It’s not easy to prioritize your time in a City when you have just five hours to spend, but we did a pretty good job of it.
Our morning began by visiting The Texas State Aquarium. As a fish enthusiast, Megan was especially looking forward to this underwater adventure. We began with a shark exhibit…
…before moving on to the Lion Fish and Electric Eels. One of the highlights was seeing the Aquarium staff in full scuba gear feeding these fish.
The Museum’s exhibits are well configured, giving you the opportunity to see them up close. The jellyfish exhibit, for example, is in low light, highlighting the animals translucent tissue.
The sea otters, crocodile, and bald eagle were outside, and they were in separate exhibits, again configured in such a way as to maximize human interaction with the animals. In the case of the sharks and stingrays, we could even put our arms in the water and “lightly touch the animals with two fingers.”
The true highlight of the aquarium are the dolphins. The trainers brought out four dolphins, two of which were especially good at tricks. Through mimicry, these dolphins learn to clap, jump out of the water, do flips, swim on their back, and even splash the audience! Our favorite was a three-spin flip.
Next door to the Aquarium is the city’s Art Museum of South Texas. The museum is housed in a structure designed by Philip Johnson and made from shellcrete.
The current exhibit in the Museum was of Texas Mixed Media, and my favorite artist represented was Mary McCleary, who is actually a Professor of Art at Stephen F. Austin University. In her artist statement, she indicates she takes found objects and layers them onto paper in a way that “conveys an intensity which the viewer finds compelling.” That was the case for me (Alex), and I’d like to see more of her work.
We also had a chance to see another Dale Chihuly, and I learned about the “Art Guys,” who have a work composed of clear glass tubes horizontally placed on the wall and filled with broken glass.
Megan, too, found a new artist she liked: Bill Meek. A glass artist from Houston, his piece “Catharsis” is in a sun room overlooking a piece by Jesus Moroles outside the building.
Speaking of which, the exterior of the Museum is as intriguing as the interior. The walkway to the building includes a large, ringed fountain.
Off to the side is a large piece by James Surls, who graduated from Sam Houston State University.
With all the art hitting close to home, we decided to stray outside the box for lunch. Thus we went to a Vietnamese Restaurant (literally called “Vietnam Restaurant”) in Corpus Christi. This seemed like an unlikely pairing, but the food was truly good. I (Megan) ordered the Vietnam Fried Rice, which was delicious; Alex had the Vermicelli Noodles with grilled chicken; and Professor Yawn had the restaurant’s signature “Hot Pot” which, after being slow cooked for 25 minutes was, indeed, hot! And very good. It was our favorite restaurant thus far in the trip.
Before leaving Corpus, however, we felt somewhat compelled to visit “Mirador de la Flor,” which is a memorial to Selena, the Tejano singer. Selena was shot at the age of 23 but she sold more than a million albums in her short career and paved the way for other Hispanic singers.
And with that visit, we closed down our time in Corpus Christi. Although “hooked” by the beaches, baseball, sea-life, and art, we had business in the Rio Grande Valley, so southward we roamed.
But not before getting drinks at Coffee Wave. We cannot recommend this enough! The coffee was good; the Mexican Hot Chocolate was excellent, even on a summer day; and the Chai Tea Latte was amazing! And with that, we waved goodbye to Corpus Christi!
After enduring the journey of the LSAT two days prior, Megan and I were ready to go on a different type of journey, one that involves beaches, baseball and sun! We packed up the car and headed to the Lower Rio Grande Valley—with planned first-day excursions to Victoria and Corpus Christi along the way.
Arriving in Victoria, TX around noon, we drove through a beautiful neighborhood filled with mostly Spanish architecture before arriving at our lunch destination, “The Pumphouse,”a river-side restaurant.
We began our meal with Fried Jalapeno Mac and Cheese wrapped in bacon, along with Shrimp Kisses, fresh gulf shrimp stuffed with pepper jack cheese, a jalapeno strop, and also wrapped in bacon.
Our entrees were just a wonderful. Professor Yawn enjoyed the fish tacos filled with mahi mahi;
Megan adventurously tried the Monte Cristo, with grilled ham and cheese and roasted turkey on toasted brioche with melted cheese and a cinnamon burgundy drizzle. I, on the other hand, went for the ribeye sandwich, which was very tasty.
