Yesterday, I drove 60 miles from Kilgore to Mt. Pleasant to attend Boyd Richie's town hall meeting. As I drove up US 271, I was curious as to what to expect.
The meeting, which was expected to begin at 2:00 PM, ended up starting at 2:30. The overall mood was pretty relaxed, so this wasn't really a problem; people got to converse a little longer.
Bill Brannon began the activities by introducing Boyd Richie. Boyd began by acknowledging Representatives Steve Frost and Mark Horner, who each spoke briefly. Both noted that they were encouraged by the efforts of the Texas Democratic Party in the past year.
Boyd began by recognizing SDEC members in attendence. He then proceeded to recite the successes of the past year, such as picking up 6 seats in the State Legislature, 2 seats in the US House, and the impressive victory by Chet Edwards. He also discussed tactical efforts such as TexasVAN. Also discussed was the proposed move of the Texas primary in 2008 to February 5. He thought that this would happen, though this would mean campaigning over the holidays, and an overall moved-up calendar.
At the end of his speech, Boyd took questions. I went first by asking Boyd what the strategy regarding state races would be in 2008 and 2010. He did hint that candidate recruitment for the 2008 US Senate race could happen, though he emphasized that the primary is open. I wasn't quite sure what to make of this. The questions were plentiful overall.
The day concluded with a call for attendees to become sustaining members.
Overall, in my opinion, the most noteworthy aspect of today's town hall meeting was that it occurred at all. Since moving to Texas in 1995, I have become accustomed to apathy, and a lack of presence and effort on a part of TDP. These town hall meetings appear to be part of an effort to reverse those terrible trends, and Boyd deserves credit for undertaking these meetings. Other speakers echoed these thoughts, saying that Boyd had gotten more done in the last year than had been done in many years. Attendees appeared to be enthused by There will be a total of 20 meetings statewide through June.
I would have hoped for discussion regarding statewide races in 2006 and the future, but this did not occur.
Overall, it is a start.
Let's see where it goes.
I welcome your thoughts and/or questions