Thoughts On State Democratic Convention

I've been back home for a couple of days now so I guess it's time to give my thoughts on the recently completed Texas State Democratic Convention in Corpus Christi. On the whole, I would have to say it was a very successful convention -- far less contentious than most I have attended in the past (and I have been attending them since 1988). Those Democrats in attendance seemed energized, hopeful and ready to work their tails off for a successful November election.

I had personally hoped for two things to come out of this convention. I wanted the party to choose a new state chairman and to keep our delegate selection process (commonly referred to as the "Texas Two-Step" because of its two-tiered selection process). I got one of those and I'll just have to live with the other.

The current chairman, Boyd Richie, was overwhelmingly re-elected to another two-year term. I had hoped the Dems would choose someone who would fight for Democrats with a 254-county emphasis rather than the urban strategy of Mr. Richie, but that did not happen. I'm afraid that now West Texas and the Panhandle will once again be written off as hopeless and ignored. That's a shame because if the state party would put some effort into organizing in those areas they would be surprised at how well they could do there.

The fight over the "Texas Two-Step" was probably the most contentious moment of the convention, but in the end the delegates voted overwhelmingly to keep the current delegate selection process. I think that's a good thing. It not only recognizes the choice of statewide voters, but it also rewards the party regulars (the people who do the real work of the party). Since I expect the party to be unified in 2012 behind the re-election of President Obama, I doubt we'll have to address the delegate selection process again until at least 2016 or 2018.

My own Senate District 31 caucus went very smoothly. There were no fights or serious disagreements and our current State Committee members were easily re-elected. The caucus even allowed me to serve as a member of the Credentials Committee. It was my first time on that committee and I really enjoyed it.

And it was also good to re-aquaint myself with delegate friends from past conventions, and to meet new delegate friends for the first time. I want to give a shout-out to former State Committeewoman Harriet Irby of Arlington. It was good to see her (she introduced me to the convention procedures back in 1988 when we were both Jesse Jackson delegates).

Once again the Texas Blogger's Caucus had the best party at the convention. And it just seems to get better with each convention. I'm still recovering from this one but I'm already looking forward to the next one in Houston in 2012. I don't know how they'll make it better than this year's party, but I fully expect that it will be.

It was great to see a lot of my fellow progressive bloggers. I don't get to see them a lot (since I live in Amarillo and that's a long way away from everywhere else in Texas) but it's always a pleasure to see them and swap stories. I especially want to recognize the personal kindness and great writing of Perry from Brains and Eggs, Trey from McBlogger, Vince from Capitol Annex, Kenny from Lubbock Left, Martha from musings, Stace from Dos Centavos, and John from Bay Area Houston. Anyone who wants to keep up with Texas politics really needs to be reading these excellent blogs.

I even thought Bill White (the only statewide candidate I'm not crazy about) gave a pretty good speech, and the other statewide candidates were inspiring. The only downer for the convention was the absence of Hank Gilbert (candidate for Agriculture Commissioner). His mother died and he had to be with his family in East Texas. I wish him and his family well, and I have no doubt he'll be back to fighting for Texas real soon.

It was a good convention, but the fun is over. It's now time to get to work and see if we can elect some good Democrats in November.