Keep Fighting the Good Fight

If you have incredible memory, you may recall the name Dorrie O'Brien from a post I wrote on this story back in May:

What are the intentions of Muslims in America? A local activist told a Republican club Monday night that Muslims are intent on overthrowing America. But the Tarrant County medical examiner, who is Muslim, denounced such remarks as hate speech.

Dorrie O’Brien was booked months ago to speak to the North Tarrant Republican Club. She riled local Muslims last month when she delivered a speech to a Republican club in Hurst in which she said most or all American Muslims support terrorism.

In her presentation to about 80 people, O’Brien said that Muslims are intent on converting the Western world to Islam. She described as "stealth jihad" a malicious effort by Muslims to subvert schools, local governments and banks throughout the country.

O’Brien reviewed the five pillars of Islam, noting that one of them is zakat, which means to give a percentage of one’s income to charity. "There is a tremendous amount of proof out there that the zakat is now funding terrorism," she said.

O’Brien also compared the Quran to the Bible and dismissed any suggestion that atrocities committed by Christians in the past were relevant to a debate about the present.

"I am not going to get into a theological discussion tonight, but I will flatly say, no, there is no way we are praying to the same God," she said.

Well, Ms. O'Brien has made the local news again, this time for getting her group kicked out of the Arlington Public Library for violating rules on the use of meeting spaces:

The Grand Prairie chapter of ACT! for America had its meeting privileges revoked this month because the group broke two guidelines of the library’s meeting room usage policy, Arlington Library Director Cary Siegfried said.

The group, led by Dorrie O’Brien of Grand Prairie, had been meeting at the library since last year, Siegfried said. The Arlington Public Library offers its meeting room for free.

In an e-mail to Siegfried, O’Brien said the library was playing "into the hands of America’s enemies" and was just citing the rule violations as an excuse.

"I imagine there’s been a lot of pressure put on you to kick me out of the library by the people who want to stop me and others like me from getting the actual word out about Islam," O’Brien wrote.

Siegfried insisted that the content of the meetings had nothing to do with her decision.

"They didn’t follow the rules; that’s all there is to it," Siegfried said.

Siegfried said she warned ACT! for America this year after the library received a complaint that the group’s meetings were not fully open to the public and that group leaders were soliciting funds at the meeting, both violations of the library’s policy.

I must confess, I have no snark sufficient to deal with this story. These people are just lunatics.

Futility

Let's see, how our local Republicans re-energizing themselves in the wake of the historically bad 2008 elections?

What are the intentions of Muslims in America? A local activist told a Republican club Monday night that Muslims are intent on overthrowing America. But the Tarrant County medical examiner, who is Muslim, denounced such remarks as hate speech.

Dorrie O’Brien was booked months ago to speak to the North Tarrant Republican Club. She riled local Muslims last month when she delivered a speech to a Republican club in Hurst in which she said most or all American Muslims support terrorism.

In her presentation to about 80 people, O’Brien said that Muslims are intent on converting the Western world to Islam. She described as "stealth jihad" a malicious effort by Muslims to subvert schools, local governments and banks throughout the country.

O’Brien reviewed the five pillars of Islam, noting that one of them is zakat, which means to give a percentage of one’s income to charity. "There is a tremendous amount of proof out there that the zakat is now funding terrorism," she said.

O’Brien also compared the Quran to the Bible and dismissed any suggestion that atrocities committed by Christians in the past were relevant to a debate about the present.

"I am not going to get into a theological discussion tonight, but I will flatly say, no, there is no way we are praying to the same God," she said.

Anybody worried about the 2010 mid-terms? Yeah, me neither.

Tim Curry Dies

Tim Curry, who served as the Tarrant County District Attorney for thirty-six years, died last night.

Calling It

This blogger is calling it for the night. It's been three hours since the networks called it for Obama (10:00pm CST) and since then I swear the only thing I've done is flitter from one site to the next trying to get U.S. House totals, Texas race totals, and local Dallas and Tarrant County election totals. But you dear reader know what I know, as it's all here on the blog somewhere (see the links on the upper right.)

