REPORT ON THE 2011 SURVEY

Dear Fellow Democrat,

In January we asked Democrats across the state to participate in our 2011 Survey. The response was both
overwhelming and incredibly informative.

Among the highlights of the survey were the responses we received to the question: why are you a Democrat?
Many were nothing short of inspirational. Others told us heartbreaking personal stories about how the policy
issues being debated today affect their lives. Your responses served as a reminder of the values and priorities
that define what it means to be a Democrat and the reasons why we will never stop fighting for what is right,
even when the odds seem stacked against us.

After looking through these touching and thought-provoking responses, I wanted to share some of them with
you along with some very interesting data. (insert link to report)

This report includes key survey findings as well as a large sampling of answers we received to open-ended
questions. And we did not select only the answers from those of you who had nice things to say – we
appreciate and understand the need for constructive criticism. None of the personal answers in this report
were attributed to individuals and no personal information was shared unless the respondent explicitly
consented to allow us to use their names.

Immediately after we started receiving responses, we responded to people who asked for more information on
certain programs. More importantly, we combed the responses for good ideas that we could immediately begin
integrating into our plans and day to day operations – and we received a bounty of great ideas and information.

We learned a lot about how Texas Democrats get and share their political news, what issues are most
important to them and how the Democratic Party could be more effective in their communities. And we read
each and every response.

The survey proved to be an excellent tool to hear opinions and ideas from grassroots Democrats that we may
not have heard otherwise, and we shall surely be doing more of these in the future.

The survey provided so much useful information that we have added this page (link) to our website. By clicking
this link (link) you can go to a virtual suggestion box that will allow you to send us your feedback, thoughts,
criticisms, suggestions, etc…

Regardless of whether you had words of praise or criticism, I want to offer my sincere thanks to all of you who
participated. Your feedback was valuable, taken to heart and is being put into action. And whether you
participated or not, I genuinely hope you will be a voice in this ongoing conversation about the Party we are all
proud to be a part of.
“Thank you for offering this
Your Friend and Proud Fellow Democrat, opportunity, and, more importantly, for
having a planning process, communicating
with Democrats in Texas and enlisting
our support and help. I believe that
organization, "knowing your people"
Chairman community by community and street by
Texas Democratic Party street, is the key to success, and that
you are moving in the right direction.”
Nancy in Fort Worth
 YOUR DEMOCRATIC PARTY, ADDRESSING YOUR CONCERNS

This section outlines some of the concerns and suggestions you raised and presents the ways we are
addressing your concerns and putting your ideas into action.

“I am so disappointed that the majority of Texans support Rick Perry, I

can't even think straight. TDP needs to stay on message that Rick Perry
caused this financial crisis. Rick Perry is not responding to the
financial crisis. And Rick Perry downplayed and lied about Texas economic
situation right until AFTER he won re-election. Get that message out now.
Don’t let Texans forget why we are suffering right now and who got us to
this low point. Keep that message loud for the next 4 years. Target it at
rural areas.”
Ashley in Austin
Ashley hit on a very important point which is
becoming painfully obvious these days. The
Republicans, from Rick Perry on down, have
not only thrown our state into a financial crisis
but are further sacrificing our shared future by
passing a House budget that devastates public
education, higher education, social services,
elderly care and more.

The TDP communications staff has been

working to deliver a message through media,
emails, social media, a website that describes
how this Republican budget is impacting
Texans every day. And we’re working to involve
Democrats statewide in the effort to deliver that
message by distributing information and talking
points to Party leaders and activists.

In addition, we recently started a petition in

response to a report that said Texas would lose
upwards of 335,000 jobs under the House
version of the state budget. After one week the
petition was up to 3,000 signatures.
 YOUR DEMOCRATIC PARTY, ADDRESSING YOUR CONCERNS

“Continue to provide active leadership and inform communities of what is

happening in local, county, state and national government. Most issues are
time sensitive and there needs to be a team of activist ready to respond
to all issues on all levels of govt. Develop a team system and make sure
everyone has the same TALKING POINTS!”
A Democrat in Grand Prairie
Several of you also asked for more useful talking
points that provide clear, succinct Democratic
arguments about the hot-button issues of the day.
TDP kicked off the “Party Insider” email list in
January and over 900 Democrats are now
receiving talking points, message guidance and
frequent updates to help you better articulate the
Democratic message.

