{Former TX Gov. Ann} Richards Delivers Dynamic Talk at TAMIU

Laredo, TX, Morning Times ^ | 11-12-03 | Cortez, Tricia

[Theodore R.]

Who gives a damn what Republicans think," she said.

Can you imagine the outrage there would have been if former Governor Clements went to a TX state university and said, "Who gives a damn what Democrats think?" There would be "moral outrage." Now, in the words of Bob Dole, "Where is the outrage?"

[Theodore R.]

During her talk, Richards attacked the current Republican administrations in Washington and Austin for their deep cuts in education, health care, the environment and their lack of attention to job creation in the new global economy.


Well, Governor Richards, "Where are the cuts, where are the cuts?

[Theodore R.]

Richards then called South Texas "the sleeping giant of Texas" and said that a strong, active grassroots must re-emerge from the very bottom to revive the Democratic Party.


Actually in 2002, there was a LOW VOTER TURNOUT in heavily Hispanic areas of South TX. Those who voted, mostly voted Democrat, yes, but tens of thousands of registered voters did NOT go to the polls, allowing an easy victory for the entire state Republican ticket.

[altura]

I bet she's against vouchers or any kind of teacher testing. I also bet she's against strong discipline in the schools.

[Theodore R.]

Females and minorities form the grassroots base of the Democratic Party, Richards said.

What if Governor Perry gave a talk in Austin and said that "Males and whites form the grassroots base of the Republican Party." I don't think the reacion would have been so benign as with Richards and her "females and minorities" comment.

[Theodore R.]

They truly created the myth that government is bad and that they are all a bunch of bloated bureaucrats....

Is this a MYTH, Miz. Ann? Or are the bureaucrats NOT bloated?

[isthisnickcool]

Mean, dried-up skank, ex-drunk, loser. Ann has all the qualifications to serve on a Galveston jury deliberating the fate of a guy who cut somone to pieces (not that there is anything wrong with that anymore).

Speking of Galveston juries, wasn't the Durst trial just dumb? It seems the prosecutors were the only guys in Galveston that could not get the cross-dressing Durst to give them any head.

[CO06]

She's right about the state of education in Texas. My mother was a teacher in one of the wealthiest districts (if not the wealthiest) in the state last year and for 7 years before that. But, she's not right about the blame. This is a problem that has been going on for quite some time. It's not a product of the Republican majority, but of inefficient administrators who don't listen to the people who know what they're talking about. The "Robin Hood" program is causing more problems than it's solving. If the money were going to buy schoolbooks and rebuild schools, then it would be a good thing. But, when a school that has 60 students in grades K-6 has a better theatre than a newer school that has 2,500 students in 11-12 grade, there's something wrong. Maybe Richards should have listened when she was Governer, rather than coming out when the only thing she can accomplish is to promote more figner-pointing and name-calling.
Catch a clue, Mrs. Richards.

[apillar]

Where did that manage to dig that ol' crone up from? I figured she had been sent to the "Shady Acres Old Democrats Home" a long time ago...

[Theodore R.]

Notice who financed Miz. Ann's appearance: the Sanchezes.

[T. Jefferson]

In her trademark brassy, blunt and salt-of-the-earth style...

In her trademark glassy eyed, slurring, smashed, incoherent, manlike voice, she reached for her second bottle of bourbon to wash down another hand full of pills and fell off the stage.

[Theodore R.]

Actually, I think Mz. Ann is a wealthy Washington lobbyist now, isn't she still? She is 70 and very popular with the wine-cheese-Volvo set in Austin.

[gatex]

"Working people must have rights and government must step in to make sure they have those rights...." she said.

She made sure Texans did not have the right to self defense --- she vetoed the Texas concealed carry bill. --- George Bush signed it.

[Theodore R.]

It does seem like Miz. Ann had a journalist and a headline writer here who both just adore her! It's true that in much of South TX, Miz. Ann is "popular." Some even see her as much a comedienne as a defeated politician.

[Sir Gawain]

She's right about the No Child Left Behind Act. It's a total joke. Teaching for the test is stupid too. Bush, a "conservative", signed a law that made federal control over education even greater than it was.

[hopespringseternal]

Sour old fool could have done something about all this when she was governor, and now she wants us to listen to her whine about it?

Even funnier is the hand she had in destroying the statewide democratic party.

[Texagirl4W]

I made it through the first 2 paragraphs and had to give it up. I can also remember when she promised to clean up the the state of drugs. Even Republicans (like myself) were behind her for that. Our othr choice was Clayton Williams. Well, Ann won and that was the last we heard of clean up the state of drugs.

[fqued]

Females and minorities form the grassroots base of the Democratic Party, Richards said

IF this were true, it shows how far the Demo party has sunk from the great coalition welded together by FDR that lasted for 60 years.

However, it ain't true:
SINGLE women do vote heavily democratic, but married women tend to vote Republican, and married women with children vote about 58-42 republican.
For "minorities" read Blacks, and there is some truth there--they vote overwhelmingly democratic, but Asians split about 50-50, and Hispanics are volatile, though they do vote democratic at this time.

The real grassroots of the Demo party are the members of various special interest groups, not demographic groups.
Ann doesn't even understand her own party.

[steplock]

first kennedy -now ma richards?

time to kick out the liberals out of TAMU! How / When did they get into power there??

I know they were there during the bonfire tragedy - all the whining & crying & thrashing ... typical of the feel-good libs.

Get A&M back to its conservative education roots

[Theodore R.]

TAMU -- College Station

Put an "I" in the acronym and one gets TAMIU -- Laredo.
The "I" is for "International."