Unless you are on RSS, you should see the widget below to give to Michael Williams, Marco Rubio, Pat Toomey, and Chuck Devore.

if you don’t see the widget, well, then, you are out of luck, but you should still give.

The problem with this essay on race by Texas Railroad Commissioner and Senatorial candidate Michael Williams is that you really need to read the whole thing: there are too many good bits to cram into just one snippet.  But a taste:

What grieves me most, however, is not that false cries of racism shortcircuit our debate, but that it makes legitimate concern about pockets of racism impossible to hear among the majority of Americans where it truly exists. Racism does still exist in America today – on both sides of the political spectrum. Now it will be that much harder to expose because the real cry will be impossible to distinguish from the false one, much like the boy who cried, “wolf.” Racism exists, but so does opportunity, and I can personally attest to the fact that there is far more opportunity than racism.

We have rid our institutions of government of the practice of discrimination; if only we could rid our political discourse of the ugliness that ensues when we ascribe discriminatory motive to statements with no obvious discriminatory aspect. New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd couldn’t help hearing a missing word in Congressman Joe Wilson’s outburst during President Obama’s speech to Congress. The Congressman yelled, “You lie.” Ms. Dowd couldn’t help hearing, “you lie, boy.”

While Congressman Wilson started a fire, Ms. Dowd poured fuel on it. The greater ugliness is not the inappropriate outburst, but Ms. Dowd intentionally injecting a word loaded with a history of racial condescension to label a whole movement of opposition.

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The Michael Williams campaign has sent around this response to former President Carter’s… interesting… comments about opposition to the President’s policies. Commissioner Williams was slightly startled to discover that he is apparently a racist:

Statement by Commissioner Michael Williams, a Republican candidate for the United States Senate, concerning former President Jimmy Carter’s recent comments about critics of President Obama:

“I have immense respect for President Carter, but I fundamentally disagree with the notion that opponents of President Obama’s immense spending proposals are motivated by race. As a black man from the South, I take exception to the notion that my opposition – or the opposition of millions of Americans to the president’s healthcare proposal – is rooted in racial politics. It is a sad day when genuine disagreement is smeared by such an incendiary characterization. I oppose the president’s plan because it will explode the deficit, allow further government intrusion into the doctor-patient relationship, and continue to insulate healthcare consumers from the true cost of their care.

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No sense in being coy about it. We’re not meeting our goal. In fact, the fundraising for these four sucks.

I know cash is tight, but unless conservatives are willing to step up to the plate, we’re not going to get these guys elected and, frankly, the establishment of the Republican Party will keep ignoring us.

Let’s be honest. One of the reasons the left is so head over heels in love with the online left is because of the moonbat ability to turn on the cash. Even Ron Paul’s followers do better than conservatives.

Yes, yes, we can go to the polls in droves, etc., but cash is king in politics. And if we want to be taken seriously, we need to step up to the plate. I know that hacks some of you off. Every time I write stuff like this I get dozens of angry emails from people suffering due to Barack Obama’s economy. I get it. But you need to get it too — you want to change the Republican Party and have a seat at the table, you’ve got to launch a coup against the establishment. And the best way to do that at the present time is support these candidates who are running against the establishment.

Right now, we’ve got 15 days left and we’re no where close to meeting the $250,000.00 goal. If you can’t give, consider at least putting up the widget on your own site or asking other sites to host the widget too.

Have you given yet? Imagine a world where Marco Rubio, Chuck Devore, Pat Toomey, and Michael Williams work together in the Senate with Jim DeMint and Tom Coburn. Imagine a world where they push the GOP to the right in the Senate and stop the culture of capitulation.

Give what you can. Embed this same widget on your website. Let’s raise them some money.

I won’t call this the “screw the NRSC” fundraiser, but I’m sorely tempted.

Each of you has a favorite Senate candidate this cycle. Here are four guys we want to see in the Senate. Let’s try to raise them $250,000.00 in the next 20 days.

Click on the guy you like, learn a little about him, and give him some money. Together, we can move the Senate right.

I don’t know a single Republican leaning blog that got tipped off about Senator John Cornyn’s memo to the Senate Republican Conference. Brian Walsh from the NRSC just emailed to let me know he had, in fact, emailed me earlier today with a copy of the email. For reasons unbeknownst to either of us, I got one responding to the Devore press release, but no others.

