One of the resolutions that got killed Saturday was the one that would have put a referendum on Iraq on the primary ballot. This was the second round in the fight to get the Iraq referendum on the ballot. The Iraq referendum resolution had already passed the Resolutions Committee at the last SDEC meeting a few months ago and it was even brought up to the full SDEC meeting back then. It would have passed the full SDEC then, but it was unnecessarily tabled at that earlier meeting because party leaders were ignorant of the Texas statute that allowed the SDEC to put referendums on the ballot. They had to go look up the statute after the meeting and then found out that the grassroots activists were right and the SDEC could put referendums on the ballot just by a vote of the SDEC. It is unbelievable that the party tabled the proposal on such a lame motion. The parliamentarian or the person chairing the meeting should have been aware of the rules and allowed a vote on the resolution. Such ignorance of the rules is a joke. We need to elect party leaders at the next convention who have a basic understanding of state laws pertaining to party business.

Thanks to the undemocratic refusal of party insiders to allow a vote, the resolution failed to pass a second time last weekend. So now there will be no referendum on Iraq on the Texas Democratic Party ballot. I wanted to find out what happened, so tonight I called a few people on the phone. Madeleine Dewar, a member of the SDEC and one of the official sponsors of the Vote Us Out of Iraq resolution, called the meeting a "disaster" and said that she had the thirty two votes needed to pass the resolution in advance of the meeting. Scott Cobb, who initiated the campaign, last summer to get the referendum on the ballot said: "In California, Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill that had passed the California legislature on Aug 31 to put a referendum on Iraq on the ballot in California. The Texas Democratic Party should be ashamed of itself for acting like Schwarzenegger and preventing a referendum on Iraq from being on the ballot."

Other resolutions calling for universal health care, education reform, and public campaign financing were also tabled. Michael Apodaca, SDEC member and recent graduate of UT El-Paso sponsored a resolution calling for re-regulation of the college tuitions, and tax free text books. Retiring Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle, who has years of experience prosecuting corrupt politicians even came to the meeting to plead in favor of public financing of elections. These advisory referendums could have energized the Democratic base and also increased the low voter turn out during the primaries.

This is not the first time TDP leaders have acted to suppress the voices of its own members. On June 10, 2006, during the TDP state convention in Fort Worth, members of the "Impeach Bush Resolution Campaign" delivered 1357 signatures to the party signed by more than 30% of the delegates. The resolution called on the U.S. House of Representatives to impeach President George W. Bush for high crimes and misdemeanors and for willfully violating his oath of office to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. Convention chair Bob Slagle refused to follow TDP rules, which calls for the resolution to be placed as the "next order of business." Slagle finally brought up the resolution at the end of the convention in a nearly empty convention hall with only 250 of the 4300 delegates present and after several requests by State Rep. Lon Burnam. The resolution failed in a close vote on the floor of the convention.

It is time for us all to live up to the words spoken at the funeral of a candidate for President killed 39 years ago in the midst of a campaign dominated by a desire among Americans of that time to end another war. Ted Kennedy said of his brother Bobby that he "saw war and tried to stop it." We have all seen the war in Iraq on TV. We have felt its impact in our communities among our families and friends. Almost 4,000 Americans have been killed. More than 29,000 have come back from the war wounded in body and hundreds of thousands more wounded in spirit. Every candidate running for any office in 2008 needs to take the position to end the occupation of Iraq immediately and bring the troops home.


Remember these two things: if you are a Democrat, remember that TDP Chairman Boyd Richie has a phone number, (512) 478-9800. Also remember that the Texas Democratic Party elects a new chairman and committee chairs this summer during their 2008 state convention.