Texas Democrats revel in DeLay's departure

[Gumby]

Texas Democrats revel in DeLay's departure

FORT WORTH, Texas - Barely a day after leaving office, former House Majority Leader
Tom DeLay was anything but off the hook among Texas Democrats at their state convention Saturday.

"If the sun seems a little brighter today; if our step seems a little bouncier; if life seems a little better today, there's a good reason for it. For the first day in 22 years, Tom DeLay is not a member of Congress," U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards (news, bio, voting record), D-Waco, said as the crowd cheered wildly.

DeLay, a Sugar Land Republican who recently moved to Virginia, announced his resignation in April but made it effective Friday. DeLay faces money laundering charges in Texas, accused in a scheme to route corporate money through the
Republican National Committee to state GOP legislative candidates for their 2002 races.

At the state Democratic convention Saturday, Senate contender Barbara Ann Radnofsky said her opponent, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (news, bio, voting record), hosted some "K Street Project" events â?? a DeLay-backed initiative that pressured lobbying firms to hire Republicans and fund GOP causes.

Then Radnofsky brought out what she called a gift for Hutchison: a Virginia tote bag that she said symbolized Hutchison's relocation.

"I couldn't find a `Virginia is for lovers' bag so that she and Tom DeLay could enjoy themselves," Radnofsky said, later adding that she meant the two "are very closely aligned."

But highlighting what they call the GOP's ethics and policy failures isn't enough, some Democrats said. Edwards said Democrats must do a better job of defining their own party and its values, because "too many of our fellow Texans have been falsely led to think we don't believe in God."

He also said Democrats must quickly "counterpunch" when opponents attack.

Not only was Edwards the only Democrat in a competitive race for office who survived Texas' GOP-led 2004 congressional redistricting, but he was re-elected in the district that includes
President Bush's Crawford ranch.

"I live in the most Republican district in America," Edwards said. "I'm living proof that our message of fighting for average working families is a winning message for Texas and America."

Maria Luisa Alvarado, who is running for Texas lieutenant governor, said Democrats must target the 10 million registered voters who don't go to the polls.

"It's not payback time; it's take-back time," Alvarado said.

Late Saturday afternoon, Democrats elected Graham attorney Boyd Richie to a four-year term as the state party chairman. He had held the post since April, when trial lawyer Charles Soechting stepped down after two years.

Richie had been in a runoff with Glen Maxey, an Austin gay rights activist and former state lawmaker, after none of the four candidates got more than 50 percent of the vote. The other two candidates were Charles Urbina Jones of San Antonio and Lakesha Rogers of Houston.

Earlier Saturday, Hispanic members of the Texas House of Representatives said they were united in opposing the Republicans' proposals for illegal immigrants and had formed a group called Democratas Unidos. The group supports earned legalization that includes background checks and a requirement to learn English.

"Nobody's going to have a free ride," said state Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas.

The Libertarian Party of Texas was holding its annual convention this weekend in Houston. The Republican state convention was last weekend in San Antonio.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060611/...exas_democrats

dont forget this too - http://tomdelaymovie.com/

Gumby Reviewed by Gumby on 06-12-2006. Texas Democrats revel in DeLay's departure Texas Democrats revel in DeLay's departure FORT WORTH, Texas - Barely a day after leaving office, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay was anything but off the hook among Texas Democrats at their state convention Saturday. "If the sun seems a little brighter today; if our step seems a little bouncier; if life seems a little better today, there's a good reason for it. For the first day in 22 years, Tom DeLay is not a member of Congress," U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards (news, bio, voting Rating: 5

[birdgirl73]

THIS Texas Democrat certainly takes joy in DeLay's departure because I believe he's an unethical criminal. I would quite literally crack open a bottle of Cristal if Kay Bailey Hutchison went away, too. She's solid, however, and isn't going anyplace. And I believe she works hard at toeing the ethical line and watching her Ps and Qs, so she won't ever be in the same type of legal/criminal trouble he is.

Unfortunately, the outlook to replace either of them with a Democrat seems hopeless. Our party truly can't seem to unite itself and pull its message together enough to make any headway, and this is an increasingly hard state to make Democratic headway in anyway. I don't expect that to change in this next election--or in the next national one, either.

[minnesota man]

I listened to Radnofsky Sunday morning on Air America radio. I believe it was a local Texas broadcast. During the interview, she read her answers. I'm fine with her knowing the questions before the interview but the reading was monotonous and awkward. To make it worse the radio show theme music played on in the background. The whole production was terrible. I can't even remember anything she said but she did mention the tote bag gimick.