The Hill, CNN, and other media outlets were furnished sneak peaks of it.

Finally, CNN released the text. What is more interesting about the memo is what it does not say than what it does say. Let’s dive in.

First, there is no mention of Florida. Remember Florida and Charlie Crist? By the way, watch this.

In Florida, the NRSC first drew the ire of the conservative blogosphere by lining up behind the fundamentally flawed Florida Governor, Crist. Crist made headlines when Barack Obama referred to him as his favorite Republican after Crist engaged in some love banter over Obama’s stimulus and environmental policies. Crist, too, is a cap and trade fan.

There is no mention of that seat.

Now, some might say that this is a seat already held by the GOP, so why highlight it. Except, the memo does mention Kentucky and Missouri — both held by the GOP.

Is the failure to mention Florida a way of avoiding awkward questions about Crist’s appointing his errand boy to the Senate?

Cornyn, a Senator from Texas, also does not mention Texas. The NRSC has failed to rally around Michael Williams, despite repeatedly fluffing up the media talking points on diversity outreach initiatives in candidate recruiting.

Is the failure to mention Texas a hint that Kay Bailey Hutchison may not continue her gubernatorial run, choosing instead to stay in the Senate?

Then there are two things the memo does talk about that need to be examined even more closely.

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Texans have an outstanding opportunity in the coming year to make a greater impact on the national stage than any other state.

Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams, an African American who happens to be an outstanding, uncompromising conservative, will on the ballot for the United States Senate.

There are a number of good men running for the Senate in Texas, and most are varying degrees of conservative. But Michael Williams is set apart from the pack by being extraordinarily articulate, unyielding in his conservatism, unfailing in his ability to relate conservative ideals through an inspiring life story, and able to further set himself apart by virtue of being the rarest of political animals — an electable African American conservative Republican.

For years and years the media has resisted ever mentioning the fact that there are conservatives who are not white. It’s worked to the Democrats advantage. Now, in Florida, the media is confronted with Marco Rubio and in Texas with Michael Williams. If either were elected to the Senate, the media would have a much harder time ignoring that fact.

But, ignore Williams’ race. It is an added selling point to combat a media narrative, but Michael Williams is not defined by his race. He is defined by his conservatism. He is defined by his ability to connect with both small town America and a thriving urban industrial America. Through his life story, Michael Williams gets how liberalism has corroded America and how conservatism can transform America, making it shine ever more brightly on the Hill.

Texas, for its own good and the good of the whole country, should take a long hard look at Michael Williams and put him in the Senate. He’d be a fresh face and a fresh voice in a tired old boys club where folks go along to get along.

More importantly, Rick Perry, if he is truly a conservative’s conservative, has a chance to meaningfully impact American politics and the future of American conservatism by putting MIchael Williams in the Senate.

Kay Bailey Hutchison intends to resign. If Hutchison will go on and do it instead of dragging her heels, Perry could appoint Michael Williams to the Senate, automatically making Williams the front runner for next year. Perry and Hutchison, despite their clashes and opposing interests, should have the good of Texas and the country in common. They should make sure Michael Williams is Texas’ next United States Senator. And if not them? The good people of Texas should unfailingly support Commissioner Michael Williams.

Now that I may comment: former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has endorsed Michael Williams for Kay Bailey Hutchison’s soon-vacant Senate seat. It’s a strong endorsement, too (that link also leads to contribution information):

Having been a part of the last effort to retake the congressional majority, I am convinced we don’t have to wait 40 years this time to regain power. Democrats in Congress offer the same old, tired recipe of Democrats past — big government hand-outs, bloated bureaucracy and big-time deficit spending.

The kind of change they offer is simply a return to the discarded practices of the pre-Reagan era.

Our problem is not Americans are newly attracted to Democrat ideas, but that Republicans simply failed to live up to their own ideas.

Let me illustrate my point this way: while conservatives continue to embrace the conservative label, liberals have been re-marketing themselves as progressives. You can call a used car pre-owned all you want, but I will be just as worried about the engine going out.

We do not need to change our ideas, we need to live up to them. And when I talk about modernizing the Republican brand, I mean using tried and true Republicans principles in new ways to solve new problems.

