The problem for Republicans in Texas
This was Kate Alexander’s main takeaway from the Senate debate. I don’t think it was any surprise that the top-heavy favorite in the race was on the defensive. If anything, as I wrote in my report on the debate on Friday, I thought Cruz missed opportunities to attack Dewhurst. Cruz’s charge that Dewhurst’s support of the business margins tax amounted to backing an income tax would have been a lot more effective had the Texas Supreme Court not ruled that it wasn’t.
The most telling exchange involving Cruz and Dewhurst was this one, reported by Alexander:
Cruz, who has won endorsements from several tea party standard-bearers from Washington, said there is an ideological battle afoot and that Dewhurst is not on the side of tea party conservatives.
“There is a civil war going on right now for the hearts and minds of Republicans in the Senate,” Cruz said.
In my book, this is exactly the problem with the Republican party today. And it’s going to kill them. Too many Republicans put ideological purity ahead of addressing the country’s problems. Ted Cruz is a smart man and a good lawyer, but do Texans really want a senator whose foremost concern is fighting a civil war with other Republicans? Dewhurst is hardly the reincarnation of Daniel Webster, but at least he knows who the enemy is.
Tagged: david dewhurst, Ted Cruz
jpt51 says:
Paul
I hope you can help. I’m trying to find a link to the 2002 stump speech where Dewhurst stops abruptly because a page is missing. Rather than ad lib, (the guy was smart enough to be a CIA agent) he walks over to a young aide and chews him out on the spot and then acts like nothing happens when he resumes.
To me, we see the real David Dewhurst and it’s indicative of the empty suit politicos we keep choosing to serve the people of Texas. If I were an opponent of Dewhurst, I’d play the clip throughout the campaign.
I can’t find a link but I’m hoping you can.
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Dave Reply:
January 16th, 2012 at 10:50 am
Can’t Cruz afford his own opp research?
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Luanne Platter Reply:
January 16th, 2012 at 10:54 am
Snap!
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Stevie F. says:
I agree with your diagnosis of the GOP’s ailing. I’ve talked to so many Republicans who disdain “Republicans in Name Only” in a way that reveals they don’t consider other branches of conservatism as legitimate and worthy of a place in the party. Moving ahead on shared values seems a much lower priority than purging the party of “middle of the roaders.”
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Willie James Reply:
January 17th, 2012 at 8:42 am
This is how the GOP lost me. Purity tests and loyalty pledges belong in college fraternities and the Nazi party as far as I am concerned. Any political organization that requires lockstep marching and independent thought is going to die on the vine. Will take many years as the desparate cling to the old ways and will get more and more extreme to make their points.
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Wiley says:
I missed who Dewhurst thinks the enemy is.
It certainly isn’t Texas’ failure to invest in the next generation, since he keeps claiming that spending on public education went up in the current budget, when in fact it was cut by $500 per student. And it isn’t our failure to maintain our transportation infrastructure, since I didn’t hear him jump up to support other conservative Republicans like Ogden and Tommy Williams try to at least discuss raising the gasoline tax.
So what does Dew think the enemy is? High taxes (in a low-tax state)? Regulation (in a generally unregulated state)? Obamacare (in a state with the highest percentage of uninsured workers)?
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anita Reply:
January 16th, 2012 at 2:13 pm
You forgot plaintiffs lawyers (in a state with the most stringent limits on access to the courthouse and damages).
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Anonymous says:
I hope you’re right that something…anything…is going to kill the Republican Party in Texas. I’m not sure Texas voters are smart enough to do anything besides go in and put an “X” by “Republican Party.”
Whoever wins the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate, the loser will be the citizens of Texas.
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paulburka Reply:
January 18th, 2012 at 5:22 pm
It won’t kill the Republicans in this election, but it will kill them in the long run.
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Anonymous says:
Dewhurst is running against Obama’s policies on the stump, Wiley, so maybe that’s who he thinks the enemy is a Democrat/snark.
Cruz lost me forever when, as a Republican pandering to the tea party and Paulbots, he said the Republican Party has lost it’s way. Just because every Republican official does not see it his way or hasn’t been able to accomplish what Cruz is promising with an almost evenly divided electorate, it does not mean the Republican Party has lost its way.
