By Faith Chatham - Thanksgiving Day 2016
I am thankful today for people who are kind.
I am thankful for people who understand that no one exists merely to "serve them" or for their personal gratification.
We may serve and we may gratify, but that is not the reason any of us exist.
I am thankful for those who are clear enough in their own minds and hearts
and consistent enough externally
that I do not have to expend excessive amounts of energy trying to understand where they are coming from
or what hidden agenda may detour others (me) who are proceeding along some of the same paths of their journey(s).
I am thankful for no longer being so young
that I am still trying to prop myself up by accomplishments, externals, or other things.
I am thankful that I am part of a network of people of various ages,
and that so many of us with grey hair are still on the road of investigation and awe.
I am thankful that there are experiences, encounters, successes and failures,
overcoming and coasting in the "afterglow" behind me
that give both stability and wisdom and expectation to the present and future.
I am thankful that neither God nor that basic Fr
anciscan formation or the joy of work has ever failed me.
Sometimes the people or institutions or organizations associated with those have come up short,
but they were merely attachments to the whole, and despite the illusions which seem to indicate otherwise, never really "in charge."
I am thankful for light and color and sound and touch and taste.
They create mosiacs which can be entertaining, communicative, comforting or poignant or energizing.
I am thankful that sunsets and sunrises are still new every morning,
that all of us require grace and forebearance and compassion,
that laughter is common and humility not rare among those in “my circle.”
I am thankful that so very many people in my world understand that we are each a part of each other
but none of us are here totally for anyone else’s domination, command or control.
I am blessed by many,
encouraged by some,
and esteemed by a few.
For me this is balance.
I am at times “in awe” of some of you.
Occasionally I am even a bit in “awe” of what comes through me,
especially when in concert with you.
I am thankful for the ability to pick and choose what I work on,
who I work with,
and where I work
and what I work for!
I am thankful that enough people know me
that I do not have to be perpetually presenting myself or “selling myself”
to become involved in projects and causes which matter to me
and where the gifts, abilities and contacts which revolve around me
can easily be part of the mix which makes things better.
I am thankful for the ride we have been on together.
I am in awe of our “Hillary journey” because
I know we are drawn together by shared values,
determination to make the world a better place,
where truth is not shifting political sands but reality based on facts
and substantiated by data and track records.
I am thankful for leadership and comradery.
I am thankful for kindness and for your commitment to kindness.
I am thankful that “kindness” does not morph into silence
or suffering fools to placate
rather than to transform and protect those deserving our support.
I am thankful that we are still growing together as we mourn and
we are working despite the darkness
and endeavoring to keep the wolves at bay
while we are attempting to raise the "window shade" to another, hopefully, better day.
I am thankful for a few of the people who “broke my heart” in previous eras,
because today it is stronger and wiser
and they mattered enormously while we were enmeshed in the same adventure.
I am thankful that despite how sad I am, have been, or can be,
or how long a list I have of things and people that inspire (merit) thanksgiving from me,
I continue to think of others which haven’t been listed yet.
I am thankful for the discernment and ability to include or exclude people, things, causes, experiences
from my plate, wall, circle, portfolio at times and sometimes forever.
I am thankful for knowing others who are discerning in their associations.
I am thankful that I am at last old enough and wise enough to realize
that none of us have to attempt being all things to all people
or allowing all people to take anything they want
any time they wish from us
any way they desire.
I am thankful that despite the deterioration of my body by age,
there are things I still need to learn,
experiences I still need to taste,
and people I still need to meet and be pressed close to for a while.
There is a line in a Phillips, Craig and Dean song that sums up my philosophy of life:
I am thankful that “God’s grace come up fresh every morning.”
Thursday, November 24, 2016
Saturday, November 19, 2016
Cogs which work or break down
By Faith Chatham - Nov. 19, 2016
I am disappointed to learn that the County Chair in Smith County, the largest county in East Texas, decided to step down without giving advance notice to the Democrats in her county. A few years ago, our County Chair in Tarrant County encountered personal conflicts which prompted him to vacate his office between elections. Texas Democratic Party rules specify that a County Chair vacancy is filled between terms by a vote of the pct. chairs at a CEC meeting within 20 days after the County Chair steps down. However in large counties, the best way (thoughtful way) for that to occur is for the County Chair to notify the CEC in advance of the intention to vacate and stay on until the precinct chairs (and hopefully other Democrats in the community) are notified. It is not necessary for the vacancy to be filled by a precinct chair. Notifying the community in advance gives a bigger pool of candidates.
Watching what has /is occurring in Smith County really gives me an even richer appreciation for Steve Maxwell (our previous County Chair in Tarrant) than the rich appreciation I already have for him. Steve absolutely did it the "best way." He assessed his situation and evaluated the needs of the county. He announced his intention several months in advance. He gave the CEC opportunity to announce the date his office would be vacant (several months in advance). He allowed candidates to step forward and to form campaign committees and to compete for his office. There was a public forum at UTA where all candidates who had announced spoke to the public.
They announced in advance what the date would be for the CEC meeting when the precinct chairs would elect the new County Chair and he stepped down once that election was held instead of merly showing up at a CEC meeting and resiging that night!
Also, Steve has remained at Deborah People's side as one of her strongest supporters, advisors and has chaired capital fundraising drives for the party. He is dedicated to the Democratic Party and is invested in seeing that the current chair is as successful in the job as he possibly can enable her to be.