The restaurant is notable not only for its food, but also for its history. The property was originally owned by the Republic of Texas and was signed over to the City of Victoria by none other than Sam Houston, the President of the Republic. The property remained in the City’s possession for some 170 years, serving as the “pumphouse” to the City. In 2010 it was bought by its current owners and repurposed to a restaurant. We are glad it worked out that way.
Corpus Christi is known for its seaside location, with beautiful beaches and the nation’s 5th largest port (in tonnage). We learned about both in our brief time here.
We began our field trip with what we hoped would be a leisurely stroll to the beach. Turns out, while we were 100 yards from the seashore, we were quite a distant to a swimmable beach. When we realized the actual distance, we tried Uber—which showed no available drivers—and then successfully hailed a cab. It was a pretty beach and the water was nice…
…although after about 30 minutes of swimming, Alex felt something bump into her back. The something was a jellyfish, and after that encounter, we noticed many, many more. With that, we called it a day, and headed back to the hotel to prepare for the night’s activities.
Everyone knows summer in Corpus is beach-time, but it’s also baseball season. Corpus serves as the Houston Astros’ AA affiliate, the Hooks. The team plays at Whataburger Stadium—Corpus is home to the original Whataburger—which is very family friendly. The stadium has a water park, a swimming pool, a rock-climbing wall, and a Whataburger restaurant.
Before the game began, we got a few pictures, one with the world’s largest statue of a baseball player…
…and one with the team’s mascot!
We also learned to keep “score.” Keeping score is different than keeping up with what the score of the game is; it actually involves a series of notation identifying the play-by-play unfolding of the game. We learned the basics in the first three innings, watched the game and a spectacularly evolving sunset,
at which point we were joined by Shelby O’Brien. Ms. O’Brien is a former Austin Intern for the LEAP Center, and now works in the District for Representative Todd Hunter. She educated us with interesting information about the area and offered us valuable advice for future internships. It was a pleasure getting to her know her while also learning more about the community.
As an added bonus, Derek Fisher hit a three-run home run in the 8th for the Hooks to win the game 6-3.
On the heels of victory, and eager to learn more about the legislative process—in the district and in Austin—we joined Shelby for dinner at a place she recommended: Water Street Oyster Bar. It was as good as lunch! We had Oysters Rockefeller and Shrimp Picayune for appetizers, and they were amazing! The Picayune was interesting and confusing, mixing both cayenne pepper and brown sugar. Professor Yawn ordered it at Shelby’s suggestion. It was good to see Professor Yawn have the opportunity to try something new, since he is encourages us to try new things. Apparently, he had also encouraged Shelby to try new things in Austin, as well, and now the tides had turned.
As for me (Alex), I enjoyed the Blackened Chicken Fettuccine filled with creole spices and topped with a garlic cream sauce, and Megan enjoyed fresh sushi. Not only did we learn that Shelby had amazing taste in food, but she was a pleasure to talk to, and it was particularly nice that she accompanied us to dinner despite an intense and long day (beginning at 6am).
It was a long day for us, too. But despite the late hour, we made our way by the original Whataburger for a quick photo of the only double-decker Whataburger in the world.
Due to prior obligations (aka work), Karla and I (Kaitlyn) packed up our car early in the afternoon to head to Austin to meet up with our fellow Ambassadors who are attending NPF Campaign Bootcamp.
Although the weather was not ideal, we left determined to get to Austin! Quickly, we realized the drive was not going to be as easy as we anticipated. We avoided multiple road closures by driving south towards Houston. Flooding on the roads and continuous rain created traffic issues on top of the rain…
…but we did our best to stay positive and keep going. At times it was difficult to adapt to the road changes, but we did learn how to use our resources like Texas Department of Transportation, instead of relying only on our phone’s GPS. Around three hours into our drive, we came to an impasse. Not knowing which direction to turn, we called Professor Yawn in Austin for guidance. With his help, we tried multiple roads with no luck, mired in a sea of troubles.
Eventually, we ended up back on the highway headed for Huntsville. After our long day of driving, we sadly returned home. With the torrential rain and storms that struck our area, we decided it was best to stay home with the goal to attend Campaign Bootcamp next year. We know that our fellow Ambassadors will represent Sam Houston well!
