Official urges Republicans to go the polls

Official urges Republicans to go the polls

By JIMMY ISAAC

Thursday, June 19, 2008

There's only one way Republicans can lose in the upcoming November general election, former Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams told local party leaders Wednesday.

"The problem is our base. Some of us that are conservative Republicans are upset. They're mad," Williams said in front of 23 people at the Republican Women of Gregg County luncheon in Longview. "(Sen. John McCain) is our man (for president). He's going to win. But he can't win unless we get un-mad."

Williams is chairman of Texas Republican Victory 2008, a coordinated, statewide get-out-the-vote campaign for the party's candidates. He also chairs the Republican National Finance Committee's Eagles Program under President Bush's appointment, and has served on past campaigns for Bush and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.

Williams is touring Texas and other parts of the nation — not merely to drum up support for the Republican ticket, but to motivate disgruntled, apathetic Republicans who he says could turn the November tide to Democrats if they don't vote.

The U.S. Senate race between Cornyn and Democratic challenger Rick Noriega is the top of the Texas ticket, he said. That's not the only important race, as three state Supreme Court justices and a host of state lawmakers and local Republican officials face the challenge of a state threatened to lose its Republican foothold because of voters' frustration about immigration, energy, education, the war and other issues, Williams said.

He pointed to the Dallas/Fort Worth area — his home — as a recent example. Republicans lost every race in Dallas County in 2006 — 29 judges, the county sheriff and district attorney — because Republicans didn't vote in usual numbers, he said.

Tarrant County, considered the most Republican county in America behind Orange County, Calif., has a Democratic state representative who won a special election in December because 10,000 less voters came to the polls than during the general election one month before, Williams said.

"It is all hands on deck this time," Williams said. "(Former President) Calvin Coolidge said, 'If you help your country, you help yourself. It's our patriotic duty to vote.' "

Williams is a Texas Christian University graduate and former baseball coach-turned-small-business owner and politician. He became Texas' 105th secretary of state in February 2005 and resigned July 1, 2007. Two weeks later, he was named chairman of the Texas Republican Victory 2008 coordinated campaign.

He also served as chief liaison for Texas Border and Mexican Affairs and as chair of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closer Response Strike Force committee during his term as secretary of state. Williams is a trustee of TCU and the George Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University.

http://www.news-journal.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/06/19/06192008_republican_women.html