This is how it should be done. I fear that in Smith we are not seeing this kind of transition. I commend Mr. Tolbert in being willing to serve. I regret that the resignation and election occured at the same CEC meeting, and that meeting occurred without an agenda being published and widely distributed in advance announcing an election for replacement of the County Chair. It is also regrettable that it occurred at the very time that Smith County was seeing an important milestone for the Black Community --the installation of Tyler's first Black Fire Chief.
Mr Tolbert needs lots of help. Texans need the Smith County Democratic Party to be robust. I was honored to travel a lot this past year into the many counties in US -TX 1. I was impressed with the hard work and zeal of Democratic volunteers througout East Texas. Crunching the numbers between US TX 1 and the rural East Texas counties of US TX 3, it is obvious that there is a 10 point gain in US 1 over the rural counties in US 3 where no Congressional Candidate ran and /or built infrastructure.
It seemed to me, as an outside observer, that the support and leadership in Smith County did not match some of the leadership of County organizations in some of the other counties in US-1. I saw new political clubs and groups emerge in other East Texas counties in US 1 but not much seemed to be coming out of the Smith County Democratic Party. Smith had a first term County Chair and it takes time to learn the job. Yet Smith is the more “affluent county with the largest number of voters!” They now have another new county chair.
The two most important roles that this County Chair needs to fill are. 1. Parliamentarian. The parliamentarial needs to understand Roberts Rules of Order and know the Rules of the Texas and National Democratic Party backwards, forwards and sideways. This person should be dedicated to the ideals of the Democratic Party and passsionate about ensuring that the process unites instead of divides us. Process is what we rely on as we debate and contest different visions of how we should accomplish what we must for our community, nation and party. I think that if the Parliamentarian had insisted that instead of electing a new county chair Thursday night, they scheduled the election within 20 days and announced the vacancy, the person elected would be on sounder ground than they have propelled this new County Chair into 2. Financial Committee. Without money the Smith County Democratic Party will never be able to reach the voters with the messages necessary to engage and enlist and persuade.
I am so very thankful that in Tarrant, our previous County Chair continues to do everything he can to augment what his successor does for the common good of all of us.
What occurs in the larger counties in Texas impacts people throughout the state. The lack of Democratic turn-out in a few larger counties determines statewide and federal elections. This year Texas was only 600K votes away from giving all of our state's electoral votes to Hillary Clinton! We saw a few resources coming into Texas from the Presidential campaign for the first time in over three decades this year, but they did not reach to most of the counties. The showing that Texas made in GOTV efforts this year is largely due to the zeal and dedication (and enthusiasm) that volunteers have for our candidates and especially for Hillary Rodham Clinton. Instead of waiting for a national campaign to lead or fund GOTV efforts, we saw individuals stepping forward to create, lead, and execute GOTV campaigns. I saw this pattern in East Texas and in other parts of the state. I am very proud of the people I know and what I saw our “rag tag band of determined Democrats” accomplish this year. I wish we’d have more to work with and that we had not been “discounted” so much and ignored so long by so many! I wish more Texans had believed in ourselves sooner and stronger because that lack of faith from within ourselves held us back. Combatting this is one of the most important roles of county and state and national party leaders.
Fundraising and leadership from a few of the larger counties (and Smith is one of the larger counties) either propells us there or moves us away. I watched Shirley McKellar and her volunteers raise the turn-out for the top of the ticket 10 points above what occurred in neighboring counties in US 3 where there was not a Democratic Congressional Challenger working to bring Democrats together to support the ticket. I wonder what might have occurred if the Smith County Democratic Party had been at the top of their game instead of merely 'coasting by.'
Smith is an exceptionally "hard nut to crack" for Democrats. Racism is engrained in Smith. Unfortunately Smith County has lots of company in that. Also, the level of education of the White population in Smith does not seem to be on par with some other parts of the state. More than one in every four children in US-TX1 Congressional District lives in homes where the household income is below the National Poverty Level despite many of these children living in households where both parents work. The unemployment rate in East Texas is among the highest in the state and nation, yet the marjority of voters continue returning the same old people to office! Too many people continue pulling the lever and voting straight Republican while retaining their preconceptions that Democratic liberialism is responsible for their “not getting ahead!” I specifically mentioned “white” because I observed a different attitude between most of the minority and most of the white citizens I met while at the Smith County Fair!
Poverty is not limited to minorities in East Texas. It is obvious from the data and from meeting the people, that it is rampant throughout all racial groups in the region.
I was appalled when I visited the Smith County Fair and spoke with people there. Among minorities it seemed similar to those I met at other events in other counties. When I spoke with whites, as a white woman, I was both shocked and stunned. I felt that many I encountered were more in the socio economic and on the educational level of Appalachia than with other East Texans. As a native daughter of East Texas, I have few illusions. However, I have always seen Tyler as being one of the leading centers in East Texas. Somehow, now, their excellent hospitals, incredible civic institutions and beautiful buildings make less of an impression on me now that I have seen the faces of so very many really poor people who are not thriving, not progessing, and are not voting to promote the welfare of their children or others in the community. Too many people vote against their own best interest in Texas.