Our last day at Bootcamp, and it is our biggest day. We do some final preparations, hear a couple of more presentations from experts, and–the big item on the agenda–give our presentations.
We started immediately upon arrival by working with our groups. Teams were fighting leftover fatigue from the late session the day before. Groups were on the edge, because the deadline to turn in presentations seemed to draw nearer a lot sooner than the students would have liked. Our job was to present before the “Texas Campaign Commission,” a judging panel composed of experts from all aspects of campaigning. Knowing that you are going to put your product before the eyes of experts is a sobering prospect, but it also pushed us to go over things as many times as it took to make it right.
This did not mean, however, that we could just zone out and wait for presentation time. We still had presentations by experts to attend! One such presentation was by Barbara Johnson, the Career Advisor for Moody College, who captured our attention with her lesson on “tailoring your resume.” While much of the material consisted of things we knew, she did provide us with helpful information. Several things stood out:
Once you arrive at college, she recommends omitting your high-school work; Our advisor, Professor Mike Yawn, suggested that that was a good goal, but that many students, depending on the quality of their high-school work, could allow it to carry over for a year into college;
Tailor each resume to the job for which you are applying. Identify the 3-4 skills most needed in the job description and emphasize those in your resume;
In some cases, organizational work can be used under “experience.” That is, experience does not have to be relegated to just employment opportunities.
Our session on campaign law and civics was just as rewarding. Campaigning doesn’t fit into a lot of types of business practices, but there are still rules and regulations. Compliance is not only the right thing to do, but it helps prevent the loss of votes because suspicion of fraud will hamper your campaign. Susan Nold and Ross Peavey lectured us about certain laws and having good ethical leadership in the political world. Mr. Peavey advised candidates to know the law or hire someone who did. He gave us examples of laws that could slip through the cracks, and end up damaging your name as a candidate. While we ate our lunch Ms. Susan Nold, Director of The Annette Strauss Institute, gave us ethical scenarios that were created by the speakers.
She added that these scenarios were real experiences the speakers had encountered in certain political jobs. Her biggest message was that if it feels wrong, and someone is asking you not to tell anyone, the best decision is to resign. It was interesting to hear what everyone had to say. The best part was listening to people’s opinions and their ideas about how to go about solving the ethical dilemmas.
As my adrenaline started flowing, Taylor Foody prompted us to begin. The time had come to actually present in front of professionals in the campaign field. The nerves kicked in, but all the preparation and hard work led us to this point!
We presented information about our campaign, with each student discussing a different topic: budgeting for a campaign, recruiting and keeping volunteers, a fundraising plan, and a communication plan.
There were a couple bumps in the road. For example, we had saved all of our demographic numbers pertaining to votes on google docs, but they were apparently not saved correctly.
Thus when it was Brian’s turn to speak, no numbers came up!
Fortunately, he knew the numbers, and was able to relay the information orally. Afterward, he told us that he “crying in the back of my head.”
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Following the presentation, the judges gave us feedback and complimented the groups on our hard work. They helped us improve our skills and keep a realistic approach on campaigning. Thank you to Matt Glazer, Luke Marchant, Cliff Walker, Taylor Holden, and Taylor Foody for helping us build our campaign skill set and encouraging us to keep advancing in our careers.
The toughest, restless work of this weekend had been finished. We all gathered for one last time to listen to closing remarks provided by Taylor Holden and Cliff Walker on how to improve on our skills to ultimately pursue a career based on what we had learned throughout the bootcamp. Furthermore, they shared their experience of how they began their careers and, as Mr. Walker noted, we should not consider “a job too small or too big.”
Our final activity of the day was the award presentations. Taylor Foody, the Coordinator for the New Politics Forum Boot Camp, was the presenter. And, this being her first time to oversee the Boot Camp, she was as excited as all of us.
As it turned out, Isabela’s team was recognized for their “Communication Strategy,” and Brian’s team was recognized for their “Get out the Vote” strategy.
With two of the three SHSU students taking home hardware (or, paper certificates), we were pretty happy. But apart from being recognized, we were more happy just to learn from the process and meet new people.
