Politex

Activist Breitbart dies unexpectedly at 43

Conservative writer and activist Andrew Breitbart died unexpectedly Thursday morning, according to multiple news reports.

The news brought out an outpouring of tweets from Republican leaders including Gov. Rick Perry and US Rep. Louie Gohmert.

 

RIP 'O Mighty Warrior!tinyurl.com/75hapg

— Rick Perry (@GovernorPerry) March 1, 2012

 

 

It’s a sad day. The world has lost an American patriot @AndrewBreitbart – my thoughts & prayers go out to his family.

— Louie Gohmert (@replouiegohmert) March 1, 2012

In 2010, Breitbart was the featured guest at a Dallas Tea Party fundraiser in Mesquite. He drew standing ovations and cheers during a speech focused on the mainstream media.

"We are at war with the mainstream media of America, and they're losing," Breitbart said. "They are in their last death spiral."

Breitbart told the crowd that conservatives were overly focused on Democrats like President Barack Obama when the media was a bigger threat.

"It's George Stephanopoulos. It's Diane Sawyer. It's Charlie Gibson, and, my God, it's Katie Couric," Breitbart said. "They are the problem."

During an interview before the speech, Breitbart declined to comment on any Texas political races or issues. He said most people incorrectly viewed him as a political provocateur.

“I don’t follow politics as closely as people think that I do," Breitbart said. "I rarely talk about politics. I rarely talk about political races...I like to talk about the media. Hollywood. Academia…I like to talk about cultural issues because politics is downstream of culture."

[Photo credit: DMN/Rex C. Curry]

-Aman Batheja

Medina may run for Texas office again in 2014

Conservative activist Debra Medina, who ran for governor in the 2010 Republican primary, says she's considering another run for office in 2014 but hasn't zeroed in on the post.

"We'll size it up as we get closer and figure out where the best place is for me to serve," she told PoliTex.

Major offices such as governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and land commissioner will be on the ballot. Gov. Rick Perry, who has settled back into his state job after an unsuccessful run for president, has indicated that he may seek a fourth term.

Medina, a Wharton businesswoman, was a surprisingly strong underdog challenger in the 2010 Republican gubernatorial fight that was dominated by Perry and U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. She went on to form We Texans, a conservative advocacy group that pushes issues such as private property rights and state sovereignty.

-Dave Montgomery

A look at Santorum's schedule today in North Texas

After winning presidential nomination contests in Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado last night, GOP candidate Rick Santorum is taking a victory lap and raising some campaign cash in North Texas today. Here's a look at his schedule:

9:30 a.m.: The former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania attends a forum with area pastors at the Bella Donna Chapel in McKinney. The event is invitation-only but Santorum speaks to reporters immediately afterward, saying his overnight haul of a quarter-million dollars added to a two-day take of $400,000, according to AP.

11:30 a.m.: Santorum attends a luncheon at the Northwood Country Club in Dallas hosted by Tait and Joy Cruse. The event is a fundraiser and the suggested donation is $250. Radio personality Mark Davis emcees the event.

5 p.m.: Santorum will meet with local Tea Party activists at the Courtyard by Marriot in Allen. The event is invitation-only, according to supporters.

7 p.m.: Santorum will end his North Texas sweep with a campaign rally at Fairview Farms in Plano. Davis is also expected to speak at the event.

-Aman Batheja

Speaker's race back as a campaign issue in Republican primaries

As he did two years ago, Texas House Speaker Joe Straus is emerging as a campaign issue in some North Texas Republican primaries.

“I give you my promise if elected, I will not vote for any Speaker who is not a proven conservative," Republican Pat Carlson said at a candidate forum in Arlington last week. "I will not vote for a speaker that got elected by all the Democrats plus a few Republicans.”

Carlson was making a reference to Straus, who replaced Tom Craddick as House Speaker in 2009. That year, Straus was able to pull together vote pledges from 88 members out of the 150-member House, prompting Craddick to forfeit his re-election bid. Straus' original well of support was made up of the chamber's Democrats and a few Republicans. On the first day of that year's legislative session, Straus received a unanimous vote of support.  

Carlson made her comment at the end of her introduction at the Arlington Republican Club's forum for State House District 91. Others participating in the forum were state Rep. Barbara Nash of Arlington, Ken Sapp and Lady Theresa Thombs. (Depending on how redistricting lawsuits pan out,   Carlson and Nash may end up in a different race.) 

Following Carlson, Nash was next up to speak and she dived right into the issue.

"Guess we're not going to let that speaker thing die are we?" she began. "Well I voted for Speaker Straus. I guess I'll start off with that."

