Coffee Talk

I’m interested to see what some of my readers think about this. Specifically some of the comments made in the story.
From the WDL:

By JONATHAN BLUNDELL Daily Light staff writer
Thursday, March 23, 2006 1:05 PM CST

They’re Democrats, but they’re not DrinkingLiberally – unless you’re referring to their morning coffee.
For a group of 10-12 local Democrats, Friday morning is their choice for meeting over doughnuts and coffee to discuss local, state and national politics.
“We’re the guys who can’t drink liberally anymore,” Larry Wilson said, referring to The Thursday night gatherings at the College Street Pub.
The group began meeting about five months ago at the Ellis County Democratic Headquarters on Main Street.
It’s an informal gathering, where people come and go freely and Democratic candidates stop in on occasion.
“We just sit and drink coffee,” Larry Harris said. “There’s no (written) agenda and we just come and go as our schedule allows us.”
Members of the group said everyone is welcome, but not everyone may be in agreement with their politics.
The topics vary week to week, but group members joked that at least a little Bush-bashing will come up most weeks.
“Strategizing might be a strong word for what we do,” Bud Brannon said. “We just sit around and talk about the news and politics.”
And while Republicans outnumber Democrats 3 to 1 in Ellis County, the group says they expect to see more and more voters changing sides in the next few years.
“The Democrats used to be the majority party in Ellis County and I think we’ll see the tide start to turn,” Harry Grier said. “I think people are disgusted with both sides.”
“Nationally there’s no clear cut leader for the Democrats,” Brannon said. “There’s no one ready to take advantage of all the administrations foul-ups.”
“It’s hard to step out when no one else will back you,” Mike Hollenback said. “Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) stood up and called for censure against the president, but no one would back him.”
Several names were dropped as possible leaders for the Democrats, but there was no general consensus among the group.
“They don’t necessarily have to be someone in the House or the Senate,” Hollenback said. “We just need someone to step forward and lead.”
“No one heard of Bill Clinton before he declared he was going to run,” Harris said.
Brannon said that President George H. Bush had a high approval rating before Clinton announced his candidacy.
“President Bush had the highest approval ratings ever after Desert Storm,” Brannon said. “Then Clinton took a role leading the party and won the presidency.”
Grier said he believed the political tide could change quickly both locally and nationally.
“It wouldn’t take much to lead a turn of the tide, locally or nationally,” Grier said. “I think people are getting frustrated. People want a change. I really think Chuck Beatty (Democratic candidate for county judge) will do real well.”
“But we’re also looking at a lot of statewide candidates who aren’t properly funded for their campaigns,” Joe Gatlin said. “It’s hard to win campaigns without proper funding.”
Several in the group said they felt Democrats have let the Republican Party paint the Democrats as anti-religious and anti-morality.
“There are a lot of church-based people who still hold to the idea that the Democrats are only about gay marriage and abortion,” Brannon said. “But I think people are starting to realize there are other issues out there besides those two. There are issues such as school funding, the price of gas, medical care, health insurance and other areas that involve taking care of people.”
“How can any person in their right mind claim to be a Christian and vote for Bush?” Grier asked. “It doesn’t matter to them that he started a war where thousands of people are getting killed.”
“The GOP has done a good job of grouping us together as baby killers and anti-morality,” Harris said. “And we’ve just let them do it.”
“They’ve let them define us and that’s our mistake,” Brannon said.
Harris said there are a number of misconceptions about Democrats that the party needs to overcome.
“Morality is the biggest misconception,” Harris said. “People also think we’re the big spenders and for big government. We’re the party for the people and for helping people, and we’re for government that works.”
Wilson pointed out that despite the notion that Republicans are for smaller government and less spending, the Bush administration has approved raising the cap on the national deficit four times during his term in office.
“It’s a big deal that Congress is voting to approve increasing the national debt,” Wilson said. “They say ‘We’re going to control spending’ and then they turn around and make huge budget amendments, sending us further into debt.”
The Friday coffee club meets at 9 a.m. each Friday at the Ellis County Democratic Headquarters, 215 E. Main St. in Waxahachie.
The group says everyone is welcome to attend, regardless of their political affiliation.