :hi:

[Blue_Roses]

52. this is awesome!

I met her at an Obama meet-up and was very impressed! I'm so glad she won:bounce:

[momrois]

11. The state is changing

but not fast enough to save us this year. Read the comments section in the Houston Chronicle this morning.

http://www.chron.com/disp/discuss.mpl/metropolitan/6096207.html?p=1

If I didn't know better, and if I hadn't spoken personally with many of my fellow Texans, I'd think the state is made up of nothing but racists and ignorant rednecks. I'm hopeful that this will change as it has in other, more enlightened areas of the country.

[scarface2004]

12. we own harris county!!!

better than nothing!

[Woodlands Democrat]

13. 15 years of corruption

hopefully will come to an end in Houston (Harris county)

[ananda]

38. And Travis County is solidly liberal and somewhat radical!

Go Austin!

[chalky]

14. Should WE approach Texas the way Dean approached the U.S. ?

A 50 county strategy? (Or how many counties do we have? Sorry--I suck at Texas geography).
Maybe we've concentrated the campaigns in the larger cities for too long. Time to seek out footholds in rural Texas.

[WolverineDG]

17. Close, but try 254

:)

But yeah, we need a 254 County Strategy!

dg

[David Van Os]

59. A 254 county strategy can be done

[WolverineDG]

64. Yes, David & I'm on board

and I have about 25 Obama people in my county ready to jump in too! :bounce:

dg

[Gman]

31. There was a 49 state strategy

but not a 50 state strategy. I am sick and tired of it. Alaska got more attention than Texas due to the Stevens race.

[Gman]

15. Obama carried Bexar, Harris and Dallas counties

(San Antonio, Houston and Dallas) which is no small accomplishment. Rick Noriega won in these counties too. This is a glimmer of hope. And I am very happy for my good friend, Ken Molberg.

The problems with the Texas Democratic Party began when Bill White overthrew Bob Slagle as the TDP chair and its been a hard fast slide downhill ever since. Like him or not, we were winning statewide elections under Slagle.

Until Texas Democrats learn to quit cowering, and until there is an Obama-like personality that emerges, there is little hope for the TDP. People like David Van Os cower to no one. And where is Karol (I believe his last name is ) Williams from Houston (and i'm not even sure of the spelling of his first name)? Karol is one of the finest young African Americans I've ever met. And there are many others that have the charisma and intelligence to come in and make a difference. But for now, there are no more personalities like Ann Richards any more.

Obama never made one trip to Texas to help any of the down ballot candidates. Not one. This does not sit well with me at all. A visit from Obama could have well made the difference in a lot of races for the Texas House. Quadrannually, Texas is seated at the DNC as far from the podium as can be. The message to Texas Democrats is "give us your money, see ya!".

It takes money and it takes message. Does anyone realize there was as much money contributed to Obama from Texas as there was from New York state? This is all money that could have been used to elect Noriega or take back the Texas House. When and if the DNC and presidential candidates start helping Texas and not just use Texas for an ATM, we will take back Texas. But not until then.

I am not going to fault Boyd Ritchie. Bottom line, it takes money. When Texas Democrats were sending millions and millions of dollars to Obama and zip to the TDP, the fault does not lie with Boyd. The TDP chair is only as good as the resources available. If Boyd had the $7 million to use in Texas that went to Obama from Texas today's news would have been entirely different.

[WolverineDG]

18. This is why I keep my money "Local"

I did contribute to the Obama campaign, but made sure most of my contributions went to Texas candidates.

Until the DNC stops using us as their ATM, I will NOT give any money to any non-Texas candidate.

dg

[Gman]

24. And maybe we need to make that our meme

We need to chastize and shame anyone that will not take care of business in Texas first. Then, if there's money left over, it can leave the state.

The problem is that there are entirely too many political mercenary Democrats that love to fly in the presidential nominee for a quick million dollar fund raiser, no public appearances, then leave. I love them to death, but the Clinton's and their folks have been the worst at this. To Obama's "credit" (or whatever since he didn't spend one second in Texas after the primaries) that didn't happen. But not one day passed that I didn't get at least 5 emails from the Obama campaign asking for money. This has got to stop.

