Short Stories, Long Odds

Things could be going better.

My success as a politico is unchallenged. I am 1-0, in that the student Senate campaign I helped mount for my pal Chris Braddock at Moorehead State resulted in my first victory as a consultant. It was a small race, but everyone has to start somewhere. Like all candidates, Chris deserves most of the credit for winning his seat, although I will take credit for suggesting that he rock the double-windsor to my grave.

But that is not in Texas, where much help is needed. I am mostly to blame for my relative lack of success in kick-starting things so far, because my frustration with the UNT College Democrats and my busy schedule have both contributed to a dropoff in my participation: I quit going to meetings.

It isn’t just the college group that’s been without my presence. I’ve also been not making it to County Democrat and DFA meetings. The non-college groups were significantly more receptive to my ideas and the composition of the people involved, although small, is quality all the way around.

My frustrations with the college group stem from my tendency for takeover and their resistance to that. To their credit, they identified some key issues and have worked hard this semester to bring those to the discussion - they tabled on HB16, the Iraq War anniversary, and other things. The fact that they did those things shows me they are capable of doing more.

It is quite possible my demeanor was offputting, but I felt then as I do now - that these are important, pivotal times for both our party and our country. The time of the maverick has come.

So, with that in mind, I don’t know if I should just start going to meetings again, start my own group, or run for State Representative. It isn’t as if I got in a slapfight with the College Dems, I just ran out of time and patience and so I cooled my heels while time is a semi-luxury.

In other brief Texas politics news, Barbara Aradnofsky is getting next to zero coverage in the media or the interweb - even the Burnt Orange Report has next to nothing about her in the last month. This doesn’t paint much of a rosy picture for her, considering all the play Chris Bell is getting out of 70% chance of running for Governor. Also, Rick Perry hates blogs and Kay Bailey Hutchison takes cheap shots at the French. You can catch up on it all at the Burnt Orange Report’s Texas Politics page.

I mean, honestly, Kay. The French?