After thanking Taylor Foody for her dedicated efforts , we headed over to The Clay Pit. The Indian cuisine restaurant provided a comfortable venue to relax and dine on new, eccentric dishes. These included a flavorful goat saag and lamb roganjosh complemented by comforting piquant jalapeño naan and ending with a sweet Gulab Jamun (deep fried pastries soaked in syrup) and Gajjar Halwa (a spiced carrot puree with vanilla ice cream).
With a very satisfying dinner we boasted with an air of accomplishment for finishing the NPF campaign bootcamp.
The 2nd day of the Bootcamp is the one that matters. It’s when the bulk of the seminars take place; it’s where we have the most time to work with our groups, and it’s a fourteen-hour day.
With those facts in minds little rested by sleep, we arrived at the Belo Center at 8am. We prepared for the day by chowing down on some of the satisfying breakfast tacos…
…some revitalizing fruit, and a cup of coffee. With catchy background music (which successfully roused our spirit) we found our campaign groups so as to begin the thrilling second day of our bootcamp experience.
Messaging 101:
Embodying this spirit of campaign thrill, direct mail consultant Liz Chadderdon instructed us on how to create an effective campaign message. She advised that the best rule is to follow a “one message, one piece” strategy.
In other words, regardless of a candidate’s utilization of varying communication mediums such as television, radio, or direct mail, they should still have the same message across these platforms. Students were happy to speak with her after the presentation. After all, her advice helped establish some of the ideas for our projects.
Polling 101:
As evidence that the New Politics Forum picks out the best campaign officials to bring in, the next speaker was pollster Christopher Perkins, who has done extensive polling for Senator Ted Cruz and many other Republican heavyweights. His presentation was successful in educating the students on how polling can help a candidate win an election.
The students learned that polling helps makes advertisements such as television, radio, and direct mail more effective. The results of a poll can help a candidate have a better understanding of their target audience. In effect, this helps the campaign better appeal to potential voters by aligning their message strategy with issues that voters support.
Armed with information on messaging and polling, our campaign groups retreated for lunch, strategized, and emerged in fighting shape for the afternoon sessions.
Organization 201
Tyler Norris, who recently worked with Senator Ted Cruz on his campaign, was the next speaker. He began by emphasizing the importance of volunteers. His advice was to gather people who believed in the candidate’s policies and give them meaningful work to do. This is not only a budget-saving maneuver, but also a good way to garner votes.
Additionally, he answered questions that were helpful to our teams. As Christina Perez noted, “I thought it was interesting to hear someone who was freshly off the campaign trail speak since he had just finished working on Senator Cruz’s presidential race.”
Polling 201:
After a few technical difficulties, we were able to virtually chat with Vincent Harris. He was streaming in from Canada, where he currently is working on the country’s conservative convention. Mr. Harris is the current CEO of Harris Media, and works for Senator Rand Paul. Known as the “father of Republican internet,” his expertise was a crucial factor to Senator Cruz’s web strategy during the 2012 senatorial campaign. During his presentation he encouraged us to create an account in every existing social media type. Nonetheless, he spoke about the importance of using these modern tools of communication to reach as many voters as possible. He presented them to us with humor, showing examples from previous campaigns.
Wrapping Up
After an intense series of sessions, it was time for the last lecture of the bootcamp, one presented by Luke Marchant and Matt Glazer. They provided us additional information on our presentations, which will take place tomorrow.
Each group is allotted 15 minutes;
We will present our polling data, fundraising tactics, budget, voter targeting, and campaign organization;
Each person is expected to participate and be knowledgeable about each aspect of the campaign, although different members may take the lead in different areas.
It was great to have an experienced team of NPF staff and our mentors Luke and Matt on hand to help us succeed. But at this point, it was up to us to break into groups and work on our projects.
Brian’s Group Work:
Once we gathered in our groups we began to employ every feature of our lessons. First, we outlined our campaign necessities, then we delegated our individual duties, and started crunching data, crafting messages, and laying out the framework for the victorious campaign of House District 117’s future Representative Raul Martinez.
Even though our assignments were hypothetical, the toil and exhaustion was real! After five hours of non-stop work with my motivated team members (Juan Belman of UT Austin; Mason Rasco of TAMU; and Shauntey Walker of UT Austin), we were all ready to go home, meditate on our winning strategy, and recharge for our big campaign “pitch” day.
Isebala’s Group:
I was set on one thing: victory!
