U.S. Republican Party

Republican Presidential Latino Strategy Raises Loose Nuts and Bolts Question. Again.

Today The New York Times tells me that, while Republicans in the Congress continue to paint the kids at the border as an invading horde of knife-wielding lepers, Republicans with presidential aspirations are maneuvering to win over Latino voters. Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey will journey to M ... More >>

Cliven Bundy Went "Off Script"? How Do You Figure?

There was an op-ed in The Dallas Morning News this week talking about the damage Republicans suffered when Cliven Bundy, the racist rancher from Nevada, "wandered off script." Off script?

R.I.P. "Boats and Hoes PAC," a Texas Republican's Ill-Advised Tribute to Will Ferrell

Remember how in the 2008 comedy Step Brothers Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly try to launch an entertainment empire with an absurdly misogynistic rap video? And how it ends in disaster when they wreck the boat they were filming on? That's a pretty good metaphor for what happened when a GOP consulta ... More >>

Jerry Patterson Is the Lone Sane Republican Running for Lieutenant Governor, Is Doomed

There's not a whole lot of daylight between the Republican candidates for lieutenant governor. All check the requisite conservative boxes on guns, abortion, immigration, healthcare evolution, school choice, the size of government and so on. That said, GOP voters still have a choice for the March 4 ... More >>

Dallas Man Votes Despite Obvious I.D. Discrepancy!

What a letdown. They allowed me to vote. Yesterday when I walked into the firehouse and plunked down my driver's license and voter registration card, I already had my mental dukes up, waiting for them to mess with me. I was hoping for a fight. In fact that's why I went. I didn't care about anything ... More >>

Mayor Mike Rawlings for U.S. Senate in 2014? Little Birds Talk.

The Democrats are talking to Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings about running for the U.S. Senate in 2014 when John Cornyn's current term expires. Some Democrats. Some kind of Democrat-type persons. And now you pretty much know what I know. The mayor reluctantly conceded to me yesterday that he has been ap ... More >>

New York Times Discovers Wendy Davis Again, Goes Sort of Biblical

Hey, sorry, I didn't want you to think I was falling down on the job with the "New York Times discovers Wendy Davis" story-story. Remember I did catch you up Friday. See also: Wendy Davis Is Sort of a Laura Miller Candidate. So How Did that Work Out? I reminded you The New York Times had discove ... More >>

Dallas Named One of America's Worst Counties for Health Coverage

In the past several weeks, Republicans have increased their steady barrage against the Affordable Care Act, but conservatives aren't the only ones putting out propaganda. The liberal Center for American Progress published a report on Thursday highlighting the benefits of Obamacare, particularly for ... More >>

Ted Cruz and John Cornyn Now Hinting at a Government Shutdown if Dems Don't Defund Obamacare

House Republicans have now voted 39 times to repeal Obamacare. On a certain level, their persistence is admirable in the same way that I admire the way my dog never stops believing that this will be the time that he finally catches that squirrel. One's esteem is diminished only slightly by the fact ... More >>

Senator Wendy Davis, With Help from a Lot of Pissed Off Texans, Kills Sweeping Abortion Bill

This wasn't supposed to happen. When Governor Rick Perry called a special legislative session and, later, tacked abortion onto the agenda, he was effectively declaring that the proposed restrictions, some of the toughest in the country, had enough support to become law. And he was right, in a way. C ... More >>

Republicans Have an Image Problem Because They Insist on Acting Like Republicans

The op-ed page of our only local daily newspaper is full of talk today about the national Republican Party's big overnight discovery and wake-up call: in a document called the "Growth and Opportunity Report" published by the Republican National Committee, Republicans are being informed that they are ... More >>

Obama II: It's the End of the White People's World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)

Tons of talk on the interwebs yesterday about the inauguration and what it all meant (racism is undead, Obama won't have a waltz, presidents can't change the weather, other unexciting true facts). But, look. It did mean something. This is not 2008. We can debate what road we're down, but we're four ... More >>

Cantor and Co. Wimped Out at the Cliff's Edge, but There's More Scary Terrain Ahead

New Year's Day was great -- saw The Hobbit with son and girlfriend, came home to prime rib, what could be better? -- but I also spent a hell of a lot of time on the iPad trying to find out if I had fallen off a cliff yet. I'm not sure which was more death-defying -- the movie or real life. The real ... More >>