The nation knows that Louie Gohmert is not the brighest person in Congress. However, many of the voters in other counties have never met him. In Tyler, there is absolutely no excuse for anyone not knowing him. In Tyler there is absolutely no excuse for the local residents not knowing that he has failed to attract jobs to their communities. It is not just the responsiblity of the candidate who runs against him to communicate the failures of a Congressman to address the needs of the community. The Local and State Democratic Party should be continually calling the failures of incumbents to the attention of the voters through every messaging and 'bully platform" possible. Campaigns are short-term (even though they seem to last perpetually). Party organizations are supposed to be robust 12 months of every year. Campaign committees come and go. The Party should be the RESIDENT infrastructure which leads, builds, messages, fundraises, guides, trains, elists, encourages, inspires.The County Chair must be on his or her game to protect the voting rights of all voters in the area. It calls for perpetually viligance and multi-tasking.
It is difficult to attract Democratic candidates to run for public office in counties where few offices are held by incumbents from their party. The new County Chair in Smith County will have to work to attract candidates. This means he must learn how to support candidates and how to inspire others to support candidates.
I do not envy him. The job is difficult in Blue counties. In Red or Purple Counties is is hundreds of times more daunting. The outcome impact every man, woman and child in Texas, and in Presidential Election years, in the entire nation.
I hope this will cause people in other places to think. I hope that it will inspire those in other places thinking of stepping down to think about the absolutely BEST WAY to go about it and to help make the smoothest transition possible.
My mother taught me when I was in elementary school that it was unfair to nominate a friend for an office unless I was going to do everything possible to help that friend succeed. I wonder how many of the people present at the CEC meeting in Tyler Thursday night are committed to doing everything they possibly can do to enable the new county chair and the Smith County Democratic Party and potential future candidates succeed?
When voting becomes a ‘formality” we are weaked. This year, more than any time in my lifetime, Americans must accept that voting is more than just a responsiblity. It is the survival of everything we hold dear. It isn’t just the election of a President which determines our fate. It is the election and service of everyone of us in a multiplicity of roles and offices and slots from volunteer on a local race up the ladder and up the ticket that makes our process work. We cannot reliquinish the responsiblity because we are discouraged or afraid. When we are disheartened or disgusted is when it becomes even more important than it usually seems for us to redouble our efforts and find better ways of understanding and communicating and enlisting and persuading.
We have to be even more Strategic in Hard to Win Counties, States and campaigns because we don’t have the resources, attract as much outside help, and we get more people discouraging us and others to do our/their part. Perhaps if eventually they abolish the electoral college we will see a bigger push to reach all the states, but even then there will be a discrepancy between the attention that is given areas with fewer Democratic Incumbents. The sad mentality of the Democratic Party is that we ignore the hard to win races and pay the greater attention to incumbents and those running in the bluest places.
It is sad that the patterns prevelant in allocating resources for Democratic campaigns resembles the pattern seen in Eastern Europe during the rise of Nazism. You have heard the story: “They came for the Jews and I watched. They came for the gypsies and I watched. They came for the catholics and I watched. When they came for me there was no one left.” As Democrats in Texas (and in the nation) we have focused on the races we preceived to be the most “viable” for so long that the seats held by Democrats has dwindled so much that there are not enough left to protect us from the policies of Donald Trump. Only supporting candidates in the easiest to win seats has left us with few incumbents! It has also caused us to have fewer “easy to win seats!”
We must develop new ways of viewing the world, viewing our situation, viewing our resources, and developing strategies. It means that we must be more thoughtful in how we conduct our local, state and national party affairs. We can’t go about business as usual. We live in a time when there is no longer a time which is “usual.”
I am disappointed to learn that the County Chair in Smith County, the largest county in East Texas, decided to step down without giving advance notice to the Democrats in her county. A few years ago, our County Chair in Tarrant County encountered personal conflicts which prompted him to vacate his office between elections. Texas Democratic Party rules specify that a County Chair vacancy is filled between terms by a vote of the pct. chairs at a CEC meeting within 20 days after the County Chair steps down. However in large counties, the best way (thoughtful way) for that to occur is for the County Chair to notify the CEC in advance of the intention to vacate and stay on until the precinct chairs (and hopefully other Democrats in the community) are notified. It is not necessary for the vacancy to be filled by a precinct chair. Notifying the community in advance gives a bigger pool of candidates.
Watching what has /is occurring in Smith County really gives me an even richer appreciation for Steve Maxwell (our previous County Chair in Tarrant) than the rich appreciation I already have for him. Steve absolutely did it the "best way." He assessed his situation and evaluated the needs of the county. He announced his intention several months in advance. He gave the CEC opportunity to announce the date his office would be vacant (several months in advance). He allowed candidates to step forward and to form campaign committees and to compete for his office. There was a public forum at UTA where all candidates who had announced spoke to the public.
They announced in advance what the date would be for the CEC meeting when the precinct chairs would elect the new County Chair and he stepped down once that election was held instead of merly showing up at a CEC meeting and resiging that night!
Also, Steve has remained at Deborah People's side as one of her strongest supporters, advisors and has chaired capital fundraising drives for the party. He is dedicated to the Democratic Party and is invested in seeing that the current chair is as successful in the job as he possibly can enable her to be.
This is how it should be done. I fear that in Smith we are not seeing this kind of transition. I commend Mr. Tolbert in being willing to serve. I regret that the resignation and election occured at the same CEC meeting, and that meeting occurred without an agenda being published and widely distributed in advance announcing an election for replacement of the County Chair. It is also regrettable that it occurred at the very time that Smith County was seeing an important milestone for the Black Community --the installation of Tyler's first Black Fire Chief.
