You may have thought that the war between two factions of Smith County Democrats was decided by the election of Hector Garza as Democratic Party chairman. If so, you underestimated the peevishness possible here behind the Pine Curtain.
The next shot in the war was the decision of people loyal to Hank Gilbert, who ran against Garza, to run for the chairmanships of each individual voting precinct in the county. From those positions, if all new chairmen were elected, much of what Garza might want to do could be thwarted.
That election was held Tuesday — I intentionally waited to write about it — and we don’t yet have the official tally telling us which side “won” because I already know the most important result.
The Democrats — all of them — lost in any way that truly matters. Even if one side believes it has scored a victory, rest assured that is not the case. There is no way that the family feud is done.
This mindless mess is probably going to keep the party from making meaningful headway in the upcoming and important general election in November, when Beto O’Rourke will try to unseat incumbent Republican Greg Abbott in the race for governor.
O’Rourke might win this race, mostly owing to the fact that Abbott is a Trump sycophant and has mismanaged the state’s business badly, from stopping trucks at the border to signing a disastrous abortion law.
To win, though, O’Rourke needs all hands-on deck and even though it would be highly unlikely for him to win a majority of Smith County votes, improving the dismal 30 percent he managed in Smith County when he ran against Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018 is possible.
If Beto could have shaved off a few percentage points of Cruz votes all across East Texas an already close race might have turned. As it was, he was swamped behind the Pine Curtain, in some counties even worse than Smith.
That 30 percent in Smith County came after a great deal of hard work, too. Not only did O’Rourke make numerous visits to East Texas, but his team here was actively involved. He was expected to get a least a bit closer not just in Smith but across the Pine Curtain. Winning will probably mean improving the outcome here in November.
You have to ask yourself just how likely that is when Democrats in the region’s largest county are fighting each other over — what exactly?
That’s a good question. Could it really be a simple matter of “control’?
Thing is, there’s really nothing to control. A vote total of 30 percent in a good year after maximum effort?
It doesn’t make much sense. These people are all supposed to be fighting on the same side for the same outcomes. Instead, they are bickering among themselves.
Who is right? I have my own opinions, but they are just that and they could be off the mark. The fact is, it hardly matters any more if all you do is lose every race.
As the philosopher Stephen Stills once intoned in song, “Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong.”
Most Democratic voters — or Republican voters — never get close to the county organizations. They but they don’t volunteer and don’t take part in the party machinery. They just vote. Getting Democrats to the polls is a difficult enough task, there’s no need to add more pain in the process.
Plenty might not even know that there is a county organization and, if they do, don’t know have a clue who is in charge. They also don’t care.
People behind the scenes do a great deal to get people to the polls and we should all salute them — all of them — no matter if represent Team Alpha or Team Zebra. They do block walks, they set up and hold events and other meetings for candidates. They sign and mail postcards, plant signs around the area. The importance of their work can’t be overestimated.
They are the true believers, so they don’t need to be burdened with worrying about one more thing. If the internecine feud is going to continue better that neither win but that’s not a possible outcome.
Both, of course, say that it is their group that really represents the people. Balderdash. They only represent themselves and a quest for power.
And the Republicans, you might ask, just what are they doing during all of this?
Laughing. I can hear their guffaws from miles away.
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Petty peevishness Behind the Pine Curtain
Mr. Latham, do you want answers to your Tucker-Carlson-style questions? Your failure to respond to my previous request is evidence that you're more interested in gossip than journalism. Have you made meaningful efforts to determine the underlying facts about which you write? Please stop pushing the propaganda of Narcissist Nichols.
Many people have worked long and hard for many years to build a party that values integrity more than conquest.
I, and numerous others that I have worked alongside, are disgusted by the dishonesty and divisive tactics that have been used against our party in East Texas.