Election Day Polling Places in Texas

by: mariochampion

Tue Oct 21, 2008 at 08:57:17 AM CDT

A list with contact info for every county elections administrator:
http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/voter/county.shtml

Find my Texas Polling Place tool:
https://voterinfo.sos.state.tx.us/voterws/viw/faces/SearchSelectionPolling.jsp

Also check out:
vote411.org

In Austin and Travis County:
http://turntexasblue.com/electionday

In Houston and Harris County:
http://www.hcdp08.org/getinvolved/vote/

Pass this info along! Just click this link to send to a friend!

Question: What would Privatized Social Security be worth now?

by: mariochampion

Mon Sep 29, 2008 at 17:15:53 PM CDT

If W and Gang (and the the free-market fundamentalists on RedState.com and the like) had succeeded in efforts to privatize Social Security, what would that be like today?

As in, what real affect on real people can we explain to conveniently show how Republican policies just arent good for 98% of the country.

anyone? anyone?

October 6 Voter Registration deadline fast approaching

by: mariochampion

Wed Sep 17, 2008 at 19:29:23 PM CDT

Friends,

The October 6 deadline for all eligible, but unregistered voters to become registered is fast approaching us. The link below is a spreadsheet which outlines just how much more work is still needed. Read it!!

Review this---
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pYimYErBNFIQUnbM8-hGUKA

More after the jump...

Join a former Texas State Rep. in New Mexico

by: mariochampion

Wed Sep 17, 2008 at 11:09:02 AM CDT

As some ad a few years back used to ask: "Will you have enough stories for your grandchildren?" If you can be part of history in this way, you should jump on it!

By earlier announcement asking for volunteers, I am asking for people to go with me to New Mexico from Oct 3 through Oct 13 or any part of that. I plan to drive - 920 miles one way - from Milam, Texas through El Paso to Las Cruces where the campaign says they want the help. I have space for 3 or 4 others and I'd like to be able to split the gas cost. We can get it down below $30 per person. You can't beat that. The campaign has already arranged housing and food. And I'm offering travel that costs only more than hitchhiking!

Let's go. Contact me by email or my cell.
Hill Kemp
Former Texas State Representative
318-256-9793

We are all Texas Proud in Texas, and in many neighboring States. We have Obama for America Foot Soldiers and Troops on the ground Fired Up and Ready To Go! However, the critical sense of urgency in this defining moment of only 51 days to go is victory in the "Battleground States". We are in additional need of Obama for America Foot Soldiers and Troops in some Battle Ground States; New Mexico being one of them.

URGENT: Central Texas Phonebankers need several hundred traveling Texans

by: hillsforobama

Tue Sep 16, 2008 at 08:11:29 AM CDT

Now is the time, more than any other for YOU to make a difference in this tight election.

Obama for America  URGENTLY needs phone banking volunteers from Central Texas to make calls to fellow Central Texan Obama Supporters and ask if they are available to go to a battleground state for 5 weeks for the Obama for America Campaign.  Barack Obama and Joe Biden are  asking Texans to find several hundred Texans that can go to the battleground states as FIELD ORGANIZERS by September 29th!  

Most Texas volunteers will be going to either NM, CO or Florida.  They will need to go to Camp Obama before they leave for a battleground state.  The final two Camp Obama sessions are scheduled for September 20-21 and 27-28 right here in Austin.  All expenses will be paid by the volunteer, although lodging is provided and typically includes breakfast.  The local field offices will also provide some food.  Transportation in many cases will be donated by Obama supporters.  A web site for free/cheap airline tickets follows: http://www.travelforchange.org or call 650.353.1018 .

If you are interested in helping with these calls then please send Andy Balinsky an email @ balinsky@gmail.com with your name, email, and phone number so that he can assign you an account to access the virtual phonebank for this project.  You can call right from home, from the Coordinated campaign Offices and from the 620 Democratic Office.  Andy  will also put you in touch with Starshine Nolan, Obama For America   Central Texas Field Organizer.  

This is something we can all do to help OBAMA & BIDEN  win!  

Please forward this URGENT REQUEST  to all of your OBAMA contacts.  

Thanks so much!

