The County's Top Democrat Takes a Stand in a Woke Progressive Political Climate

SAN ANGELO, TX — Tom Green County Democrat Party Chairman David Currie intends to educate voters on local issues. To do that he is launching an ambitious four-event series of programs that begin with an exploration of how local taxes are levied, and how much they really are.

The first forum on “The Truth About Local Taxes” will headline a Republican, Tom Green County Judge Steve Floyd. Jeff Bright, the San Angelo ISD’s chief financial officer, along with San Angelo City Manager Daniel Valenzuela will also participate. Unlike the county, the school district and City government are both non-partisan. There are no declared parties to be associated when fulfilling school district or City of San Angelo administrative duties.

This first forum will be held at the Sugg Community Room in the Stephens Library downtown, 33 W. Beauregard Ave. on April 11 at 7 p.m.

“The monthly forums offer citizens an opportunity to learn about and become more engaged in those issues affecting their lives – from local taxes to concerns on our southern border,” said Currie. “Though the local forums are hosted by the TGDC, they are designed to be informative and meant to be non-partisan.”

Currie, generally considered a moderate Democrat, is straightjacketed by the progressive Left’s takeover of the national and state Democrat Party.

Yet despite this, Currie says that there are not many degrees of separation between the ideas of a Democrat and a Republican. Indeed, Currie has expressed support for State Rep. Drew Darby, a Republican, in the past. He views politicians like Darby to be problem-solvers, not ideological maniacs.

“Maniacs like Charles Perry,” Currie grimaced.

Senator Perry is the cultural warrior and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s ally on the right who represents San Angelo in the State Senate.

At the same time, Currie was an early supporter of Robert “Beto” O’Rourke since the early stages of his run against Ted Cruz for U.S. Senate. As O’Rourke’s popularity increased towards the end of his failed senate campaign and into his presidential campaign, O’Rourke has drifted far left, becoming a woke progressive.

Currie disagrees. “Beto will be as mainstream as a Bill Clinton if elected,” he maintains.

Currie’s challenge to attract Democrats in conservative rural Texas is that statewide and national candidates do not always express policy directions that match that of a moderate, center-left Democrat. He isn’t getting much help. But maybe there is hope.

In the New York Times today, Nate Cohn and Kevin Quealy examine how the loud woke progressive wing of the Democrat Party nationwide does not match the actual Democratic electorate.

The mainstream Democrats, including black Democrats, will tolerate Virginia’s governor in “black face” he wore 30 years ago but was memorialized in a discovery of a yearbook photo. They will also vote for Joe Biden even though Biden has been shamed for being too “handsy” with women, the authors argue.

“It also helps explain why recent polls show that a majority of Democrats would rather see the party become more moderate than move leftward, even as progressives clamor for a Green New Deal or Medicare for all,” Cohn and Quealy write.

Will Currie’s forums help lure local Democrats back into his fold or maybe even attract a disenfranchised Republican or two?

Maybe.

Danger lies ahead for Currie’s future forums, however. After the local taxes issue, the next three forums explore issues that are less mired in mystery than they are in extreme political discourse: Immigration, health care, and the environment… or climate change.

A fifth forum is in the works too, Currie said. He wants to hold a session on Empower Texans, the conservative lobbying organization feared and hated by the center left and right of both political parties.

The forums will be interesting, that’s for sure.

Here’s the tentative schedule. Currie said he could pre-empt one with a topic with more fireworks, like a forum on Empower Texans.