Breakfast with Mark Warner in Austin

Mark Warner, presidential contender and former Virginia Governor, will be in Texas this week.

Warner has a very impressive record in conservative and rural Virginia. He will be in Austin on Friday to raise money for the Texas Democratic Party. Democrats are finally gaining momentum in Texas. It is great to see national figures come down to Texas to help us regain the voters trust and not just to fund raise for themselves.

Join Mark Warner for Breakfast in Austin

Where: Guero's Restaurant
             1412 S. Congress (see map)

When:  Friday, February 24
             9:00am - 10:00am

Tickets: $125. Sponsor Levels: $250, $500 and $1000

Contact Rachel Johnston, Party Finance Director, at 512.478.9800 or via email at rjohnston@txdemocrats.org.

I loved his speech on "Why I am Democrat."

....

Now as you might guess, a lot of Republicans and Independents supported us. And since then, a lot of them have asked me, Mark - Why exactly are you a Democrat?

And I just smile. Because if you have to ask, you wouldn't understand.

I am a Democrat because since Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence - and since Jackson spoke for the common man - our party has never been the party of the status quo.

Instead, we have been the ones to see a challenge - and do something about it. Let's be honest - it hasn't always worked perfectly. Sometimes it has gotten us in trouble. Sometimes it has split us apart. But sometimes, those are the wages of progress.

And yet, I am a Democrat because the greatest and most noble political experiments of our time had their birth in our party.

I am a Democrat because the New Deal literally saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans.

I am a Democrat because a generation after a Democratic president started the Peace Corps, you can still find faded photographs of John F. Kennedy on the walls of homes from South Africa to South America.

I am a Democrat because fighting for working men and women is always the right fight.

I am a Democrat because our party led the struggle for civil rights and because we recognize that discrimination and bigotry are not dead - and that we must continue to seek equal opportunity for all.

I am a Democrat because despite our failures, our missteps, and our excesses - we know that waging a war on poverty does not mean fighting the individuals who are poor.

I am a Democrat because we know that today's battle is about the future versus the past - and it's time to put aside yesterday's battles of us versus them.

I am a Democrat because we know that criticizing success won't create a single job.

And most of all, I am a Democrat because when my three daughters go out into the world to make their lives, I want them to find a world where there's less hopelessness - less selfishness - and less violence.

I want them to find a world where there is more opportunity - more understanding - and more hope.

That is the mission of this party.

That is what we work for.

That is why we get up every morning.