Chris Wilson

URGENT: Make Calls for May 6th

by: mariochampion

Mon May 05, 2008 at 09:02:49 AM CDT

Make Calls to North Carolina and Indiana

Call for National Delegates for Obama fromTexas

by: mariochampion

Thu Apr 24, 2008 at 09:46:42 AM CDT

Whether you have built a site and/or plan an phone/email/snail mail campaign, if you post a diary with your campaign spiel, your Senate District, link to your site (if you have one), pictures, etc and 'tag' it 'nationaldelegate' (as one word) it will show up automatically from the new link above for in the big blue box.

All National Delegate diaries will also get front-paged. So, get to campaigning folks, and hope to see you in Austin June 5,6,7, and later on in Denver!

thanks
mario

IMPORTANT: Make Calls to Pennsylvania

by: mariochampion

Fri Apr 18, 2008 at 16:50:00 PM CDT

Call Pennsylvania for Obama

Thanks!

Wanna Go to Denver? Here's a Roadmap!

by: mariochampion

Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:06:46 AM CDT

As delegate lists from the County and Senate Conventions make their way to the Texas Democratic Party, people are getting ready to compete to be the warm bodies in those highly coveted seats in Denver.

Here's the handy guide to everything you need to know.

Texas State Convention Elected Positions

by: mariochampion

Thu Mar 20, 2008 at 08:09:58 AM CDT

What can I run for?
At 3:00 pm on Friday, each Senate District Caucus meets at their posted location in the Convention Center.  All delegates are in attendance here, both Clinton and Obama.

At the Convention each Senate District Caucus elects one member to each standing committee and recommendations for Electors and SDEC. It is important to be organized as much as practical BEFORE this convention so that these committee spots are won by our qualified supporters.

(1) Credentials Committee
(2) Platform Committee
(3) Resolutions Committee
(4) Rules Committee
(5) Nominations Committee for SDEC officers and SDEC members recommended by Senatorial District Caucuses, and in presidential years, members of the Democratic National Committee and Presidential Electors
(6) Recommendation for SDEC Committeeman
(7) Recommendation for SDEC Committeewoman
(8) Nominations Committee for At-Large Delegates to the National Convention
(9) Recommendation for Presidential Elector(s) as allotted to those Caucuses under these Rules      This year every SD will make on recommendation, and the remaining three are recommended by the three largest districts:  SD 14, SD 23 and SD 13.
(10) Delegates and Alternates to the National Convention as allocated to them.

At this point, the Obama and Clinton delegates divide into their respective caucuses to elect their allocated delegates and alternates as determined by the March 4th Primary.

Here is a list of the Committees and a bit about what they do. If you are interested in serving on the temporary committees prior to the Convention, contact the State Party Chair at the Texas Democratic Party.

The duties of the Permanent Committees shall be as follows:
(1) The Permanent Credentials Committee shall make recommendations to the Convention as to the final resolution of all challenges regarding the credentials of Delegates to the State Convention.

Note:  The Party Chair will have appointed a Temporary Credentials Committee that will have met prior to the Convention, heard testimony and made most of the Credentials recommendations.   This committee serves as the final arbiter if there are still contests.

(2) The Nominations Committee shall nominate the officers of the SDEC and the SDEC members recommended by their respective Senatorial District Caucuses and, in presidential years, the DNC  Representatives.

Note:   This committee recommends the Officer slate:  Party Chair, Vice Chair, Vice Chair of Finance, Treasurer.   Each Senate District recommends a State Committeeman and State Committeewoman and the Committee  nominates those recommended people to be the Executive Committee.    Each Senate District will hold an election at their caucus for these two recommendations.    The committee will also recommend nominations for the Texas seats on the Democratic National Committee.  It nominates Presidential Electors (each Senate District makes recommendations for Elector).
In presidential years, the duties of the Nominations Committee for At-Large Delegates to the National Convention shall be those implied by its title or as assigned by the National Party Rules.

Note:  This committee will meet on Saturday to recommend the 67 At Large Delegates and 3 Add On Unpledged Delegates.   After the Senate districts have made their selections to this committee, there will be some Obama supporters and some Clinton supporters elected.  The presidential primary poll will have allocated the number of At Large and Pledged Party and Elected Official delegates for Obama and Clinton.   Traditionally, the Obama committee members will caucus to recommend the Obama delegates and the Clinton committee members will recommend the Clinton delegates.

(3) The Platform Committee shall write and recommend to the Convention a Party platform for the November General Election.
Note:  Traditionally the Chair appoints a broad based committee of interested individuals who meet in the weeks before the Convention to draft a Platform document.  This committee takes that draft, and reworks it and make final edits.