Keep Texas Money In Texas.

[desktop]

20. I don't blame Obama for not coming to Texas

This state produced 6 years of George W. Bush as governor, and 8 years of him as President. As the Dixie Chicks said, I'm ashamed. Texans need to change ourselves through education and grassroots, then the national leaders will come. Our judges and school board members are killing us in this state. Frankly in certain parts of Texas, Obamas life might not be even safe.

[Gman]

28. I do blame Obama for not coming to Texas

Texas Democrats were basically excluded, except for our money. That does not sit well with me. There needs to be a huge push back against sending money out of Texas in the next 2 then 4 years. It needs to become an ethical thing. Texas first ethics.

[WolverineDG]

34. We've been doing this since 2004

how much fucking longer to we have to wait?

dg

[crispini]

21. Delete, dupe

[crispini]

22. Yeah, it was (mostly) ATM time.

I am grateful to the O campaign for leaving 5 or 6 paid Texas staffers around to help.

Hope Molberg's feeling better. I bet he is, today. :D

[MicaelS]

19. Texas Democrats??? Where?

Living in far west Fort Worth I did not see or hear a one. Saw no one passing out flyers. Saw no one holding signs on corners. No one knocked on my door. Only received one single piece of mail, and that was for the Texas Supreme Court, and that was one week ago. Where was the state party telling me who was running for what office?

The sad fact is derby378, that outside of Dallas, Harris, Travis and maybe Bexar Counties, Texas has no Democratic Party.

[crispini]

23. Here's a thought for next time --

Maybe YOU should be the one passing out flyers, holding signs, and knocking on doors.

That's how we did it in Dallas county. Four years ago -- ghost town, a few people standing up. Then, more and more people stood up. And now we're UNSTOPPABLE. :woohoo:

Time to stand up! :patriot:

[Gman]

25. What you did not see was caused by a lack of money

Obama raised more money than any presidential candidate since before George Washington. Not one dime for Texas.

[codjh9]

39. We only lost Hays by 2%

[derby378]

65. Six years ago, I was just like you...

I didn't see anyone in my northern Dallas neighborhood passing out flyers, distributing yard signs, etc. But I started getting active in 2004, and after a lot of encouragement from my wife and little heart-to-heart talk with crispini, I became a precinct chair.

During the 2008 primary, our precinct convention was bursting at the seams with 150 of my Democratic neighbors. At the 2004 precinct convention, we only had maybe 20 attend. But I was responsible for running the convention, and it remains my responsibility to keep in touch with my fellow Democrats and get the word out on Democratic candidates.

So now I'm passing out the flyers, I'm handing out the yard signs, and I'm even organizing meet-and-greets with Democratic candidates. And I served as election judge for our precinct on Tuesday, and I was fortunate to get two of my Democratic neighbors to help out as election clerks. Obama won our precinct, for which I am so happy.

Basically, however, I realized I had to get off my butt and do something.

First thing, I want you to find out who your precinct chair is. If your precinct doesn't have a chair, contact the Tarrant County Democratic Party HQ - don't wait to finish reading this e-mail, go ahead and call them; the rest of this can wait - and find out how to run for precinct chair or even get appointed as precinct chair outright without having to wait for 2010.

Then I want you to find out as much as you can about the Democratic primary candidates in the 2010 election and get the word out about those candidates to your Democratic niehgbors. If you're able to serve as election judge during the primary, do so - and then take charge of the precinct convention afterwards. See if you can get elected as a delegate to the senatorial convention. From there, see if you can get elected as a delegate (or even as an alternate) to the state convention. The more facetime you get with Democrats across Texas, not to mention the candidates themselves, the more motivated and determined you will become.

It all begins with you. Carpe diem!

