ORALE, RAZA.

Too many of our Warriors sacrificed their lives establishing Democracy in other countries, to give those people the right to vote. We are lucky that we have, not just the RIGHT, but THE OBLIGATION as U.S. Citizens, to vote for the best leadership possible. Too much is riding on the next election, beginning with proper funding for our future generations education, health services for our working class and for our Seniors. We have the numbers to make the difference, but we must each set a personal goal of getting as many VOTERS to the polls, as humanly possible. YOUR VOTE could make the difference. REMEMBER to REGISTER as soon as possible, but not later than April 28, 2012, so you can qualify to VOTE in the May 29, 2012 ELECTION.

NOT VOTING IS NOT AN OPTION.

Placido Salazar, USAF Retired Vietnam Veteran

psalazar9@satx.rr.com
From: historia-l-bounces@mail.cas.unt.edu [mailto:historia-l-bounces@mail.cas.unt.edu] On Behalf Of Calderon, Roberto Sent: Friday, April 20, 2012 10:04 PM

Historia Chicana
20 April 2012

From: sara ines calderon [saraines.calderon@gmail.com] Sent: Friday, April 20, 2012 3:30 PM To: Calderon, Roberto Subject: Texas Growing Brown Turns It Blue http://politic365.com/2012/04/20/texas-growing-brown-turns-it-blue/

Politics365
URL: http://politic365.com/2012/04/20/texas-growing-brown-turns-it-blue/

Accessed: 20 April 2012

Texas Growing Brown Turns It Blue

By Sara Ins Caldern
20 April 2012

Ask the Texas Democratic Party and, as far as theyre concerned, there has never been a Latino party chair. This is partly due to party structure. But, its also the historical exclusion of Latinos from power in Texas. Whatever the case, thats all about to change. One way or another, in a few short months, a Latino will be the public face of the Democratic Party in Texas. Currently, the only three candidates are Gilberto Hinojosa of Brownsville, Fidel Acevedo of Austin, and Rachel Barrios-Van Os of San Antonio. Changes have been taking place within the party in the past few years, such as the recently launched Promesa Project meant to bring Latinos into the political fold. As a result, it seems that the Democratic Party is run increasingly by, and marketing itself to, Latinos. In June, at the partys convention in Houston, delegates will have to choose between Latino candidates to replace current chair, Boyd Richie, who has held the position since 2005. While Latinos are pushing population growth in Texas, Latino politicians are an ever larger part of the Democratic delegation, and would-be Latino voters hold the key to power in the Lone Star State.

And last but not least, Latinos are increasingly the backbone of the Democratic party, specifically: in 2005, Ruben Hernandez became executive director; in 2009 Anthony Gutierrez became the deputy executive director; in 2006 the first Spanish speaking spokesperson was hired; and last year Rebecca Acua was brought on to serve as the deputy political director for base outreach, as well as being the director of communications. On the elected side, about half of the Democrats in the state house are Latinos, as are 56% of Democratic state senators in a state with 3.8 million eligible Latino voters. By 2033, Latinos will be the dominant voting age population in Texas. In the state where Univisins newscast gets the highest ratings, the Democratic party is modeling itself after the booming part of the population. The ultimate goal is: this is the path you take to flipping the state, said Gutierrez, in reference to Latino voters. [But] You cant have a plan where you go to try to contact Latinos two months before election day. This has to be constant and ongoing, something we are constantly communicating to Latinos especially young Latinos. They are going to be the future of the party, we have to figure out how to bring them in. Part of this strategy is the aforementioned Promesa Project, which is modeled after The Great Schlep, Sarah Silvermans Jewish outreach efforts in Florida during the 2008 presidential election. The party is training Latino volunteers at university campuses throughout the state to get the word out to their families and communities about voter registration, voting, and generally the political process. These campuses were selected for their significant Latino student enrollment, as well as being areas where Latino voters have the power to swing an election, Acua explained. You cant say, We need to get Latinos out to vote with no political strategy. That is not the way to address the situation, she argued. If you actually focus on specific districts where Latinos are a large percentage of the population and their votes alone can swing an election, you can completely change the outcome. The way people at the Texas Democratic Party tell it, it was other Latinos who spurred the party into pursuing this type of action: in 2005 the party was publicly attacked by Latino politicians for not doing enough Latino outreach. Since then, Gutierrez claims the party has spent more money on, and emphasized, Latino voter outreach.

But thanks to the multiplier effects of social media, the party now has additional tools to conduct this sort of outreach, specifically using videos and social networks to do its Promesa Project advocacy. The party is even leveraging Facebook for the project, allowing participants to see which of their friends have voted. But, Acua and Gutierrez said the ultimate goal is to turn Texas into a blue state, while bringing Latinos into the fold to do so. The Promesa Project is one way they hope to bring in some of the 2.1 million Latinos eligible to vote but not registered, to expand the universe of voters available in the state and if theyre really lucky recruit more Latinos to participate beyond the ballot box and join in the partys mission. SARA INES CALDERON is a journalist and writer who lives between Texas and California. Follow her on Twitter @SaraChicaD. Historia Chicana Mexican American Studies University of North Texas Denton, Texas

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