GREETINGS FELLOW DEMOCRATS!





Thank you...

...to everyone who showed up to block walk on Saturday. There is a light at the end of the tunnel and it isn’t a train. The weather is iffy for this Saturday so watch your email. We need to do precinct 25 in Bryan and 33 in College Station. When you come to the office Rick Noriega, candidate for U. S. Senate will be here.





Candidate Forums

February 18, 2008
7-8 p.m.
Navarro Elemementary

Texas House District #17
Precincts 4a, 3ab, 43, 46, 47 49, 77, 78, 79, 18b, 70b
Donnie Dippel
Latreese A. Cooke


February 13
KAMU


February 22
6 p.m.
North Bryan Community Center





PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

Texas voters welcoming chance to hold sway in presidential nominations frays

Democratic superdelegates, many unpledged, being wooed by Clinton, Obama.

By W. Gardner Selby
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Thursday, February 07, 2008

It's improbably pitch-and-woo time in Texas as the presidential campaigns point toward the state's March 4 primaries.

Texans accustomed to not being players in choosing presidential nominees awoke Wednesday to an unsettled feel to the race between Democratic U.S. Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and to the possibility that Texas could help Sen. John McCain lock up the GOP nomination or present a roadblock of core conservatives.

"Oh man, it just makes your heart leap and holler," said Roy Laverne Brooks of Fort Worth, vice chairman of the Texas Democratic Party. "It puts Texas right where it wants to be."

Brooks, who hasn't committed to a candidate, is among 32 Democratic superdelegates from Texas, some of whom have been courted for months by the campaigns, perhaps because superdelegates (permitted to stray from a candidate even if they've pledged to them) could prove power brokers if the nomination isn't settled before the August national convention in Denver.

http://statesman.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Texas+voters+welcoming+chance+to+hold+sway+in+presidential+nominations+frays&expire=&urlID=26361590&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.statesman.com%2Fnews%2Fcontent%2Fregion%2Flegislature%2Fstories%2F02%2F07%2F0207texprez.html&partnerID=525





While trolling Texas for delegates, don’t forget voters

By The Editorial Board
Austin American-Statesman
Sunday, February 10, 2008

The battle for votes in the presidential races now comes to Texas, the richest single trove of convention delegates remaining.

In their hunt for delegates, the candidates shouldn’t take Texas for granted.

In the Democratic race, Sen. Hillary Clinton wants several debates with Sen. Barack Obama, who has agreed to a Texas debate but not when or where. Short of money, Clinton needs the exposure, while the financially flush Obama can buy air time to project his message.

But previously Texas wasn’t thought to be a factor in this primary season, and many Texans didn’t tune in to the campaigns until late. Clinton and Obama should debate in Texas and flesh out their positions on issues that matter here, from the fence along the border with Mexico to immigration to a troubled economy.

This is a Democratic primary different from any in recent memory, with an energized electorate and new faces on the scene. It would be too simplistic to say it’s the old versus the new, but that clearly is one aspect of this election, in Texas and across the country.

The battle for delegates has become trench warfare as each candidate tries to reach the 2,025 needed to win the nomination. Will the established Democrats, long out of power but experienced in the intricate delegate selection system, prevail for Clinton? Or will enough inspired Obama voters show up to change the dynamic in the precinct, district and state conventions?

That’s only one reason why the candidates should be on the ground and visible in Texas. Another is money. This state has long been an ATM for national campaigns. Now it’s time for candidates to show an interest in Texas issues, not just Texas checkbooks.

The same is true for Republican candidates Sen. John McCain and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. McCain appears to have an insurmountable lead in delegates, but it would be embarrassing were he to lose Texas. And his surging campaign still needs Texas money and Texas volunteers for the fall election.

Texas has been the reddest of the Republican states for years, but this is not a typical year. McCain takes Texas and its 34 electoral votes for granted at his peril as an animated Democratic Party gains ground everywhere. And there is no George W. Bush on the ticket or in the Governor’s Mansion this year.

McCain’s success has been built on independent voters who like his no-nonsense straight talk. If Obama wins the Democratic Party nomination, McCain will have a huge fight on his hands to win them over in Texas. He must show Texans why they should vote for him.

The primary is only half the battle for the Arizona senator. He shouldn’t consider Texas a GOP stronghold and ignore it. Not this year.

Because Clinton and Obama are so close in voting and delegates, Texas matters more to them. Only 126 of the state’s 228 delegates are apportioned according to the votes in the March 4 primary. The rest are up for grabs, and Clinton and Obama are trolling hard for them.

Texas matters this year. The candidates know that, and Texans should demand their attention for a change.





Brazos County Democratic Party
P.O. Box 4568
Bryan Texas 77805
979-779-5600 Fax 979-779-5601

America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand.
Harry S. Truman, Democrat, President of the United States of America