No doubt, the HCRP, under the leadership of Chairman Paul Simpson, got wiped out in Tuesday’s midterm elections. As I noted here, straight ticket voting wasn’t the problem. Now many Harris County Republicans are saying that the reason we got hammered is because we didn’t focus enough on President Donald Trump and his message. Goodness. Where to start? How about here in a very, very good article on TexasTribune.org about the race between Ted Cruz and Beto O’Rourke by Patrick Svitek and Abby Livingston:
The early voting period kicked off Oct. 22 with Trump’s rally for Cruz, which was held at the Toyota Center in Houston. Trump’s campaign claimed over 100,000 people requested tickets for the event, and local news showed long lines of people waiting to get into the 18,000-seat arena hours in advance.
But if Cruz was looking for a boost from his former rival, the opposite appeared to happen. Before Trump’s visit, Cruz’s internal numbers had him leading by double digits statewide. In the days after, his lead dropped to 5 points.
So the HCRP should have focused more on Trump? In the immortal words of a former candidate for HCRP chair, “Yeah, that ain’t it, Chief!”.
Should Paul Simpson resign? I’d say that’s up to him. He won an election when the old guard in Harris County dumped over $1.5 million to defeat him. Republican primary voters must have seen something that they liked. I’ll tell you this, no one in the conversation to replace him could possibly raise the amount of money that he did in this election cycle. Between 3/7/18 (the day after the primary) and the November election, the HCRP raised $2,398,423.92 for their state account. I use that number because that is the money they can spend on local candidates. Think about the people whose names are being tossed around to replace Simpson in a reactionary response to the losses and tell me that they could raise even half of that amount. Money ain’t everything but you don’t pay for satellite offices, direct mail and radio communications with Facebook rants.
I noted yesterday that the party needs to reconsider some of it’s positions on issues. Charles Blain with Empower Texans amplified that thought today (emphasis mine).
Urban Areas Are Not Lost Causes
Cities are not a lost cause, but conservatives need to begin working.
Many conservatives often talk about rural shop owners, diner waitresses, or mechanics who “know your name” and won’t take advantage of you, but they don’t often associate these with cities.
…
Affordable housing, or affordable homeownership, is a phrase that gets the side-eye from conservatives as if decently priced housing is something to scoff at. Typically this housing is found in cities, in part because of the proximity to transportation and lax development rules, but cities are increasingly drive up the costs.
…
Cities exist as a place for economic opportunity because of the close proximity to employment, low cost of living due to the diverse array of housing options, and educational freedom, since in many cities (not in Texas, yet), parents can choose a school far across the city if they feel it fits their child’s needs. These are opportunities many couldn’t afford to take advantage of in rural areas or even many suburban neighborhoods. The close proximity and availability of transit allows them to live a freer life from government assistance than they could elsewhere.
However, cities do have problems — problems that conservative policy solutions fit squarely into.
Affordable housing, or affordable homeownership, is a phrase that gets the side-eye from conservatives as if decently priced housing is something to scoff at. Typically this housing is found in cities, in part because of the proximity to transportation and lax development rules, but cities are increasingly drive up the costs.…
While the Republican Party platform is silent today on specific policies that address the problems unique to urban areas, it doesn’t have to be silent for long. Republicans can win the cities if activists will apply the party’s principles to the real-world problems created by the Democrats’ policies. As Republicans, we can and must do better.
Blain’s last point is very important to understand the dynamics of why Republicans continue to lose in urban areas. He is correct when he notes that conservatives scoff at the needs of city dwellers.
Another salient point is that when Republican candidates do try to address the needs of urban areas or their districts, they are run out of town on the rails. Two quick examples are Speaker Joe Straus and Rep. Sarah Davis. The Republican Party of Texas is more interested in purifying their ranks than in winning elections and governing in the best interests of all people. Recall that current RPT Chair James Dickey cast the deciding vote to censure Speaker Straus in the name of “uniting” the party. How’d that work for you Mr. Dickey? And what if Gov. Abbott had spent $300,000 helping a candidate like Thomas Wang build an infrastructure and run a good campaign in HD147 instead of using it to attack Rep. Davis? Who knows but I know this: every extra vote Wang received would have helped fellow Republicans and Sarah Davis kicked Abbott’s ass in the primary and then won her district in the face of a blue wave. Lots of lessons there, Chief (for extra credit read the op-ed by the woman that Abbott supported – makes you shake your head).
But policy positions alone will not change the direction of Texas Republicans. Elections are at least as much about emotions as they are policy. We must act differently and treat people differently. But it appears that some people are simply doubling down. A couple examples from Facebook conservatives:
It’s scary how uninformed and fear based voters are in Houston, also the fact Houston is so “ethnically diverse” and most first generation immigrants tend to vote for the same leftist policies they escaped from 😒 (I think it’s a sign of low IQ).
Why did Harris County go blue? Because Republicans work at their jobs, raise their families, live their lives, mind their own business.
Democrats think they have to take care of everybody else. Those little old ladies in Birkenstocks teach English as a Second Language courses, run food pantries, give money to Planned Parenthood. One time when I was working outside West Gray early voting, a gaggle of them stood just outside the 100 foot line, waiting for some newly minted US citizens (women in head scarves) to come out after their first voting experience. When the new voters came out, the cheering section went wild and then hugs all around as they crossed the line.
Two different mindsets. Dogs and cats. Shoot. Dogs and mynah birds.
And on and on.
You want to change the political direction of the county? Perhaps you should try teaching English as a second language, run a food pantry or give money to an alternative to Planned Parenthood. And not think of everyone that doesn’t look or talk like you as “the other”. Only then will better policies on issues help.
