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| State Chair Charles
Soechting introduces state House candidates Hubert Vo
and Katie Hubener at convention kick-off reception |
June 18, 2004
Democratic Convention Opens Amid
New Push
to Give Texas Back to Voters in the Middle
By
Mike Hailey
Capitol
Inside Editor
HOUSTON - The 2004 Texas Democratic Convention opens today
as party leaders embark on a new strategy aimed at giving
the state back to voters in the political middle.
The two-day gathering at the George R. Brown Convention Center
in downtown Houston will give the state party an opportunity
to begin reshaping its image and redefining its mission and
goals at the same time it goes about the standard biennial
business of approving a platform, choosing a new slate of
state officers and electing delegates to the national convention
in Boston next month. With their state party having fallen
to its lowest point in modern day history, Texas Democratic
leaders have determined that a shift in strategy is necessary
if they are to have any real hopes of reclaiming some of the
statewide offices and legislative seats they've lost in recent
years to an aggressive, better organized and more focused
GOP.
Party leaders plan to use the convention as a platform
to tailor a message to everyday working Texans who believe
that government should do more than provide benefits to
the downtrodden and tax cuts for the rich. There will be
less emphasis on the poor and more on mainstream Texans
who go to work every day and expect a quality return on
the taxes they pay out of the money they earn. The strategy
would be geared to appeal to moderates while setting Democrats
free from liberal perceptions and labels that Republicans
have applied to them successfully over the years.
The new approach is a calculated gamble that runs the risk
of alienating liberal base supporters who are less worried
about winning elections than they are protecting core values
and programs geared to help society's most vulnerable. But
party leaders appear willing to take that chance amid a
feeling that the Democratic Party lost control of the state
when Republicans won the battle for middle-of-the-road voters
in the state's rapidly-growing suburbs and many rural areas
as well. They are in effect taking a cue from GOP leaders,
who while taking over the state angered their own conservative
base from time to time in order to win the support of independent
voters and disenchanted Democrats.
The new strategy is betting that middle-class, middle-of-the-road
voters hold the GOP to blame for high homeowners insurance
rates, the public school funding crisis and the high number
of children in working poor families who've lost or never
had health insurance coverage. It assumes that typical Texans
are upset about having their tax dollars spent on three
special sessions on Congressional redistricting and a fourth
special session that fell apart when the Legislature couldn't
agree on a school finance plan. The Democrats, in effect,
are banking on a backlash against Republican leadership
and positions advocated since the GOP overthrew the Democratic
Party as king of the hill in Texas. But they say they have
the empirical data to support their belief that a majority
of Texans agree with them on key issues and therefore are
not bound by partisan leanings that may have favored the
GOP in more recent elections.
Democrats will showcase the new course they are charting
on Friday with the convention's first official speaker -
Houston Mayor Bill White - a former Texas
Democratic chairman whose early success leading the state's
largest city has been built on bipartisan themes and appeal.
State Chairman Charles Soechting is expected
to tout the appeal to middle-class voters during the convention
as well. Soechting, a San Marcos lawyer who won the state
party's top job on a temporary basis eight months ago, has
encountered no organized opposition so far in his bid for
a full two-year term. U.S. Senator John Edwards
of North Carolina will speak to delegates on Friday night.
The Saturday lineup includes appearances on stage by State
Senator Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio
and State Rep. Jim Dunnam of Waco - the
leaders of the anti-redistricting fights at the Capitol
last year. Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich
is scheduled to speak to the convention on Saturday as well.
An estimated 6,000 delegates are expected to be on hand
for the two-day event.
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