[a la izquierda]

26. Be happy you don't live north of the Red River. n/t

[desktop]

29. I hear you, lived there for 30 years

I saw the 32 point win for McCain there. Now the second most Republican state in the country, just after Wyoming. Pretty sad. I come from Norman where there are a few moderates left, but the rest of the state is pretty hopeless. If you are going to give the dumbest US Senator in the country, Senator ,Global Warming is a hoax, Inhofe an 18 point win, well they might as well just close the borders to intelligent life.

[a la izquierda]

32. Yeah, I live in Norman too...

Thank god, otherwise I'd just go nuts. Once I finish my PhD at OU, I'll leave. It's sad, because there are aspects of Oklahoma that I really love...

But Inhofe is a mega-dumbass.

[Jakes Progress]

42. I cursed because I had no shoes,

then I met a man who lived in Oklahoma.

[NoPasaran]

27. If I might weigh in

I've been away from Texas this election, unfortunatly, although I did early vote before leaving. And I'm on my way back now.

First, I'm not surprised that Lampson lost CD-22. That was a district drawn for DeLay and we won it in 2006 because the repubs had to run a write-in after Hot Tub Tom withdrew. Even then we had to spend a lot of money. Anyone who didn't think that this windfall would be difficult to defend this cycle was naive.

Let's look at the half-full part of the glass for a moment, shall we? After several sessions with our backs against the wall in the Texas Senate, we actually managed to pick up a seat there. and Chris Bell is leading going into that runoff. While we didn't take back the House yet, we're either tied or just a seat short.

In addition to Obama carrying Harris, Dallas and Bexar, all of which went for the Crawford Caligula last go around, El Paso and Travis stayed Blue. And in Travis County the repubs have just one more elected official than do the Whigs.

And I have to agree with my friend Crispini's post. If there is no one leafletting in your town for our candidates, maybe you need to be that one. No one is going to ride in on a white horse and save us, if we're going to turn Texas Blue we need to wield the paintbrush.

Now let's kick some repub ass in 2010!

[SammyWinstonJack]

33. !

:thumbsup:

[TexasLawyer]

40. Great post

Crispini's post too. We can do it.

[ann_american2004]

35. Well I have a hunch

It might be completely unfounded but--has anyone checked if Hillary supporters remained as Democrat poll watchers, even after they changed their support to McCain? I do know that some active Hillary supporters turned to McCain this election (some stating they hated Obama and sent me and others anti-Obama chain letters) yet I doubt they changed their status from Dem to Rep. or stopped 'volunteering' at the polls.

[Jakes Progress]

43. Oh, goody.

Let's dredge up the primaries. That is always so uplifting and helpful.

[ann_american2004]

50. I know. I apologizes for feeling compelled to bring it up.

I wouldnt normally do that. But I surely hope those who have filed lawsuits against Obama were not allowed to represent the party yesterday. That was my only concern.

[Jakes Progress]

54. And trotting out

you're preconceived, personal little grudges is going to stop that in what way. Admit it. You miss bashing Hillary. The first step is self realization.

[ann_american2004]

56. Actually I defended many HIllary supporters on this forum

edit: to say nevermind. what I saw last night doesnt matter this monring

[Nydari]

41. Its red, but slowly getting *less* red

Someone posted a website last week or so that let you look up your county totals for the past few elections. I'm in Collin and it was something close to this:

2000 - 78% red
2004 - 73% red
2008 - 63% red

That's a 10 point improvement! I mean, sure, it has a long way to go, but its trending in the right direction. I think if some attention were paid to the state it would certainly help move it along.

[dkofos]

44. The major malfunction is and always will be ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES

[Stevepol]

49. Amen!!! But how many posters here even consider it.

TX has a bunch of different machines, but as far as I know nothing is audited at all. It's the home of Premier (read: Diebold) and a half-dozen other malefactors.

Until the vote is fairly counted, TX will remain red. As soon as the vote is fairly counted, TX will suddenly be blue and political scientists will vie with each other coming up with fantastic explanations for the phenomenon.

Of course, it couldn't be the voting machines. That would be a conspiracy theory.