Nash went on to describe her first legislative session in 2011.  Days before the first day of the session, House Republicans met to settle the Speaker's race. Nash said she was told all 101 House Republicans were going to stand behind the choice of the caucus, which turned out to be Straus.

"I believed them...My thought is we’re going to go out on the floor and we’re going to show the Democrats that we are Republicans and we’re going to go by our word and we’re going to vote for the unanimous candidate, which was Speaker Straus,” Nash said.

"Now some people didn’t vote for him and some people think that makes them heroes,” Nash said. She said those people "did not live up to their word."

Later on in the forum, all four candidates were asked if their campaign depends on a "mutual pledge with Joe Straus."  Carlson, Nash, Sapp and Thombs all said, "Absolutely not."

[Photo caption: From left to right: Pat Carlson, state Rep. Barbara Nash, Ken Sapp, Lady Theresa Thombs]

-Aman Batheja

Capriglione making second run for Truitt's House seat

GIovanni Capriglione, a private equity professional from Southlake, will run for state Rep. Vicki Truitt's seat for a second time.

Capriglione was one of three Republicans who challenged Truitt in the 2010 Republican primary. Capriglione came in second with 23 percent of the vote.

In the 2010 race, Capriglione (right) argued that Truitt wasn't conservative enough to properly represent her Northeast Tarrant County district. He seems ready to make the same argument this time around.

"It’s my desire to provide conservative representation that accurately aligns with the values of the voters of House District 98," Capriglione said. "The voters of HD 98 desire limited government, fiscal responsibility, and unwavering family values."

Earlier this summer, Truitt said she was thinking about running for state Sen. Wendy Davis' seat. She hasn't yet announced a decision.

If Truitt does run for another term in the House, expect the race to get contentious in a hurry. In last year's primary battle, Truitt worked to tie Capriglione to a cemetery scandal involving an Illinois company that the investment firm Capriglione worked for at the time had invested in. Capriglione accused Truitt of engaging in ugly personal attacks. Truitt even created an attack website focusing on the issue. Nearly two years later, the site is still up.

-Aman Batheja

Paxton, O'Grady, announce bids to replace Shapiro in Texas Senate

Less than 24 hours after state Sen. Florence Shapiro announced she won't be running for another term, two Republicans have jumped at the chance to take over her suburban district, north of Dallas.

State Rep. Ken Paxton, R-McKinney, announced this morning on the Mark Davis show that he will run for the Senate District 8 seat. Paxton gained statewide attention last year by campaigning to unseat House Speaker Joe Straus.

Davis said Shapiro, first elected to the Senate in 1993, will be a tough person to replace.

"Those are big pumps to fill and that's not a foot size argument, it's a metaphor," Davis said. 

Paxton isn't the first candidate in the race. That honor goes to Scott O'Grady, a former air force pilot who made the cover of TIME after surviving being shot down in Bosnia in 1995. O'Grady has been active in Republican politics for years. This year, O'Grady has been busy campaigning in Iowa on behalf of Strong America Now, a nonprofit urging presidential candidates to pledge to erase the national deficit by 2017 using so-called Lean Six Sigma practices.

“Senator  Shapiro  is  a  valued  friend  and  role  model," O'Grady said in a statement. "She  has  set  the  bar  high  with  her distinguished career as a Republican leader in the State Senate. If elected to continue her work in the State Senate, I will call upon her as a valued mentor and adviser to serve our community and state."

-Aman Batheja

Confident Straus says "no regrets" about session

While critics have taken issue with what the state Legislature got done this year, House Speaker Joe Straus made clear Monday evening he is nothing but proud of what his chamber accomplished.

Looking back at the 140 days of this year’s legislative session and the 30 days of a special session, Straus told the Northeast Tarrant County Republican Club in Richland Hills, "I was fully satisfied. We kept our promises to the people of this state...So no regrets for me."

With Republicans holding 101 seats in the 150-member House, Straus said Texans witnessed "certainly the most conservative session in any one’s memory."

The comments from Straus served as a preemptive strike of sorts against the inevitable criticism that some Republican House members will face from challengers during next year’s primary season.

When asked about the failure to pass a so-called sanctuary cities measure that would have prohibited local police agencies from telling officers they can’t check the immigration status of a suspect, Straus noted that the bill died in the Senate.

Another attendee brought up efforts to ban invasive patdowns by federal airport security screeners.

Straus said he had asked freshman Rep. David Simpson, R-Longview, to work with others to tweak the bill so it could draw enough votes.

At the end of the special session, Simpson tried to pass an earlier version of the bill instead.