Mr Tolbert needs lots of help. Texans need the Smith County Democratic Party to be robust. I was honored to travel a lot this past year into the many counties in US -TX 1. I was impressed with the hard work and zeal of Democratic volunteers througout East Texas. Crunching the numbers between US TX 1 and the rural East Texas counties of US TX 3, it is obvious that there is a 10 point gain in US 1 over the rural counties in US 3 where no Congressional Candidate ran and /or built infrastructure.
It seemed to me, as an outside observer, that the support and leadership in Smith County did not match some of the leadership of County organizations in some of the other counties in US-1. I saw new political clubs and groups emerge in other East Texas counties in US 1 but not much seemed to be coming out of the Smith County Democratic Party. Smith had a first term County Chair and it takes time to learn the job. Yet Smith is the more “affluent county with the largest number of voters!” They now have another new county chair.
The two most important roles that this County Chair needs to fill are. 1. Parliamentarian. The parliamentarial needs to understand Roberts Rules of Order and know the Rules of the Texas and National Democratic Party backwards, forwards and sideways. This person should be dedicated to the ideals of the Democratic Party and passsionate about ensuring that the process unites instead of divides us. Process is what we rely on as we debate and contest different visions of how we should accomplish what we must for our community, nation and party. I think that if the Parliamentarian had insisted that instead of electing a new county chair Thursday night, they scheduled the election within 20 days and announced the vacancy, the person elected would be on sounder ground than they have propelled this new County Chair into 2. Financial Committee. Without money the Smith County Democratic Party will never be able to reach the voters with the messages necessary to engage and enlist and persuade.
I am so very thankful that in Tarrant, our previous County Chair continues to do everything he can to augment what his successor does for the common good of all of us.
What occurs in the larger counties in Texas impacts people throughout the state. The lack of Democratic turn-out in a few larger counties determines statewide and federal elections. This year Texas was only 600K votes away from giving all of our state's electoral votes to Hillary Clinton! We saw a few resources coming into Texas from the Presidential campaign for the first time in over three decades this year, but they did not reach to most of the counties. The showing that Texas made in GOTV efforts this year is largely due to the zeal and dedication (and enthusiasm) that volunteers have for our candidates and especially for Hillary Rodham Clinton. Instead of waiting for a national campaign to lead or fund GOTV efforts, we saw individuals stepping forward to create, lead, and execute GOTV campaigns. I saw this pattern in East Texas and in other parts of the state. I am very proud of the people I know and what I saw our “rag tag band of determined Democrats” accomplish this year. I wish we’d have more to work with and that we had not been “discounted” so much and ignored so long by so many! I wish more Texans had believed in ourselves sooner and stronger because that lack of faith from within ourselves held us back. Combatting this is one of the most important roles of county and state and national party leaders.
Fundraising and leadership from a few of the larger counties (and Smith is one of the larger counties) either propells us there or moves us away. I watched Shirley McKellar and her volunteers raise the turn-out for the top of the ticket 10 points above what occurred in neighboring counties in US 3 where there was not a Democratic Congressional Challenger working to bring Democrats together to support the ticket. I wonder what might have occurred if the Smith County Democratic Party had been at the top of their game instead of merely 'coasting by.'
Smith is an exceptionally "hard nut to crack" for Democrats. Racism is engrained in Smith. Unfortunately Smith County has lots of company in that. Also, the level of education of the White population in Smith does not seem to be on par with some other parts of the state. More than one in every four children in US-TX1 Congressional District lives in homes where the household income is below the National Poverty Level despite many of these children living in households where both parents work. The unemployment rate in East Texas is among the highest in the state and nation, yet the marjority of voters continue returning the same old people to office! Too many people continue pulling the lever and voting straight Republican while retaining their preconceptions that Democratic liberialism is responsible for their “not getting ahead!” I specifically mentioned “white” because I observed a different attitude between most of the minority and most of the white citizens I met while at the Smith County Fair!
Poverty is not limited to minorities in East Texas. It is obvious from the data and from meeting the people, that it is rampant throughout all racial groups in the region.
I was appalled when I visited the Smith County Fair and spoke with people there. Among minorities it seemed similar to those I met at other events in other counties. When I spoke with whites, as a white woman, I was both shocked and stunned. I felt that many I encountered were more in the socio economic and on the educational level of Appalachia than with other East Texans. As a native daughter of East Texas, I have few illusions. However, I have always seen Tyler as being one of the leading centers in East Texas. Somehow, now, their excellent hospitals, incredible civic institutions and beautiful buildings make less of an impression on me now that I have seen the faces of so very many really poor people who are not thriving, not progessing, and are not voting to promote the welfare of their children or others in the community. Too many people vote against their own best interest in Texas.
The nation knows that Louie Gohmert is not the brighest person in Congress. However, many of the voters in other counties have never met him. In Tyler, there is absolutely no excuse for anyone not knowing him. In Tyler there is absolutely no excuse for the local residents not knowing that he has failed to attract jobs to their communities. It is not just the responsiblity of the candidate who runs against him to communicate the failures of a Congressman to address the needs of the community. The Local and State Democratic Party should be continually calling the failures of incumbents to the attention of the voters through every messaging and 'bully platform" possible. Campaigns are short-term (even though they seem to last perpetually). Party organizations are supposed to be robust 12 months of every year. Campaign committees come and go. The Party should be the RESIDENT infrastructure which leads, builds, messages, fundraises, guides, trains, elists, encourages, inspires.The County Chair must be on his or her game to protect the voting rights of all voters in the area. It calls for perpetually viligance and multi-tasking.
