I wasn’t sure what to expect when I went to the monthly meeting of the Clear Lake Area Republicans last night. I knew that Harris County Republican Party Chair Jared Woodfill was scheduled to speak, along with Galveston County Chair Barbara Meeks. What I didn’t expect was to walk away more frustrated than ever that the leader of the HCRP remains tone deaf to the future and that my warning that 2014 is not going to be a great year for Harris County Republicans if we don’t change is not only not being heeded, it is being blown off. Too bad.
First, a bit of news. At least it is news to me. Jared said that he met with Gov. Rick Perry a couple of weeks ago and that the governor is considering calling a special session for redistricting purposes. Jared asked the attendees what they thought about that and then explained why he, and the governor, think it is a good idea. I think they want the legislature to draw new lines because the lines the court drew favored too many Democrats? I guess you’ll have to ask him at one of the weekly town halls he is having. But like I said, it was news to me that the governor is considering/pushing this idea.
But back to the meeting and my lamenting. As I looked around the room, I realized that nothing much has changed in the five years that I’ve been telling the party they need to change. I was still one of the youngest in the room, albeit five years older. The median age was probably around 65. There was some progress – there were three minorities, if you include Roy Morales as one of them.
And all the while, Jared was cheerleading and the attendees were clapping enthusiastically. He recognized just about everyone in the room for their hard work, including me for blogging. He explained away the poor performance at the polls in 2008, took credit for the tea party successes of 2010, and noted that although 2012 wasn’t as good as 2010, it was better than 2008 because Ted Cruz won Harris County in 2012, while John Cornyn lost Harris County in 2008. He didn’t mention Gov. Perry losing Harris County in 2010. Oh well.
He made it a point to assure the attendees (I hate to say “crowd” because attendance was sparse) that any talk of Texas or Harris County turning blue was nothing more than liberals trying to demoralize them and motivate other liberals. And also for Democratic consultants to make money. Guess I’m one them thar liberals.
He talked about the terrible fiscal cliff deal that Sen. Cornyn and Rep. Kevin Brady voted for but noted that everyone else in the Harris County delegation voted against it and if Ted Cruz had been there, he’d have voted against it too! And about how bad the blocker bill was for conservatives and that we need to get rid of it. Same old, same old.
You might be wondering, hey, you said tone deaf. What do you mean?
Well, let’s take a look at Jared’s priority legislation for this session. After telling the attendees that the reason he was holding town halls every week was to focus on the legislature, here are his priorities:
- Move the Texas primary up to the first Tuesday in February
- Support Rep. Toth’s bill to keep the federal government from taking our guns
- Support the pre-born baby pain bill
- Fight the repeal of definition of marriage as being between one man and one woman
- Fight the proposal to have Texans vote on gambling
There you go. Those are the issues that we must focus on this session. And he encouraged people to not limit their calls and letters to their own representatives – write and call every representative. What a waste of time and effort but some of the people in attendance supported doing that.
Look, I get it, moving the primary up is a good idea. But a priority? And that wacky bill from Toth? Wow, I never thought I would hear that from a Republican party chair. As for the pre-born pain bill, it is bad policy for legislators to start making up science. We’ve made huge progress against abortion but bills like this turn people away and make them reconsider the “war on women”. And marriage? First off, it has zero chance of passing, so why get riled up about it? Secondly, be careful what you ask for because polling continues to show that the majority of Texans now favor some type of legal acknowledgment of gay marriage/unions. As for gambling, hey, lets continue to restrict freedom, right?
I came home downtrodden and now that I think about it, I feel even worse. Those “priorities” might well get the old white folk out to the polls. But they darn sure aren’t going to attract new, younger voters. Let’s hope the media focuses on Speaker Straus and other Republicans that are focused on serious issues and not what passes for leadership in Harris County.
I expect so little from him. The party leader is not really about issues. He's about picking a few things that will placate. As to gambling……… it seems to me, if it were good for families, and society as a whole, we'd all have had it a very long time ago. Now we face money problems, and principles that keep families strong, and society healthy, need to be compromised.
Long ago (actually, only 5 years), on a now extinct republican political blog not so far away, I opined that by emphasizing social issues so strictly, the republican party in Texas was hitching its buggy to a lame horse. “He’s dead, Jim.”
In regard to prosecuting trace possession cases, by instituting proven failed and expensive policies, the HCDA is pretty much saying to me that he is first and foremost a self-interested politician, and an officer of the court second.
btw, The weather is nice in Colorado, and the legal cannabis is pretty good too. Wake up, Texas.
It is unclear to me that there will be a need for a special session on redistricting. On Feb. 27, the US Supreme Court will hear arguments in Shelby County v. Holder which challenges the formula by which Section 5 preclearance is applied to certain states but not others. If that formula is ruled unconstitutional, at the end of the term in June, then as I understand the law, the plans passed by the Legislature become valid law, except to the degree that the federal Court in San Antonio may find some part of any plan violates minority rights. The Legislature might meet to tweak the plans to accomodate the most credible of the legal challenges, to head them off, but I am not convinced any of those challenges have much merit. Here in Harris County, for example, I don’t think Hubert Vo’s district 149 will be required to be saved. I don’t remember enough about the data in 144 to be sure. Does David Pineda live in the version of HD144 drawn by the Legislature? If so, he might have a strong shot on a rematch.
I’m very discouraged by HCRP and its leadership. Any “hope” I’ve had at our party regaining a strong footing disappears little by little after every meeting I attend or news piece that I read, but I appreciate you sharing the truth, David. Even if it makes me shake my head yet again and say “Well, damn.” I guess we’re all on the tone-deaf train for a while … Or until we lose bad enough, we change from within. I hate losing, but if that’s what it’ll take, so be it.