Tx State Rep Scott Turner was a last minute substitute for a football legend, Mike Ditka, at Texas Public Policy Foundation's (TPPF) Policy Orientation 2014 in Austin Thursday. His speech given at the luncheon was all that anyone could hope for in a motivational speech. What a treat it must have been after the initial disappointment those attending certainly experienced as they heard of Ditka's cancellation due to the winter storms in Chicago.
Turner is a former NFL player. He is a businessman and a conservative. He is all about changing hearts and minds.
Here it is:
After watching the video, I looked the guy up. I wanted to know what he worked on and get a feel for his concerns.
Here is where you can scan the legislation Rep Turner authored or co-authored in the last Texas legislative session.
Rep Turner's record looks good for us fiscal conservatives, as far as legislation goes.
He understands the importance of growing conservative voters to keep Texas strong and America on a better path. He said, "As we go, so goes Texas. As Texas goes, so goes America. We've got to be all in."
Rep Turner has now filed to run for the position of Speaker of the House in the Texas House of Representatives.
He said, "The chains of complacency and the shackles of status quo have got to be destroyed". I don't know that this quote applies to the Speaker's race but I do know that it applies to Harris County Republican politics. How much longer will our party survive in the nation's largest Republican county, in the largest Republican state, if we continue to allow a corrupt pay for play system to decide who will and will not be elected to office? How long will the party survive with this corrupt system taking away choices for voters and thwarting good people from running for office?
What is the incentive for a solid Republican concerned about his or her community and state to run for office if the handful of those running the pay for play slate endorsement schemes have already made the backroom deals to put in place the favored candidates? How much longer will the descent into a Democratic takeover statewide take if Harris County continues on its current path?
Not long.
While the Tea Party and the Libertarians and the professional purists continue to pick away at candidates over single votes or single social issues, the Democrats are plodding along. They are registering voters and bringing in money into Texas as we haven't seen in a couple of decades. They are emboldened and the division within my own party is a welcome help for them. The petty "establishment" vs "liberty minded" arguments is inane. Who built the Republican party? Regular people, grassroots activist, concerned women, business leaders, and so on. Back in the beginning of today's Republican party, Barry Goldwater and William F Buckley and George HW Bush and later Ronald Reagan and then those like Newt Gingrich stepped forward and asked us all to come together to work for a common goal - victory at the ballot box for Republicans. All would be labeled "establishment" today yet today's purists do not understand history. Bringing new voters into politics is a much desired objective and those of us who have been working all these years to advance the Republican party must educate and mentor the newcomers.
All Republicans, by our very natures, are liberty minded. It has always been so. Remember Abe Lincoln?
Do not allow your friends and family to fall into the trap of conservative talk radio and television - these folks are paid to divide. Avoid the pleas from those sending letters for donations to fight the RINOs and "the establishment". They are living quite comfortably while they destroy the party.
First we must win elections. Then we can govern.
Do not give up.
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