Clearly, it has been a historic night. It's simply incredible that Americans have elected their first African-American President, but it bears reminding that Obama wasn't elected because he's black; he was elected because a majority of Americans trust him with the future of this nation. They will not be proven wrong in their trust.

Democrats have picked up at least five seats in the Senate, and are likely to take out Stevens as well (though it's too early to say for sure.) They probably won't get Chambliss though. Too bad.

Democrats will pick up a few more seats in the House. Nothing stunning, but adding to the comfortable margin they already enjoy.

In Texas...well, Texas is a different story. The purpling of the state will have to wait, as results were decidedly mixed. Gains in the U.S. House were nil, gains in the Texas House were less than hoped for, but Wendy Davis did score an upset against Kim Brimer in the Texas Senate. Things look good for Dallas County Democrats, and less so for Tarrant County Democrats.

And that's where we are at about 1:30 CST. We'll know more in the morning, and expect that my co-bloggers and I will have much more to say about this incredible night tomorrow and in the coming days. Good night folks.

Handy Reference

I put together a spreadsheet to help me keep track of races of note, from the U.S. Senate on down to county commissioner. My co-blogger Nat-Wu is encouraging me to put it online in case it could prove of use to others, so here it is. It's been hastily assembled so I apologize for errors and omissions, and unfortunately you can't edit it to your own purposes. Next time we'll try something in earnest that might be more useful to our readers.

Texas House/Senate Races, Tarrant/Dallas County Races

This thread will serve to provide updates on the outcomes of contested Texas State House and Senate Races, as well as Tarrant and Dallas County races of note. A handy link to this post is on the upper right-hand corner of the blog, but I will probably keep promoting this post along with our other election threads to the top of the blog. For the sake of ease of reading, I'll skip the "Update" addendum that usually accompanies a change to the post, and just add information as we get it.

Dallas County
Lupe Valdez appears to be cruising to victory for Sheriff. With about 40-50% of precincts reporting, Dallas Democrats appear to be running the tables. Ken Molberg (D) defeats his Republican challenger, three days after being mauled by a dog while campaigning to boot.

Tarrant County
Randy Turner looks to be trailing in the race for the 17th Civil District, by about 45,000 votes. And...yep, Turner will lose. Damn. Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson (R) will win re-election. No turning Tarrant County blue, at least not this year.

Texas House

Diane Maldonado (D) wins. Joe Moody (D) wins. Incumbent Dan Barrett (D) loses. Donnie Dippell (D) loses. To this point, it looks like Democrats may very well manage a tie in the Texas House, 72-72, though doing so will hinge on the extremely close race between Bob Romano and Linda Harper-Brown. Romano leads by TWENTY-FIVE votes.

Texas Senate

Wendy Davis (D) defeats incumbent Kim Brimer. Chris Bell fails to reach a majority, and will face a runoff election against Republican Joan Huffman in December.

Texas Judiciary

Texas Supreme Court, Chief Justice: Wallace Jefferson (R) will defeat challenger Jim Jeffords. Texas Supreme Court, Place 7: Dale Wainwright (R) will defeat challenger Sam Houston. Texas Supreme Court, Place 8: Phil Johnson (R) will defeat Linda Yanez. Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 3: Tom Price (R) defeats Susan Strawn. Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 4: Paul Womack (R) defeats J.R. Molina.

Texas Voters: Don't Vote Straight Ticket

Some voting rights advocates were already warning voters to avoid straight-ticket voting, and now reports are filtering in that voters in Texas are experiencing problems with voting machines flipping their votes:

A number of voters in several Texas counties have been complaining that voting machines they used to cast early votes flipped their votes from Democratic choices to Republican ones.

Voters have reported that when they tried to vote a straight-party Democratic ticket, the machine flipped their choices to Republican candidates instead. In some cases, voters reported a problem only with the presidential race; in other cases voters reported the entire ballot being marked Republican by the machine.

The counties where the problems were reported use different kinds of voting machines from three of the top voting machine companies -- Election Systems & Software, Diebold Election Systems (now Premier Election Solutions) and Hart InterCivic.

