AURORA, Colo. -- Boyd Richie is one Texan who'll be delighted when a certain Texan from Crawford is no longer living in the White House.

He also wants to set the record straight about George W. Bush.

"He's not really a Texan," Richie said. "This is a guy who has passed himself off as a Texan. He thought it would be good for his career to buy a ranch and cut some brush. That has not been good for Texas."

Richie, chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, and other Democrats from the Lone Star State threw a lot of verbal jabs at the Bush administration during a breakfast meeting Monday, the opening day of the party's national convention in Denver.

Texas has the third-largest delegation at the convention, behind California and New York. The state brought 193 delegates to Denver, but when alternate delegates, family members and other guests are included, the Texas delegation numbers more than 240.

The group will spend the week listening to lots of political speeches and doing lots of schmoozing with other Democrats from across the country. The highlight will come Thursday night, when Barack Obama becomes the first black to accept a major party's nomination for president.

"This is history in the making," said Richie's wife, Betty Richie, a party activist and member of the Democratic National Committee.

Obama faces an uphill battle against Republican John McCain in Texas, but national Democrats shouldn't write off the state just yet, Boyd Richie said.