The party of the people returning in Texas

[David Van Os]

The party of the people is returning to its roots and democracy is on the rise. All over Texas, grassroots Democrats who are fed up with one-party monopoly government are filing for local offices in supposed Republican strongholds.

There are too many to list here. But just for example, seven Democrats so far are running for countywide offices in Fort Bend County; and Democrats are running for County Commissioner seats that have long been held by Republicans in Denton and Collin Counties. The same thing is happening in other counties, in East, West, North, South, and Central Texas.

This message is valid in every state. If any of the election districts that you reside in, at any level of government, do not yet have a Democratic challenger to a Republican incumbent, someone needs to run for that seat, and that someone is you! You do not need permission from any celebrity, superstar, or party boss. You do not need to have served in political office before or to have run for political office before. You already hold the highest civic position in a democracy, that of citizen and voter. All you need is the desire to serve your fellow citizens for a time and to make government work better for them. You have the ability, you have the qualifications, and you care about the world you live in. Now do it!

Democratic Candidate
For Texas Attorney General 2006
www.vanosfortexasag.com

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Good this is exactly how the Rs took over the country

one local office at the time

[TomInTib]

2. Tell it, David!

I am taking your message to everyone. And telling all who will listen to back your campaign.

I met you and your wonderful wife in a Dallas restaurant dining room one morning a few years ago and truly enjoyed our conversation. We were the only people in the room.

Yours is the only non-business card in my Rolodex.

You are what the Texas Democratic Party needs.

A Message, not a massage.

If you win I just might move back home to the Great State.

[acmejack]

4. Oh Hell, come back anyway.

reinforcements, don't you know? Populism rising!

[sweetm2475]

3. Go Texas!!!!!!!!

I am from Jersey and my husband is from Texas. Right now we live in Jersey but he always talks about how great Texas is. I have a really good time everytime we go there, but I have insisted that we will never even consider moving there until they pull their heads out of their asses about Dubya and the Repug Cabal. Looks like maybe that is starting to happen.

[ThatsMyBarack]

5. I'm slated to go to Dallas....

....for a few days in late March. Do you think things will have improved (even a little bit) by then? :toast:

[crispini]

9. Dallas is almost blue.

City of, not counting the 'burbs. We elected four Democratic judges and a Democratic female openly gay Latina sherriff in 2004. :D

[ClayZ]

6. Good on Texas! K & R

:kick:

[Peace Patriot]

7. This is great news! And it is one half of the equation for restoration of

majority rule. The other half is election reform. It is wonderful that so many good people are running for office in Texas, but they need to be warned--if they don't already know--about electronic voting systems run on "TRADE SECRET," PROPRIETARY programming code, controlled by Bushite corporations, with virtually no audit/recount controls. They need to know this for obvious reasons, but also, a) so that they and their supporters won't be disappointed, and won't give up, when they lose an election they should have won; and b) to gather election fraud evidence, challenge suspicious results and work long term for transparent elections.

Many will likely be defeated by means of the fraudulent, non-transparent election system. One of the worst things that happened in '04 was that Bush's phony win smashed and demoralized the magnificent grass roots movement that had developed to oust the Bush junta. That movement had given the Dems a blowout success in new voter registration, nearly 60/40 in 2004. Basically, Kerry could not lose with registration numbers like that, if the grass roots got out the vote (which we did), and if independents and Nader voters went for Kerry (which they overwhelmingly did). I think this kick in the head to the antiwar grass roots may be partly why Dem Party leaders never warned us about Bushites controlling vote tabulation with secret code--they didn't want a president who was beholden to the antiwar grass roots. (--lots of Dems thick into the war profiteer hogfest). That's my feeling about it, anyway. Pro-war Dems, plus bipartisan corruption in the $4 billion HAVA boondoggle. Their silence about this fraudulent election SYSTEM otherwise looks like insanity.

But now we know. The election system is non-transparent, controlled by Bush partisans, and extremely difficult to audit. We have to be prepared for very unfair losses, while we keep fielding candidates, keep voters involved, and dog our election officials demanding transparency and auditable counts. I think some races can be won despite the fraud, by sheer turnout. (The electronic voting companies and their advocates don't want things to get too obvious*.) And election challenges--where good evidence can be gathered--can lead to reform.

For an easy to read pamphlet on the perils of electronic voting ("MythBreakers"). (One of the myths is that HAVA mandated electronic voting; it did NOT; citizens and election officials still have a choice!)
www.votersunite.org

For a project for statistical monitoring and challenges of elections in '06 and '08:
www.UScountvotes.org

Russ Holt's bill HR 550 will stop the corporate privatization of our elections in its tracks, and reverse it. It has 169 co-sponsors (mostly Dems). Sign the petition. http://www.rushholt.com/petition.html

*See Bob Koehler's article about the recent Ohio election reform initiatives, predicted to win by 60/40, but flipped over into 60/40 LOSSES on election day--the worst flipped vote yet:
http://www.tmsfeatures.com/tmsfeatures/subcategory.jsp?file=20051124ctnbk-a.txt&catid=1824&code=ctnbk

For the recent GAO report on the grave insecurity of our election system in 2004:
access to pdf: http://www.gao.gov/docsearch/abstract.php?rptno=GAO-05-956
text only: http://www.gao.gov/htext/d05956.html

For more info: www.verifiedvoting.org

For analysis of the 2004 election results (and exit polls):
www.TruthIsAll.net

News updates on election fraud/reform:
http://www.solarbus.org/election/index.shtml

For how these Bushite electronic voting companies are corrupting state/local election officials with lavish lobbying, see this recent example--a week of fun, sun and high end shopping at the Beverly Hilton for election officials from around the country, sponsored by Diebold, ES&S and Sequoia, this August:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x380340

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"Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything."--Josef Stalin

[David Van Os]

11. Yes indeed....

Definitely know about it. See the written piece on my website about my conclusion that voting without an individual receipt violates the Texas Constitution.

[David Van Os]

12. Yes indeed....

Definitely know about it. See the written piece on my website about my conclusion that voting without an individual receipt violates the Texas Constitution.

[Nicole]

8. Good news for Texas

[yella_dawg]

10. Denton and Collin counties??

Holy shit! Isn't that where they hang ya for not voting Republican??

[David Van Os]

13. Absolutely.

Bill Baumbach is running for County Commissioner in Collin County and Amy Manuel is running in Denton County. Both are pro-democracy, populist grassroots Democrats, who will campaign as voices of the people, and who will surprise many doubters.