We interrupt Cesar Chavez week to bring you this breaking news: Election 2010 has started
Ben and I drove south to Hurst last night for a meeting of the Mid-Cities Democrats, a grass-roots organization helping to change the face of power in North Texas. On their agenda for the evening were two Democratic candidates for state-wide office, John Sharp who is running for the Senate seat to be vacated by KBH and Tom Schieffer who is running for Texas Governor in 2010. We were met there by Judith Ford, Finance Chair for the Denton County Democratic Party and co-founder of the Democratic Women of Denton County.
First on the agenda was John Sharp, King of the Texas Good Ol’ Boys. Sharp is a very effective speaker and campaigner, his years in public office and his south Texas upbringing serve him very well in Texas politics. I loved that he referred to the proposed Voter ID bill as a “Voter Suppression Bill,” I was also impressed by the way he can connect to an audience. I also liked his rationalization for needing a Democratic Senator from Texas in Washington to prevent Texas from being locked out of the legislative process now that the Dems are back in power. As long as he’s speaking in generalities, he does just fine.
But when asked by Judith Ford during the Q & A, “What are you going to do in the U.S. Senate to bring factual sex education back into the classroom?” he didn’t have an answer. WTF! Texas is number 1 in the nation for teen pregnancies and STD’s. How can you be running for U.S. Senate from a state with those kinds of statistics and not have an answer? After the meeting, Judith approached him with contact information for Cecile Richards, asked him to give her a call and get educated before coming back to North Texas. Go, Judith!
Next up was Tom Schieffer. Schieffer is not a career politician, preferring to spend more of his time in the private sector as a corporate attorney and owner of the Texas Rangers. He is not, however, a political neophyte; he served in the Texas Legislature in the 1970’s and was later named Ambassador to Australia and most recently served as Ambassador to Japan. What a contrast to Sharp.
Schieffer spoke from the heart, sharing stories about his families commitment to public service–his sister was a career educator, his brother Bob Schieffer is a CBS news correspondent, Tom himself served on the Board of the Edna Gladney home in Fort Worth—and his vision for the future of Texas. He brought tears to my eyes when he talked about building the first ADA compliant ball park in the nation. He recalled how the team of builders and investors sometimes complained about the difficulties in making a project of this magnitude open to people with disabilities, but when the park was completed and they toured the stadium with folks in wheelchairs, walkers, and hearing aides, he realized that it was “not just the right thing to do, it was good for business.”
As more candidates announce, these races will become more interesting. On Monday, April 6th, Judith and I are traveling to Dallas for a meet and greet with Mayor Bill White, candidate for U.S. Senate. While I am confident that White will have a better answer for Judith’s question about sex education (he will be sharing the spotlight with Elena Marks of the PPFA), I’ll have some tough questions for him myself, including what his position is on 287g.
I’m also waiting for Leticia Van de Putte to announce for Governor. When you’re ready to come to north Texas, Leticia, I’d love to host a meet and greet for the Democratic Women of Denton County and we have a comfy guest bedroom with chocolates on the pillow.
A ver que pasa, se esta poniendo interesante.
Posted by Toni Medellin
Chair, Denton County Democratic Party Diversity Committee
Co-founder/Board Member, Democratic Women of Denton County
Chair, Precinct 419
