I am a finalist for a $10,000 Blogging Scholarship. The finalist who receives the most online votes will win the scholarship.
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I am a staff writer for Burnt Orange Report, a leading progressive blog in Texas. I wanted to share the first post I wrote for BOR with so many of you who are helping me win this scholarship.
I was fifteen years old when I first read the Burnt Orange Report. The year was 2003. The war in Iraq was six months old, George W. Bush's approval rating was above 50%, and Todd Baxter, Jack Stick and Terry Keel were all Republican state representatives from Travis County.
A lot has changed since then.
Burnt Orange Report, which was then written exclusively by college students, has changed too.
It has become an important player in Texas Democratic politics and its community is growing by the day. BOR is something I have long wanted to be a part of and I am honored that Karl-Thomas, Matt and Phillip have allowed me to join.
I was first introduced to public policy and politics by my father, Garry Mauro, a four-term Texas State Land Commissioner who ran against George W. Bush in 1998.
The days I spent driving from small town to small town and going door-to-door in the Texas summer heat with my Dad and his staff are remembered fondly by me.
Over the years, the towns and the years have blurred together, but I still remember the feeling, even as a young boy, that what we were doing was greater than ourselves. The feeling that, if we can win this election, we can do some truly great things.
To feel like what you are doing matters; that it is really making a difference. There's no better feeling than that.
You feel it when you register someone to vote for the first time and see that look of empowerment in their eyes.
I felt it when watching Travis County Commissioner Sarah Eckhardt, who I worked for in 2006, stand head and shoulders above her colleagues while asking tough probing questions at a Commissioner's Court meeting.
I felt it time and time again last legislative session when Valinda Bolton, who I was lucky enough to help win her run-off two years ago, put political interests aside and voted her conscience.
I felt it when Richard Raymond, who I have spent the last few summers interning for, took to the House floor and urged his fellow representatives to oppose Tom Craddick.
I felt it as a volunteer for Hillary Clinton in Iowa when I helped elderly and handicapped people get to their caucus site and saw them proudly stand for their candidate.
Especially in heated primary seasons like this one, its sometimes good to remind ourselves why we invest so much time, energy and emotion into politics. Its because of that feeling: the knowledge that what you are doing can and will have a positive impact on someone's life.
I'll close with a conversation I had with a like-minded and politically active friend at Colorado College, where I am a sophomore.
Where, this person asked me, do you think you will move after graduation? I looked at them a little surprised - Texas, of course, was my home and my answer.
"But how can you stand it there?" she asked me. "It is full of Republicans and you can never change that."
Well, I simply reject that belief. Not only can we change it but we are changing our state for the better.
But our work is not done. Not by a long shot.
We will not stop until Texas has made the progress we know it needs. That's why I'm proud to be writing for Burnt Orange Report, a blog that has and will continue to do its share in the fight to take back Texas.
Sure, there is a lot of work still to be done, but I know we can do it.
Thank you for all your help! There are 7 days left to vote. Please e-mail you progressive friends and tell them how easy it is to help.