Hispanic Party Chair to Ask DNC to Monitor State Democratic Party

The Democrat who has organized national party Chair Howard Dean's Rally in the Valley Friday wants the DNC to closely monitor the financially-strapped State Democratic Party. Juan Maldonado, chair of Hidalgo County Democratic Party, said he would use Dean's visit to press for changes in the way the State Democratic Party is run, particularly with regard to Hispanic outreach.

Maldonado said it was "unfathomable" how a party that claims to be inclusive towards Hispanics would not have one Hispanic employed at the state party office nor have a recognizable Hispanic outreach program.

"Those guys running the state party level do not know what they are doing," Maldonado said. "The state party is in great financial difficulty and I am going to ask that the Democratic National Committee keep an eye on them. We need an overhaul."

At its executive committee meeting last month, the state party agreed to offload high-paid consultants rather than lay off full-time staff. State Democratic Party Treasurer Miguel Wise told the Guardian at the time that if the party was to survive, the next several months had to be geared towards all out fundraising.

Dean will speak at 10 am at a Democratic rally in the Jeffers Theater on the University of Texas-Pan American campus. He will then travel to San Antonio for a Hispanic Leadership Summit taking place Aug. 5-7 at the Marriott Riverwalk in San Antonio.

Maldonado said he viewed the San Antonio event as a "good first step" for Hispanic activists in the party to network and strategize for the 2006 statewide elections. "We are going to get a lot more organized as the year goes on," Maldonado said. "We need to find good quality Hispanic candidates for the statewide elections in 2006."

Maldonado also welcomed Dean's presence in the Valley. "Howard Dean's visit is of critical importance as we all work to get Democrats elected to public office to stand up for the issues people care about most: quality and affordable healthcare, educational opportunities, a secure retirement, and job opportunities," Maldonado said.

Moses Mercado, deputy executive director for intergovernmental affairs for the DNC, has spent the past two days in the Valley coordinating Dean's trip and listening to party activists. Mercado, who grew up in Donna, said the visit showed Dean's commitment to a 50-state strategy. "The 13-state strategy is no longer in play," Mercado said.

Mercado pointed to a congressional election in Ohio this week where the Democratic candidate came within 4,000 votes of winning a district that voted 64 percent for Bush in 2004. "From now on, we are going to show up everywhere," Mercado said. "And, if ever we are going to win again in Texas, we have to show up in places like the Valley and El Paso, which are heavily Democratic."

Mercado said he was aware of grassroots dissatisfaction with the state Democratic leadership. He acknowledged that state party infrastructure across the country was "not in as good a shape as we want it to be." He said every member of the party had to shoulder responsibility.

"We have a very vibrant party in Hidalgo County and a great leader in Juan Maldonado, but we are not so lucky in other parts of the state," Mercado said. "We know we must do better. You can teach people to organize but you cannot teach people to win."

Mercado said he sensed renewed interest in the Democratic message in Red State America, pointing to a rally in Mississippi recently that drew 900 party supporters.

Mercado said outreach to minority voters would be improved through the DNC's hiring of at least four full-time organizers. He said that South Texas and El Paso would be key areas for assistance.

"We are going to work the State Party Chair Charles Soechting to ensure diversity in the hires," Mercado said.

Jose Angel Gutierrez, a political science professor at the University of Texas at Arlington, has studied the Texas Democratic Party and its Hispanic outreach efforts for many years.

In the old days, Gutierrez said, Democratic leaders simply funded and reinforced the 'patron' system, whereby money was doled out to political bosses. "The trouble with that is that the patrons would only take care of those that were on their list. New voters or those belonging to other groups were never looked after," he said.

Today, the problem was even worse, Gutierrez said, because next to no money was coming into the Texas Democratic Party. "This state is written off as Bush Country, but there are still members of Congress to elect," Gutierrez said. "If you look at the returns you will see Texas is not all Bush Country. The party needs to spend money in expanding the non-Bush Country, such as the border and the inner cities."

Gutierrez said that too often, the Democratic Party looked no different than the Republican Party. "When they are in a bind, they try to out-Republican the Republicans. It will never work," he said.

Gutierrez said an example of the state party not promoting good quality Hispanic candidates could be seen in 2002, when Linda Yañez ran for Texas Supreme Court. "The party leadership failed to get behind a competitive and excellent candidate," Gutierrez said. "They just ignored her."

Gutierrez said another example of poor leadership was an arbitrary decision at the 2004 state party convention to "shut out many black and brown" delegates. "The composition of the delegation clearly did not reflect who votes in the Democratic primary," Gutierrez said.
Gutierrez said Dean's concentration on Hispanic Texas was a "step in the right direction." He said the rally in Edinburg, along with the San Antonio summit, would likely be Dean's first introduction to a 100 percent Mexican American event.

"I do not know if Dean can change the culture of the Texas Democratic Party overnight," Gutierrez said. "We have been White-lead for ever and minority voters are accustomed to voting for White candidates. Unfortunately, the reverse is not true."

Gutierrez said minority voters would participate when they see a good reason to. "Having candidates that look like you and speak to you is a good motivating factor," he said.
A call for comment from the State Democratic Party Office was not returned at press time.

This article by Steve Taylor appeared in the Guardian internet magazine.