A Hart InterCivic spokesman said that at least one of the scenarios that a voter described isn't possible on the company's machines. A spokesman for ES&S said very few voters had complained and as far as he knew poll workers were never able to replicate the situation they described. The same ES&S machines are at the center of stories in West Virginia and Tennessee where voters also reported the machines flipping their votes, though the scenario in those states was slightly different since voters there weren't trying to vote a straight-party ticket when the problem occurred.

Voting a straight-party ballot or ticket is an option offered in 15 states whereby a voter can choose to vote straight-party Democrat or Republican and the ballot will automatically mark votes for candidates from that party on the ballot.

Because of the reports of problems, many election integrity groups are urging voters to forego the option.

The Texas Democratic Party has already been forced to respond to misleading information sent out to some Democratic voters that voters who opt to straight-ticket vote must also indicate their Presidential preference on the electronic ballot, even though doing so would result in no selection for the Presidential race. So be warned Texas voters...things are haywire out there. If you vote straight ticket, be sure to double check your ballot and talk to an election official if you have any problems. If they can't or won't help you, be sure to contact your local county elections office, or your local Democratic party. In Tarrant County you can report problems to the Tarrant County Democrats at 817-335-8683, or to the Tarrant County Elections Office at 817-831-8683. More information is also available here at the Tarrant County Democrats website. If you'd like us to know about any problems you've experienced, shoot us an email at our address at the top of the right-hand column. 

Randy Turner for Judge

A personal acquantance of mine, attorney Randy Turner, has been endorsed by the Star Telegram for Judge in Tarranty County's 17th District Court. And for good reason, as the Star Telegram explains:

Voters have a choice between two qualified candidates, but one edges out the other based on the length and breadth of his legal experience.

During 28 years of practice, Democrat Randy Turner, 55, has handled civil, criminal and family law cases.

For the past 18 years, he’s focused on personal injury, medical malpractice, deceptive trade practices and products liability.

Turner is board-certified in civil trial and personal injury law, which signifies doing specialized work, taking extra continuing legal education and passing written exams.

And he’s been active in a slew of community work, including animal rescue, lobbying for improvement of laws against animal cruelty and supervising Texas Wesleyan law students doing pro-bono work.

He’s also traveled to Borneo, Indonesia and Zimbabwe to help scientists involved in wildlife conservation.

I know Randy as a result of working with him on animal law issues, and he's intelligent, well-versed in the law, experienced and, importantly for a judge, compassionate and fair. The Star Telegram endorses him, and we most certainly do as well.

Turning Tarrant County Blue II

It's an encouraging sign when even prominent Tarrant County Republicans admit to the likelihood that Tarrant County will eventually be turned back to the Democrats:

The reality is that their first big win in 20 years didn't advance their political agenda by very much and they needed the help of a Dallas group to do even that. Can the party really be hanging its hopes on a win in a race when there wasn't a dime's worth of difference between the candidates?

Yes, but not as soon as Brender is predicting, said Tarrant County Criminal Court Judge Daryl Coffey. "The idea of the Democrats taking back the county in two years or even four is totally unrealistic" he said. "There are still too many solid Republican precincts," he said. Nonetheless, the lifelong Republican believes that a Democratic takeover is probable in about 15 years, due primarily to the fast-growing Hispanic population and the traditional pendulum swing of politics in this country.

As to the growth in the hispanic population:

"...if the Democrats are to be successful", Arlington writer and LULAC activist Richard Gonzales said, the first order of the day must be the Latino voter. To win back the county, "the Democrats need to help Latino candidates get into office. ... Too often, the Democrats have asked the Latinos for their support but have not reciprocated. ... Time and demographics are on the Latino side. It's foolish for Anglos to resist the change in who will be calling the political shots in the near future."

The Republicans, Gonzales said, will never be the Latinos pals. There is now too much bitterness over immigration issues. "Until moderate Repubs take over the party and start reversing English-only proposals, the [border] wall strategy, and enforcement-only legislation, [Republicans] will not succeed in wooing Latinos in large numbers."

