Conventional Wisdom Unites Democrats

The caucuses, resolutions, candidacies and debates of the 2008 Texas Democratic Party Convention, gladly interrupted by the televised endorsement of Senator Obama by Senator Clinton, linked Texans intimately with the First Continental Congress, with John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and George Washington.

My speech at the convention introduced our three Supreme Court candidates (with a combined 81 years of courtroom experience) and emphasized their and our devotion to the rule of law. Our founding fathers set the example for these gloriously contested conventions, which ended in consensus. They rejected the rule of tyrants and kings, and settled on a rule of law, with origins at Runnymede, England with the Magna Carta and the writ of habeas corpus.

The delegates at this convention, finishing the late nights of parties, pub crawling with Obama-ritas and coordinated Hillary drinks, remain passionately interested that the founding fathers gave us this rule of law so that the whims of powerful leaders couldn't seize a man and keep him in jail forever without the opportunity to know and contest the charges against him. The delegates are a hardy breed interested in the Magna Carta and Bill of Rights. They enjoy stories of the Founding Fathers who wrote that "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."

In the last years, we've certainly had to increase our vigilance.

In the days before this Texas Democratic Convention in June 2008, the US Senate Intelligence Committee confirmed what many knew after the White House had successfully lobbied for the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus.

What did the Senate Commitee on Intelligence confirm?

1. The President and Vice President of the United States lied about evidence debated by intelligence agencies in order to push the nation into the Iraq war.
2. Pentagon officials kept the State Department and intelligence agencies in the dark about meetings with Iranian dissidents. These meetings were labeled by the Senate Intelligence Committee as part of a rogue intelligence operation.

The Democrats here have already appeared united in their debates, resolutions, and demands that rule of law prevail. Some do it by openly challenging decisions, some do it with resolutions and spirited debate, and some do it with traditional democratic headbands festooned with springy donkeys and flags.

A favorite topic is the massive Democratic voter turnout in Texas. Despite the best efforts of a Republican Attorney General and a Republican-dominated legislature to prevent Democrats from voting, Democrats have turned out in these exciting times in unheard-of numbers.

And, in the last few months, leading newspapers in Texas have editorialized on the dangers of the whim of man in selective prosecution against minorities to suppress the vote.

Major newspapers are recognizing the debacle of a Republican Attorney General's selective and spurious prosecution of Democrats aiding the disabled and elderly homebound in mailing ballots.

And, in excellent timing for this election cycle, the film "Recount" stirs debate on the best way to protect the ballot. The issue is now raised in the popular media as well as the editorial pages of major newspapers.

The founding fathers risked their lives at conventions in adopting Articles of Confederation, a Declaration of Independence, and a Constitution.

To this they pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor.

I admire these delegates' devotion and their debates. I admire their adherence to due process. They cherish judges who will embrace the rule of law, not the whims of tyrants.

If Texas voters like due process, they will love the judicial candidates who are ready to return the rule of law to the Texas courts.

When Texans pull a Democratic straight ticket they vote for Justice Linda Yañez, Judge Jim Jordan and Sam Houston for Texas Supreme Court. In 2008, a Democratic straight ticket vote, more so than any other year, will restore the rule of law of Texas.