It is difficult to attract Democratic candidates to run for public office in counties where few offices are held by incumbents from their party. The new County Chair in Smith County will have to work to attract candidates. This means he must learn how to support candidates and how to inspire others to support candidates.
I do not envy him. The job is difficult in Blue counties. In Red or Purple Counties is is hundreds of times more daunting. The outcome impact every man, woman and child in Texas, and in Presidential Election years, in the entire nation.
I hope this will cause people in other places to think. I hope that it will inspire those in other places thinking of stepping down to think about the absolutely BEST WAY to go about it and to help make the smoothest transition possible.
My mother taught me when I was in elementary school that it was unfair to nominate a friend for an office unless I was going to do everything possible to help that friend succeed. I wonder how many of the people present at the CEC meeting in Tyler Thursday night are committed to doing everything they possibly can do to enable the new county chair and the Smith County Democratic Party and potential future candidates succeed?
When voting becomes a ‘formality” we are weaked. This year, more than any time in my lifetime, Americans must accept that voting is more than just a responsiblity. It is the survival of everything we hold dear. It isn’t just the election of a President which determines our fate. It is the election and service of everyone of us in a multiplicity of roles and offices and slots from volunteer on a local race up the ladder and up the ticket that makes our process work. We cannot reliquinish the responsiblity because we are discouraged or afraid. When we are disheartened or disgusted is when it becomes even more important than it usually seems for us to redouble our efforts and find better ways of understanding and communicating and enlisting and persuading.
We have to be even more Strategic in Hard to Win Counties, States and campaigns because we don’t have the resources, attract as much outside help, and we get more people discouraging us and others to do our/their part. Perhaps if eventually they abolish the electoral college we will see a bigger push to reach all the states, but even then there will be a discrepancy between the attention that is given areas with fewer Democratic Incumbents. The sad mentality of the Democratic Party is that we ignore the hard to win races and pay the greater attention to incumbents and those running in the bluest places.
It is sad that the patterns prevelant in allocating resources for Democratic campaigns resembles the pattern seen in Eastern Europe during the rise of Nazism. You have heard the story: “They came for the Jews and I watched. They came for the gypsies and I watched. They came for the catholics and I watched. When they came for me there was no one left.” As Democrats in Texas (and in the nation) we have focused on the races we preceived to be the most “viable” for so long that the seats held by Democrats has dwindled so much that there are not enough left to protect us from the policies of Donald Trump. Only supporting candidates in the easiest to win seats has left us with few incumbents! It has also caused us to have fewer “easy to win seats!”
We must develop new ways of viewing the world, viewing our situation, viewing our resources, and developing strategies. It means that we must be more thoughtful in how we conduct our local, state and national party affairs. We can’t go about business as usual. We live in a time when there is no longer a time which is “usual.”
Tuesday, November 8, 2016
Hillary Brings Us Together
This is a 15 min. audio op-ed by Faith Chatham. The text was published Monday under the title: "Despite this Bloodbath of a Campaign, We Aren't As Divided As We're Made Out to Be."
You are welcome to repost, broadcast or publish, but please give credit to Faith Chatham.
Sunday, November 6, 2016
Ignorance is no excuse for VOTING STUPID in Texas
By Faith Chatham
Texans have elected some really corrupt obnoxious people to office. For decades they have elected Agriculture Commissioners who barely are able to recognize a cow when they see one let alone know how to help farmers and ranchers; They ignore crimes committed by candidates and elect them Attorney General. They bypass a really smart woman senator and elect an obnoxious bigot who does what he said he would and wrecks havoc on local taxing entities and the state's property tax system in his first term of office. Will they vote Donald Trump into the White House? I honestly don't know. I'd like to believe that the record turn-out in early voting is a surge of folks who have sat on their hands for decades and stayed home instead of getting out to vote. We are having record turn-outs state wide for early voting. It appears that minorities are voting in record numbers. Historically Democratic voters turn up on election day and Republicans win by the Early Voting and By Mail margins. There has been a big push by the Democrats to change those patterns and to get our voters out early.
Heck, The Cubs won the World Series this month. Perhaps Texans will break the pattern and elect the woman who always shows up prepared, having done her homework, to serve people instead of the blow-hard guy in the suit who brags about how many women he's screwed and has ripped off almost every business partner or investor who has ever trusted him. Perhaps they'll actually vote for someone who is skilled in ways that relate to the job instead of the guy who obviously is inapt in every conceivable way related to the tasks that must be accomplished to get what matters accomplished! Perhaps they'll weigh whether electing someone who operates as an agent of theSuperpower Russia is riskier than electing someone who used a private email server (as did her last three predecessors in the SOS office). Perhaps Texas voters will break the pattern and do the right thing for the people of this state and nation. I hope so. I'd also like to wake up and realize that the years Greg Abbot was AG and Rick Perry was Governor were only a bad dream or were an alternate reality and really Texas had sound state government all those years!
