On Tuesday the Harris County Democratic Party in Houston hosted a brown bag lunch to introduce their new director, Melissa Taylor. At noon the room was packed with standing room only. There were over 80 people there, and I should know because I set up the chairs for the event.
Candidates in Harris County are now filing for the Democratic primary, and it was exciting to see that there are many new candidates running. Some of them are running in races that have had Republican candidates running unopposed for over a decade. Let me clue you in Democratic Party officials, "You can't win if you don't run."
While it's nice to see candidates lining up to run on the executive and legislative side of the government, the judicial branch is severely lacking in candidates. After speaking with a lawyer in Houston, I learned that most Democratic lawyers in Texas won't consider running for judge because they don't think they can win. Some of them are even seen supporting Republican candidates. Why aren't they saving their money to back a single Democratic judicial candidate?
The new Houston Democratic Party director addressed how we need to change the current Democratic Mindset.
Melissa Taylor said that for Democrats to achieve victory we must drop the identity Republicans have carved out for us. This brow-beaten, down-trodden, defeatist, defensive, and divisive negative mindset must change. We Democrats must shake the "This isn't fair," loser mentality. And as Melissa points out, this mindset does not attract voters to our party.
Melissa's first message to Harris County Democrats as director, "Democrats have a great opportunity here in Harris County, but it will take everyone’s talent, focus, commitment, dedication, and hard work."
I've only heard Melissa speak once before, last year during a Richard Morrison fundraiser where she introduced Howard Dean. She's a dynamic speaker and her energy and excitement is infectious. On Tuesday I could tell the the audience had caught Melissa's bug as many reacted during her presentation and came up to speak with her afterwards.
You can contact Melissa Taylor at mrt@hcdp.org.
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