Support for Guest Worker Scheme Shows GOP Still Doesn't Get It

GOP Accuses House Candidate Robert Miklos of Sending Prostitutes and Thieves to Knock on Doors

The Dallas County Republican Party dropped something of a bombshell Tuesday on the campaign of Robert Miklos, the Democrat challenging incumbent Ken Sheets for Texas House District 107, covering East Dallas and slivers of Mesquite and Garland. Party chairman Wade Emmert sent a phone message to voter ... More >>

Vote Fraud: A Little Bit is Good for Democracy, Even When the GOP Does It

Latest twist in the great imaginary vote fraud epidemic of 2012: Now Republicans are nabbed doing exactly the same stuff they have accused Democrats of doing. In a piece in this morning's New York Times we get a peek at voter hanky-panky, GOP-style. An operative named Nathan Sproul, who has receive ... More >>

Breaking the Code in a Nefarious Dem/Feminist Plot to Encourage Something Called "Voting"

I do not love a good conspiracy theory as much as the next guy. I love a good conspiracy theory way more than the next guy. I know my conspiracy theories. Conspiracy Theories R Me. For me, the most fun ones, because of the puzzle-solving element, are the riddles wrapped in mysteries inside enigmas, ... More >>

Two Conventions: One for Old White People, One for Everyone Else

Look, I'm not even the world's biggest fan of political conventions, because they make me feel like I'm trapped in a cubicle with a car salesman. What's to believe about an event where they hire a consultant to do the balloon drop? But with these two conventions freshly behind us, I don't think it ... More >>

You Can't Handle the Truth

Not if you're willing to listen Paul Ryan and his cronies, that is.

Fear, Loathing and Tons of Strippers: What Happens When the GOP Comes to Town

Looks Like the Tea Party's Gonna Elect Cruz Fair and Square. So, Let's Change the Game.

Texas will elect it's next senator today. Odds are, you won't vote for him. In fact, a good number of you, even if you're registered to vote, can't vote in the truly decisive race going down Tuesday, because you were dumb enough to vote in the Democratic primary in May. Suckers. So, let's all clap ... More >>

GOP Arguments Against Obamacare Leave Me Empty-Handed

So I'm doing a this-hand versus that-hand thing in my head on Obamacare. Everybody says the Republicans are going to make this year's presidential election a referendum on the Affordable Care Act. I just want to be ready. On the one hand, Affordable Care will encourage tons of poor people and young ... More >>

Big Biz Made a Bargain With the GOP's Devils. Here Comes the Bill.

Big business is finally figuring out what Democrats have been saying since the worst days of George W: that the genius idea of Bush's brain, Karl Rove, was a Faustian bargain with that powerful and elusive element of American political landscape -- the ignorati. Now the ignorati are demanding thei ... More >>

Does the GOP really think Latino voters will buy Marco Rubio?

Wiping the Sheen off Conservative Rich Guys' Morality

​Today, a commenter on a previous blog item of mine about GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain suggested it was mighty mysterious that President Obama doesn't have any sexual peccadilloes in his closet when so many Republican presidential contenders seem to. "Joshua," the commenter, suggest ... More >>

State Rep. Rafael Anchia: Republicans Vulnerable as the Face of Texas Changes

Unfair Park dropped by the Democratic New Leaders Texas PAC meeting at The Kessler last night. The group is billed as a statewide network of Dems "nurturing and promoting the next generation of principled, capable Texas leaders" -- like, for example, the affable and polished state Rep. Rafael Anchia ... More >>

State GOP Legislators' Revenge Won't Be on Democrats, But on the Old, Poor and Sick

​People all over America should watch the special session of the Texas Legislature, just now beginning, if they want to see what Republicans are really up to. Among other things, they're out to kill Medicare and Medicaid. The regular session was stymied at the last minute when Democratic sta ... More >>

The 'Loser Pays Bill': Yes, You're the Loser

You can probably guess who wins.

Don't Shoot! We Know You're Conservative, Tom.

It's a diary of a mad year as Buzz recalls a P.O.'d 2010.

Mass deportation, strict border enforcement, amnesty. What will comprehensive immigration reform look like if the feds take action--or if they don't?

