Joining hands at the Texas Democratic Convention: Let's Turn Texas Blue, ya'll!!!!

One of the vendors at last weekend's Texas Democratic Convention was selling t-shirts that read: I survived the 2008 Texas Democratic Convention. But despite the marathon hours we kept, I have to say that I did far more than survive--I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. Grant it, I am quite the wonk, but I found the mood to be overall, very positive and the process, while admittedly slow, to be fascinating.

What I am most happy to report, will be bad news to any of the Republicans who were hoping that the Obama and Clinton activists would not be able to come together and commit to working towards the common goal of electing a Democrat to the White House in November. Certainly, there were a lot of disappointed Hillary supporters, but throughout the weekend there were numerous displays of party unity, including a moment in which all the delegates on the floor, be they pledged for Obama or for Clinton joined hands in a rather hokey, but heart-warming show of mutual support.

Additionally, there was great emphasis on down-ticket races. We heard from Rick Noriega, candidate for the U.S. Senate, who, with an energized Democratic electorate, has a real chance at ousting that bane of our existence, Senator Cornyn, in the fall.We also heard from a number of candidates who could help tip the balance for a Democratically controlled Texas State House. I was pleased to personally speak with Brian Ruiz, candidate for US House of Representatives, and Diana Maldonado, candidate for State House District 52, and was impressed with both of them.

Of course, this is the Democratic Party, so we were not without our divisions. There was even a move to unseat the current Texas Democratic Chairman, Boyd Richie. It failed and many dedicated Democrats differed with his leadership, but in this year, with so much on the line, disappointment quickly moved to acceptance of the vote and we moved forward. We are going to work with what we've got this year--and you know what? We've got a lot of good people with whom to work.

The Convention Chair, Austin's own, Kirk Watson, showed humor and grace in overseeing an immense, and potentially overwhelming sea of delegates and alternates. His star is on the rise. And when I say a sea of delegates, that is what I mean. While this was my first trip to the state convention, veteran party activists impressed upon me many times that the sheer size of this convention was much larger than any before it.

We also heard from nationally recognized Dems. The one with the largest celeb factor was definitely Chelsea Clinton, who received a standing ovation for her speech announcing her mother's support for Obama the night before Clinton's own eloquent and gracious words. Also of note was Governor Kaine of Virginia, who gave a ringing endorsement of Barack Obama. Virginia is poised to run blue in November. Kaine's speech was not the most energizing of the weekend, but should be noted that a large portion was delivered in Spanish. Obviously, it would be nice to get as many older Hispanics on board (many of the younger generations have already come out in support of Barack). Hopefully, a combination of Hillary's call for party unity and ongoing displays of their value by other national Obama supporters will melt their doubts and lead them to get out the vote for our nominee this fall.

Back home, I have received a barrage of emails from members of the Williamson County Delegation--mostly positive, some a bit whiny about lost races for committee appointments and national delegate slots, but mostly positive. Even the whiny ones were positive in the sense that people care. A couple were very positive, because they made suggestions on how we could better organize in the future. Those are the only ones I care about, because what's done is done and we need to be as affective as possible going forward. Most importantly, I believe is the need to impress upon those who run for the delegate position that the convention is what it is-long, wonkish and involves a lot of sitting around. Some left before important votes were taken, and that should never happen again. It is an honor to represent your precint(s) and it should not be taken lightly. We'll have to make sure that people are informed and understand what they are signing up for. But you know, we're Democrats, so nothing is ever going to be too pretty.

Stay tuned for tomorrow when I report on my take on the caucus for "Immigration and the Economy".