[oldembed src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WhKJ8e15UGA?rel=0" width="425" height="300" resize="1" fid="21"]
It's great to hear that the Texas Dems have elected their first Hispanic chairman. This should be a help in that long, slow climb back up to Democratic dominance in Texas. God knows, it's a place full of struggling people who should be voting Democratic but instead think of themselves as potential oil barons:
HOUSTON — Texas Democrats, trying to compete in a state that overwhelmingly favors Republican candidates for executive, legislative and judicial offices, elected their first Hispanic chairman Saturday.
In a reflection of the state’s burgeoning Hispanic growth and the party’s longtime success with Latinos, delegates overwhelmingly elected Gilberto Hinojosa as the next party chairman. He will replace outgoing chairman Boyd Richie, who announced in April 2011 that he would not seek another term after six years on the job.
Hinojosa successfully breathed some life into the sparse crowd on the convention floor with a fiery speech before the delegates cast an overwhelming majority of votes in his favor.
In a hoarse but booming voice, Hinojosa, who has served as a Brownsville school trustee, state district judge, justice on the state's 13th Court of Appeals, and Cameron County Judge, lambasted Republicans for proclaiming Democrats as un-American for their efforts to expand health care, uphold voting rights in Texas and fund public education.
“This is a war, folks. This is a war that the Republicans have waged on our families in Texas and all across America,” he shouted from the stage. “We are a compassionate people. We don’t believe in pulling up the ladder after we reach the top.”
Then touting his Latino roots, the judge offered a the crowd a rallying cry in Spanish.
“Yo no quiero que me den nada, nada más pónganme en donde hay: (Don’t give me anything. Just give me the opportunity to get it.),” he said. “That is what America is all about. That is what our Democratic Party is all about. Those are our values and, dammit, don’t question my patriotism.”
