[Texas Leg] Craddick out as Speaker

WOOHOO!

 

Still a long way to go but this may the start of something great.

 

Good. Get rid of all the vestiges of Delay's power play.

 

Great day for Texas. Surgery was successful.

 

Great news indeed. In a dramatic shift in GOP fortunes in Texas, a Republican Speaker was elected largely because of Democrats, not Republicans.

Bravo!

 

More on the dramatic shift in party politics in Texas, focusing on the Texas House, in this instance. The change in the Speaker can't be overstated for its impact on the political landscape. It will affect how committee chairs are selected (we'll see some Democratic ones) and a return to the days when they had significant power in the House. Straus will have a real focus on returning comity to the Lege and there won't be a repeat of the mid-term redistricting DeLay, Craddick, and Perry pushed through, while Dewhurst was busy asking how far they wanted him to bend over. Heck, instead of spending so much time on narrow, divisive social issues and the deliberate GOP aim to destroy traditional Texas Lege bipartisanship, there will be a return to members actually working together for the common good of the state. Just wait and see.

All of you who have constantly repeated the claim that voting for a Democrat was a waste of time in Texas, that your vote was meaningless because it is a "Republican state," are being shown just how wrong you were. The turning tide has strengthened. It is becoming a Texas Flood. A surge of Democratic blue. Enjoy!


POLITICS

Democratic group lays groundwork for House change
Operative plays key role in helping party pick up seats, oust speaker.
By Jason Embry

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF


Tuesday, January 13, 2009

If Republican Tom Craddick ever makes a list of people to blame for the fact that his tenure as Texas House speaker officially ends today, he should include a Washington-based operative who is leading the effort to remake the Democratic Party in Texas.

Matt Angle leads the Texas Democratic Trust, which since 2005 has poured millions of dollars into efforts to increase the staff of the state party and related groups, find credible candidates and pinpoint voters who might be sympathetic to the cause. The 87-63 majority that Republicans enjoyed in the Texas House in 2005 has shrunk to 76-74.

The Democratic surge helped cripple the speakership of Craddick. Republicans loyal to Craddick were replaced by Democrats who wouldn't support him, and some of the remaining Republicans blamed the speaker for their smaller majority. A majority of Democrats followed the lead of 11 Republicans and pledged support to the GOP's Joe Straus. The formal vote on a speaker will occur shortly after the Legislature convenes at noon today.

Angle and others associated with the trust say Democratic candidates deserve the most credit for the party's gains in the House. Other organizations, such as Annie's List, which supports female candidates who favor abortion rights, played key roles. (In Central Texas, Annie's List supported the election of Diana Maldonado of Round Rock and the re-election of Valinda Bolton of Austin, for example.) But the Democratic Trust provided crucial dollars, research and ideas, especially considering that six Democrats won Republican House seats in 2006 and 2008 by fewer than 1,000 votes.

"There are a lot of people who disagree with Matt Angle," said Harold Cook, a consultant who has worked for the trust. "But I'm not sure anyone could look you in the eye and say Matt Angle doesn't know exactly what he's doing. Because he does."

Fred Baron, a Dallas trial lawyer who died in October, founded the trust and provided most of its early funding. Of the nearly $8 million that the trust raised between July 2005 and November 2008, $5 million came from Baron. Lisa Blue, Baron's widow, is committed to helping the trust "complete its mission" by donating and finding new donors, Angle said.

As director of the trust, Angle, a longtime aide to former U.S. Rep. Martin Frost of Texas, has final say over how to spend the money. The trust usually distributes it to a few key groups, such as the Texas Democratic Party, before it reaches candidates.

One of Angle's first goals was to bolster the staff of the state party. He and others also went to work on rebuilding the party's voter file, which records where voters live and how often they vote. The files were kept up to date when Democrats controlled state government, but by 2005, with no Democrats in key state jobs, the records were growing stale.

Angle and other operatives updated the 12 million records in the file with more accurate and comprehensive information. For example, they surveyed some voters on the issues, looked at their voting histories and available data about their consumer habits (whether they have hunting licenses, for instance) and tried to determine their likelihood of voting for Democrats.

"Now you can go into every precinct and communicate with the people who are most likely to be for you," Angle said. "And just as importantly, you can go to people who are undecided and talk to them about issues that might persuade them."

Trust leaders also focused squarely on state House races, instead of statewide contests, with the goal of winning a House majority by 2010.

Democrats increased their ranks by one member in 2004, so the party had momentum before the trust was launched. But those gains accelerated when Democrats picked up six seats in 2006 and netted five more by the end of 2008.

"The huge wave of trial lawyer money ridden by Democratic House candidates is by no means a new concept," said Hans Klingler, a spokesman for the state Republican Party. "What is new is the efficacy of those resources utilized by groups like the Democratic Trust.

"Republicans are going to have to acknowledge this parity of resources and redouble our grass-roots efforts."

In addition to Baron's contributions, Houston trial lawyer John Eddie Williams has given the trust $500,000, and Richard Mithoff, also from Houston, has given $180,000.

Since the number of donors has grown (19 the first 10 months of 2008, compared with three in 2005), Angle said he's confident that the trust can continue to raise amounts comparable to when Baron was alive. The next goal is to field a credible slate of candidates for statewide offices in 2010.

"It is realistic. I also believe it's a challenge," Angle said.

And he isn't done with House races.

"Our job is to have a Democratic speaker of the House," he said.

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/01/13/0113democrats.html

 

i think we lost one seat by only a few votes. we could have a had a complete tie in the house.

 

I generally really like Straus. He got mentioned as a moderate because he's very pro-choice (supports partial-birth abortions) and not a social "conservative" at all, but he's a hard-liner on spending and taxes. I think he's really someone that would listen to ideas about repealing or at least neutering the franchise tax. I expect real school tax reform, maybe a rejection of Robin Hood, and maybe even casino gambling.

 

Michael Williams is going to be our next Senator. It won't be close. He's had the most votes statewide a couple of years in a row. Conservatives love him and he connects with virtually everyone.

 

I think you have your facts a bit off, wes. While I personally support a woman's right to choose and would view Straus' stance on the issue as conservative, in today's GOP, it is definitely a moderate position. I didn't see any mention of "partial birth abortions."

(a good short bio of Straus, if you click the link to the Statesman)


Straus over the weekend released a statement saying that he believes in the sanctity of life, agrees with existing regulations on parental notification and consent for abortions and thinks "exceptions should exist for rape, incest and harm to the life of the Mother."

Straus' wife, Julie Brink Straus, was on the board of directors of the Planned Parenthood Trust of San Antonio and South Central Texas in the early 1990s, the organization's president and CEO, Jeffrey Hons, said.

"When Mrs. Straus was on our board, we did not provide abortion care," Hons said.

Despite the criticism from some conservative groups, it was Straus' Republican credentials that his supporters immediately touted when he emerged Friday night as a leading candidate to take out Craddick. And those credentials seem to have given little or no pause to Democrats.

"Joe is a moderate Republican, a friend, a member whom I respect and who's done nothing during his two terms to draw negative attention to himself," said Rep. Elliott Naishtat, D-Austin. "And he's not Tom Craddick."

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/01/06//0106strausbio.html

 

I could. Texas Eagle Forum sent out a letter about the Speaker's race with that claim. (I still don't know how I got on their mailing list.) If what you say is true, I'm liking it better and better.

 

I hope the GOP primary is a complete bloodbath. It's what the Texas GOP deserves. If Hutchison is truly viable and becomes the favorite, the right-wing will stop at nothing to bring her down. If Perry is the stronger candidate, I expect Kay Bailey will lose without too much flak.