Big Jolly Politics

politics in Harris County and Texas

Battleground Texas comes to Houston

by

Sean Siebert
Sean Seibert

This past Saturday I attended the first meeting of Battleground Texas held in Houston. They are on a 14 city tour of Texas rolling out the program which is intended to start the process of turning Texas into a swing State then into a Democrat held State. They are starting to build the infrastructure now so they will be competitive in the future. I attended the meeting with a friend of mine (who is a naturalized citizen and a Democrat), she was very excited about the event (before, during and after).

Before I go into the details of the meeting, I want to take a trip down Texas memory lane. I am a person who likes History and with the talk of Battleground Texas saying they are planning on turning Texas Blue again got me to looking at our political history. When I was 8 years old my republican family moved to Texas. That year the Texas Governor was Dolph Briscoe (D) (1972).  That same year in the State house there were 17 Republicans in the TX house and 3 in the Texas Senate. The first GOP US Senator elected in TX was Jim John Tower in 1960. By 1966 on the federal level TX had three GOP elected officials (to include George H.W. Bush).

Funny how people think that TX has always been red (yes no DEM has won state wide race since 1994), but since Reconstruction Texas has only had three GOP Governors (Clements, Bush, Perry) and as far as Speaker of the House we have only had two (Craddick and Straus). As for LT Governor TX has only elected 2 (Perry and Dewhurst).  On the presidential side everyone assumes that TX is GOP safe, but people forget that Jimmy Carter carried TX in 1976.

So to place this in historic perspective, Texas has a short time with GOP majority and leadership. Why is this important to understand? The Democrats are going to use a ground game by being in every community building relationships to obtain more voters. How will the republicans counter this to maintain their short dominance in Texas Politics?

Why did I go through this short history lesson? Because Battleground Texas wants us to return to the Texas of old and they have a better plan to build their infrastructure than the GOP does to expand their reach.

Now, back to Battleground Texas’ first meeting, this was held at the IBEW Union Hall off the north Loop and Ella. The room was set up with 250 chairs and an area for breakouts. I would estimate the crowd between 250-300 people, with the majority of attendees between 40-60 and white.  It appeared that it was an even breakdown along gender lines.

The meeting started off with Jenn Brown (who was the Obama campaign field director in Ohio) “This is a significantly larger crowd than we expected”. She went on with some welcoming remarks and firing up the crowd, which was very enthusiastic. There were several elected officials (Gene Green, Shelia Jackson Lee, and Sylvia Garcia) who all spoke for a few minutes.

Congressman Green talked about the DNC meeting with the TX DEM caucus and said they will put people on the ground and send resources and money to TX. The last time the National Party spent money in TX was in 1988 with Lloyd Benson. He closed with “We will focus on our suburban friends. We still have a problem with voter turnout and need block captains”.

Shelia Jackson Lee was the next to speak, and said that the Democrats need to vigorously be in every local race. She went on to talk about following in the tracks of other states that turned blue: NV, CO, NC. I do not agree with the Congresswomen very often, but she is so correct on her first statement. If the DEMS are going to be in every neighborhood and campaigning in every race, will the GOP step up and match them in every race, every neighborhood? Or will they follow the thoughts of some party leaders that don’t want any Republican in certain races or neighborhoods.

She then went on to use a military term we have been using to fight insurgencies “This is a battle of the hearts and minds of Texans”.  I do chuckle when I hear non military people using military terms as a sound bite, without understanding the concept behind the term. But if you look at outreach or converting voters to a certain party, using the principles of counter insurgency makes sense. In a nut shell that concept is to get to know the community, understand them, build relationships and earn their trust.

She went on to say “April  4th marked the assignation of Martin Luther King, but I do not focus on the loss of his life, but rather his message of being a part of the community. Brothers and Sisters be the keeper of freedom. No one should be left out.” Are we the GOP leaving anyone out? Are we being a part of the community?

Sylvia Garcia said – Turn Harris county blue, blue, blue. Voting does matter. She touched on education and Medicare. She said we must protect the future for our children, protect the elderly, veterans, and the disable. We need more Wendy Davis’/ we all have to work together.

Jenn then started the presentation on Battleground Texas. “Why? This model works in other states. What works in your neighborhood?”

In the first six weeks they have a reach of 3 million people on Facebook.  “The GOP sends out their chain emails “with lies”. We will counter every lie.  We will have a larger and better digital presence.” This not a far stretch when you look at how the GOP uses the digital world compared to the DEMS.

She said she agreed with Senator Ted Cruz on one statement:

“In not too many years, Texas could swing from being all Republican to all Democrat. If that happens, no Republican will ever again win the White House.” Ted Cruz, from a Ryan Lizza story in a November issue of the New Yorker

Some have said that Texas could never turn blue, but I wonder what the DEMS were saying in 1961 when the first GOP was elected. Did they say “oh the Republicans can never control Texas.”

