Chris Hamilton sure talks like a politician. The first question he’s asked for this podcast, about Dallas hosting the NRA’s upcoming convention, he flips it into an anti-Trump treatise. Which is the first of many boxes that Hamilton, the hopeful future chair of the Dallas County Democratic Party, must check in these public appearances.
He also must set himself apart from the woman whose job he wants. Carol Donovan is the head of a quite divided local Democratic party, one that newcomers complain is so entrenched with the city’s longtime leaders that it is overlooking new talent that could appeal to more people. The Dems are also being sued by the county’s Republican party. The lawsuit alleges that Donovan didn’t sign the paperwork for 128 of the party’s candidates. The GOP wants them off the ballot, citing a state statute mandating that the party chair sign the damn paperwork.
In walks Hamilton to this fire. He argues that the local Republican party has identified a weakness in leadership and is exploiting it. He says the response to the allegations in the suit was “inept at best” and expressed his frustration that local officials didn’t hear about the issue until they read about it in the Dallas Morning News. “Leadership is looking at the big picture,” he tells Tim and Eric at Table No. 1 at the Old Monk, urging for better development of Democratic candidates and improving voter turnout.
Hamilton is a lawyer who, he says, only takes on cases that come with a cause that he feels passionate for. It’s “David and Goliath” stuff for him, as he put it—one person up against an insurance company, a property owner against a fracking company. Donovan has painted the race in a similar light: “I am the only candidate in the race who has ever been involved with the Dallas County Democratic Party,” she told the News back in July. “This is not the time to switch to a leader who needs on-the-job training.”
So can he do it? He makes his case this week on EarBurner. Show notes and audio player after the jump.
1. If you’d like, you can listen to Eric breathe into a microphone right here.
2. If you haven’t read Sports Illustrated’s important deep dive into the disgusting and corrosive culture that was the Mavericks’ business side, please do.
3. The NRA is bringing its annual conference to Dallas. Councilman Dwaine Caraway came out publicly against this and received death threats, because that is how people respond to things they disagree with in the year twenty eighteen.
4. If you’re so inclined, here is the NRA’s Wayne LaPierre speak-yelling at CPAC.
5. Here is Carol Donovan’s campaign Facebook page. Here are the details about the lawsuit against her party. And here is everything you need to know about the GOP party chair, Missy Shorey.
6. D Magazine, making an editorial stand against the phrase “Metroplex” since at least 1975.
7. Gromer’s story on Hamilton has Eric Johnson’s not-so-happy Facebook post about him.
8. And, finally, here is Hamilton’s campaign finance chair, Lisa Blue, dancing with Emmitt Smith for charity. Enjoy your weekend.