I keep reminding myself that I actually lived to see Ceasceau overthrown in Romania, to see the Berlin Wall come down, and now the Cubs win the World Series. Entrenched patterns can change. Perhaps this is the year that despite gerrymandering, enough people will vote for a smart retired military officer phd instead of Louie Gohmert for Congress in East Texas and folks down on the Gulf Coast will choose a decent law enforcement officer over animal house idoit Blake Farenthold. Maybe folks in Houston will listen to the Editorial Boards and retire Culberson who pretends to be for business while voting to weaken Glass Stengall and closing down American manufacturers lender of last resort (the Import Export Bank)!. Returning Culberson to office instead of electing James Cargas makes no sense, but they have done it before, despite warning from the Houston Chronicle’s Editorial Board. Maybe this is the year that they'll ignore party affiliation and look at who is the smartest and more sensible than just who is already in office. Maybe 2016 is the year. Maybe this is the year that we turn things on their head in Texas and break old patterns of electoral stupidity. I hope so.
I remember sitting with my mother in her hospital room watching the overthrow of Ceasceau. I'd made a couple of trips to Romania and the Soviet Union and understood some of the horror the entrenched political leaders in those countries imposed on the people. Here in Texas the majority of my neighbors have persisted in electing people who strip CPS of resources resulting in a perpetually broken Child Protection Service Agency, who transfer dedicated funds from road and bridges and delay maintenance to get folks to think that paying private interests more to build and operate taxpayer funded roads and bridges is sound fiscal policy.
Maybe 2016 is the watershed year in Texas. We don't have the DNA to be perpetually stupid, but for a very long time there is evidence that Texans have been really gullible. Are they gullible enough to believe that a reality TV star who has never done anything for anyone other than himself will actually help lift others out of poverty? Will they wake up and realize that the hype about Texas' continuing prosperity doesn't mesh with the unemployment rate in many of the GOP occupied Congressional Districts?
In Louie Gohmert's district (one of the most beautiful regions of the USA) more than one out of every four children are living in households where the family income is below the national poverty level despite most of their parents working multiple jobs. In the two rural counties of US TX 6 (Joe Barton's district) where the majority of the voters pull the lever for him, the unemployment rates and poverty rates are as dismal. Somehow those who seem to vote Republican for Congressmen in Texas usually live in Districts with the highest rates of unemployment, yet they keep re-electing the same guys who keep on doing nothing constructive to make things better.
When will enough folks wake up? I hope 2016 is the year. I truly hope 2016 is the watershed year and stupidity washes off in waves throughout the Lone Star State.
Texas is not an awful place. We have mountains and sea shores and forests and breathtaking deserts. We have folks with keen senses of humor and compassion. We have authors and poets and musicians and saavy businessmen and businesswomen. We even have some folks who try to do the right thing when elected to public office! We need to elect more folks who not only try, but succeed at doing the right thing. We need to to it now.
On both sides of my family tree, pioneer widow women brought their families to Texas in covered wagons. It takes fortitude to keep your sanity while driving a car load of kids between Virginia or Alabama and Texas today, let alone to move a household from Alabama or Virginia to Texas in a wagon pulled by teams of oxen in 1838 and 1850! Those were tough women on my mom’s and dad’s family tree. I wonder if those women are looking down when their descendants pull the lever for some of the folks I know my relatives vote for? On her death bed my mom told all of her daughters (except Nancy) to go vote. She said that Nancy should stay home. My retired Federal Bureaucrat mom knew Nancy would vote for George Bush!
I encountered Lynda B. Johnson Robb outside of the Wells Fargo Center at the close of the National Democratic Convention this year and we talked about how we’d love for our mom’s “to be able to see Hillary nominated for president”. She said she thought our mom’s were watching “and Liz Carpenter too!” I like to think that the curtains will part a bit and Mollie Ivins and Ann Richards and every American woman who had to get a man to co-sign when she applied for a loan to buy a car or house with her own money or to sell her own property gets a glimpse when this nation finally elects a woman president who will see this nation becomes a much more fairer place for women and girls. I hope this is the election when Texas women stop voting against our own best interest.
I hope this is the year when folks look at what happens in Texas with the same amazement as we felt sitting in that hospital room watching the Berlin Wall fall and Ceasceau overthrown in Romania. I truly hope I can say to the folks who chose the slate of candidates to endorse for Daily Kos that “I kept telling you good Democrats can win challenger races in Texas”. I hope I can show them the election returns to prove it.
Ignorance is no excuse for pulling the lever for Donald Trump this year, folks.
Ignorance is no excuse for not putting the Congressional incumbent's name in a search bar and finding out what he has or hasn't done since the last time you voted for him.
Stop blaming your hometown newspaper for not telling you enough, and use your fingers on the key board to find out what is going on BEFORE YOU VOTE.
For the sake of all of us, stop imposing the most stupid, corrupt people on the rest of the nation!
Who you elect to Congress helps determine what you receive in your pay envelope. It helps determine whether you pay more for health insurance than the rest of the nation. It helps determine whether more children live in poverty in your neighborhood than in the rest of the state because employers are smart enough to avoid districts where stupid incumbents make things harder for businesses and for workers. Who you elect to Congress and to the White House really matters!
This really isn’t a diary. It’s merely the thought that I woke up with, the thoughts that continue haunting me as I work with candidates and travel the state trying to help decent people be change makers in a state and nation worth the effort.