It’s easy to sign up at

http://www.txdemocrats.org/party-insider-sign-up/.

“First of all, there needs to be credible DIVERSE experts with street cred
in their own communities.”
Nata in Houston
Many of you remarked on how important it is
that the Democratic Party do a better job of
getting our message to every corner of the
state. TDP also recognized the need to build a
message delivery structure, and early this year
kicked off a surrogate messaging program
which is designed to work with Democrats
across the state who will take the responsibility
to get out our message on the air in every
media market.

We cannot afford to cede any argument to the

Republicans. We have to challenge them on
the air, where their statewide officeholders have
easy access to get their message out.
Although the program is just getting off the
ground, we’ve generated some beneficial
coverage in the several media markets,
demonstrating that we can get favorable media CAMERON COUNTY CHAIRMAN GILBERTO HINOJOSA
coverage in places where we have not been on DELIVERING THE DEMOCRATIC VIEW ON THE VOTER
the air recently. ID BILL
 YOUR DEMOCRATIC PARTY, ADDRESSING YOUR CONCERNS

“Produce short videos that can be shared on social networking sites to

bolster support for and educate people on issues.”
James in Rowlett
One of the important lessons learned from
the 2010 election cycle was that message
delivery must utilize every available
medium. To that end, the TDP has made a
concerted effort to utilize video more in our
communications.

For example, here’s a video of Chairman

Boyd Richie speaking to the Texas Young
Democrats about the differences between
Democrats and Republicans, and
explaining why we are better.

In the coming weeks we’ll be releasing

several videos on some of the big issues
being debated in the legislature.

When asked which topics people would like us to do webinars on, a Democrat
from Houston asked that we do trainings on “TEC workshop/webinar for clubs
(ethics compliance).”
Campaign finance regulations can be
extremely difficult to understand and the
TDP compliance department has been hard
at work developing a more aggressive
campaign finance educational outreach
program.

Our goal is to provide candidates, county

chairs, SDEC members and party activists
the tools and information they need to be as
effective in elections as possible. In
addition to webinar trainings, we also send
email notices to candidates and county
chairs about reporting deadlines and
changes in campaign finance law.

There are several webinars scheduled

throughout this year and our compliance
department is always available to answer
questions from Texas Democrats.
 YOUR DEMOCRATIC PARTY, ADDRESSING YOUR CONCERNS

“Training, training, training for volunteers, precinct chairs, everyone on

what it takes to get our candidates elected.”
Shari in Rowlett
We take our responsibility to train Democrats on every
aspect of Party activity very seriously at TDP, and quite
a few of you expressed a strong desire that we continue
to make training a priority, which we fully intend to do.

We actually have quite a few training programs

including:
 TDP Campaign Camps for candidates and staff
 TDP Campaign Academy for staffers who agree
to participate in a lengthy training program and
who are then deployed to a campaign.
 TDP Webinars on virtually every subject you
can think of and which are conducted online.
 Regional Trainer Program allows us to train
Democrats from around the state on how to
conduct their own trainings for the people in
their community.

Here’s the full listing of training resources the TDP has

available:
http://www.txdemocrats.org/resources/training/

And here is a Grassroots Handbook you can download:

http://www.txdemocrats.org/resources/grassroots-
handbook/
 YOUR DEMOCRATIC PARTY, ADDRESSING YOUR CONCERNS

“support statewide candidates; recruit and support Texas House District

candidates; educate activists and voters on the statewide, Congressional,
and state legislature candidates; recruit candidates who are qualified for
the office and who will represent real Democratic values faithfully and
proudly”
Mary in Dallas
Candidate support was another frequently
mentioned topic.

For prospective candidates we have some

basic resources that we produced to help
them understand exactly what they are
getting themselves into and, if they decide
to run, that will help them navigate the
process.

We also offer training programs aimed at

helping candidates work with the media,
develop campaign plans, understand
campaign finance law and several more.

And of course the TDP staff, many of

whom have extensive campaign
experience, are always available to meet
with and mentor candidates. http://www.txdemocrats.org/resources/candidate-resources/

Paid for by the Texas Democratic Party, www.txdemocrats.org.

This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.