(4) The Resolutions Committee shall consider and recommend all resolutions submitted to the Convention, other than those within the proper jurisdiction of the Platform Committee.
Note:   There is a temporary resolutions committee appointed by the Chair that sifts through the thousands of resolutions, decides which ones are appropriate topics to be referred to the Platform Committee or the Rules Committee.    There are days of logistics work to organize these documents and the temporary committee does that work.

(5) The Rules Committee shall consider and recommend any proposed amendments to the permanent Party Rules and shall assist the Convention Chair and Parliamentarian, at their request, in interpreting the applicability of these Rules to questions of organization and procedure at the Convention.  

Let's make Obama's Texas victory a little $weeter

by: mariochampion

Thu Mar 06, 2008 at 13:58:16 PM CST

And, remember, if someone points out the popular vote lead for Clinton in Texas, simply agree with them and point out the popular vote lead for Obama overall.

Of course, if the mainstream journalists would press the point to Bill Clinton about his earlier firewall words, i would be a little happier.

So what else can you do while you rest up? How about a little contribution to sweeten the victory. This campaign, this movement, this urge to re-shape our country won't be led by others. It's up to us. Obama is set to announce a $50,000,000+ month, and that is pretty big. But, Texans for Obama, let's make March even bigger! Give what you can to our campaign!

URGENT: Volunteer at your local Obama field office!

by: News

Sun Feb 24, 2008 at 07:03:03 AM CST

The Clinton campaign had a 30 point lead just a couple of months ago, but our volunteers have worked hard to close the gap.  Let's finish the job and deliver Texas for Obama.  Yes we can!

Amarillo

118 B SW 6th Ave.
Amarillo, TX 79101

Austin - Campaign Headquarters

816 Congress Ave.
Austin, TX 78701
Phone: (512) 476-2008
Fax: (512) 476-2032
texas@barackobama.com

Austin - East Austin

1309 Rosewood Ave,
Austin, TX 78702

Austin - UT Campus

Dobie Center
2025 Guadalupe St., #142
Austin, TX 78705

Brownsville

305 East Elizabeth St.
Brownsville, TX 78520

Corpus Christi

1318 S. Staples St.
Corpus Christi, TX
Phone: (361) 884-0008

Dallas

1409 S. Lamar St., Suite 011
Dallas, TX 75215

Edinburg

405 W. Owassa Rd.
Edinburg, TX 78539

El Paso

Trowbridge Plaza
5750 Trowbridge Dr.
El Paso, TX 79925
Phone: (915) 775-2008

Fort Worth - North

2511 Rodeo Plaza-B
Fort Worth, TX 76106

Fort Worth - East

6322 Brentwood Stair Rd.
Fort Worth, TX 76112

Galveston

2028 Broadway St.
Galveston, TX 77650

Houston

3710 Travis
Houston, TX  77002

Laredo

9902 McPherson Ave.
Laredo, TX 78045
956 566-6692

League City

270 League City
League City, TX 77573

McAllen

4510 N. 10th St., Suite 170
McAllen, TX 78504

San Antonio

311 Third St.
San Antonio, TX

San Antonio - West Commerce (Satellite)

2935 W. Commerce
San Antonio, TX 78207

UT - Pan American

1900 W. University, Suite 7
Edinburg, TX 78539

Waco

1818 Columbus Avenue
Waco, TX 76701

We'll update this post with new office contatct info as soon as we receive it.

State of the Latino Vote in Texas

by: mariochampion

Wed Feb 20, 2008 at 13:05:43 PM CST

Read the whole thing. It's quite good (and i think quite rare) to see such an in-depth actual analysis in a mainstream article.

Some of the more salient quotes:

Though he ultimately lost to Republican John Cornyn, [Ron] Kirk's success with Hispanics undermines the oft-quoted idea that antipathy between blacks and Latinos will hinder Obama's own pursuit of Hispanic votes.

Hispanics represent about 20 percent - 2.6 million - of Texas' registered voters, and after flirting with the Republican Party during the Bush years, they are back in the Democrats' fold, according to a Pew Hispanic Center national survey in December.

Analysts say Hispanics make up about 35 percent to 40 percent of Democratic primary voters but might account for considerably more on March 4 if Texas mirrors the record turnouts in other states.

