GOP opposes Honoring Cesar Chavez

GOP Senators Blasted for Blocking Resolution Honoring Cesar Chavez
April 2, 2007
EFE

Senate Democratic leaders joined pro-immigrant groups to chastise Republicans for rejecting a resolution in honor of the late Mexican-American labor leader and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez. The resolution, sponsored by two Democratic lawmakers and defeated Thursday night, would have honored the Chavez legacy on the eve of what would have been his 80th birthday. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the resolution was stymied because Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky insisted on including a controversial passage about Chavez' participation in a 1969 march against illegal immigration. Chavez participated in that march because, in those days, there was an increase in the importation of undocumented workers as cheap labor to torpedo his efforts to build up the United Farm Workers union he founded. Calling the late activist "an inspirational American who fought for social and economic justice," Reid said Friday in a statement that "Senate Republicans objected to honoring the true legacy of Cesar Chavez." "Instead of joining Democrats to honor this great American with a resolution celebrating his life, the Senate GOP leadership last night decided that it was better to block the resolution, since they failed in their attempt to include controversial language related to immigration. This is outrageous and disrespects the legacy of this inspirational leader," the Nevada Democrat said. McConnell's insistence on a reference to the 1969 march in the resolution to honor Chavez was also criticized Friday by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the National Council of La Raza. "The inclusion of such language suggests that Cesar Chavez would not have been appalled and outraged by today's anti-immigrant sentiment and policies, which is not only offensive but is dead wrong. There is a time and place to debate the immigration issue but to deny a great leader this congressional honor is a slap in the face to his family, to the Latino community, and to the millions in the U.S. and around the world who continue his work and legacy today," MALDEF and NCLR said in a joint statement. Source: Copyright (C) 2007. Agencia EFE S.A.
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Pros and Cons of Targeting Precincts

I hear much talk of targeting precincts. The Texas Democratic Party Handbook defines targeting as the "Process of determining which demographic groups and precincts that have voters who are more likely to support a favored candidate or party." That sounds harmless enough until you think about it. And, in fact, it is probably something most candidates should do. Unless a candidate has unlimited resources, he or she will have to target--go where the most likely voters are. But is it good for the Democratic Party. I don't think so. The Democratic Party is obligated to organize itself to support all Democratic Candidates--all those who file as a candidate for elective office--and those who may wish to file but can't make it on their own. In fact, the Democratic Party should organize itself to search for good candidates--not just wait until the knock on the door. But that is only part of the Party's obligations. Another major obligation is to serve the voters in the precincts, all the precincts. Every Democratic voter or prospective voter in every precinct is entitled to representation before the CEC by a precinct chair. We can not forget our Democratic voters in non-targetable precincts just because there are few of them. Collectively they can add up to that extra 10%, and possibly more, that we fail to turnout in every election. But, some say, "We can't go after every possible voter in every precinct. We don't have the resources." To them I reply, "How long has it been since you have seen a major fundraising effort by the Democratic Party here in Bexar County?" I have been here since 1972 and have never seen it happen.

In fact, all these activities can go on simultaneously. Is there any reason why I shouldn't request access to the walk lists for precincts without chairs in my vicinity and call active Democrats in those precincts asking them to help find a chair or coordinator for their precinct and, at the same time, ask them to help us raise the necessary funds for us to accomplish our purpose. One of our precinct chairs came up with the idea of asking for a dollar from every Democrat. That idea went nowhere. Let's revive it. Chapter 5, Fundraising and Financial Reporting, of the Party Handbook states that the number one reason that people give money is that they are asked. We certainly have an honorable cause and no need to be ashamed to ask for money to support that cause.

Fortunately, the kind of organization I am talking about goes hand-in-hand with getting the resources we need to do our job while we are organizing our precincts, finding and supporting candidates, finding and encouraging prospective voters and meeting all the other responsibilities placed on the CECs.

I can get sufficient information off the Website to recruit precinct chairs in my area without having to download a complete walk list. Eventually, however, each precinct chair or coordinator will need a walk list with certain information. At best, useful walk lists will cost considerable money. The CEC must carefully determine what information precinct chairs and coordinator will need to organize their precincts. The walklist of registered voters I downloaded in 2004 was 110 pages long. The list of DDD Democrats was only 29 pages long, but I found the longer list more useful and productive. This is the kind of decision the CEC must make. Just what do we need in the way of walk lists? Until the approximately 700,000 prospective Democratic voters in Bexar County give us a dollar each, we must be frugal.

The one cheer I remember from my high school days goes "Hit 'em high, hit 'em low! Come on team, let's go." Let's go and do likewise.

John McConnell,
Democratic Precinct Chair
Precinct 3047
Bexar County, Texas

This From: http://lelowry.blogspot.com/index.html