I attended the convention. I arrived early Thursday and was there till mid-day Sunday. While there was business I needed to attend to as far as my SD5 and Stonewall caucus, I was also there to meet and network with other great Democrats from across the state. This was my main concern.
( cross posted at BOR,TexasKos,Booman Tribune,refinish69 )
I wanted to meet other passionate Democrats who believed we could make a difference. I met them in droves. They were all ages, colors, sizes, genders, & sexual orientations. They supported one of the 4 candidates for chairperson and not always the one I did. We still spoke to each other and shared ideas, concerns, jokes, fears, and drinks. LOL I keep hearing how some people were rude on all the campaigns and will say that was just a few and the rudeness was not part of any campaign plan. Some people do not know how to handle their passions and some do.
I spoke and joked with anyone who would listen. I ate meals with Democrats of all walks of life and shared the smoking areas with even more. I never refused to speak with anyone because of a chair sticker, age, gender, color, or any other reason. I mad a point to try and be polite to all of the people even from my delegation who I know dislike me simply because I am pro-choice and gay. I consider that their problem and not mine. I think we need to realize we can have differences of opinion on issues and still be friends. I will never agree with everyone on everything. It would be a really boring world if I did.
I guess it would shock most people to find out that Donna Beth and Linda from the State office are two of my favorite Democrats. We might not see eye to eye on everything but we do know the party has to win elections and work together. I ate breakfast with them on Sunday and met Bob Slagel and many of the “old guard” and had a blast talking politics with them. The same thing happened at many of the parties I attended and everyone knows what a hodgepodge of people can be found in a smoking area. I spoke with people from the motorcycle coalition, young democrats, progressive democrats, Stonewall democrats, Yellow dog democrats, West Texas, East Texas, North Texas, South Texas, Central Texas, Rural Texas and Urban Texas. I handed out business cards for my design site to many of them and truly hope I hear from them not only for design orders but just to keep the budding friendships alive. These are people who engaged my mind and spirit, helped me forget my aching feet for a few minutes and we swapped strategies or war stories of old campaigns.
I met and heard candidates from all over the state. Some I can vote for and some I cannot. I met many I will help get elected even though I can not vote for them as I think Texas and the United States needs them. I met their staff members or volunteers and saw the same passion in their eyes and faces that people see in mine when I get involved. I was proud to tell certain candidates to move on and talk to others since they had my support and needed to meet the people who did not know them as well as I do. I was even prouder to tell other delegates why I think certain candidates are fabulous and why we have to get them elected.
I am a Proud Yellow Dog Liberal Gay Democrat who is willing to work and get to know everyone in the party. There are some who will not understand me or get along with me. Hell, there are some who call themselves the same as I do who don’t like me. That is called personality conflicts. I cannot be everyone’s friend and don’t even try. I met people at the convention who bored me to tears but they were few and far between. The convention as a whole was a fabulous learning experience and I will go back again in 2008. I will probably be a convention junky like some I met who had been to over 30 conventions. I will use each meeting and convention to learn more about people, campaigns, and how to get good Democrats elected. Will I ever run for office? Most likely not unless it is as a committee man or national delegate. Maybe I would run for an office in one of the caucuses but that is all in the future. I am still cutting my baby teeth on Texas politics and have lots to learn from my mentors. My mentors are the people who are passionate and are willing to do what it takes to make a change and a difference. I am willing to be a student and learn from all and I think that is the main thing you can learn at a convention.
What Memory will I take away and hold the longest from the Fort Worth Convention? Waiting in line for hours for nothing!!!! LOL Actually, I will remember the fabulous people I met who shared a few hours of their busy schedule with me and made the convention a fabulous place to learn, share, and grow as a Democrat. If you saw a crazy guy with different t-shirts and a laptop with him laughing and talking around the convention center, it was probably me. Below you will see some of the designs I wore during the convention.
The Only Place Worse Than The Closet
