Last Friday night something amazing happened in Dallas, close to 650 people gathered at the Reunion Hyatt ballroom to celebrate being Democrats and raise money for The Texas Values in Action Coalition (TEXVAC). TEXVAC is dedicated to providing professional assistance, training, advice and even direct funding to Democratic candidates in targeted North Texas races. The keynote address was delivered by noted author, political consultant and commentator, James Carville.

The dinner, billed as the first annual Rayburn-Johnson Dinner--after longtime US Congressman from Texas and Speaker of the US House Sam Rayburn and President Lyndon Baines Johnson--was one of the largest such gathering in Dallas-Ft.Worth in recent memory and the most successful Democratic Dinner in years, having raised well over $200,000. The energy was palpable, and the excitement grew stronger and stronger as more and more Democrats arrived, filling the sold out space. As one Democrat said on entering the ballroom, “I didn’t even know there were this many Democrats in Dallas.”

“That was precisely the goal,” said Lisa Turner, TEXVAC’s Communications Director. “We’ve conducted focus groups in North Texas that show most people are not aware of the emerging Democratic majority in Dallas County and many Democrats still feel isolated. One of our goals was to show Democrats that we are many, we are organized and, with their support, TEXVAC can help provide the resources and expertise for Democrats to win big this November.”

The event was a tribute to Congressman Martin Frost who served parts of Dallas and Tarrant Counties for 26 years, until Tom DeLay and his shady money laundering scheme turned the Texas House into a corporate boardroom, bought and paid for by corporate special interests, which then redistricted Frost out of his seat. Even the redistricting itself is before the US Supreme Court as an alleged illegal Gerrymander in violation of the Voting Rights Act. Frost was the driving force for Democratic politics in North Texas. His campaign operations consistently, year after year, provided much needed Democratic media message and get-out-the-vote efforts.

TEXVAC recognized Frost’s service and contribution by giving him the first annual Rayburn-Johnson Award. The award was presented by Jim Wright, the former Speaker of the US House of Representatives. Speaker Wright actually knew both Sam Rayburn and Lyndon Johnson and spoke eloquently of service and public trust, and he remembered fondly Frost’s arrival in the US Congress, his eventual rise to prominence, and the dedication and integrity Frost brought to his post.

Carville started his remarks by saying, “As you all know, this week our illustrious Congress passed a law making English the national language, which makes ours the only country in the world where its President cannot speak the official language.” The room erupted in applause and laughter and the speech took off from there. His voice rising to a near roar at times, Carville mockingly asked the rhetorical question that he said bewildered Republicans are now asking themselves, “Why are the American people so upset?” He then gave a litany of reasons why, including an Iraq war that we entered into with no plan to win and no plan for what to do with the country afterwards, tax cuts that favor the wealthy including this latest tax cut that gives millionaires an extra $42,000 in their pockets per year and gives the average American working family only $40, and a Republican Congress bought and paid for by corporate special interests.

Then he summed up his remarks by encapsulating the Republican theory of governance. “It’s every man for himself,” Carville said with a disapproving look. “Every man for himself is the last command of a failed Captain whose ship is sinking!” Carville explained. “Do you know what the first command is on a healthy ship? All hands on deck.” He said when Democrats regain power that will be the message—that the Republicans have so thoroughly messed things up that it will take all of us working together to make things right. But Americans are up to the challenge. They want a government they can be proud of again, an education system that really prepares their children--all children--for success, a tax system that is fair for all Americans, and a government that serve the interest of the people, not just special interests like those who have lined the pockets of the Republicans in Congress.

His remarks were interrupted several time by applause, whoops and yells, and even an amen or two. At the end, he received a rousing, standing ovation.

Perhaps the event can best be summed up by the statement of David Gail, a law student at SMU who has helped with Democratic politics in Dallas for several years. When the dinner was over and the applause died down, he approached Russell Langley, the TEXVAC Executive Director and said, “I just want you to know, that I have never been so proud to be a Democrat in Dallas.” According to Langley, “He could not have come up with a more perfect response. That is exactly what we were hoping for.”

“The TEXVAC dinner,” Martin Frost said afterwards, “was very impressive not just in terms of the money raised but in terms of the great Democrats in attendance. I was so appreciative of the honor and really enjoyed seeing so many great friends. Everyone at TEXVAC should be proud of such a major accomplishment in just over one year of existence. I have no doubt that next year’s 2nd annual dinner will be one of the hottest tickets in town.”

You can learn more about TEXVAC and help support the organization by visiting its website at www.texvac.org.

Ed Ishmael is a Dallas Title Attorney and Co-Founder of TEXVAC. He can be reached at ed.ishmael@ifrlaw.com.

Dear Democrat,

The Texas Values in Action Coalition is dedicated to electing Democrats and returning fair-minded, honest and progressive officeholders to all levels of Texas government. We are proud of our many accomplishments and resolute in our convictions. With hundreds of supporters, we are many in number yet one in our determination to win in 2006. Join the Texas Values in Action Coalition and be part of a winning team.

