My wife and I drove down to Canyon Lake Ranch in Canyon Lake, Texas (in Comal County) for an event hosted by the Hill Country Democrats. Many of the statewide candidates were at the event
as well as some local candidates. We heard
Fred Head
(candidate for Comptroller of Public Accounts) talk about the job of the
Comptroller of Accounts and his experience as a state representative, including
serving on the Legislative Budget Board.
Maria Luisa Alvarado (candidate for
Lt. Governor) talked about the Republican culture of corruption and her request
that we all pledge to get five new voters to the polls.
David Van Os (candidate for
Attorney General) called from Austin where his wife was feeling poorly to
apologize that he couldn't attend.
Hank
Gilbert (candidate for Agricultural Commissioner) definitely got our
attention with his speech.
I have to spend a little more time on this guy. He
said that Ag Commissioner has been a place for Republicans to groom their rising
stars (Gov. Good Hair started as Ag Commish). However, the people who have been elected
haven't known a damn thing about agriculture. He said that one previous guy was
"about as useless as tits on a boar hog" and that the guy running now was a
prick when he knew him in high school and is still a prick. Hank doesn't pull
any punches, needless to say. Once he got our attention with that, though, he
let us know that he knew agriculture. Hank taught high school agriculture, grew
up on a ranch that had a hundred and fifty head of cattle, and even owned a
cattle auction house. He told us all that in Texas, agriculture is the second
biggest business, and if the agricultural commission was doing things right, it
could be the first. He said that Texas has been underrepresented in drought
relief meetings and that losses due to drought will make up about ten percent
of the total agricultural industry here in Texas. Also, due to the current ag
commissioner not requesting federal drought relief, if the government ever does
provide drought relief, Texas isn't going to get a slice of the pie.
John Courage (US House Dist.
21) then got a shot to speak, and he fired us all up, reminding us that "it
takes Courage to change!" He told us that he's been chasing Texas District 21
and Lamar Smith around Texas and now they're finally nailed down. John's a great
speaker and he told those of us outside his district that even though he wasn't
officially representing us, he will represent all of us with his votes and that
we should feel free to give him a call if we need his help. With that (and since
his campaign gave us three donation envelopes) he earned a donation for his
campaign.
Lastly, Barbara Ann Radnofsky (US
Senate) gave an impassioned speech informing us how traditional Democratic
values are good for national security. I'm going to try to paraphrase here:
- A working, strong health care infrastructure helps us prepare for both
natural disasters (like Katrina) as well as bioterrorism.
- If we don't take care of our veterans when they come home, that will
weaken the prospects for a volunteer army.
- A strong economy means that China isn't making all our steel, that we
have a strong industrial base, and we aren't relying on them to intercede
with North Korea rather than taking a direct role in those negotiations.
Barbara told us about her grandfather being a World War I vet and her father
being a World War II vet, and vowed to fight for our vets (unlike
Kay Bailey Hutchison who has a terrible
voting record for veterans).
This was a really excellent get together in a beautiful location, and the
candidates were fired up, excited, and a lot of fun to listen to. Barbara Ann
was walking around barefoot and soaking her feet in the swimming pool after a
long day of travel and another campaign stop earlier. This group of Dems really
support each other and were happy to be together campaigning and it showed.