Forwarded on behalf of Sheril Smith

>> From University of Texas Daily Texan:
>
> Home > Opinion
> 1/17/08
> Texas Democratic Party shames itself again
>
> By Hooman Hedayati
> PrintEmail Article Tools Page 1 of 1 Texas Democratic Party shames
> itself again
>
> The presidential election of 2008 is our chance to end the Iraq war.
> Americans sent the message last November that they wanted the war to
> end, but President Bush ignored the results of that election and
> ordered a surge. Democrats in Congress then turned their backs on
> the American people by approving war funds every single time George
> Bush asked. Last weekend, the leaders of the Texas Democratic Party
> (TDP) again failed to listen to its own members working against the
> war, and this time the message was crystal clear: If the troops are
> not home by the end of George W. Bush's term in office, then on the
> first day of the next president's term, he or she should sign an
> order to bring all the troops home.
>
> On Saturday, the TDP's State Democratic Executive Committee (SDEC)
> had a chance to approve placing an Iraq war referendum on the TDP
> primary ballot. The referendum initiative had been approved by
> several local Democrat groups, including the South Austin Democrats,
> the Central Austin Democrats and the executive committee of the TDP.
>
> The text of the proposed referendum was: "Do you believe that
> President George W. Bush and the U.S. Congress, in support of our
> men and women serving in the Armed Forces, should end the occupation
> of Iraq and plan for the immediate withdrawal of all United States
> forces?"
>
> Thanks to the undemocratic refusal of party insiders to allow a
> vote, the resolution will not be on March's primary ballot. Now,
> there will be no direct referendum on the Iraq War for Texas
> Democrats. 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 32 votes needed to
> pass the resolution in advance of the meeting.
>
> According to Scott Cobb, who initiated the campaign last summer to
> get the referendum on the ballot, California Governor Arnold
> Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill that had passed the California
> Legislature on Aug. 31 to put an Iraq referendum on the ballot.
>
> "The Texas Democratic Party should be ashamed of itself for acting
> like Schwarzenegger and preventing a referendum on Iraq from being
> on the ballot," Cobb said.
>
> Resolutions calling for universal health care and reform of
> education and campaign finance were also tabled. Michael Apodaca,
> SDEC member and University of Texas at El-Paso alum, sponsored a
> resolution calling for re-regulation of tuition and tax-free
> textbooks.
>
> 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
> increased the voter turn-out of these important 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 a petition of 1,357 signatures (30 percent of
> delegates) to the party. The resolution called on the U.S. House of
> Representatives to impeach President 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 did not place the resolution as a "next
> order of business," finally bringing it up at the end of the event
> in a nearly empty convention hall containing only 250 of 4,300
> delegates. The resolution failed in a close vote.
>
> It is time for us all to live up to the words spoken at the funeral
> of Bobby Kennedy 39 years ago, during an era when many Americans
> desired to end a different war. Ted Kennedy said his brother "saw
> war and tried to stop it." We have all seen the Iraq war 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 home wounded in body, and hundreds of thousands more
> wounded in spirit. Any candidate running for any office in 2008 must
> take the position to end the occupation of Iraq immediately and
> bring the troops home.
>
> If you are a Democrat, remember these two things: TDP Chairman Boyd
> Richie's phone number is (512) 478-9800, and the Texas Democratic
> Party elects a new chairman and committee chairs this summer during
> the 2008 state convention.
>
> Hedayati is a government junior, Students Against the Death Penalty
> President and a Center for American Progress advisory board member.