Thanks for the heads up !
Posted on 11/01/2003 7:01:34 PM PST by SwinneySwitch
Tina Benkiser was overwhelmingly elected Chairman of the Republican Party of Texas today at a special meeting of the State Republican Executive Committee in Austin. She will serve the remainder of former Chairman Susan Weddington’s term, who recently resigned and was appointed President of Governor Rick Perry’s OneStar Foundation. Benkiser will seek reelection at the State Convention next June in San Antonio.
(Excerpt) Read more at texasgop.org ...
Nov. 1, 2003, 1:54PM
Houston attorney becomes state GOP leader
By ARMANDO VILLAFRANCA
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle Austin BureauAUSTIN - The Texas Republican Executive Committee elected Houston attorney Tina Benkiser as next party chairwoman.
Benkiser defeated Waco attorney Gina Parker in a 36-27 vote today to serve out the term of former chairwoman Susan Weddington.
Weddington resigned the post two weeks ago to become director of the OneStar Foundation, a state office created to coordinate charitable efforts.
Benkiser will serve as interim chairwoman until the 2004 state party convention. Parker said she will challenge Benkiser for the post at the convention.
"Now, this is not a training ground its a battle ground and we need a battle-tested warrior," Benkiser told committee members. "I've been in the trenches and I know the terrain."
Benkiser said one of her first priorities will be how the Legislature handles the school finance reform issue, which is expected to come up at a called special session next spring.
She offered no proposals, however, on how the school finance should be addressed, adding that it would be premature to announce any solutions now.
The candidates, both conservative activists, cited their grassroots work with the party and their commitment to party platform issues such as pro-life and pro-family.
In her speech before the committee, Parker cited her support for the Republican vision for the state.
"That vision is pro life, it's pro family, it's based on strong conservative values, on less government, lower taxes, all these things we are united on and we stand in agreement on," Parker said.
Parker was the state party treasurer from 1998 to 2001 and a state delegate since 1984. Benkiser has served on the SREC since 1998.
Benkiser outlined a four-point plan to build on the party's gains and strengths.
She said the party needs to improve its infrastructure by improving the party's depth at the local level. She said Republicans hold only about 1,900 of the 5,000 public offices in the state and hold or control only 36 percent of the county judges and 29 percent of the commissioners courts in Texas.
She said the party can improve those numbers by providing resources and training at the local, especially in reaching out to minorities.
She said the party needs to reach Hispanics and African Americans "one person by one person" to maintain its current successes.
"We can't go ask for their votes at election time and then disappear until we ask for their votes again at election time. We've got to build relationships by spending more time in those communities," she said.
And finally, she said party needs to step up fund-raising efforts to pay for these initiatives.
The state platform has some pretty goofy stuff in it.
The problem is - and too many people fail to recognize this - it takes an entirely different type of person than your average activist to be a good party chairman. A party chairman needs to be capable of serving as a spokesman and cheerleader but also not above a little arm twisting to get things done. A chairman must also strongly adhere to and advance the party's beliefs and platforms - perhaps more than any other republican - because that is precisely what he or she is tasked to do.
Will Benkiser be able to do these things? It's too early to tell. I am confident she will be conservative, but that's all I can say for sure right now.
Unfortunately our past chairman failed miserably in many of these roles. She was elected for what ammounted to entirely the wrong reasons and she never quite grasped what she was supposed to be doing. Weddington was a sociallite who could wine and dine people into supporting her but never offered any true leadership on the issues after she got elected. She also had a way of turning on her "Jesus Button" at a moment's notice and for reasons that were often significantly less than holy. I'm told that in a matter of minutes she could go from chain-smoking political tramp to rolling around between the pews like one of those cult churches with the snakes that they show on the news. And cultish it was - Weddington has long been involved in some VERY bizarre "religious" organizations including one called "Justice at the Gate" that goes around the state apologizing to various minority groups for slavery, abusing the Indians, taking Texas from the Mexicans etc on behalf of white people and in the name of "faith." As I have noted previously, one could simply remove the biblical verses and title from this group's publications and you'd think you were reading something put out by MEChA.
Needless to say, Weddington's "Jesus Button" always got her votes at the conventions though, mainly from otherwise good and decent people who were decieved by her act. She is fortunately gone now and a strongly hope her replacement will not follow in her footsteps.
She is definately conservative and I find myself agreeing with her endorsements more often than not. Most of the time she has a keen eye for distinguishing the conservatives from the RINOs, with only a few I've seen that she got it wrong. She was also one of the few Houston area party leaders who supported Congressman John Carter against Peter Wareing, a wealthy businessman who had a long past of giving money to Sheila Jackson Lee and other leftists but who also suddenly claimed he was a "Christian" just in time for the election.
Thanks for the heads up !
Did that already when we first elected miz Weddington in '00.
Luring her into departing is one of the best things Gov. Perry has done for the GOP in Texas, after redistricting.
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