The three main topics they focused on were Education, Immigration (more of the Dream Act) and Health care. These are standard talking points of the DEMS, but they are packaging the message in a way to tug on the emotions of the voter not the practical aspect.

They have a three pillar approach to their program to build infrastructure and start turning Texas Blue:

  1. Registration – register new voters and re-register old voters
  2. Persuade – Talk about your candidate to your neighbors. Persuade likely voters open to campaign message
  3. Turn out the vote – Educate. Go door to door. A lot of voters say “my vote does not matter” talk with them and let them know how their vote matters.

Sounds simple and I am sure the Republican Party has said the same thing. But the difference is that the DEMS have a chairperson in every precinct in Harris County where the GOP has about a 60{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} fill rate and the GOP also makes perspective chairs take a test. In addition the DEMS are out in all the communities talking, are we the GOP in every community talking?

Jenn went on to say “It happened because we built an unprecedented grassroots organization that did the above. The most powerful organizing happens right in your neighborhood. Talk neighbor to neighbor.”

They want to have field organizers who have neighborhood leaders that will build teams in their neighborhoods. These neighborhood teams knock on doors in the neighborhood or phone calls in the neighborhood, etc

Below is a depiction of how they want to organize:

sean-siebert-battleground-tx-illustration

I did not stay for the breakout groups, but my friend did and she gave me brief on what happened. The Breakout section was grouped of about 20 people with the three following questions:

  1. What are your community’s organizing strengths?
  2. What do you see as possible roadblocks to organizing in your community?
  3. What role do you see for Battleground Texas in your neighborhood?

During these sessions they were in groups of about 20-30 people and the discussion was by the audience not the organizer. My friend was in a group that Shelia Jackson Lee was sitting in, and the congresswomen did not say a word, she just listened. That is a key thing, the person who has a machine in Houston and knows how to get the vote out took the time to just listen with no comments.  In her group they talked about how the GOP is better at messaging they are. They also were afraid to post on Facebook their political views, but the GOP is not and they should do the same. They also said they believe in family values.

The three questions listed above should also be asked by the GOP, not answering, let the people tell you about their community and how to win in each neighborhood.

There are some in the party that do not want to support challengers against DEM incumbents. The reasons range from “We can’t win”; “Think Strategic by packing all the DEMs in one district”; “It hurts the bottom of the ticket”; “If we do then they will get more DEMS out to vote”.  I have also been told that there have been “Deals” made for certain district. When I hear all of those comments I have to shake my head in disbelief. If Jim John Tower or George H.W. Bush or Clements had those same views Texas would still be a DEM strong hold.

So what action should we take to counter Battleground Texas? Do we keep the attitude of not supporting challengers in DEM districts so the DEM will not have to defend their few seats? Or do we make them spend all their time and resources defending what they have so they do not have the money or resources to challenge the GOP outside of DEM districts? I say we challenge them in every district, every neighborhood and every prescient.

We start by going into every neighborhood and start getting to know them and more importantly letting every neighborhood get to know us. We need to start building relationships in every neighborhood and start building trust with them. Last October when Bob Price interviewed me he asked about the “Shelia Machine”, I said we need to build a bigger, better, strong machine.  Now is the time to get involved!

 

Spend some time reading their sites and information on their staff:

WEBSITE: http://www.battlegroundtexas.com/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/#!/BattlegroundTexas?fref=ts

TWITTER: @BGTX and hashtag #GameonHouston

 

Executive Director: Jenn Brown
Jenn Brown is an Obama for America veteran. In the 2012 campaign, she was field director in Ohio, overseeing a 600-person staff among 130 offices. She’s been all over, though. She was the Minnesota State Director for the Obama Campaign in 2008 before being promoted to Regional Field Director, and she managed 9 states during the 2010 midterm election cycle for OFA. And she’s from California, a graduate of UC-San Diego. She has lessons from everywhere to pull from for Texas.

Digital Director: Christina Gomez
You might be more familiar with Christina Gomez’s comedic work at #WhenInSession, but this native Texan has a quality resume of electing Democrats. She served as a digital strategist for the Democratic National Committee during the 2012 cycle. She earned her stripes here in the Lone Star State, though, when she worked for State Representative Trey Martinez Fischer and then the Mexican American Legislative Caucus. Oh, and she seems pretty happy to be returning home.