PS. It is not too late to help Shirley McKellar pay for her TV ads to help her defeat Louie Gohmert or to support the Shop and Share GOTV program. To donate: http://bit.ly/TexasButton or http://bit.ly/GOTVTXMcKellar
Wednesday, November 2, 2016
Why did Texans stop voting for Smart People?
By Faith Chatham - Nov. 2, 2016
We sent Ann Richards to the Governor’s mansion, LBJ to the Congress and the White House and Jim Wright to Congress! Now we’ve uleashed Blake Farenthold, Louie Gohmert, Ted Poe, Bill Flores, Ted Cruz and Joe Barton on the nation. What has happened to the cognitive abilities of the Texas electorate? There hasn’t been that drastic a shift in the gene pool, so what gives? Perhaps its from “natural methane emissions” from all that manure or from environmental pollutants from over a hundred years of fossil fuel production?! Whatever, the cause, the reality is that Texas has some exceptionally smart Democratic Congressional Nominees, yet they receive pennies compared to the thousands of dollars that flow into the campaign coffers of egregious Republicans.
2016 is our Year of Opportunity to Crack the Tea Party and Elect More Texas Democrats to Congress
We have Democratic Nominees in 29 of Texas' 36 U.S. House Districts. With the Affordable Care Act, Women's Right to Choose, Pay Day Fairness and ratification of the President's U.S. Supreme Court Nominee on the line and the threat of Donald Trump in the White House, the unthinkable has occurred. No one thought Texas would become a swing state in 2016. Yet it has, and the Democratic party is scrambling to keep up. Outside dollars aren’t flowing into (or staying) in most of Texas’ Congressional District. The Clinton campaign is running some advertising in the largest markets, but most of the state is dark when it comes to Democratic messages. Yet the voters are ripe for the plucking. When the DNC phones Texas donors, if we say “We’re giving to Texas candidates” they ridicule us! No polls were run before the national Democratic Party eliminated all but one of Texas Congressional Districts from the list of “red to blue districts” to receive GOTV resources. As the ground began to shift in Texas, and Republican incumbents started stepping forward to switch party’s. no reassessment was made to deploy more resources. Most Texas candidates are left on their own without assistance with polling, ad buys or consulting. Some continue to fight valiantly.
it is essential that we do our part to change the composition of Congress. Texas Republicans elected some of the nation's worst obstructionists to Congress. 2016 is a year of opportunity for Texas Democrats to change that.
Democrats are usually elected to Congress in Texas during Presidential election years.
The GOP is in disarray
We have highly qualified nominees running in Texas this year
All contributions to the TEXAS FEDERAL BLUE SEED PAC stay in Texas to help our nominees defeat GOP Congressional Incumbents on the ballot in Texas and to keep the White House Blue.
For decades Texans have ignored our Congressional challengers. We give to help Congressional Candidates in other states awhile ignoring our own.
NO ONE CAN SAY THAT TEXANS DO NOT HAVE A CHOICE.
There is a stark Contrast between the 2016 Democratic Nominees for Congress and the GOP Incumbents they are challenging.
One race to keep an eye on is in US-TX 1. TX-1 Incumbent Louie Gohomer (R) vs Shirley McKellar (D) (Maj. ret), PhD
Shirley J. McKellar, R.N., PhD, Maj. (ret) 2016 Democratic Nominee for Congress US TX-6
McKellar is a problem-solver, a communicator, a policy wok, a woman who combines great intellect with a servant’s heart who has never stopped serving her country and community. Gohmert is notorious for blowing off his mouth without thinking. One newspaper publisher in his district told me: “It would take up all our time and resources if we fact checked everything he says, because very little that he says is right.” Reality and what is expelled from his mouth is so frequently incongruous that he is known as “Liar, Liar Louie Gohmert”. Some of Gohmert’s proposals include establishing “colonies” in Texas for the LGBT community “so they won’t contaminate the rest of the population.” He’s argued that women have inferior intellectual abilities than men and girls do not need math and science. Gohmert’s vote on renewing the Charter of the Import Export Bank cost Texas 7,000 jobs and prompted employers to move thousands of more American jobs off-shore.
While the rest of the nation has recovered economically, East Texas still suffers. During the past 12 months over one in four children in the US TX First Congressional District lives in a home where the family income is below the national poverty level. McKellar has a track record of creating jobs in East Texas. Gohmert has chased jobs away. She is running on issues that resonate with people of all political party’s.
Many East Texans see Gohmert as a disgrace. They have a good choice this year. It’s a big district. There are 12 counties in the district that stretches from Tyler to Lufkin. Media advertising is needed to help those who are oblivious get to know the Democratic Congressional Nominee. She has an active phone bank and block walking organization but needs TV buys to bring it “home” for a win.
McKellar has worked consistently and persistently for six years building a political base and the political infrastructure to claim the First District’s Congressional seat from Louie Gohmert. When candidates run in easy to win districts national PACS usually help with the advertising. Except for one District, none of Texas’ GOP held districts at near the top of the nation’s easier to win districts. Candidates in Texas are on their own. The Democratic Party transfers donations by Texans to races in other states.
We are seeing a trend begin of GOP incumbents in Texas changing party’s. The first two judges to switch from the GOP to the Democratic Party are on the bench in US-TX 1.
McKellar has led the GOTV effort for candidates from the top to the bottom of the ticket. Where she goes, things happen. McKellar is endorsed by the AFL-CIO, Texas Federal Blue Seed PAC, and many other progressive organizations.
