I think it is because just about any information you ask for is going to show them in a negative light.
Shortly after the Senate Conventions were held on March 20th, I began asking Executive Director Yates and Deputy Director Cowart for minor information about the eligibility and actual attendance at the conventions. What I was looking for was really simple: Total Delegates each SD was eligible for, Total Delegates elected at the precinct conventions, and Actual attendance at the Senate Convention. I am in SD-11 and wrote the information down from that one – all I needed was the same information from the other six districts.
I’m still looking.
On March 30th, I was getting frustrated and sent this email:
Mr. Yates and Mr. Cowart,
This is my third request for information related to the Senate District Conventions. All I really want is a count from each convention: # of eligible delegates for each convention, # of delegates selected by precinct conventions for each senate convention, # of delegates that actually attended each senate convention.
Example: In SD-11, there were 912 eligible, 347 signed up from the precinct conventions, and 233 actually attended on 3/20.
I hate to bother Jared since he is an unpaid volunteer but I will. And if I do, I’ll request the names of each person as the court ruling attached allows.
Like I said, I wasn’t looking for the answer to the theory of relativity. But as usual, no answer. The following day, I sent this email to Mr. Woodfill, coping Mr. Yates and Mr. Cowart:
Jared,
I hate to bother you but please help. Even if you say no, at least I’ll know where to turn. This information cannot be hard to get, it should be right in front of your paid staff.
And Jared responded immediately, saying that he would check with Jeff. I saw Jared later that night at the King Street Patriots and he told me that he had talked to Jeff, that Marc was working on it and that I would have it the following day.
I’m still waiting, as I told Jared in yet another email on April 6th.
You know what I think? I think the information from the other conventions is even worse than from mine. I walked into SD-7’s convention was was surprised by the relatively small number of people in attendance. And SD-7 is supposed to be the hot-bed of grassroots conservatives, if you believe Sen. Dan Patrick and Mr. Woodfill. And yet look at all the empty seats:
As for the other districts, they had them in small rooms around the church complex. In total, for all 7 conventions held that day, there were less than a thousand people. Think about that for a minute. In the largest red county in the country, one which used to be vibrant, with over 600 precinct chairs, we had less than a thousand people interested enough to attend. And we are down to around 450 precinct chairs.
Let’s look at SD-11 again. This is the second largest Republican SD in the county and is safely Republican. Mike Jackson, our State Senator, was re-elected to his seat in the middle of the so-called Obama sweep with almost 60{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} of the vote. And this is what SD-11 sent to the convention:
- Eligible: 347 / 912 = 38{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986}
- Actual: 233 / 912 = 25.5{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986}
Folks, if that is the best we can do, we are in worse shape than even I thought. Only a quarter of the most Republican voters in the second most Republican district in Harris County cared enough to spend the day with Gov. Rick Perry*, Sen. Dan Patrick, Republican Party of Texas Chair Cathie Adams, HCRP Chair Woodfill, and their peers.
Sad, really.
If we don’t stop the slide now, when will we?
* Gov. Perry was advertised as the featured speaker, although weather prevented him from attending.