[Horse with no Name]

45. I would like to know how much of it had to do with blatant racism?

Our little redneck county had a 70% turnout...and it was NOT for Democrats.

[sammytko]

63. I believe it is latent racism. I was happy to hear that the early

voters were coming out of the woodwork in my small county - but it stayed red! All the surrounding counties did also, except for Bexar which is home to San Antonio.

A lot of it was the Catholic vote. I heard it was pro McCain, even the young folks because of the abortion issue.

[Greyhound]

46. Fundamental, insurmountable issue, too many fucking redneck assholes.

Keep plugging away, maybe they will move away or there will will a plague or something...
:shrug:

[jwirr]

51. Your loses are our warning. They are not down yet. We need to keep

on our toes.

[Blue_Roses]

53. As much as I can't stand John Cornyn, Rick Noriega's ad's

didn't compare. Cornyn used the "emotional" feel and I think that went over better with voters than Rick's. I hate to see Cornyn win though:argh:

[Jakes Progress]

55. As mentioned above,

it's a matter of money. They had oil, insurance, and "bidness" money. We had a lot of people sending money to the nationals. If we had had Obama push down here, he might have gotten another Democratic senator.

We need a t-shirt. "My money went to the DNC and all I got was this lousy John Cornyn."

[David Van Os]

57. Comment from challenger for Texas state party chairmanship

How can you expect Texas Democrats to win the state if they don't campaign to win the state?

I'm sorry, but a campaign to pick up 5 seats in the lower chamber of the state legislature is not a campaign to win the state.

So long as Texas Democrats continue to listen to the self-inflated consultants and other "pundits" who insist on running targeted campaigns instead of sweep campaigns, we cannot expect a sweep-campaign outcome!

Certainly, the Obama campaign sucked out the potential volunteer base for a statewide sweep campaign by exhorting Texans to campaign in other states, both physically and over phone banks. But I don't blame the Obama campaign. At least they had something for the vast Texas Democratic volunteer base to do. How can we blame the Obama campaign for making use of this huge volunteer base since the Texas Democratic party did not intend to make use of it?

Can anybody identify a single specific action or statement from the State Party demonstrating that it seriously wanted Obama to put Texas in play?

How many of you reading this were delegates to the Texas State Democratic convention in Austin in June? Were you listening when I announced in my campaign speech for state party chair that if elected chair my first order of business would be to go to Chicago and press the Obama campaign to put Texas in play for the national election? If so, did you vote for Boyd Richie anyway when he assured you that if you re-elected him the party would campaign to win Texas for Obama?

I meant it. He didn't.

David Van Os
San Antonio, Texas

(2004 Democratic nominee for Texas Supreme Court)
(2006 Democratic nominee for Texas Attorney General)
(2008 challenger for Texas Democratic Party chair)

[Lisa0825]

61. You had my vote!

:pals:

[WolverineDG]

62. You would have had my vote

but, well, that would dredge up the county convention again.....but many former Hillary supporters showed up on Election Day & worked their butts off getting the vote out for Obama.

dg

[derby378]

66. I was there...

In fact, I organized the Gun Owners Caucus at the convention in June. Maybe you can drop by in 2010?

And I would have cast my vote for you, except (1) I was only an alternate, and (2) even if I became a delegate, my wife fell very ill and had to be hospitalized.

But I definitely understand your frustration. :hi:

[McCamy Taylor]

60. Hello? Did you vote on a paperless E-machine like me in Texas?

The vote in Texas will not be fair until Congress requires that there be a paper trail.

[derby378]

67. No touchscreen machine for derby...

Dallas County used those ESS iVotronic touchscreens for early voting, but I chose to wait until Election Day, when I cast my votes using an actual paper ballot. Our precinct had a huge EV turnout - 1140 early voters as opposed to the 458 who voted on Election Day itself.

I used to do a few magic tricks for fun, and one of them poked fun at Diebold touchscreens. If I ever run into you, maybe I'll have a chance to show it to you.