Sincerely,

Ed Ishmael, Russell Langley, and Tom Solender
TEXVAC Co-founders

THE WRITING ON THE WALL
by Ed Ishmael

As published by Dallasblog.com --



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THE WRITING ON THE WALL
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
DallasBlog.com
The writing is on the wall, or in this instance, on the yard signs of many Dallas County Republican Candidates. It is an unexpected phenomenon. For years now, the Republican Party has been the majority in Dallas County politics and Democrats seemed to be on the run, hiding as best they could from their Party affiliation. But the tide is definitely turning; at least if a quick survey of yard signs are any indication.

It was only a few short years ago that Republicans running for Dallas County offices emblazoned their party name on their literature and outdoor advertising while Democrats seemed to down play their party name. Now, when looking at the yard signs of several Republican candidates, you have to squint to find any reference that they are Republican. Why the shift? Simple math, really.

Dallas County is quickly turning Democratic.

The proof is in the voting patterns over the last few years. In each county-wide election since 1998, Democrats have garnered a progressively higher percentage of the vote.

Last election, in fact, Democrats received just over 50% of the county-wide vote and, for the first time in over a decade, there were more people voting straight ticket Democrat than straight ticket Republican. Did you know that John Kerry beat George Bush in the city of Dallas in the 2004 election? Did you know John Kerry received 49.5 percent of the vote county-wide?

The long held perception that Dallas County is a Republican stronghold is just wrong. In fact, with Democrats garnering just over 50% of the vote in 2004, it is arguably Democratic. And with the trends showing continued growth in Democratic voting, Dallas County will be solidly Democratic in the very near future, with impressive gains likely this fall.

And the excitement within the Democratic ranks is palpable. For the first time in over a decade, the Dallas County Democratic Party under the leadership of Darlene Ewing, is fielding a solid slate of candidates county-wide, 70 in all, to challenged the entrenched Republican office holders. For the judicial races alone, Democrats are fielding 47 candidates. And this onslaught has not been lost on the current judiciary.

Rumors around the court houses in Dallas County are of longtime Republicans judges getting angry and testy over the prospects of losing their benches—as if they’ve grown to feel entitled to the position. Several Republican judges are retiring rather than face the prospect of defeat. And last fall, several Republican judges were rumored to be considering switching parties, something unimaginable just two years ago. After this fall’s election, look for that to be the norm if any Republican judges are left standing.

And other evidence of the Dallas County Democratic ascendancy also abounds. In October of 2005, the Dallas County Democratic Party and others hosted a rally in Lee Park where nearly 3500 Democrats showed up. To put that in perspective, that is the largest Dallas County political rally of any stripe in recent memory.

And now, party activists and leaders are working to raise the profile of the Democratic Party even more in Dallas. The Dallas County Democratic party is sponsoring a rally with Senator John Edwards on April 18th at Gilley’s. The Texas Values in Action Coalition, a North Texas based state PAC that I’m involved with, will follow-up with a large dinner featuring James Carville on May 19th. The energy and excitement around both events is proof positive that Democrats are feeling energized.

And the Texas Republican Party itself is feeling the heat. Just last week they sent out a solicitation begging for contributions with warnings that the Democrats are well-funded and motivated to win. “This may be the most important election year for Texas Republicans in 25 years,” the letter announced. “It’s the year Democrats have been waiting for—the year they expect to … regain political power over our state and nation,” warned the Chairman of the Texas Republican Party. “We have to respond,” she went on to claim. She even made the bald assertion that Democrats have “deep pockets,” a surprisingly silly claim when you consider the likes of Republican bank rollers such as Dr. James Leininger and Bob Perry. But the desperation in the solicitation letter was unmistakable. Republicans are in trouble and they know it. Their alarm is even greater over the prospects in Dallas County.

This truly is the Democrats year to win, especially in Dallas County. Voters nation-wide are fed up with Republican control of government, they no longer trust Bush to lead our nation, and they are disgusted with the Republican controlled legislature that refuses to do its job and would rather represent the interests of fat-cat lobbyists than those of everyday Americans. As Republican Newt Gingrich recently said, the only message Democrats have to use in November is “Had Enough?”

And locally all voters, even Republicans, are fed up with the Republicans’ assault on public education, tired of the do-nothing Republican controlled Texas legislature and the pandering of Republican leaders to entrenched special interests. Dallasites, Texans, and Americans in general are ready for change and the Democrats are ready to provide that needed change.

You may recall that the phrase “writing on the wall” is a quote from the biblical book of Daniel. The Babylonian King, Belshazzar, gave a great feast and during the drinking and partying a hand appeared out of thin air and wrote on the palace wall, “mene, mene, tekel, upharsin.” The King, who sobered up quite quickly no doubt, sent for Daniel to interpret the writing, which he did. Daniel relayed the meaning to the King saying, “You have been weighed in the balance and found wanting.” Belshazzar was killed that very night.

Republican Politicians are the Belshazzar of our time. The voters have weighed them in the balance, and they have been found wanting. It’s just a matter of time (likely this fall) before they lose their kingdom---their stranglehold on Dallas County politics--as well.

Contributions to TEXVAC are very welcome as we immediately begin to prepare for 2008.

Make checks payable to TEXVAC.

and mail them to:
TEXVAC, 3521 Oak Lawn Ave, #115, Dallas, TX 75219

or

Click Here to use a credit card and donate on-line.