Malcolm survives recall effort

Texas Democratic Party Chair Molly Beth Malcolm has survived an attempt to oust her before her term expires in 2004.

Shortly before Malcolm's speech [before the State Democratic Executive Committee], a small number of hard-line Democrats pushed a resolution urging Malcolm to step down midway through her third term.

The group wore buttons saying "Regime Change for Texas Democratic Party" and "Party Reform Now."

Among their complaints was that party leaders abandoned traditional party positions and crept too close to their Republican counterparts during the November elections.

The Malcolm-backed ticket of centrist candidates with diverse ethnic backgrounds was trounced, the second time during her tenure as chair that the GOP has swept all statewide offices.

"The first rule of politics is you've got to win," said former Bexar County Democratic Party Chairman Rolando Rocha. "We cannot wait until 2004 for new leadership. She has led us to ruin."

After the resolution failed 77-10, the Executive Committee voted 79-1 to support Malcolm.

Either there weren't that many dissidents, or a few waverers saw the writing on the wall and stuck with the winner, I guess.

When I blogged this on the Political State Report, I wondered what a "hard-line Democrat" is. I'm still not sure. Does that mean those who supported Malcolm are "soft-line Democrats"? Couldn't the Chron have come up with a better description than this?

(This post was lost from yesterday.)

Posted by Charles Kuffner on January 17, 2003 to The great state of Texas | TrackBack