The competition was on and each group would show no mercy to the other, since we were all competing for bragging rights. Throughout the process many students battled with a variety of emotions–excitement, fatigue, and nervousness–because they were on a deadline and had to finish. The winner would be determined tomorrow after all the presentations were completed. Who will will win? Stay tuned for tomorrow’s blog!
Christina’s Group:
I was eager to work with my group, and after the first break out session I became excited about the project.
I enjoyed my team, and the ideas we all brought to the table. My favorite part of the breakout session was that we finally were able to get to know one another. I enjoyed hearing about campaigns they had been on , and the experience they had. Overall, it was a great learning experience and in my opinion was the best part of NPF.
The Environment:
One of the many nice things about the project is the support provided by the many speakers that NPF brought in for the weekend. Luke had a stream of visitors to his “office”…
…who stopped by either to bounce ideas off of people or to data grub…
Matt and the other speakers went from room to room, helping out where they could (which was everywhere!):
And while we all had our own way of dealing with the stress…
…we also all showed a willingness to cooperate with each other.
During our bootcamp experience there was never any contention related to political rivalry, and whether working in groups or alone, we were able to achieve some intense concentration and get the work done.
The NPF also had an “inspiration wall,” where students could write what inspired them and how they would become more engaged with the political process.
With the knowledge we have gained through this rigorous, rewarding weekend we will surely perform well for tomorrow’s big day!
Separating the “governing” part of our day and the “campaigning” part of our day was the local pizza joint, “Frank & Angie’s.” While everyone grubbed on the delicious food—pepperoni with Canadian bacon pizza, pepperoni garlic bread, cannolis, and tiramisu—Professor Yawn elucidated the various cultural allusions in the restaurant. It is named for Frank Sinatra, and the menu includes references to Italian superstars, Sergio Leone, Mario Puzo, Bela Lugosi, and Mira Sorvino.
With well-fed stomachs and minds, we moved on to the second part of our day: the Campaign Bootcamp, sponsored by the Annette Strauss Institute’s New Politics Forum. Our introduction to the process was by Taylor Foody, the coordinator for the NPF…
…who introduced our two mentors: Matt Glazer and Luke Marchant. They introduced themselves, explained why the affiliated with the parties they did (Glazer is a “D”, and Marchant is an “R”), and issued our campaign marching orders: to run a successful “mock” campaign for US House.
Our training then began in earnest, with Rob Johnson and Cliff Walker—veterans of local, state, and national campaigns—who covered the recruitment of political candidates. After noting that running for offices has nothing in common with “West Wing” or “House of Cards,” they discussed the importance of running for offices for the right reasons (e.g., making your community a better place) and the importance of hiring competent campaign managers and financial advisors who, beyond being competent, should also have integrity.
Session Two was led by Taylor Holden, who is the Development Director for New Era Colorado, but who has Texas campaign experience. She was very energetic—she drank coffee during her presentation, we noted—even as she discussed fundraising and budgeting.
Campaigns cannot run unless there is sufficient money. Her points were simple:
Get to the point;
Don’t be afraid to ask for a specific dollar value;
Don’t avoid “awkward” silences; and
Stress urgency.
The importance of urgency was not lost on us, not with only fifty-two hours to meet our campaign team, learn about our campaigns, learn how to campaign, and develop a campaign plan. With that in mind, Ms. Foody allowed us to meet with our campaign groups. Christina and Isabela were placed in separate teams for separate Republican candidates, and Brian was on a team working for a Democratic candidate.
Our closing session—the keynote—was presented by Austin City Councilman Gregorio Casar, who discussed city politics and his campaign experience. Casar, who was elected at the age of 25 and is a New Politics Forum alumnus, offered an interesting presentation not only because of his advice (e.g. “rely on friends”) and personal story (e.g., the youngest person to ever serve on Austin’s City Council)…
…but also because of the interesting things going on in Austin’s politics. For example, most people know that Austin recently required Uber and Lyft to abide by the same regulations as taxis, but did you know that Austin also prohibited local employers from asking about criminal records on their applications? Even large corporations are now required to change their Austin applications to avoid any mention of a police record. This led to much debate among the students, a debate stopped by Mr. Marchant’s admonition that we are here to learn about campaigns, not to debate policy.
