Harris County Democratic Party Meeting

[erpowers]

On Saturday HCDP held a stragety session. How do people who went the the session feel that the session went. I went for part of the meeting and attended one of the group meetings. I attended the campaign stragety group. Overall the session seemed pretty good and many people had good ideas.

I think one of the panelists was wrong when he made the comment about hispanics helping to run the country under Bush and not even running the Democratic Party. I think the Democrats should point out that hispanics are actually helping to run the Democratic Party while there is no hispanic leadership in the Republican Party. The Democrats should point out that Gonzales is one hispanic that Bush keeps picking to fill positions.

The people in the campaign stragety group session that I attended came up with some good ideas concerning how to registrater people, how to get the word out about the HCDP and getting people to run for office. At times we got off track with some people talking about issues that did not completely concern campaign. We were able to get back on track each time. So what did others think? What are your thoughts on the panelists? How were the groups that you worked with? What group sessions did you attend?

[PDittie]

1. HCDP Meeting

Hi ERPowers,
My name is Sue and I don't post on DU, as a matter of fact I am posting under PDittie's signon. I am PDittie's wife. I too attended the meeting yesterday and heard the same things regarding the participation and the seeking out of the Hispanic community. I am a Cuban, I was born there and naturalized in 1968 when I was just eight years old. While I cannot address the reasons why all Cubans usually vote Republican, I can say there has been a long standing underlying issue and that was the handling of the Bay Of Pigs under Kennedy in that the freedom fighters felt they were left holding the bag. Many Cubans of that generation vowed never to vote for another Democrat. My grandfather was a casualty of the counter revolution at the time and many of my relatives were imprisoned as a result of their anti-Castro activities. My father got us out of the country in an elaborate plan employing much stealth. This all being said, I feel that the current generation does not prescribe to their parent's view and is not inclined to vote Republican for archaic reasons. I was extremely disappointed in the results of this election. The Bush administration is rife with reprehenible rogues. It appears to me that the appointment of Alberto Gonzales is nothing but window dressing. He has only appointed this person in a major error...their track record in researching death penalty cases in Texas is abysmal. He has appointed him as a result of the right wing ideologies he holds. In my humble opinion we need to take back the issues of moral values, which the Repubs have co-opted, and show everyone through words and actions that we have the moral values that everyone is seeking. We need to ask the questions. Is it moral values to send our men and women to die in a war for no good reason? NO. Is it moral values to run up a monolithic debt in fighting a war we did not have to be in and not be able to promote programs to make people's lives better? NO Is it moral values to disefranchise voters? NO Is it moral values to stop research that can potentially bring with it results to save lives? NO Is it moral values to give tax breaks to the rich while the middle and lower classes are being squeezed and outsourced? NO Like this we can change the rhetoric and move the discourse to our playing field. Most importantly, we need to demonstrate that we are and have always been the party that listens to the concerns of all Americans no matter what their racial backgroud is. I was in the session that dealt with formulation of the message and I too heard some very interesting discussions. What I took away from yesterday is that there are many good people and although approaches and ideas might vary the main point is that there are good people commited to making this a better country and by extension a better world with opportunity and equality for all.

[sonias]

2. Well said Sue

Thank you for your work out in Houston. Both you and PDittie are committed Democrats. :hi:

I agree with your points on taking back the moral values issue. This all boils down to how we frame the debate. They beat us on message because the can give robotic answers about guns, gays and God. If you hear one speak or a hundred they all say the same thing. Repetition is their key. We have to use something similar but with actual truths instead of lies.

Sonia

[merci_me]

3. We also need to deliver OUR message using OUR words

not their's!!

We call ourselves "pro-choice". They call us "pro-abortion".

They call themselves "pro-life". We call them "pro-life".

What's with that??

Why do we accept their words to describe them and let them chose the words to describe us?

We are pro-choice, they are anti-choice. By allowing them to continue to call us "pro-abortion", while we call them "pro-life" is playing into their game. We are either "pro-choice" or "pro-abortion" depending on whose calling the shots. And they are always "pro-life". Bullcrap!!!

We are pro-choice and they are anti-choice and we need to stick with that message. We are PRO they are ANTI and that needs to be our unwaivering message. Pro-peace/anti-peace * pro-enviroment/anti-enviroment * pro-healthcare/anti-healthcare. We need to hammer away relentlessly and NOT accept their choice of words for us. They call us whatever works for their arguments and we need to do the same. Otherwise we get painted with THEIR brush!!

[muse]

4. anti-choice, I am SO with you on this!!!

You are right. We need to call them anti-choice all the time.

[CitySky]

5. Hello!

:hi:

As a regular reader of the TX Forumm I assure you that you are already well known here as "Mrs. Dittie," which is how Mr. Dittie refers to you in his posts. I haven't been able to attend any of the "real-life" gatherings yet but I understand the two of you to be the heart of the unofficial Houston Hospitality Committee here at DU.

So, thanks for contributing your voice! I completely agree with you on the morals issues. From the Christian perspective: there is actually a lot more in the Bible about money than there is about sex. No joke.

-Sky, Houston