The Blue Glow Grows Brighter in Texas

[jeffweemsforRRC]

I have been attending quite a few events across Texas as the summer moves along. There is more excitement, and more participation, than I have ever seen before by Democrats in all corners of the state. We are still 8 months out from the primary, and already the organization is impressive. From the petition signing events in Harris County for the -- get this -- roughly 100 judicial candidates we already have for 2010, to the great crowd at the Bastrop County Party Headquarters Grand Opening, to all the club events across the state during the oppressive heat of the summer, folks are ready to make the change happen. And so am I.

Jeff

And, just in case it is necessary,

Political Advertising Paid for by the Jeff Weems Campaign Fund, Lisa Acord Holzgrafe, Treasurer

[onestepforward]

1. Great news!

I do believe that Texas is leaning more toward blue, just not nearly as fast as I'd like :)

[4dsc]

2. Must be all those Californian's that are moving there...

[kentauros]

13. So, Texans can't be liberal on their own;

they must rely on "outside help" to go blue?

Personally, I'd like to see demographic evidence of this. I've seen too many non-natives stating this as if they have access to that information and aren't sharing...

[sonias]

3. Jeff how's the website coming?

You need an ActBlue page for donations too. It's never too early to start.

:hi:

Sonia

[kentauros]

8. Is it up yet? I'd like to look it over, too.

I've always liked Scott Hochberg's site, even if redistricting took him away from me as a rep. I always liked him. Plus, I use his site to make sure I'm going to the correct polling place in elections. Harris County's voter site is a complete waste of energy and money. If you put up very useful links like that, you'll have more people using visiting your site and lingering to see what else is helpful and informative :)

[jeffweemsforRRC]

9. Not yet.

I want to launch it once - and do it right the first time. We have a place-saver there now at www.jeffweemsforcommissioner.com

I anticipate another 2 weeks or so.

Right now, it is fundraising, fundraising, fundraising.

I'll keep ya'll up to date.

[sonias]

10. I like your logo

Good design - conveys moving forward!


Sonia

[sonias]

4. A good article in the Economist about Texas

Tips to Burnt Orange Report where I picked up the story.

The Economist 7/9/09
A special report on Texas
The red and the blue

Whisper it softly, but Texas looks set to become a Democratic state

THE elected sheriff of Dallas County is a lesbian Latina. The leading candidates to become mayor of Houston in November include a black man and a gay white woman. The speaker of the House of Representatives is the first Jew to hold the job in 164 years of statehood and only the second speaker to be elected from an urban district in modern times. In this year’s legislative session, bills to compel women to undergo an ultrasound examination before having an abortion (to bring home to them what they are about to do) and to allow the carrying of guns on campus both fell by the wayside; a bill to increase compensation for people wrongly convicted sailed through. Lakewood, in Houston, the biggest church not just in Texas but in America, claims to welcome gays. As Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz" might have said, we’re not in Texas any more.

Or at least, not in Texas as we have recently come to know it. A Democratic-voting Texas would be nothing new, but political memories are short, and the blunders of the Bush presidency have coloured global perceptions of what Texas is like. It mostly voted Democratic in presidential elections until 1968, when, alone among the former Confederate states, it went for Hubert Humphrey, and 1976, when it voted for Jimmy Carter. Many of those voters were highly conservative "Dixiecrats" and later flipped to the Republicans. But there has always been a strong radical streak too. William Jennings Bryan was hugely popular in Texas. Jim Hightower, a former Texas agriculture commissioner and the perennial voice of Texas populism, says that "Texas has always been a purple state"—up for grabs by either the red Republicans or the blue Democrats.

:kick: For going Blue! Yes we can!

Sonia

[Manifestor_of_Light]

5. Could you send some of those blue vibes to East Texas, please???

My county went 2/3 for Grandpa/Barbie and 1/3 for Obama.

About 1/3 of the folks here are AA. So I figure 1/3 of the people plus a few white folks (like me) voted for Obama.

Some woman that works at the POST OFFICE told me that "everybody in this town are Republicans".

My partner and I said "We're gonna change that".


:grr:

[jeffweemsforRRC]

7. I am going to work hard in E. Texas

It is my family's home base, although I am in Houston now.

It's all about the economy.

[ashling]

6. I want my blue bluebonnets back

:hi:y'all

[jeffweemsforRRC]

11. It's time for a Crosby Stills & Nash quote

"There's something happening here"

Dinah and I attended three events this weekend. First, the San Patricio United Democrats had a HUGE barbeque Friday night - there must have been 500 people there. The speakers (Henry Cisneros, John Sharp, Bill White and Tom Schieffer) were great - the hosts and hostesses were unparalleled.

On Saturday, we attended the Democratic County Chairs meeting in San Antonio. Heck, they even let me talk to the 70-90 chairs who were there at that time in the morning. Nothing I like more than getting the chance to visit with a group of committed democrats intent on creating the blue tsunami of 2010. I am still working trying to get everything organized from all of the contacts made there.

Finally, on Saturday night, we attended the Kendall County event for Tom Schieffer in Boerne. What a turnout - and what an inspirational talk by Tom.

There is an energy in the electorate - and the activists - that has not been around for a long long time. The voters are fed up with the Republicans' approach, and the party and its workers are dead-set on winning it all in 2010.

Jeff

[sonias]

12. Henry - he could have been a contender

Man how I wish he was available to run.

Glad to see he is out on the trail working though.


Sonia