Those numbers, combined with the sheer star power of two popular candidates, are creating a buzz that has some feeling almost giddy about the importance of Latino voters this year.

Early Vote Locations in Texas

by: mariochampion

Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 13:04:39 PM CST

Pass this along, with 'Send as email' link at the bottom to share this with your fellow Obama supporters.

I Voted for Obama! (everyone sign on!)

by: mariochampion

Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 07:00:00 AM CST

Leave a comment with your city, (and/or Senate District if you know it) to show your support for Sen. Obama.

let's make this the biggest thread on the internets: feel free to hit the 'Send as email' link at the bottom to share this with your fellow Obama supporters.

Obama El Paso Contacts

by: mariochampion

Fri Feb 15, 2008 at 09:08:28 AM CST

Contact for el paso volunteers. please feel free to fwd these contacts to other el paso listservs and sites.  

Become a Texas Precinct captain

by: mariochampion

Wed Feb 13, 2008 at 13:03:47 PM CST

Dear Texan for Obama,

Become a Precinct Captain.

My name is Adrian Saenz, and I'm the State Director for the Obama campaign in Texas.

I'm writing to remind you that the Texas primary is coming up very soon -- Tuesday, March 4th -- and to tell you how you can play a major role in our campaign in the Lone Star State.

Grassroots organizing is crucial here in Texas, and you can make a big difference in your community by getting involved now.

Sign up to be an Obama Precinct Captain:

http://my.barackobama.com/TXpr...

Texas Latinos for Barack Obama

by: kaneandcompany

Mon Feb 11, 2008 at 04:35:13 AM CST

2008 is a very important election year. If you are registered to vote in the State of Texas - our Texas state primary is March 4th. Your vote is very important  in picking the Democratic nominee for President. I am supporting Barack Obama. Barack Obama is a man who can unite our country despite our differences in race and ethnicity, socioeconomic standing, geographical area, religious affiliation and political leaning.

Barack Obama is a man who inspires. He has rallied millions of young voters and ordinary citizens like you and I to stand up and believe that the same old Washington ways are ineffective and hurting our country. He voted against the war in Iraq from the very beginning. He has excellent plans to solve our problems regarding immigration with fairness, compassion and integrity. He is the candidate for change, the candidate who wants to do things differently in Washington.
 

There is No Such Thing as the Texas Primary Part II: Delegate Projections

by: MattTX

Mon Feb 11, 2008 at 02:08:49 AM CST

Previously we examined delegate allocation and the caucus process in Texas. The short version is that:

1. Texas has 193 pledged delegates, as well as 35 unpledged delegates
2. The Statewide Primary vote, by itself, determines no delegates and is merely a "beauty contest," except insofar as it translates into delegates elected in State Senate Districts, or through caucuses (in order to participate in caucuses, one must also have voted in the primary). It is very much possible that whoever wins the sum of the Senatorial District Primaries will not win the majority of Texas' delegates.
3. 126 pledged delegates will be allocated proportionally in 31 separate primary elections conducted in each of Texas' State Senate Districts.
4. 67 pledged delegates will be allocated through Texas' caucus system, the first round of which will be held in precincts across Texas at 7:15 PM on March 4th. 42 of these will be rank and file "at large" delegates, and will ultimately come from ordinary people who participate at their precinct caucuses, while 25 will be party leaders and elected officials (PLEOs).

Click the link below read the rest:

San Antonio Express-News and El Paso Times both endorses Barack Obama

by: alex

Sun Feb 10, 2008 at 13:01:57 PM CST

San Antonio Express-News, http://www.mysanantonio.com/op...

America needs a president that tries to create unity out of diversity, marshalling all the forces - red, blue or purple - that make this country great.

Sen. Barack Obama is the Democratic candidate that offers the best chance to reach that lofty objective.

Obama is generating so much excitement that Sen. Hillary Clinton, once leading comfortably in the polls, is bracing for the fight of her life.

El Paso Times, http://www.elpasotimes.com/opi...

The El Paso Times recommends that El Pasoans voting in the March 4 Democratic presidential primary cast their votes for Barack Obama. A weary America, tired of the status quo, fed up with business as usual, is longing for a positive change -- and Barack Obama is that change.

Of the two viable Democratic presidential candidates, Obama represents a fresh future rather than an inevitable harking back to the past -- what was a divisive and contentious past for many.