Cruz just insulted every hard working Republican, including conservatives like me, for all time.
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longleaf says:
Well, famed Texas “lib’rul” Jim Hightower, the first statewide victim of Rick Perry, said it best and the GOPers are living up to his truism:
“There’s Nothing In The Middle Of The Road But Yellow Stripes And Dead Armadillos.”
The GOPers will only move further to the right in their quest for ideological purity. It is very entertaining to watch as a nonparticipant in the cl-sterf–k that is Texas politics.
There will NEVER be a check on this craziness/wise governance (depending upon your viewpoint) as the GOPers are the only game in town. The few remaining Democrat Elvises have left the building and/or switched parties. It was never about principle with them anyhow, only political viability.
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Julie says:
Istead of of embracing ideological purity, elected Republican Party leaders should instead support passing truth in spending legislation that would require the state to disclose how the GOP’s so-called fiscally responsible state budgets have actually raised taxes, fees and debt in other areas and misused dedicated funds.
The Legislature’s state budget cuts have forced many school districts to raise property taxes.
To help balance the state budget, the Legislature raided a state fund that’s supposed to be used to help the poor cover their own utility bills.
In a previous legislative session, the Republican-dominated Legislature cut higher education funding, forcing state-funded universities to raise tuition fees.
The Legislature has raided the state gasoline sales tax fund to help balance the budget, forcing the Texas Department of Transportation to borrow money to pay for necessary road improvements. TXDOT has taken the state $25 billion into bond debt to help pay for transportation projects.
GOP legislators should be honest about the impact of state budgets. Since state budget cuts have resulted in increases in taxes, fees and debt in other areas, and raids on dedicated state funds, then the GOP has simply passed the buck, rather than cut spending.
With Texas’ growing population, state government can not possibly meet the demand for services by cuts alone. If all legislators are honest about it, the state will have to find ways to generate additional revenue.
No matter what Republican lawmakers do, they should put the interests of Texans first, rather than the interest of GOP ideological purity.
I’m ready to vote for any Republican who wants to put the interest of Texans first. We have a small number of Republicans in the Legislature who favor putting Texans first. We need more such Republicans, not lawmakers who see ideology as the only thing that matters.
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Anonymous says:
The Tea Party and “Rino” hunters are killing the GOP. They are nothing but narrow minded ideologues. We need people that will actually govern and make informed decisions, not a bunch of rubber stampers listening to people who have faulty ideas
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Willie James Reply:
January 17th, 2012 at 8:43 am
Yep. And the closer to death they become, the more desparate they will get.
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Robert Morrow says:
Then “enemy” is the bipartisan GOP-Demo establishments. Ted Cruz would do well to recognize that. The Ron Paulers do and they potentially will be big players in the Republican primary in Texas, despite moneybags Dewhurst’s bankroll.
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anita Reply:
January 16th, 2012 at 2:21 pm
Wha? I think you miss the point. We need MORE officeholders who are willing to challenge the party hacks and purists and do what’s right for Texas.
I watched Ted Cruz align himself squarely with the hacks/purists at the debate the other evening — so much so that he’s not even willing to distance himself from the wing-nuts who want to repeal the 17th Amendment. That tells me the candidate has zero leadership skills. That’s an inexcusable position.
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Anonymous says:
The fringe on the left as well as the fringe on the right are considered wackos and basically shutout by both parties. All good decisions and government are made center-right. Last time I checked we live in a Republic not a Dictatorship. I want bipartisanship, ie,. the Constituition, Bill of Rights, etc. Two sides coming together for the greater of the whole.
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Pat Reply:
January 16th, 2012 at 6:47 pm
Define the “fringe the on the left.” Not saying it doesn’t exist, just curious as to who you mean.
A long time ago, after several years in in South America, I came to believe that America doesn’t have a left fringe.
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Jed Reply:
January 17th, 2012 at 2:59 pm
it’s more like lint.
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Goo says:
Aside from the fact that Banana Republican’s baseless, Morrow-esque claims of philandering are a load of hooey, it should also be noted that Cruz hasn’t been campaigning on the “family values” platform (he’s been pushing the Constitution left and right).
Tally that up as two fails for Banana Repub.