[Bong30]

Tom Sucks.........

how ya doing gumby?

[birdgirl73]

I listened to Radnofsky Sunday morning on Air America radio. I believe it was a local Texas broadcast. During the interview, she read her answers. I'm fine with her knowing the questions before the interview but the reading was monotonous and awkward. To make it worse the radio show theme music played on in the background. The whole production was terrible. I can't even remember anything she said but she did mention the tote bag gimick.

Greetings, Minnesota Man! Was the "she" you're referring to Kay Bailey Hutchison? I just wanted to make sure. If so, I was going to tell you that about 10 years ago she came to speak at a gathering my company hosted, some sort of big economics forum that I can no longer remember the name of. There were various corporate titans and business brains from Harvard and MIT and Wharton. KBH was one of the Texas politicians who came. Martin Frost also spoke.

All the speakers had gotten info packets about the agenda and knew when they'd be speaking and for how long. Most had a half hour of air time to fill. They were all supposed to prepare their own remarks or have their staffs do so, and everyone assumed they'd be eager to do that since this was a pretty big event with lots of press coverage. Just in case they didn't have time, we writers fixed up a one-page sheet of speaking points to provide all the speakers with some ideas in advance.

Anyway, the big day arrived and everyone gathered for the event. And KBH hadn't prepared at all. She arrived with her list of suggested speaking points, which I'm not sure she'd even read. And when her time came to speak, she got up there on the stage and read off the bulleted speaking points very awkwardly, without embellishing or adding anything to them. It was very uneasy-making and sad because she had 30 minutes on the agenda, and she was through with her bulleted list in about 3 1/2 minutes. She asked for questions afterwards, but no one had anything to ask because she'd not said anything. It was a content-free speech. All the "big bidness" types cleared their throats and looked at each other like, "Is this all she's going to say?" And yes, that was all she had to say. Fortunately, some of the other speakers ran long and so we were able to use up the agenda slack she created.

My point to all of this is that I don't believe KBH is much of a speaker or, for that matter, a preparer. The routine read-through must be her standard mode of operation. As a senator, I should think she'd have some original thoughts to share. Or at least I'd hope so. In the years since then, I've always been keen to hear what she has to say when she speaks on the news or on CSpan, but I've pretty well come to the conclusion that she just says the bare, bland, safe, party-line minimum.

[minnesota man]

Hi birdgirl. Interesting story. I was talking about Radnofsky who actually did prepare for the interview because she must have written her answers. I could tell from her conviction and tone. I agree with your assessment of KBH toeing the party line but who doesn't in politics today?

[birdgirl73]

Hi birdgirl. Interesting story. I was talking about Radnofsky who actually did prepare for the interview because she must have written her answers. I could tell from her conviction and tone. I agree with your assessment of KBH toeing the party line but who doesn't in politics today?

Well, Hillary seems to toe both party lines these days! One day she's liberal. The next she talks a big conservative game. She so clearly wants to pull in voters from both camps, and frankly, even though I think she's intelligent and am politically sympathetic, I don't believe she has a snowball's chance in hell. Too many folks hate her too passionately.

[graymatter]

Well, Hillary seems to toe both party lines these days! One day she's liberal. The next she talks a big conservative game. She so clearly wants to pull in voters from both camps, and frankly, even though I think she's intelligent and am politically sympathetic, I don't believe she has a snowball's chance in hell. Too many folks hate her too passionately.

Hey, birdgirl, yes, she does seem to draw fire... a lot of it irrational. I agree with your view; her on the ticket is a sure victory for republicans. Frankly, the majority of Dems voted for the Patriot Act, and they made even more assumptions about what constitutes a Patriot with the "new and improved" bill.

[birdgirl73]

Hi, hon. Yep, she'll divide things even further than they already are. I agree that a lot of the reaction is irrrational.

So if you were going to put someone up for the Democrats who you felt would actually have a chance, who would it be? I'm curious. I'll tell you who I'd like to see, and that's John Edwards.

[graymatter]

Good question, I'm not sure any Democrat combination can win, but Edwards is a practical choice. My Liberal emotions tell me Feingold and Kucinich... any combination of them and Edwards would keep it a more bearable landslide for the Republicans.... Oh, Canada :thumbsup: