Are any Democrats Out There?
Texas was once a one-party Democratic state, but there's not a single Democrat in statewide office today.
Can the party of LBJ and Ann Richards rise from the dead?
Panelists:
Matthew Dowd, Bush/Cheney chief strategist
Kelly Fero, Democratic strategist
State Rep. Rafael Anchía (D-Dallas)
Matthew Dowd
Matthew Dowd is president of Dowd Strategic Consulting, a public affairs firm based in Austin, Texas. Prior to this, Dowd served as chief campaign strategist for Bush-Cheney 2004 where he oversaw all media, message development, targeting and research.Prior to joining the Bush campaign in June of 1999, Dowd served as president and founding partner of Public Strategies, Inc, an Austin-based international public affairs firm. During this time, Dowd served as former Texas Lt. Governor Bob Bullock's chief campaign consultant in his two successful runs for Lt. Governor. In 1987 and1988, Dowd served both on the Senate and campaign staff of former U.S. Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas).
Kelly Fero
A former award-winning journalist and author, Kelly Fero is the leading Democratic strategist in Texas. He has worked with governors and other top elected officials around the country, helped run a presidential and gubernatorial campaigns in Mexico, and wrote a series of influential studies on welfare reform, public and higher ed, criminal justice, and Texas-Mexico border issues.
State Rep. Rafael Anchía (D-Dallas)
State Rep. Rafael Anchía was elected in November 2004 to represent District 103 in the Texas House of Representatives. District 103 is located inside Dallas County. Rep. Anchía began his public service at the local level
where he was twice elected to the Board of Trustees of the Dallas
Independent School District -- the nation's 11th largest school district.During his tenure on the Dallas School Board, he served as first vice
p resident and chaired the Policy and Governance Committee. Anchía is an
attorney with the law firm of Patton Boggs LLC and specializes in public and
corporate finance. Rep. Anchía was a 2001 American Marshall Memorial
Fellow, a 2003 Broad Fellow and a 2003 British-American Project Conference Delegate.He is a member of various professional, civic and charitable organizations, among them: the NALEO Education Fund Board, the Leadership Dallas Alumni Association, the Dallas Assembly, the SMU Clements Center on Southwest Studies and the Oak Cliff Lions Club. Rep. Anchía is a graduate of Southern Methodist University and he received his J.D. from Tulane University School of Law. He lives in North Oak Cliff with his
wife, Marissa, and daughter, Sofia.
More about this topic:
- "Texas Politics: Democrats in Decline"
By Liberal Arts Instructional Technology Services (University of Texas at Austin, 2004)- "The Future of Party Politics in Texas"
By Liberal Arts Instructional Technology Services (University of Texas at Austin, 2004)- "The Future of the Democratic Party"
by Howard Dean (Common Dreams News Center, Dec. 8, 2004)
