I say that I think it is official because I received a copy of a new campaign flyer that he is apparently passing out. This simple, two page document is classic Woodfill. It highlights his “big plans and ideas” – you know, those things that NEVER come to fruition under his leadership. I think Jared is a nice guy and have said that before. He is energetic and passionate when speaking. The problem is that, under his leadership, the HCRP has lost ground in Harris County because he doesn’t seem to possess the skills necessary to actually complete any of these big plans and ideas. To illustrate this, let’s break down this little flyer.
Here are the bullet points:
- Re-Elected 4 Consecutive Terms
- Aggressive Coalition Building
- Millions of Dollars Raised
- Advanced the Party with Cutting Edge Technology
- Innovative Voter Registration Programs
- Consistently Stands for Conservative Values and Issues
- 3 Countywide Sweeps
Let’s nitpick the first one. Now, as best as I can tell, he was first elected in 2002, and re-elected in 2004, 2006, and 2008. Please correct me if I’m wrong. If I’m correct, then he has been re-elected three times, not four. Nitpicking? Certainly. But that is the kind of attention to detail that is missing at the HCRP.
The second one is ludicrous. What coalitions do you know of that exist in the HCRP today? Is gathering up all of the evangelical church going voters of the county really a coalition? The truth is that the lack of coalition building led to a near-complete blowout in 2008. The plain fact is that there was nothing in the arsenal of the HCRP to counter the massive coalition that the Harris County Democratic Party formed on the tails of Barack Obama.
On to the third one. If you look at the campaign finance reports filed under his tenure, it is true that “millions of dollars” have been raised. The problem is the poor stewardship of that money. Earlier this year, they didn’t even have enough money to pay employee salaries. As well, many vendors wait months or even years to be paid under the current regime. Republicans should always be timely with payments because leading by example is what voters expect.
The fourth one is hilarious but I’m going to save that for last.
The fifth one, Innovative Voter Registration, could be true. I do not know what that really means. I do know that, with the exception of last year, turnout in Republican primaries has dropped each election under Mr. Woodfill’s reign. And is it truly innovative to have “mamma” register every voter in the house, as is the current program’s focus under Terry Lowry’s direction?
The sixth one, yes, Jared is conservative. Especially on abortion and gay marriage. Unfortunately, he is not conservative when it comes to tort reform, having the audacity to place a trial lawyer pushing elimination of Texas’ tort reform laws on the health care panel that he touts elsewhere in his flyer. But, alas, Jared is a trial lawyer, which explains that bit of nonsense.
And last, he touts three countywide sweeps. Of course, he had nothing to do with the 2002 elections, being newly minted as chair. But Republicans did win countywide in 2004 and 2006, albeit with slimmer margins that finally turned into the embarrassing losses of 2008.
Smoke and mirrors, folks.
Back to that fourth one above. He states that he has “advanced the party with cutting edge technology”. Goodness, if this post wasn’t already book length, I could really rant on about that false statement. In the body of his flyer, he goes into the twilight zone in trying to highlight that bullet point.
Social networks such as Facebook and Twitter are being used to organize our base and promote our conservative message. Your party is training people throughout Harris County on how to use Facebook. We are also using video blogging to grow our party and communicate our message.
Wow. Where to start. First off, there is NO Twitter presence. At all. They have even removed the Twitter link from the Harris County Republican Party website. Their Facebook presence is all over the map, in one instance this week his helpers promoted Alex Jones’ latest conspiracy theory. In other instances, they have attacked me, saying that I work for Jared’s opponent, which is absolutley a lie. And video blogging? Heh, here, click on the video blog link that is listed on the HCRP website. Oh, wait, there isn’t one. But, several “eblasts” remain, so try clicking on the links in one of these search results. What? You got a parked page? Yes, folks, the famous “video blogging” that Jared is touting today was eliminated months ago. About the time I wrote this piece and noted how out of date the entire site is.
Also, his flyer says to head over to www.jaredwoodfill.org for more information. Okay, let’s do it. Ooops. Nothing there. Just a message that “This page is parked free, courtesy of shakefx”. Wanna know why that is? Because he is using the HCRP website as his personal re-election site. Just take a look at all of the references to him on that site versus candidates and elected officials. He also has the “Rapid Response Team” in his pocket.
While you are on that site, click on the “eblast” from October 23rd, last Friday. In it, Mr. Woodfill touts the HCRP endorsement of Roy Morales for Mayor. Roy has been working his tail off and earned that endorsement. An endorsement that was actually made on October 19th, after the first full day of early voting. Why did Mr. Woodfill wait until 5:29 pm on Friday, October 23rd to publicize it, after a full week of early voting?
I could go on but what is the point? Jared is a man full of ideas and promises but doesn’t deliver on them. And that hurts Republicans in Harris County and it will eventually hurt Republicans in Texas. Rather than endorse Mr. Woodfill, as Sen. Dan Patrick does on the flyer, elected Republicans should join me in urging him to step aside for the good of the party.
There will be choices on the ballot in March next year but that may be too late to undo the damage that Mr. Woodfil is inflicting upon the party today. Paul Simpson and Ed Hubbard are both serious candidates with a sense of urgency about the future. Voters need to investigate them, pick one and help to oust Mr. Woodfill. The future of the HCRP is at stake.