That seems highly unlikely, seeing as how the Republican "base" is still comprised mostly of people like this. But it's not only Hispanics that are helping to turn the tide:

The rapid growth of the Hispanic population here is the most obvious factor in the Democrats favor, but there is another that's gone unreported, Brender said the Alliance airport development in far north Fort Worth. A significant number of the firms that have moved into Alliance in the past decade, he said, are union companies. There's been a big jump in union membership in the county, especially in the northern suburbs, and most of that is thanks to Ross [Perot] Jr.'s development. "I don't think that's what he intended", Brender added with a laugh, "but it's gonna help us take back the county."

Every little bit helps.

Clearly, Tarrant County Democrats lost an opportunity this cycle by failing to run candidates in the vast majority of races in Tarrant County and taking advantage of the huge anti-Republican sentiment that swept the country. But the Republican party remains nationally as divided as ever, and it would be imprudent to imagine that the political situation will be all that different in 2008. There will be no big sweep, but there will nonetheless be an opportunity to make decent, incremental gains, here and around the country. Tarrant County Dems would be making a mistake to miss that opportunity, but judging by what they say in this column, it seems unlikely that they will.

Turning Tarrant County Blue

As you are no doubt aware by now, the mid-term elections turned Dallas County blue overnight, but Tarrant County stayed staunchly red. Tarrant County is clearly more conservative than Dallas County, but was that also partly the failure of the Tarrant County Democrats' approach?

The minority population in both counties did influence the recent election. But there were other, more important, factors. Dallas County Democrats capitalized on the national furor over Republican ethics violations, the war in Iraq, and two independent Texas governor candidates. But the key move was putting candidates on the ballot.

Look at judicial races. Democratic judges in Dallas County won all 42 of the contested races; Tarrant had only one contested judicial race of 32, and Republicans won them all. The Dallas judicial candidates pooled their resources and ran almost as a slate. This increased voter turnout, increased straight-ticket Democratic voting to 53 percent, and gave the party all the countywide races.

Why is it important to run judges on the party ticket? After all, party affiliation often has little to do with performance on the bench. But judges are a party’s bench strength, so to speak. No top-ticket superstars, they provide the bottom-level support that builds the party. They can bring out Democrat supporters who feel they actually have a choice and help in fund-raising through sheer numbers.

Tarrant County Democratic Party chair Art Brender has long thought that stacking the ballot with Democratic candidates is a waste of limited resources. So this time the Tarrant Democrats campaigned hard in only two races. In the district attorney race, they backed Terri Moore against Republican incumbent Tim Curry. In House District 93, they backed challenger Paula Hightower Pierson against incumbent Toby Goodman. One win, one loss.

I can testify personally to the utter lack of Democratic candidates on the ballot. I was shocked at the number of Republicans running unopposed in Tarrant County. Regardless, McGraw says there are signs for hope:

Are the prevailing winds changing here? There are several little trends that might move the needles a bit. Almost 60 percent of Tarrant voters went against Republican incumbent Rick Perry, meaning there is a majority of people who will go against a Republican at the top of the ticket. There is also the increase in Hispanic voters, along with the increase in newcomers who are not wedded to local traditions.

But the major change that will come into play in 2008 and 2010 is the reputation of the Republican Party nationwide. The change in Congress indicates that Democrats are more likely to come out and vote now, and the best way to take advantage of that is to fill up the ballot , as Dallas County Democrats did. It is not a stretch to think that more Democrats will be voting in Tarrant County in a presidential race without an incumbent in 2008. Party straight-ticket voting is now 51-42 percent in favor of the Tarrant Republicans, but those numbers could rise five percentage points in 2008, another five by 2010.

Tarrant may not become blue country anytime soon, but like much of urban Texas (that isn't already blue) it is gradually shifting to the left, giving Democrats hope not only in local urban races, but in state-wide Texas races and in national Congressional races. I'll go out on a limb a little bit and say Tom DeLay's fall, President Bush's troubles, the elevation of a Democrat to a prominent House committee chair, and this gradual shift, spells the beginning of the end of the dominance of Texas-style Republican politics.

UPDATE: In comments, Texa links to this story in the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram also on the subject of a blue shift in Tarrant Country. I'll try to hit the highlights when I have a moment, but I recommend reading it in full.