GOP Platform that Takes Aim at Governor
and Marxists Subject to Email Ballot Vote

July 26, 2020

The Texas Republican Party platform and rules that state convention delegates will vote to approve or to bury in an email election contains some fresh red meat that has massive potential to backfire in legislative and congressional races in swing districts this fall.

A half-dozen activists on a special Reconvening Convention committee voted this weekend to shelve plans for a second session for unfinished business. But the special task force that delegates elected at the initial convention last weekend agreed in a 6-3 vote to have the platform and rules adopted in September by the State Republican Executive Committee after delegates weigh individual items on a line by line basis with a threshold of 60 percent for approval.

The tentative platform is a slap in the face to the social justice and equality movement that's taken the country by storm in the past two months with a recycled plank that seeks to protect monuments and other tributes to the Confederacy that fought for the right to enslave people.

The proposed state party rules have a new provision that would be officially dubbed as the Clean Hands Rule. But Rule 45 has nothing to do with hand sanitizer or other coronavirus safety protocols as a provision that would prevent people with convictions for state election law violation from serving as a state GOP officer until they'd paid whatever fine they might owe for the transgression.

The cancellation of the second convention that delegates at the first had voted to hold will derail a fight that had been expected over the removal of a marijuana decriminalization that a temporary platform committee had inserted into the state party's guiding document for 2020.

But it won't stop the activists who run the party from formalizing the wrath they've been directing at Governor Greg Abbott as a result of restrictions that he's imposed during the pandemic for the sake of the public health and safety. The proposed platform calls for a ban on lockdowns and contact tracing along with sharp restrictions on the governor's power to manage the response to a major emergency without approval from the Legislature.

The Republicans' only acknowledgement of the contagion that's killed more than 5,000 people in Texas is how upset they've been about having to sacrifice some of their personal freedom and liberty for the public good.

While Abbott and the Republicans have opposed the use of mail-in ballots during the pandemic, the second convention committee wasn't worried about backing up the talk with action when they voted to have delegates consider the platform and rules in an email election.

Here are some of the new and highly controversial provisions that could be substantially detrimental to down-ballot Republicans in Texas in the pandemic election of 2020.

Lockdowns Never Again: The Republican Party of Texas calls upon our elected officials to never again implement mass lockdowns on the people, our businesses and churches in the name of communicable disease response; nor should Texas officials ever again presume they know better how to treat or prioritize the medical treatment of Texans and to make command and control edicts that dictate to health care providers how to do their job. We oppose funding or implementation of any form of contact tracing.

Limit Executive Power: In the event the Executive Branch activates the emergency powers for a disaster, the Legislature will automatically be convened two weeks later for a session to take up whatever matters deemed necessary for the Legislature.

Historical Monuments: We believe all historical war memorials, including Confederate monuments, in Texas shall be protected from future removal or defacement and that those monuments that have been removed should be restored to their historical locations. We support the continuing allocation of funds that are necessary to preserve the USS Texas as a permanent monument to the ship, her crew of two world wars, and the history of the State of Texas.

American Identity: We favor strengthening our common American identity, which includes the contribution and assimilation of diverse racial and ethnic groups. We reject Critical Race Theory as a post-Marxist ideology that seeks to undermine the system of law and order itself and reduce individuals to their group identity alone. We support legislation to remove this ideology from government program, including education involving race, discrimination, and racial awareness. To facilitate the appreciation of the contrast of the tyrannical history of socialism/communism throughout history must be taught. Students shall pledge allegiance to the United States and Texas flags daily to instill patriotism. Students have the right to display patriotic items on school property. Schools should have the options to display the National Motto “In God We Trust.”

Rule 44. A County or Senatorial District Convention or a County or District Executive Committee may by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of those present and voting. adopt a resolution censuring a Republican public or party office holder representing all or a portion of that County or District for three (3) or more actions taken during the current biennium in opposition to the core principles of the Republican Party of Texas defined in the Preamble of the Party Platform as described in Rule No. 43A. 

Such a resolution may include a request to the State Convention or SREC that the named office holder be penalized. If such a request is included, the delegates of the State Convention by majority vote, or the State Republican Executive Committee by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the full membership, may vote to concur with the resolution of censure and declare that no Rule or Bylaw enacted by any division of the Party at any level that demands the Party be neutral in intraparty contests shall be observed with respect to the named candidate, and no financial or 36 other support shall be provided to their campaign by the Party except that which is required by law. Any such penalty shall expire at the beginning of the State Convention following its adoption. 

All accused officeholders will be presented with the accusation, and will have the right to due process and will have the opportunity to face their accusers and defend their actions, before any censure orders are finalized and issued.  A written and digital notice of not less than fourteen (14) days is required.

Rule 45 - Clean Hands Rule. Any individual or leader of a Political Action Committee who has an outstanding fine or has been finally convicted by a local, state, or federal authority for a violation of Texas Election Code shall be ineligible to serve as an officer of the Republican Party at any level until or unless the fine has been paid or the sentence has been fulfilled whereupon the person may be reappointed or duly elected pursuant to Party rules for filling a vacancy. 

 

 

Texas Major Counties
COVID-19 Cases Per 100,000
on May 29 & July 26, 2020
1 Nueces 74 2,857
2 Potter 1,881 2,802
3 Galveston 233 2,381
4 Jefferson 202 1,920
5 Hays 146 1,856
6 Cameron 173 1,846
7 Webb 191 1,827
8 Bexar 129 1,794
9 Dallas 356 1,775
10 Hidalgo 62 1,750
11 Ector 97 1,739
12 Tom Green 57 1,663
13 Lubbock 221 1,631
14 Brazos 204 1,626
15 El Paso 306 1,575
16 McLennan 47 1,554
17 Travis 249 1,554
18 Brazoria 238 1,470
19 Harris 246 1,391
20 Ellis 176 1,264
21 Tarrant 253 1,206
22 Kaufman 165 1,120
23 Midland 78 1,046
24 Randall 487 1,058
25 Comal 64 1,037
26 Gregg 163 966
27 Montgomery 160 947
28 Williamson 109 936
29 Guadalupe 81 928
30 Smith 88 915
31 Bell 99 841
32 Fort Bend 226 829
33 Taylor 169 735
34 Johnson 102 720
35 Denton 158 703
36 Grayson 241 689
37 Rockwall 164 631
38 Wichita 64 612
39 Parker 55 596
40 Collin 127 573

Copyright 2003-2020 Capitol Inside