It was an interesting close to a day in which we learned about both policy and campaigning and much else, much to our delight and edification.
Riding through through the rain and flooded roads, LEAP Students (Brian Aldaco, Isabela Gonzales and Christina Perez) and Professor Yawn eagerly headed to a Boot Camp–a boot camp for politics, that is. Before arriving at this campus for campaigning, however, we decided it was time to treat our palates with dinner at Southside Market and BBQ in the city of Elgin. We enjoyed a plate of ribs, brisket, and the signature beef sausage (considered “the best around” ), complemented by the restaurant’s homemade honey mesquite bbq. After an amusing table chat and a quick sighting of the Victorian house style which served as City Hall, we resumed our route to Austin, Texas.
Our second pit stop landed us at Mount Bonnell, where we got to enjoy the gorgeous view of Lake Austin. We weren’t the only ones: romantic couples sat alongside the cliffs, watching the last vestiges of the sun as its rays faded over the Colorado River. Indeed, the spot is a great place for a picnic or to simply take selfies with friends.
To the east, visitors see the outline of Austin’s downtown. On both sides, at least at this time of year, the surroundings are lit by the flashes of fireflies–and, on this night, actual lightning! We recommend that everyone visit Mount Bonnell at least once.
Following our “hike” up Mount Bonnell, we detoured the Capitol building which was, surprisingly, open for visitors. We headed in, learning briefly about some of the governors of Texas, enjoying the dome…
…and taking an obligatory photo alongside Elizabet Ney’s Sam Houston.
With our history fixed complete, we took another detour to get a late-night dessert at Quacks 43rd Street Bakery. Brian ordered a lemon cupcake–opting for the vegan option to fully assimilate in the Austin–Isabela ordered a Snicker Doodle cookie, and I (Christina) had a short-bread cookie shaped like a palm tree. Professor Yawn bought us Salted Caramel Brownies and Ginger Krinkles…
Over all we enjoyed the coffee shop styled bakery with its colorful walls and trendy appearance. With our bellies stuffed we headed to the hotel in order to rest and prepare for tomorrow’s busy itinerary.
It was our second day at the convention and, as we would learn, things would unfold a bit differently than the day before. There was more entertainment, but more actual work, too, and that led to some discord in the party ranks–but, thankfully, not among the Walker County delegation, who remained pleasant even when disagreeing on policy issues.
For the first order of convention business, we gathered inside the Senatorial District 5 meeting room. Here, the delegates would vote on state party leaders: State Party Chairman, State Party Vice chairman, State Executive Chairman, and State Executive Chairwoman. After the delegate seating process was finished, with a delegate count of 248, it was then permissible to commence voting and declare nominees for the different positions.
Two nominations for state party chairman were made, one for Jared Woodfill and a competing one to keep Tom Mechler. After the ballots were distributed to each county chair and the delegates gave their vote, it was time for the Senatorial Caucus chairman to announce the winner of this caucus. The rules, however, are a bit more complicated. The vote isn’t to actually see who wins, but to see if candidates can achieve a minimum needed to be nominated from the floor of the convention. The minimum, as it turns out, is to achieve 20% of the overall delegate vote of all Senatorial Caucuses or to actually win three of the 31 caucuses.
As it turned out, Mechler won our caucus. In fact, as we would learn later in the day, he won almost all the caucuses and he would handily defeat Woodfill as Chair of the Republican Party of Texas.
Before we got to the floor, however, the delegates received a rewarding speech delivered by U.S. Senator John Cornyn. His delivery included his opinion on how the party is to keep strong in the upcoming years and received strong support from the crowd.
This powerful delivery was all the more special for we were able to briefly meet with the Senator, a meeting that we were grateful for.
Following our meeting with Senator Cornyn, nominations began for Vice Chair, a process that yielded Kathy Adams and Amy Clark. The delegates then voted 51 to 216 in favor of Clark. This, too, augured well for Clark who went on to win easily in the other Caucuses. Mike McCloskey won the nomination for District 5 Executive Chairman with a 216 majority vote and Nida Davidson won the nomination for District 5 Executive Chairwoman uncontested.
