Texans Rally for Obama
Special to the NNPA from the Dallas Examiner
Originally posted 3/4/2008
DALLAS (NNPA) - Sen. Barack Obama held his first Dallas rally at Reunion arena last week. His rock star popularity drew more than 15,000 would-be supporters of all ages who began lining up before the break of dawn to get a closer look at the man who could become America’s first African- American President.
The senator electrified the diverse audience during the rally that drew media attention from as far away as Japan. The event, which began at 11 a.m. on a work day, nearly filled the arena to capacity and if this is any indicator, Obama may prove to be a more worthy challenger for the Texas vote than Clinton anticipated.
As Obamamania hits the state, several prominent lawmakers have added their names to a number of Texas leaders who have endorsed Obama for president.
According to the Associated Press, Waco Rep. Jim Dunnam, leader of the House Democratic Caucus, said Obama would help state Democrats improve public schools and bring health insurance coverage to more people.
“In Texas and across the rest of the country, we want a president who will finally put doing what is right above corporate special interests and radical partisan agendas,” Dunnam said. “We want change we can believe in, not the same old Washington-style promises made and promises broken.”
Veteran state Sen. Royce West, a Dallas Democrat also praised his ability to reach a diverse population.
“Barack Obama has clearly demonstrated a unique ability to reach across political lines, energize independents, inspire youth and bridge varying ideologies to mobilize and reinvigorate the Democratic Party,” West said.
Sen. Obama pulled in big endorsements in the superdelegate race with the recent announcement of support by Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, who was among the first of the superdelegates from Texas to announce her endorsement, and U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards of Waco.
“I believe Senator Obama can bring about real change in Washington - change that will make a positive difference for average working Americans struggling to keep up with the high costs of health care, gasoline and education,” Edwards said.
Despite wide speculation that Mexicans would not vote for Obama due to their allegiance to Clinton and also because of his race, he has managed to garner major support from the Mexican American Democrats, the oldest Hispanic group among Texas Democrats.
“The Mexican-American community needs more than just Spanish-speaking candidates trying to get the Hispanic vote. We need candidates who are committed to improve the lives of Latino men, women and children whether citizens, legal residents or undocumented by writing polices that work for us,” said John Lopez, chairman of the group’s endorsing committee.
In a local publication, State Rep. Rafael Anchia (D-Dallas) chided media for comments suggesting race would be a barrier in Obama’s ability to reach Hispanics.
“Our main focus should not be on who can appeal to which racial or ethnic group more than another, but which candidate can unite all races, ethnicities, age groups, faiths and economic classes as a nation to address our common challenges and to restore our historic position as a respected leader of the free world,” Anchia continues.
“I am the Latino son of immigrants, but, rather than engaging in the contrived politics of division, I want Barack Obama, a Black man of mixed ethnicity, to be my president. How’s that for the politics of hope?”
State Rep. Roberto Alonzo (D-Dallas) also endorsed Obama, in a lengthy endorsement, the Representative states, “For all those who question Obama’s lack of experience in Washington, all I have to say is, that in this case, this may indeed be a blessing in disguise in many ways. Yes, the man is young, but let’s face it, he has had more varied, diverse and quality-filled, challenging experiences in this young life as a public servant and statesman who gets better by the month, rather than by the decade, as is usually the case with so many of our Capitol Hill politicians.”
In his endorsement Alonzo quotes Aldous Huxley: “Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him.”
These endorsements come as an upset to Clinton who has been counting on the Hispanic vote in Texas, campaigning in predominantly Hispanic regions and playing up her work 36 years ago registering Hispanic voters in Texas.
However, early last week, Democratic Reps. Trey Martinez-Fischer of San Antonio, Eddie Lucio III of Brownsville and Ana Hernandez of Houston announced their support for Obama. Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio endorsed Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Texas Democrat, former Texas Attorney General Jim Mattox also endorsed Clinton.
“In Texas we have a phrase, ‘She’s earned her spurs.’ Hillary has spent more than 35 years earning her spurs and she is the best leader for our country,” Mattox said in a prepared statement Feb. 19.
Also with Mattox that night in support of Clinton were former Texas Supreme Court Justice Bob Gammage, state Rep. Valinda Bolton of Austin and Cathy Bonner, a former aide to the late Gov. Ann Richards and a leader of a major cancer research proposition Texas voters approved in November.
But the real test comes March 4 when Texans across the state show up to make their own personal final endorsements. Although early voting began in Texas on Feb. 19 and ends on Feb 29, Texas Democrats will use both a primary election and precinct caucuses March 4 to allocate the largest single bloc of delegates left on the Democratic presidential nomination calendar.
A total of 193 delegates are at stake. The primary election will choose 126 of them, but it’s really 31 separate elections - one in each state Senate district. Each district gets from two to eight delegates based on the Democratic turnout there in past elections.
The delegates in each state Senate district primary will be allocated proportionally among the candidates, with a minimum of 15 percent of the vote required to qualify for any delegates.
State Democratic Party spokesman Hector Nieto said Democrats in low-turnout districts have only themselves to blame for the number of delegates they get.
Another 67 delegates will be awarded based on attendance at precinct caucuses - Texas calls them conventions - held as soon as the primary polls close on March 4.
These operate like the better known Iowa caucuses. They elect delegates to county and state Senate district conventions March 29, which in turn elect delegates to the state Democratic convention June 6 through June 7.
The actual number of caucus delegates each candidate gets depends on the preferences of those who show up at the state convention, but theoretically that allocation is prefigured by the results of the March 4 evening caucuses. So news organizations will report the likely number for each candidate based on the caucus results the evening of March 4, just as they do in Iowa and other caucus states.
“Obviously it is a complex system, but the reason it’s so complex is to ensure that everyone is properly represented,” Nieto said.
Texas has another 35 so-called superdelegates who are not bound by any of this voting. These delegates are members of Congress, Democratic national committee members, and leading state party officials.
“It’s not new,” Texas Democratic strategist Ed Martin said of the 20-year-old primary-caucus system. “It’s a system that’s been supported by Democrats” to reward those who turn out for Democrats in the general election.
Kelley Shannon, Associated Press, and Tuala Williams, The Dallas Examiner, contributed to this report.
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