Tom Dowdy, the COS-Texas state Coalitions Director, was among a group of seventeen citizen activists recently honored by Empower Texans for exemplary grassroots leadership in the state in 2017.
engraved with the words
"Texas Conservative Leader - 2017."
The award was presented at a gala banquet attended by over 500 people held at the Irving Convention Center in Las Colinas on Saturday evening, December 2, 2017. Empower Texans is a service organization whose goal is to advocate for good governance and hold their elected officials accountable.
Tom was one of the first Texans to step up and join the COS team when the movement began in 2013. He has given numerous presentations about the movement across the state, putting 100,000 miles on his truck that serves as its own advertisement for the COS movement.
giving COS presentations.
COS national director Mark Meckler addressed the crowd by video, commenting on Tom's contributions to the cause of preserving liberty. "He innately understood how to bulid coalitions and began networking across the state to secure presentation opportunities and speaking appointments," Mark said. "Tom is the original creator of the COS Texas-centric presentation; and anyone who presents today owes Tom Dowdy a debt of gratitude and respect for the foundation he laid in Texas." He also described Tom's effectiveness at countering opposition to the movement. "It is against the opposition that Tom really excels; his knowledge of history surrounding Article V...gave all attendees an opportunity to learn the big picture of why the time is now to use the Constitution to save the country."
(Left) Texas COS volunteers grab a photo op with Tom: Paul Hodson, Tamara Colbert, Susan Valiant, Tom, Angie Turner, Bob Peery, Natalie Miller. (Right) Jim DeMint address the audience.
Convention of States senior advisor Jim DeMint was the featured speaker at the gala event, and he referenced the movement several times in his remarks (captured in this video). Describing the fiscal sitution in Washington, he said, "It’s just a completely irrational situation and the only people who can solve it are the people at the grassroots level, and the states pushing back, and that’s why I’m working with the Convention of States because I believe only the states can save America right now.” He reminded the audience that saving our country "involves much more than just electing good people at the local, state and federal level. Politics follows culture, so we must build a citizenry that understands the principles of freedom and stands vigilant to protect their states and their nation from those who would seek to shape and control our lives through the oppressive government power."