Polls show that Hillary is neck in neck with Trump in Texas. It has been 40 years since a Democratic Presidential candidate has carried Texas and few expected Texas to be a swing state this year. The most persistent work in East Texas has been by the McKellar for Congress Campaign. Her efforts help draw out voters for Clinton/Kaine. While the state and national party slept, Shirley McKellar was preparing for battle against the Tea Party. She is in place. We need to help her. The only Democratic TV ad buy I know of in US-TX 1 is McKellars. She needs help keeping her TV spots on the air. $200 pays for a spot. $100 goes a long way. $50 helps.
To donate: http://bit.ly/AdBuyETx 5 Comments
We sent Ann Richards to the Governor’s mansion, LBJ to the Congress and the White House and Jim Wright to Congress! Now we’ve uleashed Blake Farenthold, Louie Gohmert, Ted Poe, Bill Flores, Ted Cruz and Joe Barton on the nation. What has happened to the cognitive abilities of the Texas electorate? There hasn’t been that drastic a shift in the gene pool, so what gives? Perhaps its from “natural methane emissions” from all that manure or from environmental pollutants from over a hundred years of fossil fuel production?! Whatever, the cause, the reality is that Texas has some exceptionally smart Democratic Congressional Nominees, yet they receive pennies compared to the thousands of dollars that flow into the campaign coffers of egregious Republicans.
We have Democratic Nominees in 29 of Texas' 36 U.S. House Districts. With the Affordable Care Act, Women's Right to Choose, Pay Day Fairness and ratification of the President's U.S. Supreme Court Nominee on the line and the threat of Donald Trump in the White House, the unthinkable has occurred. No one thought Texas would become a swing state in 2016. Yet it has, and the Democratic party is scrambling to keep up. Outside dollars aren’t flowing into (or staying) in most of Texas’ Congressional District. The Clinton campaign is running some advertising in the largest markets, but most of the state is dark when it comes to Democratic messages. Yet the voters are ripe for the plucking. When the DNC phones Texas donors, if we say “We’re giving to Texas candidates” they ridicule us! No polls were run before the national Democratic Party eliminated all but one of Texas Congressional Districts from the list of “red to blue districts” to receive GOTV resources. As the ground began to shift in Texas, and Republican incumbents started stepping forward to switch party’s. no reassessment was made to deploy more resources. Most Texas candidates are left on their own without assistance with polling, ad buys or consulting. Some continue to fight valiantly.
it is essential that we do our part to change the composition of Congress. Texas Republicans elected some of the nation's worst obstructionists to Congress. 2016 is a year of opportunity for Texas Democrats to change that.
The GOP is in disarray
We have highly qualified nominees running in Texas this year
All contributions to the TEXAS FEDERAL BLUE SEED PAC stay in Texas to help our nominees defeat GOP Congressional Incumbents on the ballot in Texas and to keep the White House Blue.
For decades Texans have ignored our Congressional challengers. We give to help Congressional Candidates in other states awhile ignoring our own.
NO ONE CAN SAY THAT TEXANS DO NOT HAVE A CHOICE.
There is a stark Contrast between the 2016 Democratic Nominees for Congress and the GOP Incumbents they are challenging.
One race to keep an eye on is in US-TX 1. TX-1 Incumbent Louie Gohomer (R) vs Shirley McKellar (D) (Maj. ret), PhD
While the rest of the nation has recovered economically, East Texas still suffers. During the past 12 months over one in four children in the US TX First Congressional District lives in a home where the family income is below the national poverty level. McKellar has a track record of creating jobs in East Texas. Gohmert has chased jobs away. She is running on issues that resonate with people of all political party’s.
Many East Texans see Gohmert as a disgrace. They have a good choice this year. It’s a big district. There are 12 counties in the district that stretches from Tyler to Lufkin. Media advertising is needed to help those who are oblivious get to know the Democratic Congressional Nominee. She has an active phone bank and block walking organization but needs TV buys to bring it “home” for a win.
McKellar has worked consistently and persistently for six years building a political base and the political infrastructure to claim the First District’s Congressional seat from Louie Gohmert. When candidates run in easy to win districts national PACS usually help with the advertising. Except for one District, none of Texas’ GOP held districts at near the top of the nation’s easier to win districts. Candidates in Texas are on their own. The Democratic Party transfers donations by Texans to races in other states.
We are seeing a trend begin of GOP incumbents in Texas changing party’s. The first two judges to switch from the GOP to the Democratic Party are on the bench in US-TX 1.
McKellar has led the GOTV effort for candidates from the top to the bottom of the ticket. Where she goes, things happen. McKellar is endorsed by the AFL-CIO, Texas Federal Blue Seed PAC, and many other progressive organizations.
Polls show that Hillary is neck in neck with Trump in Texas. It has been 40 years since a Democratic Presidential candidate has carried Texas and few expected Texas to be a swing state this year. The most persistent work in East Texas has been by the McKellar for Congress Campaign. Her efforts help draw out voters for Clinton/Kaine. While the state and national party slept, Shirley McKellar was preparing for battle against the Tea Party. She is in place. We need to help her. The only Democratic TV ad buy I know of in US-TX 1 is McKellars. She needs help keeping her TV spots on the air. $200 pays for a spot. $100 goes a long way. $50 helps.
To donate: http://bit.ly/AdBuyETx 5 Comments
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