Cisneros says Democrats will build on this year's election

San Antonio Express-News ^ | 07/29/2004 | Rebeca Rodriguez

[SwinneySwitch]

BOSTON — Putting John Kerry in the White House is the immediate goal of the Democratic Party, but this year's election has a broader purpose, former San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros said today.

"It is a foundational election in which we build for the future," Cisneros told members of the Texas media this morning before addressing the state delegation breakfast.

"To me, that's the most important part of what this year's about."

The message resonated with Democrats on the final day of the convention and comes at a critical time. The Democratic Party long has been criticized for lacking unity and vision, but delegates at this year's convention said that is changing.

"This is the most unified convention I have ever been to," said Rick Bolaños, an El Paso delegate and one of four Bolaños brothers — all Vietnam veterans — who are campaigning heavily for Kerry.

It would seem that President Bush — who calls himself "a uniter, not a divider" — has united the Democratic Party, some said this week.

In Texas, where Democrats lost statewide power years ago, growth and unity are crucial. The state party is trying to raise money by asking 1,000 Democrats to donate $1,000 a year for three years to build the base and mobilize new voters.

At the Texas Democratic Convention last month, nearly 60 percent of the delegates were new, said state party spokesman Mike Lavigne.

And nationwide, many Democrats said their political fervor was reignited by the unsuccessful candidacy of former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean earlier this year.

"We've awakened a very dormant Democratic Party across the country, from one state to another," Bolaños said.

Conventional wisdom has Bush handily winning his home state in November, but some say the Lone Star State could re-emerge as a Democratic powerhouse in the near future.

"I think the best rebuilding of any state in the Democratic Party is going to happen in Texas in the years to come," New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson told the delegation today.

Cisneros has been a key figure in the media blitz waged by the Kerry campaign this week. The former secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Clinton spent most days rushing from radio and newspaper interviews to television stations, doing telephone interviews in between.

Although some political observers have talked about Cisneros as an ideal candidate for statewide office, he said today that he has no plans to run for office, citing family priorities.

He also has not been asked, nor is he considering, being a part of a possible Kerry administration, he said.

------------------rrodriguez@express-news.net

[El Gato]

From the article: Former housing secretary Henry G. Cisneros pleaded guilty yesterday to a single misdemeanor charge of lying to the FBI about money he paid to a former mistress,

A misdemeanor conviction does not result in the loss of voting privileges. He could even own guns, and probably does, although he doesn't want you or I to do so.

[eleni121]

Actually Cisneros pleasded innocent to 17 or so felony charges and was convicted. He was convicted of making false statements to FBI agents conducting a background investigation of him when he was nominated to the Cabinet post in 1993. They included misleading investigators about cash payments he made to a former mistress. All felonies.

Then President Clinton pardoned him along with many others in his last days in the WH.

Since he was pardoned by the grand mullah himself, I guess he can vote along with millions of other Democratic felons in this country.