The simple answer is that she is one of the two candidates who earned a spot in the Democratic Party run-off to held in May.
The more complex answer is that she is a member of a fringe group that identifies with the Democratic Party - at least it adopts its label - but runs candidates that attack Democratic office holders. The primary target of their attacks is President Obama, but past presidents have also been their target.
- Click on her Wikipedia page for more background.
- Here's a link to the Wikipedia site for the LaRouche movement.
To put it bluntly, she is a candidate that the Democratic Party leadership would rather not have to deal with, would prefer had not been on the primary ballot, and her good showing in the primary has embarrassed the party. It also demonstrates the problematic nature of parties in Texas (and nation wide as well). They have limited ability to police who decides to run with their label. Anyone can decide to run as a Democrat or Republican. One's success is determined by those who vote in the party primary. If the winner is opposed by the party leadership, there is little they do about it.
The Texas Democratic Party has been plagued with such candidates recently. We'll survey some of these later, but for now here's a look at Roger's and how the party is responding to her.
- Dems scramble to stop LaRouche candidate.
- Kesha Rogers, Lyndon LaRouche Disciple, Heads To Run-Off Election In Texas Senate Race.
- Fear of a LaRouche Planet.
- Candidate Is the Issue in a Democratic Race.
Part of the job of a party is to recruit top quality candidates, or at least discourage and de-fang bad and embarrassing ones. As much as the Texas Democratic Party hopes to become relevant again in the states - and as much as they argue that the growth of groups that identify with the party suggest they can be competitive in the near future - the lack of viable candidates and identifiers who can connect with them can make that challenge harder than it already is.
This is something for 2306 to consider as we look at the nature of parties in the state.
