02.23.08
A Texas Republican On Republicans In Texas
Republican consultant Royal Masset dissects The Republican Conundrum in the latest issue of the Texas Observer. It’s a good article that does a great job of laying out the regional challenges of a statewide run in Texas.
There is no such thing as a campaign plan for all of Texas. Every campaign must do things differently in each region of the state. Every region has its own type of leaders. Dallas Republican leaders are very formal. West Texas Republican leaders all wear boots. The diversity tends to cut down on surprises. We will never wake up to find Jesse “The Body†Ventura elected as our governor. Voters within a given media market might go berserk and “send a message,†but it’s unlikely different regions would send the same message.
The end is a great analysis of the future inside battles facing the GOP in Texas.
Probably the longest-lasting impact of the 2008 primaries on the Texas Republican Party will be that our party will become even more conservative, if that’s possible. Many moderate Republicans will vote in the Democratic primary. Leadership in the Republican Party of Texas will be determined by the motivated voters who show up at precinct meetings after the polls close. Huckabee supporters will dominate those meetings and will ultimately dominate the state convention in June.
I don’t foresee a McCain candidacy changing the Republican Party of Texas, any more than, say, Bob Dole did in 1996. Dole at least was well liked. McCain ignites no passions and brings no new ideas; he will attract almost no new voters. We Reaganites fought to take over the Republican Party in 1976 and 1980. There are no McCainites waiting in the wings who want to run the Republican Party.
If there is a major change in Texas politics in 2008 it will be caused by the Democrats. Even I have been chagrined to learn that my 13-year-old son Ernesto favors Barack Obama. The world is changing.
Yep. The Texas GOP purging moderates from it’s ranks, like Carter Casteel, and state Rep. Kirk England’s recent switch to the Democratic Party, are evidence of them becoming “even more conservative”. It’s hard to see a party even further to the right rallying around McCain in the fall. McCain v. Huckabee is more than likely a prelude to the blood bath that will take place in the 2010 GOP primary race for governor.
tweety said,
February 23, 2008 at 9:41 am
“The world is changing”…….indeed! Williamson County is going back to blue. This county will no longer be able to use it’s bag of tricks to run it. We the working people are taking it back and all of it’s corruptive family will be out of here or at least behind bars where they belong. 2008 through 2010 there will be a lot of County Officials facing charges of illegal activities. Mark my words.