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anita Reply:
January 16th, 2012 at 2:26 pm
Actually, Cruz treats the Constitution like a trip to the cafeteria, only selectively picking the provisions he likes. You won’t see Ted Cruz actively supporting the 4th Amendment, or the 8th. He’s fine to sit on the sidelines while the State of Texas pushes the Constitutional floor on both of these Amendments, and more.
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Anonymous Reply:
January 16th, 2012 at 3:08 pm
Really? If Cruz isn’t running on the family values platform why is he pushing Kelly Shackelford, Cathie Adams & Dobson endorsements out front?
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Willie James Reply:
January 17th, 2012 at 12:57 pm
Dobson is poison to anyone with a functioning brain.
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Drazen Petrovic says:
I can imagine that Cruz’s campaign staff must be exhausted after weeks of beating their head against the wall.
It’s no secret that Cruz demanded his staff not receive compensation in December in order to pad their fourth quarter stats.
After Dewhurst does the Huck announcement, Cruz responds with a retread of his TFRW annoucement from months back. I wonder how many names they had to retract this time.
Then, Mr. Cruz fails to land any glove on Dewhurst, faces a serious challenge from Addison at a recent straw poll, and then has Ross Ramsey write a story about always taking credit for other’s work.
If Ted’s fundraising numbers are anywhere below $1M, his campaign is over.
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Robert Morrow says:
I have never, ever said that Ted Cruz was a philanderer. I have said it a lot about Bill Clinton and another politician. I have never heard *anything* about Cruz running around. Of course, anything is possible, but I think the odds of that are very, very slim.
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Robert Morrow says:
Rick Perry in South Carolina, wrapping himself in his wife, family values, God ..
“Perry on his wife Anita: if I had to walk away from all this, if she was walking with me, it’d all be ok.”
Blah blah blah. Folks u have to read it to believe. Full blown shameless pandering:
Arlette Saenz Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/#!/ArletteSaenz
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Alan says:
Lanham Lyne summed up the biggest mistake the GOP has been making in Texas in the Obama era at the end of last session: they fell victim to the nationalization of politics that the media has created over the past decade or so. There is no wall between federal, state and local issues anymore.
They heard conservative radio hosts and bloggers and Fox News talking about profligate spending in DC and in places like California and New York, and they assumed the same thing was going on in Texas. It wasn’t.
We don’t have confiscatory tax rates. We don’t have an enormous union machine that wields incredible political influence. We don’t have a shrinking tax base and a stagnating population.
What’s really sad is that Lanham Lyne was one of the few freshmen who seemed to learn something in Austin, and he decided not to come back.
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Anonymous Reply:
January 17th, 2012 at 8:18 am
Lyne’s decision to quit after one term should be a signal that our politics is broken. As a former mayor, he brought to his job a belief that the purpose of the Legislature was to get things done for the state. That notion was out of fashion in the 82nd Legislature.
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Anonymous says:
One way to get the GOP back on track is to shut out MQS and his minions. Texas Tribune has some enlightening interview segments. Highlights some flawed and hypocritical thinking. Watch and see for yourself.
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Johnbernardbooks says:
This article should be titled “The problem for democrats in Texas” and that is the voters won’t vote for them.
The last time I looked the republican party held every office state wide.
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Ann Nonymouse Reply:
January 17th, 2012 at 12:59 pm
JBB, the problem is the everyday Texas voter is a lockstepping sheep willing to let far-right wingnuts scare them into making Texas the equal of Mississippi.
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Anonymous says:
JBB
The point is……this is not the Republican Party as we know it,… as it was meant to be. It is being taken over and held hostage by some far right wing-nuts
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Willie James Reply:
January 17th, 2012 at 8:45 am
Like JBB!
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Julie says:
For the person who posted the last comment, here’s an example of why the GOP is not what it used to be. The Texas GOP Party platform demands that the state return Confederate plaques to the Texas Supreme Court Building. The state removed the plaques from the building’s walls several years ago because they were considered to represent hate, slavery and division. Why is the GOP in favor of Confederate plaques?
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paul burka Reply:
January 17th, 2012 at 8:22 am
A plaque was removed from the Supreme Court building in the dead of night because W. was running for president and he didn’t want it on display. Of course, there is an even more offensive plaque on an interior wall by a first-floor staircase to the basement.
