Ann's Legacy Is Our Mission
Ann's Legacy Is Our Mission
Posted by Chris Bell on September 29, 2006 - 2:44pm.
I don't know if you've read the papers lately. There's been some controversy about another candidate trying to claim Ann Richards' endorsement.
Her four children put a rest to that real quick. Let there be no question:
Ann Richards always voted for a straight Democratic ticket.
But asking how Ann Richards would have voted in this election misses the point, don't you think?
Can you imagine her reaction to all of us debating that question?
"Wake up! You're getting robbed! They're stealing the china and the family silver, and you're arguing about how the neighbor mows his lawn," she'd say.
What matters isn't whether Ann Richards would have been on our side. What matters is whether we are on her side.
Ann Richards led the construction of a great vision she called the "New Texas." Many of you helped her build it.
In the New Texas, schools improved with a tough curriculum.
In the New Texas, health care for children was a priority.
Insurance companies were forced to actually insure our homes and weren't allowed to rob us blind in the process.
And in the New Texas, the Governor stood up to charlatans and demagogues instead of leading their parades of flaming torches and pitchforks.
Ann Richards was a force of nature. And God help me, I'm no Ann Richards. We'll never have another one quite like her.
Ann will be missed and cannot be replaced. But her vision of a New Texas is the legacy she handed down, and Ann Richards' legacy is my mission. That's our inheritance, and it's our duty to restore it.
Since 1994, Rick Perry and those Republicans have dismantled Ann Richards' legacy that a lot of you helped build. They've torn up the carpets, pulled up the floors, and knocked down the walls. They've posted "No trespassing" and "for sale" signs on the fence and told us we don't belong here anymore.
Look at what they've done to her legacy:
Our schools have become obsolete test-taking factories.
We have the 2nd-highest dropout rate in the country.
We've got the 2nd-highest teen pregnancy rate in the country.
They've kicked almost 300,000 kids off the health insurance rolls.
We're paying the highest home insurance premiums in the country.
Stem cell research, emergency contraception for rape victims, vaccines to prevent cervical cancer, and now even the very right to choose
all of these are held hostage by Rick Perry and everyone else we've let roll back her legacy.
Over the last 10 years, we've let them take it away.
They have systematically vandalized the mansion that Ann Richards built. It's gone on for too long, and it stops now.
To restore her vision for a New Texas, it's going to take a revolution.
To win this revolution, we need to tell everyone that this is a plurality election. Just like Ann Richards did in 1990, we can get a Democratic Governor elected with less than 50%. No runoff, no majority, no second chance. No room for fooling around. This is not the time to waste your vote. Every vote counts.
And the beauty of it is, all we need is for Democrats to vote for the Democrat!
Think about this: Rick Perry is polling at 35% or less. All we have to do to winto get a Democratic Governor who's not afraid of acting like a Democratis to get 35% plus one vote. That's it. Heck, when Tony Sanchez got blown out, he got 40%.
Can you imagine Ann Richards running against three Republicans? Talk about a "target rich environment."
I've got one thing that Ann Richards never had: Rick Perry.
Now, let's be fair. True, sometimes, it seems that Rick Perry couldn't even lead a silent prayer. And, at times, it seems like the right hand doesn't know what the far-right hand is doing.
But I think Rick Perry is an inspiring leader. He has inspired me to run for Governor and end his Reign of Error.
So what would Ann do?
She would tell everyone, starting with me, to fight like hell because the stakes are too high and our chance is too great.
Join me in a New Texas Revolution, and together, we can restore her legacy. We can win because we've got to win. Texas needs us to win, and with your help, we will win!
Comments
Yeah, Ann's legacy is still with us and we mourn today at her loss.
Yet, there are things do folks that help remember her, and they are up to honest folk, that vote without checking their wallet.
A while back, Tom DeLay set about to redistrict Texas so that no Democrat could ever be elected in the State of Texas again. That seems to be the rule, but if we all Vote Democrat, all that redistricting ballyhoo will come to nothing just like Tom DeLay did.
There was a time when the PEOPLE of the United States made policy. There was a time when the PEOPLE made decisions.
Now days, those decisions are made for us, and sometimes I think those decisions are made badly.
Don't forget that your vote counts, and that there are always two sides. Your side counts when you vote, and no matter what sort of advertising that the other side presents, WE THE PEOPLE of the United States still know what we are doing.
We the Democrats of Texas are still going to Vote the way we do, and those that dissent can vote their way.
Truth is, though, them Republicans vote with their wallet, and us simple old souls vote with our heart.
Posted by billj on October 1, 2006 - 9:55pm.
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