Moreover, the Dallas Morning News acknowledged the divisiveness that has marred the career of rival candidate Domingo Garcia. They noted that even within the Hispanic community, there are serious questions and reservations about Garcia’s ability to lead.
Key excepts from the Dallas Morning News endorsement are reprinted below. To read the entire editorial endorsement click here. To learn more about new CD33 click here, here and here.
May 2, 2012
Editorial: We recommend Veasey for the 33rd District
Key Excerpts
”Veasey is tested and ready”
Our choice is made easier because Veasey is an impressive candidate in his own right. He has been vetted by seven years in Austin, and he knows the district and Washington from having worked on the staff of the former representative, Martin Frost. He was recruited to be the party’s floor whip and is the current House Democratic Caucus chair, which speaks to his stature among his peers and to his leadership potential.
Veasey represents a statehouse district that is 35 percent Hispanic, so he is no stranger to the issues facing the Latino community. He also recognizes that elected officials — black and white — have to adjust to the demographic changes that have altered major urban centers in Texas and across the country. A central part of that mission, he said, is figuring out how to best represent these new constituents.
A practical politician in the best sense of the term, Veasey strikes us as a consensus builder, a scarce trait in Washington. The interests of our region, and of this new district, would be well served by his election.
“Garcia a flawed candidate”
There is much to commend García, as his supporters invariably point out. He is intelligent, passionate, independent and generous with his time and money. He has a long and impressive commitment to civil rights and to immigration reform. Yet he has also proved to be a very divisive and controversial figure even within his own community. He is authoritarian to a fault, and stories of his machinations abound. Supporters say his detractors are consumed by envy because he has succeeded where they have failed, or because his political success has at times come at their expense.
But this is not a case of García being careless in the choice of his enemies. If it were that, we could understand. What struck us most is what García’s own community says of him.
Supporters advocate for him even as they catalog faults and shortcomings that would disqualify him in the minds of reasonable voters. Detractors are torn between their aspirations that this be a Latino seat and their recognition that García is a flawed candidate.
When pressed, one initially gave greater weight to having a Hispanic in this seat. But when asked whether he would feel comfortable with García as an incumbent, this person struggled for a moment and then offered a blunt no.