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Johnbernardbooks Reply:
January 17th, 2012 at 3:30 pm
Can show me where in the GOP Platform is says the GOP is in favor or Confederate Plaques? You still posted that it as a fact.
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Anonymous says:
Julie….oh please …nevermind. Your comment doesn’t deserve a rebuttal.
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Julie Reply:
January 16th, 2012 at 10:34 pm
That’s because there’s no good reason for the state GOP to advocate Confederate plaques. Supporting the plaques does nothing to show the party wants to represent all Texans regardless of their race.
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Anonymous Reply:
January 16th, 2012 at 10:59 pm
Get your facts straight……
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Anonymous Reply:
January 17th, 2012 at 5:40 am
Let’s hear your facts about why it helps the GOP to support Confederate plaques.
Johnbernardbooks Reply:
January 17th, 2012 at 7:10 am
Julie says she is a republican. People like her either do not understand what’s in the party platform or are willing to distort it. I’d say she’s just mis-informed.
jpt51 says:
Dems would be smart to have Bill Hobby run for the Senate and Henry Cisneros run for Lieutenant Gov.
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Blue Dogs Reply:
January 17th, 2012 at 12:08 pm
You mean Hobby’s son, Paul right ?
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Anonymous says:
PAUL BURKA.
I’m no Ted Cruz fan but the last posting and any like it should be deleted.
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Johnbernardbooks Reply:
January 17th, 2012 at 7:11 am
Its all dems have. Look for that type of garbage to increase showing how much dems fear Cruz.
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Banana Republican Reply:
January 17th, 2012 at 8:14 am
Your posting should be deleted. You’re wasting pixels with no point.
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paul burka Reply:
January 17th, 2012 at 8:26 am
Readers have generally adhered to the policy of this blog, which I have referred to on several occasions, that scurrilous, unsubstantiated comments about the private lives of public servants will not be allowed. A comment that violates this policy will be removed.
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paulburka Reply:
January 17th, 2012 at 3:20 pm
It was removed.
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Julie says:
You obviously have not read the Texas GOP platform. You are the one who is misinformed. The GOP platform states that the party wants the Confederate plaques returned to the walls of the Texas Supreme Court Building. The GOP support of the Confederate plaques does absolutely nothing to help the party’s public image.
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Johnbernardbooks Reply:
January 17th, 2012 at 11:40 am
@Julie
Its a logo of the Son Of Confederates Veterans and not the confederate flag. Do you know the difference between a logo and a flag?
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Julie Reply:
January 17th, 2012 at 1:24 pm
One of the removed plaques features the Confederate flag, while the other plaque says they’re dedicated to Confederate soldiers. Why would the Texas GOP want to associate itself with defending the Confederacy, which reminds many Texans of racism and hatred. There’s nothing to be gained by aligning the GOP with the Confederacy.
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Ann Nonymouse Reply:
January 17th, 2012 at 2:40 pm
Sons of Confederate Veterans is a sad, small group dedicated to revisionist history. Fact: Slavery was the cause of the civil war. Not states rights, taxes, Ron Paul or American flag lapel pins. These are losers that like to dress up as Confederate losers and play army.
Julie Reply:
January 17th, 2012 at 3:40 pm
Since Texas voters in 1978 repealed a state constitutional amendment requiring that the the Confederate plaques be posted in the Texas Supreme Court Building, why would the GOP want to go against the wishes of Texas voters and insist that the Confederate plaques be returned to the Supreme Court Building? If anything, the GOP should have not associated itself with the Confederate plaques.
W. B. Travis says:
The hard right will still maintain that the Civil War was fought over state’s rights. This like is only absorbed by the moron. States right to own slaves, yes. The confederate battle flag are sybols of racism and hatred, like it or not. So take it off OUR government buildings. The GOP in Texas is off base.
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Johnbernardbooks Reply:
January 17th, 2012 at 11:41 am
“The hard right will still maintain that the Civil War was fought over state’s rights”
Yet history tells it started with a tax on the South by NE liberals.
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Ann Nonymouse Reply:
January 17th, 2012 at 1:01 pm
JBB, you just proved his point.
