Rogers' Campaign Shows Texas Dems The Future: And It Isn't Obama!

(This article will appear in the July 2nd issue of E.I.R. magazine)

by: Harley Schlanger

Delegates attending the Texas Democratic Party State Convention June 25-6 were confronted with an existential dilemma: If they stick with President Barack Obama, then the Party, and the nation, will go down with him; however, if they can muster some guts and imagination, the future is bright, as Congressional nominee Kesha Rogers and her campaign supporters presented them with a pathway to the future. Despite the efforts of party hacks to keep delegates away from Rogers, her powerful representation of the LaRouche Youth Movement, and the historic presence of Lyndon LaRouche among Texas Democrats, offered them hope, in what was, otherwise, a dismal affair.

From the outset, a wide gulf within the party was clearly apparent, between rank-and-file delegates, who are aware of the failure of the Obama administration to address the collapse in living standards among the lower 80% of family income brackets, on the one hand, and the party bureaucrats and hacks, who have sold their souls to Obama, on the other. Many leading Democrats from the grassroots level were delighted to give Rogers an opportunity to address their caucuses, despite sinister warnings from official party circles that she was to be a “non-person” at the convention.

In fact, her name did not even appear in the official convention program, which left the 22nd CD vacant, in protest against Rogers' decisive victory there, in the Democratic Party primary, on March 2. This especially angered delegates from the 22nd CD, upset that the state party is willing to hand the seat back, without a fight, to incumbent Republican Pete Olsen, who once served as an aide to the discredited former Senator, Phil Gramm. Rogers won the primary with nearly 53% of the vote, and is well-known in the district, due to her role in spearheading the battle to remove the corrupt Tom DeLay, who formerly held the seat.

The efforts made, by state party officials, to shut down the organizing by Roger's team, was, at times, almost comical. After seeing the strong response to her presence on the eve of the convention, the Constable was deployed to tell campaigners that they could not wear “Kesha for Congress” tee-shirts, nor could they pass out campaign literature. The tee-shirts, which carry Kesha's famous slogan on the front, “SAVE NASA, IMPEACH OBAMA,” have an even-more provocative message, for party officials, on the back: “Proudly Not Endorsed by Democratic Party Hacks”!

Later, in a spiteful response to the strong positive reaction of delegates to the choral presentations made by the Rogers organizers, the hacks ruled that singing by non-delegates was no longer allowed!

Nevertheless, determined organizers continued to organize, under the watchful eyes of the Constable's friendly security forces, making it known that Kesha Rogers would not be stopped by administrative fascism!

LITTLE SUPPORT FOR OBAMA

In presentations to the Progressive Hispanic Caucus, the Veterans' Affairs Caucus, and the Tejano Democrats, Rogers received both rousing introductions from caucus leaders, and strong ovations from the hundreds attending. The strongest applause came when she demanded that the Wall Street Democrats be kicked out of the Party, so that Democrats could then return to the tradition of Franklin D. Roosevelt, which she and Lyndon LaRouche represent. When she spoke of how the administration sabotaged attempts to restore FDR's Glass Steagall regulations, in support of the City of London and Wall Street financial institutions deemed “Too Big to Fail,” attendees at these caucuses were eerily silent, as Rogers was saying publicly what was on many of their minds, but they were not yet ready to openly acknowledge.

The Rogers' campaign organizers reported that there were very few who would defend Obama, though there were still some who pulled Rogers aside to say that they do not like the poster with Obama wearing a Hitler mustache! With the accelerating collapse of the economy, his abject failure to deal with the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, and his plans to scrap the manned space program – which is dear to most Texas Democrats – what is there to defend?

There was, in fact, a concerted effort to keep Obama from being an issue in Texas politics, as he is so unpopular in the Lone Star state, with some polls showing him at 33% popularity. Even press which have been defenders of Obama, in the recent past – such as the {Houston Chronicle} -- were compelled to report that “Obama-mania is not burning hot at this year's Texas Democratic Convention,” adding that “Texas Democrats were not talking much about President Barack Obama, and not at all about U.S. House Speaker Pelosi.”

Instead, all attention was focused on Bill White's campaign for Governor, against the incumbent Bush Leaguer Rick Perry. White, a former Deputy Secretary of Energy under President Bill Clinton, and former Mayor of Houston, did not even speak the name “Obama,” during his address to the convention.

THE “LESSON OF CORPUS CHRISTI”

The disappointment, and anger, toward Obama emerged in discussions Rogers' campaign representatives had with delegates, on the need to return to Glass Steagall regulations, to halt the speculative monetary policy which has bankrupted the nation, and to place banks and financial institutions into bankruptcy reorganization, as FDR did in 1933, to dump the toxic assets currently held on their books, protected by the Bush-Obama bailout.

There was broad support for Glass Steagall, but some delegates expressed an initial hesitation to sign, because the name “LaRouche” appears in the resolution, and some delegates were wary that they might “get in trouble” if they showed support for LaRouche. This led to intense discussions, and mini-educationals, as delegates engaged in fruitful back-and-forth dialogue with Rogers' campaign team members on substantive issues of economic policy – which is exactly what should occur at a political party's convention, if that party wishes to remain relevant, in a mass strike period!

In these discussions, organizers discovered that delegates were more angry about Obama's sabotage of the Cantwell-McCain Glass Steagall amendment to the otherwise despicable Dodd bill, when informed about it, than were worried about the possible backlash from being associated with LaRouche. In the end, about 150 endorsements of the petition calling for restoration of Glass Steagall were received from delegates, with many pledging to bring it up back home, with their local county organizations and clubs.

As the convention ended, organizers defiantly put their Kesha tee-shirts back on, and walked through the convention hall, singing and leafleting. A second Kesha for Congress leaflet was distributed, “Will Texas Dems Learn the Lesson of Corpus Christi.” In this leaflet, Kesha left the delegates with something to think about, on their way home from the convention: “The lesson of Corpus Christi is that if you tolerate the hacks, you will lose your voice, your party, your nation, and your future. There is an alternative. Join me to rebuild our Party, and the nation.”