The Return of the "Dixiecrats"?

Mississippi Democrat Travis Childers won a special election in a seat formerly held by a Republican. His victory is the second in a row by a southern Democrat. Previously, a Democrat won a seat held by a Republican in Louisiana. It was also the third special election in a row won by a Democrat in a district that was formerly Republican.

Today's Southern Republicans are the lineial descendents of the old "Dixiecrats" who first began leaving the Democratic Party when we adopted a civil rights plank in our platform during the 1948 convention. The trickle became a flood after Lyndon Johnson worked for and help produce the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. At the time, Johnson prophetically said, "We [Democrats] have lost the South for a generation."

While it is far too early to pronounce a trend, it's interesting to note that the two Democrats who won their election are both socially conservative, white, males, once considered an "endangered species" in the American political world. In Oklahoma, we have such an elected official in Rep. Dan Boren who, interestingly enough, represents the part of Oklahoma known as "Little Dixie."

Today, these socially conservative and economically moderate Democrats are known as the "Blue Dog Democrats." In a closely divided Congress, they wield power in greater proportion to their numbers.

In the past, the Dixiecrats blocked a great deal of good legislation like national health care and workers' rights. How will these Democrats respond to the needs we have for economic justice in our nation?

Miss. Democrat wins GOP-held House seat
Why GOP’s Mississippi House loss resonates

Oklahoma Democratic Party Convention This Weekend

On Friday and Saturday, I attended the Oklahoma Democratic Party State Convention at the Marriott Hotel on Northwest Expressway. The main purpose of the convention was to elect our state delegation to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorade.

We were told that we are the first state in the nation to complete this process, so, technically speaking, Hillary is in the lead since she won the majority of our alloted delegates during the state primary at the beginning of the month.

Mostly, this is a time to fellowship as Oklahoma Democrats, and to hear news about what is happening at the state level. The biggest news, other than the delegate selection, was that for the first time since the Brad Carson fiasco of 2002, our party is out of debt and in the black! This is a major accomplishment for our state party chairman Ivan Holmes who has had to work without salary and a very limited staff since his election to his office at the 2007 convention. Quite an accomplishment for Ivan. He also announced that we will most likely field a candidate for all 101 state House Districts and probably will do so for the Senate districts up for election.

Some pictures from the convention:
Democrats gathering together before the convention
Wilfredo Rivera, Oklahoma City Public Schools Schoolboard Member and announced candidate for OK House District 93
US Representative Dan Boren of Congressional District 2