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Johnbernardbooks Reply:
January 17th, 2012 at 2:50 pm
no, but believe what you wish.
Johnbernardbooks Reply:
January 17th, 2012 at 3:42 pm
The democrat party consists of racist, rapists, pedophiles, looters and useful idiots. The republican party consists of moralists, fiscal conservatives, social liberals(moderates), and democrats(ashamed to be called a dem) posing as republicans. The Paulbots are generally libertarians and are not associated with either party.
For all you racists, republicans like me believe that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certainable rights, amoung these are Life, Liberty and the persuit of happiness.
Democrats believe that some are not equal and should be given preferential treatment. Their core belief is “fairness” as they define it.
Julie Reply:
January 17th, 2012 at 4:55 pm
The truth is that both the Republican and Democratic parties have had lawbreakers in their ranks.
Johnbernardbooks Reply:
January 18th, 2012 at 8:09 am
@Julie
Democrats lead in impeachments.
Many democrats ie Rep Rangel are given “ethics” trials, while republicans are given “kangaroo criminal” trials by partisian hacks like Rep Tom Delay.
You’ve been outted democrats as the party of corruption.
Julie Reply:
January 18th, 2012 at 8:49 am
Having fewer impeachmemts of Republicans than Democrats is nothing to be proud of. But if that makes you happy, then feel free to wave the Confederate flag to show your allegiance to the Texas GOP, which wants to again display Confederate plaques that Texas voters decided could be taken down. By supporting the Confederate plaques in the party’s platform, the Texas GOP has shown it is out of touch with what Texas voters want.
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Bean Counter says:
In the REAL polling going on in the Senate race ( i.e. polls conducted by professional pollsters who weigh and measure the sample carefully to reflect the primary electorate), Ted Cruz is not even in second place. In fact with Craig James int he race he lags in fourth place, fifth place in another poll.
When you factor in the ‘hispanic problem’ in the GOP, along with the fact that no extreme right wing candidate has won a Republican nomination for a high profile statewide office, Cruz’ chance are pretty much zilch.
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Blue Dogs Reply:
January 17th, 2012 at 12:08 pm
Bean Counter, are you also including the shocking upset defeat of former Railroad Commissioner Victor Carrillo from March 2010′s GOP primary as well ?
On the Senate race, Dewhurst is gonna win BIG.
On the presidential campaign, Perry is DONE politically forever.
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Anon says:
Bean Counter: link to this so-called “REAL poll”, please?
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Paco says:
Burka, you should rename your blog to “Blog to Elicit Irrational Blathering.”
All this talk about conservative/liberal is silly. And left/right only makes sense when applied to the collectivist/individualist continuum which is where the real political battle is taking place.
I’m not sure how the typical self-described liberal or conservative can avoid descending into a cognitive dissonance stupor when one side urges the primacy of the state in economic freedom and the illegetimacy of the state in social matters and the other side urges the exact opposite.
Pick a point on the continuum and stick with it — or accept that one’s political positions are based on factors other than a reasoned philosophy.
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Jed Reply:
January 17th, 2012 at 3:04 pm
B-.
provocative thesis. but it is logically possible that the proper role of government encompasses one of those spheres and not the other.
the burden is on you – the one claiming everyone else is in a stupor – to show otherwise.
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Paco Reply:
January 17th, 2012 at 4:39 pm
Basically, what I described was basic libertarianiam: the government has no right to deprive me of my property or restrict my personal actions — that’s on one side of the collectivist/individualist continuum. There’s nothing new about this — see Thomas Jefferson, et. al.
On the other side, the government has the right to do anything that it deems is for the common good. There’s nothing new about this either — see Castro, et. al. The problem is that liberals are collectivists when it comes to property rights and individualists when it comes to personal actions. Conservatives are the polar opposites.
Yes, I know this is a simplification, but the inconsistency is obvious.
Q.E.D.
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Willie James says:
I just wrapped my head in foil.
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Nick says:
Wait, who are the enemy?
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Paco Reply:
January 17th, 2012 at 4:40 pm
The enemy is us.
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Anonymous says:
I am the best opposition researcher in the business like my family before me & it hurts to have to sit this one because I like Dewhurst & Cruz BOTH!
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