And it's gonna wash all across Texas, up to Amarillo and out to El Paso.
Over a thousand Democrats met at the Moody Gardens resort on the island on Saturday for some SDEC business, a few party caucuses, and a big rally featuring nearly all of our November candidates, union and party activists and humorist Jim Hightower.
I still can't quite wrap my head around it. Just a few of the personal highlights:
The only one of our candidates whose hand I missed shaking was Ben Grant's. Mrs. Diddie and I spent some quality time with our friends David and Rachel Van Os in the Strand, having lunch on the wharf. I also got some extended face time with Bob Gammage at the banquet's after-party (and got satisfactory answers to all my questions). Met Fred Head for the first time and exchanged business cards. I didn't spend as much time as I have in the past schmoozing with Chris Bell and Barbara Radnofsky and their staffers, as we were all working separate sides of the room. But their speeches at the noon rally were on fire, and Bell followed up enthusiastically at the SDEC meetings with the news of DeLay's demise.
We named our table the Vast Left Wing Conspiracy and rocked the house. Art Sadin, one of the event's sponsors and who was sitting next to Master of the Universe Walter Umphrey at an adjacent table, came over and asked to be admitted into our circle.
Want some news that's not quite ready for publication? One of the leading 2008 Democratic presidential candidates will be in Houston before the end of January to campaign for his friend who's on the ballot.
A wrap-up complete with photo slideshow is here.
But there was news happening while we were celebrating, and I'll summarize it following:
-- La Cucaracha Grande finally gave up on regaining Majority Leadership, leaving House Republicans to choose between a "Boner" and a Blunt.
-- via Vince at BOR, there's more from the AA-S on the Texas Association of Business, John Colyandro and Ben Bentzin, who is in a special election for a vacant Texas House seat in less than two weeks. A commenter there has an interesting POV.
-- Vince also has the Texas Monthly piece (reg. req.) on how the Texas GOP is cannabalizing themselves. Best example yet of why they will lose in November. Too good to excerpt; go read it all.
-- up in CD-06, things have taken a nasty and personal turn for the worse. (Actually, now that I have finally gotten around to commenting about it, it's over and done with.)
-- Oh yeah: that goombah Scalito is going to be making news this week.