During the convention we came across the opportunity to become an Abbott University graduate. Names can be deceiving, however, for the program consisted of two 45 minute courses ( as opposed to the traditional 4 years). The classes offered in the program were structured to educate its attendants on how to utilize modern tools of communication and efficient organizational skills to run a successful campaign. Alex and Karla attended organization building session…
…and Kaitlyn, Brian and Megan attended the social media class.
While organization building was a class to help expand an organization and mobilize resources to maximize influence, social media would help us learn about amplifying messages and maximizing reach with conservatives on the most effective social networks.
One of my (Karla) favorite pieces of advice during the class was “ask and shut up”. It is similar to the salesman’s mantra of to stop speaking after the sale is made, but I never realized how much of a difference this can make. This is the best way to ask for a commitment from a volunteer, sponsor, or a voter. We also got plenty of advice for one-on-one meetings, including tips on how to make a personal connection during meetings. To achieve a personal level the first thing that is needed is to begin with our personal story, then the other person will most likely proceed to telling their story, in which case we can listen and better understand the person with whom we are communicating. After this, we can “ask the question and shut up” and hopefully get a commitment from them that will help us towards our goal to expand and mobilize resources.
Once we had all shared our different learning experiences over lunch, it was time for more action at the Third General Session. The Second General Session was postponed and combined with the third due to committee meetings running behind. However, the Third General Session was by far the most interesting session!
It began with business from the second session–approval of the committee updates. This included the Report of the Permanent Chair, Adoption of Agenda & Supplemental Rules, Report of the Permanent Organization Committee (on which Professor Yawn served), Report of the Permanent State Nominating Committee, and Presentation of Incoming State Republican Executive Committee Members. This portion of the meeting was quick and easy, although the Rules portion got a bit acrimonious.
Not, however, as acrimonious as the policy platform debates! Many Republicans were passionate about their principles and beliefs and they expressed that by debating for or against certain planks.
The planks varied from educational and judicial power to issues such as abortion. The most heated of the debates was on whether to secede from the US, an issue that is a trifle bizarre to us. The whole secession thing has pretty much been settled. But parties are made up of diverse elements, and the zealous of these elements tend to be the ones who go to convention. The entire discussion not only included debate, but the opportunity to amend each of the amendments–all 266.
It was a long process, however, the LEAP Ambassadors were grateful to have attended Parliamentary Procedures Process training and it was easy to differentiate those who attended and those who did not. Those who did not attend, in my opinion, prolonged the process because they had to verify the rules frequently and were “out of order” many times.
It was also beneficial to us because we followed the meeting fairly well and enjoyed ourselves.
We did not expect to see the heated debates in the session, but it was both interesting and entertaining. After much debate, there was a majority vote to end all debate (which many were ecstatic about; others were very unhappy about) on the entire platform, which then allowed us to participate in the first-ever use of Scantron voting for each plank in the platform.
Even though it took us a while to read through all 266 planks and vote, we felt pride in preforming our delegate duties.
I think the LEAP Ambassadors took a lot away from today. The session really showed the spectrum of issues and the varying level of support for both the sensible and strange policies that had been proposed.
Once we were all finished voting, we took a short drive from the convention center through downtown Dallas where Governor Abbott hosted his tailgate on a parking garage rooftop overlooking the city. Upon our arrival we were presented with our Abbott University Diplomas and directed upstairs. Blake Roach, (one of our favorite JF/LEAP Alums), who works as Governor Abbott’s advance man, welcomed us shortly after we arrived.
He explained his responsibilities as an Advance Man and his experience working with the Texas Legislature. Blake was nice enough to introduce us to Audrey Abbott, the First Daughter of Texas.
Karla, Megan, Audrey, Alex, Brian, and Kaitlyn
She is now a college sophomore, so we had many things in common. Well, other than the fact that her dad is the Governor of Texas, of course! She was personable and easy to talk to. She told us about what her experience as the first daughter of Texas has been like and let us know that Governor Abbott had actually filmed a campaign advertisement in the same parking garage two years ago during his campaign for Governor!
And after eating Texas BBQ for dinner…
we were welcomed by Governor Abbott himself!
On this one, though, Ryan Brim already had us beat, having met the Governor earlier in the day.
It was a great event and fun way to end an eventful day. Knowing we would be back early tomorrow morning, we hurried home to get some rest before our final day of the State Convention.
Center for Law, Engagement, and Politics 