Ain't No Party Like an Election Night Watching Party, So Here's Where to Find Your Peeps

Sam MertenDespite lots of enthusiasm from Dallas County Commissioner Maurine Dickey, the Republicans didn't do so hot two years ago. Could they turn the tables this year? Find out at Hotel Palomar. Or Victory Park.​If you've spent the last few nights out and about watching Your Texas Rangers g ... More >>

Take a Sip of the Early Election Results

​I'm about to head over to the Palomar for the Republicans' cash-bar shindig, while Sam's pulling pay-as-you-go drinking duty at the AAC with the Dallas County Dems, and Ex-Intern Elliot's eating free pizza with Stephen Broden in Uptown. But before the short pour on this long night (at least, for ... More >>

From the Right and Left, the "Texas Influencers"

Carol Reed​Many thanks to the several Friends of Unfair Park who've forwarded along Austin American-Statesman PolitiFact Texas's editor W. Gardner Selby's list of Texas Influencers -- which consists of the 50 most-powerful Democrats and Republicans in the state.Not all are presently working in Tex ... More >>

Tea Partiers and Dallas County GOP Unite Around President Obama's Visit

Photos by Patrick MichelsThere wasn't much silence at all from the crowd at Franklin Stadium last night. Check out more photos here in our slide show.​As Sam noted yesterday, the local Republican party shelled out three grand for a proper venue to accommodate the mammoth crowd they expected at the ... More >>

Next Week at the Dallas Convention Center, a Sneak Peek at the Future of the Texas GOP

​If you weren't aware that we're but a week away from the Republican Party of Texas's 2010 convention at the Dallas Convention Center, you'll find Harvey Kronberg's preview at Quorum Report, part one of which was posted yesterday evening, awfully helpful. (If, that is, you're a subscriber -- the r ... More >>

The GOP dredges up some local Dems awful pasts

Do Primary Voting Numbers Spell a GOP Trend?

Grading on a Curve, or: How Old Do Those State Board of Education Candidates Think the Earth Is, Anyway? Let's Ask!

State Board of Education candidate Thomas Ratliff (and family), who thinks the earth is plenty old​Well, who knew? The eyes of Texas have been focused on the GOP primary race between Governor Rick Perry and challenger Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison as the ultimate throwdown between far right and ... More >>

The County GOP Goes After Dems for Behaving Like Dems

Rick Perry and Kay Bailey Hutchison Are Locked In A Pitched Battle Over The Soul Of The GOP. They Are Also Running For Governor.

Texas GOP Shifts Even Further Right With New Chair Cathie Adams

Dallas County GOP Chair Jonathan Neerman Says Selection of Cathie Adams as New State Chair "Set the Party Back Five Years"

Searching for a link between President Obama and Hitler? No worries. New state GOP chair Cathie Adams has you covered.If you didn't notice when Texas Republican Party chair Tina Benkiser stepped down last month to join Governor Rick Perry's re-election campaign as a senior adviser, you're forgiven. ... More >>

The Bailout Bonus Round: Jeb Hensarling Is Not Happy With AIG. Not at All.

In light of the news that American International Group -- better known as AIG -- is doling out those "distasteful" but nonetheless delicious bonuses to its execs, the House Financial Services Subcommittee is meeting at this very moment to discuss AIG and "how it got into its current situation, why i ... More >>

Keynote Speaker at GOP Fund-Raiser Says Party is Facing "Gut-Check Point." Ya Think?

The Dallas County Republican Party continued to pick up the pieces from another rough election cycle as it celebrated its largest annual fund-raiser last night at the Westin Park Central Hotel. The Reagan Day Dinner featured House Speaker Joe Straus and South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, who spok ... More >>

Go Home, GOP|Money For Nothing|Corrections

With Dallas Republicans in Pain, One Local Leader Believes He Has the Cure

How County Chair Jonathan Neerman Plans to Ease the Dallas GOP's Woes

Sore Winners and Losers

The U.S. Supreme Court decision on Texas redistricting is out, and by almost any measure it's a Republican victory. A 5-4 decision isn't exactly crushing, but the effects certainly are: DeLay's 2003 map, known as Plan 1374C, is left almost intact, as is his new tactic of redistricting whenever powe ... More >>

Over the Line

A GOP state redistricting plan targets a longtime Democrat and others

Holy handouts

How taxpayers -- including you, if you hit the flea market in Canton -- are subsidizing the Christian right