Who can you TRUST?

The Texas Democratic Trust may just be the most powerful and influential political action committee in Texas you have never heard about. The PAC began in 2004 with a goal of rebuilding the Texas Democratic Party from the ground up in an attempt to eventually convert the state back to blue once again. So far, they have been largely successful helping Democrats win back 7 seats in the House and helping Democrats to sweep Dallas County in the 2006 elections. However, their may be a few signs pointing to future slip ups.

For instance, thus far the PACs success has largely been due to the fact that they were able to stay under the radar and not draw much media attention. Now, they have made their way into many headline news stories in Texas politics and the little criticism they have received may just begin to get ugly. From the beginning of the PACs birth, many Democrats didn’t like the idea of a powerful group using “Washington like” political tactics to be directing the party. It’s as if they have become what they hated, a big money, political scheming machine, with the desire for power being the top priority over the issues. Many say, the Trust and the state party have become largely one in the same.

The Trust is walking a fine line in gaining the approval of many Democratic citizens. Earlier this year when state rep. Kirk England switched from the Republican to the Democratic Party, the changed was negotiated not with local democrats and voters, but with the trust. This left many people feeling left out and disconnected with the process. As well, the group is not even ran by many homegrown Democrats, but rather by political hotshots shipped in from D.C. To top it all off, the biggest friend of the group is Fred Baron who has donated almost 700,000 dollars this year alone and is the finance chairman for John Edwards. As expected, Mr. Baron is not looked upon highly in the eyes of conservatives and the Democratic Trust fares even worse. The two have the potential to give conservatives enough heat to start a fire. As we have learned in the past, Texas Republicans know how persuade voters and their opposition can be a powerful tool. As the Trust is forced out of hiding, look for conservatives to attack them with anything they can find within reason and sometimes without. More so, the Trust endangers itself by being a divisive figure within the Democratic Party, and may find itself turning many party faithful off from the whole process as they adopt methods many Democrats have come to hate.

In the end, the Texas Democratic Trust may be the only realistic way of helping the Texas Democratic Party win back the state. The party can’t fight the huge machine it is up against with grassroots methods forever. Eventually they have to become what they hate in order to have any real chance of putting Democrats in office. Though, at the same time they may find themselves dividing their own party, and putting Democrats at even worse ends with Republicans, and as they say “Divided We Fall.”

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/local/stories/DN-demtrust_30met.ART.State.Edition2.4214475.html

- Garrett