Democracy for Texas Plans Democracy Fest in Austin
Not until Howard Dean lit a fire under many Democrats like Vincent before the presidential primaries of 2004 did she and many others join local groups and county parties. Austin, like many other progressive cities saw the ranks of dues-paying, left-leaning, partisan activists swell with Dean supporters and others bothered (or incensed) by the Bush agenda.
Vincent said she had never heard of Dean but then heard Ann Richards speak well of the former Governor of Vermont, and, she says, she heard former State Rep. Glen Maxey tout Dean’s credentials.
“Ann Richards and Glen Maxey,” Vincent said, “Two pretty good recommendationsâÂ?¦”
Vincent said she volunteered to help when Dean came through Austin the first time, when Dean spoke at a packed event at Plaza Saltillo. She said it was the first time she had volunteered since George McGovern ran for president in 1972 and lost to Nixon.
Dean is now the only former presidential candidate to hold a job as the head of his party in his newly elected role as Chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
Vincent is also the Executive Director of Democracy for Texas, one of the many statewide organizations which were created out of the well-organized primary campaigns for Dean (once Dean dropped out of the race).
Democracy for Texas plans a two-day organizing event called Democracy Fest at Huston-Tillotson College this July. The event drew an immense crowd last year during the presidential contest, and Dean gave a rousing speech. The DNC Chair will likely be at the event this summer as well.
The event taught potential Democratic leaders basic political and campaign skills over a two-day period.
Vincent has nothing but praise for Maxey.
“I think he really loves what he is doing,” Vincent said of the former East Austin Representative. “From the very first dayâÂ?¦ (Glen helped me) organize my precinctâÂ?¦ We had a decision to make” about whether or not to remain Dean delegates once Kerry had secured the nomination.
Vincent described the technicalities that would have prevented the Dean delegates from voting unless they became Kerry delegates.
“Glen really had to talk us through that,” Vincent said.
The Texas organization was one of the best organized chapters in the U.S. and participated in bus trips to Iowa to try and help Dean win the nation’s first presidential caucus.
Vincent emphasizes that Dean is a moderate who was literally mistreated by the national media.
Just after losing the Iowa Caucus in 2004, Dean gave a speech in a loud arena to an audience of loyal followers, and he also wore a television microphone which tends to distort the normal sound of speech. Dean, unfortunately for his campaign and his followers, screamed just a little too loudly into that mike. And suddenly his campaign lost traction.
“Howard Dean is not a flaming liberal,” Vincent said over tortilla soup at Laz Cazuela’s on Comal and Cesar Chavez. Vincent defended the governor on his stands on balancing the budget (in a state that does not require it) and on Second Amendment rights. Dean has argued for a state-by-state gun-control policy that realizes the differences in the realities of home security on a farm versus in a metropolitan apartment.
Vincent said one discussion held at the Democracy Fest would be “how the liberal left can frame moral issues.”
The training festival offers Campaigns 101 courses for novices and 201 courses for people with more experience in organizational politics. The line-up at the event includes an alternative media forum, plenty of breakfast tacos, and seminars on everything from campaign signs to strategy.