"What was presented to me...was essentially a take-it-or-leave-it deal authored by a Senator and I just told the new member, ‘That is not the way I do business’ and if he had lived up to his side of the bargain and accepted the Attorney General’s language, maybe we would have passed a bill,” Straus said.

Simpson has said that the state's GOP leadership sabotaged the bill.

Straus faced far less pushback this time around than an address he made to a Tarrant County Republican grassroots back in late 2010, when he was in the midst of challenges to his reelection as Speaker. 

"It's important to me that the House members feel like they're being treated fairly and that everybody has a chance and that means even Democrats," Straus said. "I think some of what I was maybe beaten around for is that I try to be fair."

-Aman Batheja

Bachmann and Santorum slam Perry on HPV decision

Gov. Rick Perry tried to take a mulligan on his 2007 executive order requiring all girls entering sixth grade receive a vaccination against certain types of HPV, a sexually transmitted virus.

Perry said the order was a mistake and "If I had to do it over again, I would have done it differently."

That wasn’t good enough for Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum.

Bachmann told Perry that forcing "innocent 12-year-old girls" to receive "a government injection" is wrong.

"Little girls dont get a mulligan," Bachmann said. "They don’t get a do-over. The parents don’t get a do-over."

Bachmann then went on to note that Merck, the drug company that manufactured the HPV vaccine, stood to make millions off Perry’s executive order and that Perry’s former chief of staff was the company’s lobbyist.

"This is just flat out wrong," Bachmann said, asking if Perry’s order was about doing what’s right or "about millions of dollars for a drug company."

Perry said he received a $5,000 donation from Merck, a drop in the bucket compared to the tens of millions he has raised. Perry said he was offended at the suggestion that he could be bought for $5,000.

"I’m offended for all the little girls and parents who didn’t have a choice," Bachmann said.

Santorum then got into the mix, criticizing Perry for apologizing for his executive order but not for mandating the HPV vaccine.

"This is big government run amok. It is bad policy and it should not have been done," Santorum said.

Noting that Perry had defended his order by pointing to an opt-out provision, Santorum countered, "Let them opt-in but do not force them to have the inoculation."

Throughout the exchange, Perry defended the goal behind his controversial order.

"You may criticize me for how I went about it but at the end of the day, I am always going to err on the side of life," Perry said.

-Aman Batheja

Well-known economists have compared Social Security to a "Ponzi Scheme"

The CNN/Tea Party debate got started with a feisty exchange over Social Security, specifically what Texas Gov. Rick Perry thinks about the entitelement program and what the candidates think about Perry's views on the entitelment program.

“The people who are on Social Security today need to understand something: slam dunk guarantee, that program is going to be in place for those," Perry said.

He then went on to insist that the program needs to be reformed for younger workers and that Perry's description of it isn't all that unusual.

"It’s been called a ponzi scheme by many others before me," Perry said.

That's true.

In fact, economist Alex Taborrok blogged on Sunday some examples of well-known, respected economists that have described Social Security as a ponzi scheme in the past.

For instance, Nobel Prize Winner Milton Friedman wrote a 1999 article about Social Security called "The Biggest Ponzi Scheme on Earth."

Even liberal economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman used the terminology in 1996, writing, "In practice it has turned out to be strongly redistributionist, but only because of its Ponzi game aspect, in which each generation takes more out than it put in. Well, the Ponzi game will soon be over, thanks to changing demographics, so that the typical recipient henceforth will get only about as much as he or she put in (and today’s young may well get less than they put in)."

Romney apperaed to concede that Perry's use of the phrase "Ponzi scheme" was not original.

"There are a lot of very bright people that agree with you," Romney said, then adding that he wasn't one of them.

-Aman Batheja

 

Perry's guest at tonight's debate: Chuck Norris

Action star and conservative activist Chuck Norris is expected to be a  guest of Gov. Rick Perry at tonight's CNN/Tea Party debate in Tampa, Florida, according to The Daily Caller.

A Tea Party Express strategist confirmed Norris attendance, the news site reported.

Norris and Perry have been friendly for years.

In 2010, Perry made the Oklahoma actor an honorary Texas Ranger at a ceremony in Garland.

A year earlier, Norris became an outspoken supporter of Texas secession after Perry suggested the concept as a possibility at an Austin Tea Party rally in 2009. Norris also suggested (jokingly, we think) that he be elected the first president of Texas.

Another link between Perry and Norris: both have become the source of their own set of "facts." 

A sample Chuck Norris fact: "Chuck Norris' tears cure every disease known to man. Too bad Chuck Norris never cries.

A recent tweet from the popular @RickPerryFacts Twitter feed: "When Rick Perry's speeches appear on TV in France, the French unconditionally surrender to Rick Perry just to be on the safe side."

-Aman Batheja