Senior Adviser Jeremy Bird and 270 Strategies
Battleground Texas is advised by the 2012 National Field Director for the Obama Campaign, Jeremy Bird, who now runs 270 Strategies, a “people-centered, data-driven, and digitally-sophisticated” firm that “unites some of the best and brightest talent among democratic politics today.” He helped create and implement the neighborhood team organizing model

 

Also see: Pondering Penguin: Inside a Battleground Texas Organizing Meeting

TSTA Poll: Texans happy with Gov. Perry, Republican Legislature

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You’ll probably recall that last week the Texas State Teachers Association issued a press release touting a poll that claims that Texans overwhelmingly support using the Rainy Day Fund to “restore” cuts in public education spending. Predictably, it was picked up by the Texas press and presented verbatim – the dean of the Texas political media presented it without critique, saying “This was a very good poll for supporters of public education.”

But what struck me was that the press release didn’t link to the poll questions. In fact, you won’t find them listed anywhere on the TSTA.org website. Well, I take that back – you will find three charts that support the press release. Somehow, Charles Kuffner over at his OfftheKuff blog obtained a Powerpoint presentation about the poll  that is very interesting. So interesting that Kuffner didn’t talk about it much.

First off, guess what? Texans are happy with Governor Rick Perry, the Republican controlled legislature, and the direction of the state. How about that? You think the dean will talk about that? How about Kuffner? I’m guessing not because that would destroy the perception that they spend most of their time pushing – in fact, look at what Kuffner wrote in the very piece that included the Republican positives:

It’s great to have public opinion on one’s side. But there’s a disconnect right now between public opinion and what’s happening in the Capitol. Part of that is a function of the way legislative lines are drawn, since the opinion of Republican primary voters is so often at odds with the opinion of everyone else, including Republican non-primary voters.

Except that there is no disconnect according to the very poll he cites, which was paid for and published by the very left leaning TSTA. From the poll:

  • Political Mood:  State Direction and Governor Perry Rating – Voters remain happy with the status quo; only Democrats are negative.
  • Rating of Texas State Legislature – As with Perry, a majority are positive toward the Legislature with Republican voters leading the way.

No disconnect at all. In fact, after reading this line:

Awareness of 2011 Education Budget Cuts – A 58{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} majority claim recall of the $5 Billion school funding budget cuts of 2011.  Independents (64{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986}) and Austin market (70{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986}) voters are most aware as are Republican Primary voters (66{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986}).

I’d have to say that the biggest disconnect in Texas politics is the one in which “progressive” bloggers like Kuffner claim that Texas Republican primary voters are “stupid”, “dumb”, “idiotic”, etc. After all the attacks on us, it is nice to see that we Republican primary voters are the most informed group in the state. We already knew that, of course, but it is nice of the TSTA to confirm it. Not that they wanted anyone to know about it but still, it is nice.

Now, about the whole “Texans overwhelmingly support using the RDF” nonsense. Take a look at the questions and you’ll see why they got the results they wanted.

QUESTION: Next, some background information about this.  Two years ago, the Texas Legislature CUT over 5 Billion dollars in public school funding in order to balance the state budget while at the same time maintaining 6 Billion dollars in the state’s reserve Rainy Day Fund.  Since then, the Texas economy and tax revenues have grown so that now the state’s surplus Rainy Day Fund is now nearly $12 Billion. Given this, would you FAVOR or OPPOSE having the Texas State Legislature restore the 5 Billion dollars they cut in public school funding by putting that money back into public schools?

Well, isn’t that special? The big bad Texas legislature took away money from schools even though they had plenty in the bank. Now the bank fund is twice the size! NOW can we have it back? OF COURSE we favor giving the money back to the children! We aren’t mean!

Or take a look at this one:

QUESTION: Which is closer to how you feel about the impact the 5 Billion dollars in spending cuts had on Texas public schools over the last 2 years?

•  These cuts hurt the quality of classroom instruction

OR

•  These cuts were absorbed by cutting waste and overhead without really harming the quality of education Texas students receive

That’s laughable.

What if the question had been worded this way?

QUESTION: Allen ISD built a huge football stadium, several superintendents received pay raises even as they laid off teachers, and most graduates have to take remedial courses in college. The state spends 60{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} of it’s budget on schools. Given those circumstances,

•  Should we put more tax money into these failing schools

OR

•  Hold the budget line and tell them to improve at educating children?

Wonder what the answer would be to that question?

I converted the Powerpoint to a PDF if you want to read the whole thing:

TSTA Poll on School Funding

I also find it interesting that the same people that trash Comptroller Susan Combs for “missing” the revenue forecast for the last biennium are taking her word as gospel for the upcoming one. If we shouldn’t have cut funding based upon her inability to forecast revenue two years out, then we darn sure shouldn’t increase funding based on her forecast this time. The prudent thing for the legislature to do would be to keep funding about where it is now and if the revenue does increase, spend it at that time . That way, if revenue doesn’t increase as projected, we won’t have to hear the “progressives” whining about budget cuts.