| Dear Staff of the Texas Republican House Committee, Your insurance company rally on Saturday was pretty pathetic. That shouldn't be surprising -- you're rallying to maintain the status quo and let big insurance companies increase the premiums and unfairly deny people their health care based on pre-existing conditions, which is only one of the least popular ideas anywhere right now. I was the only person (other than Glenn Smith) to attend both the BOR event last Thursday night and your crappy event on Saturday. Let's compare your rain-soaked event with the one BOR had: Comparing the BOR & TRHC Events Last Week
| Event Host
| Day / Time
| Rain?
| # of Attendees
| Candidates Present
| Burnt Orange Report & Netroots Nation
| Thursday night
| Yes
| 180-200 | Bill White, John Sharp, Tom Schieffer, Hank Gilbert, Jack McDonald, Marc Katz, Jeff Weems
| Texas Republican House Committee & The Republican Party of Texas
| Saturday afternoon
| Yes
| 75-100 | None |
Key Point: When a volunteer-driven blog has more grassroots support than a professionally-staffed organization, then you know you're in trouble.
I have video from the event -- lots of it, in fact -- but I may hold off on posting that for a little bit. In the mean time, let me ask some basic questions about how you define a "success" -- I mean, even from a purely political perspective, it was an abject failure: - This was co-hosted by the Republican Party of Texas, with Tina Benkiser in attendance; you created a website, a Facebook page, a Twitter account, and you only got 75-100 people there -- that's what you define as success?
- You are the Texas Republican House Committee.....the supposed counter to the proven and successful House Democratic Camaign Committee.....and not a single House Republican shows up to speak at your rally -- that's what you define as success?
- Speaking of Tina Benkiser, this is really the position of your party?
The purpose of the rally was to tell those in town for a meeting of the Democratic National Committee to, as Texas Republican Party Chairwoman Tina Benkiser put it, "crawl back to the left-wing socialist pit they came from and keep their hands off Texas."
That's it? I stood in the rain for two-and-a-half hours to hear several dozen supporters chant "Hands Off Texas" -- and the best speaker you had was former State Rep. (and certified Looney Tune) Suzanna Hupp??!?!! Come on. This isn't even a fair fight! You're the supposed answer to the House Democratic Campaign Committee, not the Student Council of Paint Creek High School. We're not joking around here, y'all. Texas Democrats are going to take back the State House. We have a proven record of success. Each and every year, you convince people like Paul Burka that Republicans are going to have a good year, and each and every time -- in 2004, 2006, 2008, and the special elections in between -- Democrats keep winning. At some point, the press will remember that clear history of victory, and they'll look at how promising and effective the HDCC is and how pathetic and embarrassing you are, and they'll understand why Texas Democrats are going to take back the House in 2010. For now, though, keep convincing yourself of your own success. Talk a great game. Talk about fascism and socialism. Rally against the President telling your kids to stay in school. Stand up and defend the status quo of big insurance companies denying health care to Texans based on pre-existing conditions. Just next time, try to stay out of the rain -- and remember that using the excuse of rain and flash flood warnings is a good way to get out of a pathetic attempt at political organization. |
