Texas State GOP worry grouchy voters won't go to polls

June 8, 2008, 11:16PM
State GOP worry grouchy voters won't go to polls
Convention opens here amid some discontent within the party


By R.G. RATCLIFFE
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau

AUSTIN — After a decade of political dominance, the Texas GOP is opening its party convention in Houston this week with a troubling prospect: Grumpy Republicans may not turn out to vote this fall.

Many of the grass-roots Texas Republicans see presumptive presidential nominee John McCain as not conservative enough. Others still support presidential candidate Ron Paul. Some are unhappy over immigration, high federal spending, a sagging national economy and rising gasoline prices.

"A lot of them, and rightly so in many cases, are mad. They're concerned," said Roger Williams, chairman of the Texas GOP's voter turnout efforts this year. "What we've got to do is alleviate those concerns and get them to vote."

"We're the underdogs, and anybody who tells you we're not hasn't been out and about," Williams said.

The convention runs from Wednesday to Saturday at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston.

Against this backdrop of discontent, the convention will feature speeches by Gov. Rick Perry, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, all of whom are considering runs for governor in 2010.

The convention also will feature U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, who faces a re-election challenge this year from Democratic nominee Rick Noriega of Houston.

Delegates on Friday will hear from former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former presidential contenders Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney. Romney is McCain's designated surrogate speaker at the convention.

Cathie Adams, president of the Texas Eagle Forum, said McCain is not building bridges with the grass roots by sending Romney to speak to the Texas convention in his place.

"It would have been better if he had come himself," Adams said.

Adams said many delegates to the convention will want to be reassured about McCain on immigration. She said many are upset that he supports a process of granting citizenship to those who entered the country illegally.

Adams said McCain cannot win just by telling voters the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is bad.

"Everyone I know is unhappy with the prospects of Obama," Adams said. "But they'll stay home rather than just go out and vote against someone."

Similarly, some of Paul's supporters are upset with McCain and how the state convention is run. Some sued the Texas GOP last week in an effort to block the seating of some non-Paul delegates.

Don Zimmerman, a Paul activist and candidate for Travis County tax assessor-collector, is vying to be a national delegate, even though that means supporting McCain, whom he does not like.

Zimmerman said many new delegates to the convention this year will be Paul supporters. He said he wants to get them focused on winning local races.

"Get over the McCain thing and work for your local Republican who you like," Zimmerman said.

Republican leadership is less worried about the elections of McCain and Cornyn than they are about the effect party disgruntlement may have on congressional and legislative races.

Republican pollster Mike Baselice said half the Republican voters in Texas say the state and nation are on the "wrong track." He calls them "grumpy Republicans" who cannot be counted on to turn out to vote against presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.

"I'm concerned about the wrong-track Republicans opting not to vote," Baselice said.

Baselice said Republicans in 2002 had a 6 percentage point advantage in Dallas County voting and an 8 percentage point advantage in Harris County. He said neither party now has an advantage in Dallas, and the GOP holds an advantage of about 1.5 percentage points in Harris County.

He said that partisan shift could give Democrats a great boost if a large percentage of Republicans don't vote.

Baselice said Republicans who vote can be counted on to vote up and down the ballot, but he said the GOP stands to lose ground if the "grumpy" Republicans stay home.

Former Republican Chairman Tom Pauken said politicians and party leaders need to reassure the Republican grass-roots workers that their efforts matter for conservative causes.

"The grass roots has withered up and died," Pauken said.

But current state Chairwoman Tina Benkiser said she believes most of the discontent is directed toward Washington. She said the 2006 elections were bad for Republicans nationally but that the Texas GOP picked up more than 200 offices held by Democrats that year.

Benkiser said the goal of this week's convention will be to excite the delegates and make them feel like a conservative agenda is worth working for in the general election.

"At the end of the day, things bode well for us," Benkiser said.

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