The key to building a new Republican Majority is not simply branding Democrat policies as the destructive and discredited ideas of the past…but offering real alternatives that meet Americans where they are. And offering new leaders not bogged down by the old fights of the last decade.

We need conservatives willing to engage the Democrats on the field of ideas…willing to speak of a 21^st Century conservatism…willing to stand and fight on principle. We need leaders like Michael Williams.

The full endorsement is at Michael’s site.  And, obviously, I agree.

Moe Lane

Full disclosure: I am in regular contact with the Michael Williams campaign, and I endorse him as a replacement to Senator Hutchison, once she resigns her Senate seat.

Reposted without comment:

@MichaelWilliams Watch for an exciting announcement on Tuesday via Twitter. Will also email & Facebook.

…except to note that it was a pleasure to have him as a speaker at the RS Gathering. The video again, for people who may later feel the need to refresh their memories:

Michael Williams from David Thompson on Vimeo.
Moe Lane

Full disclosure: I am in regular contact with the Michael Williams campaign, and I endorse him as a replacement to Senator Hutchison, once she resigns her Senate seat.

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

Michael Williams is an amazing, dynamic speaker. He is the current Railroad Commissioner for Texas, and the odds on favorite to replace Kay Bailey Hutchinson when she leaves the Senate in the next few months. At times the room felt like an old time revival, with Michael drawing in the crowd with his eloquence combined with a genuinely friendly demeanor. Words really can’t describe it, just watch.

Michael Williams from David Thompson on Vimeo.

I have a bunch of these quick interviews, and they’ll all be going up as the day goes on. This one is with Michael Williams, who you will remember is someone that I’ve been boosting for some time. This is not his speech and question/answer session: that will be a separate video that will appear later. This is just me asking him a few questions.

…and me getting a picture, too. Perk of the job.

Full disclosure: I am in regular contact with the Michael Williams campaign, and I endorse him as a replacement to Senator Hutchison, should she resign her Senate seat.

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

This weekend, 200 RedStaters gathered together in Atlanta to hear from real conservative leaders and candidates.

We were specific in our invitations — we wanted conservatives, not just Republicans. The message was phenomenal. The time shared was outstanding.

But now we have work to do. We cannot return to our former ways. We must commit to continuous activity on behalf of these outstanding men and women.

If you live in their area, help them. Volunteer. If you don’t live near them, consider opening your checkbook or pulling out your credit card.

We can take back the GOP. We can win on a message of small government. But we have to step up and help.

Each person listed below paid their own way to spend time with RedState activists in Atlanta. This was not a gathering for you to hear from them, but for them to hear from you. And they did hear from you.

Now let them hear from you again — volunteer, talk to your friends, donate, do whatever you can to help them in their elections.

• Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO) Candidate for the United States Senate
• Former Congressman Pat Toomey (R-PA) Candidate for the United States Senate
• Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC)
• Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX)
• Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) Chairman, Republican Study Committee
• Hon. Karen Handel (R-GA) Georgia’s Secretary of State & Candidate for Governor
• Liz Cheney (okay, she’s not a candidate, but she should be)
• Ken Cuccinelli (R-VA) Virginia State Senator & Candidate for Virginia Attorney General
• Michael Williams (R-TX) Texas Railroad Commissioner, Candidate for the United States Senate
• Marco Rubio (R-FL) Former Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, Candidate for the United States Senate
• Ted Cruz (R-TX) Texas Solicitor General, Candidate for Texas Attorney General
• Nikki Haley (R-SC) Member, South Carolina House of Representatives, Candidate for Governor

Imagine a United States Senate with Michael Williams, Pat Toomey, and Marco Rubio. Imagine a Supreme Court hearing from Ken Cuccinelli and Ted Cruz on states’ rights. And imagine having two ladies like Karen Handel and Nikki Haley slashing goverment bugets and taxes from their respective Governors’ Mansions.

We can make all that a reality.

As you can tell, we’ve been away and busy at the RedState Gathering.

Liz Cheney spoke. She was amazing.

“America needs a commander in chief,” she said, ” not a global community organizer.”

Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Nikki Haley, Michael Williams, Ken Cuccinelli, Karen Handel, Tom Price, Pat Toomey, Roy Blunt, Jim DeMint, and Rick Perry all joined us in person or via video.

It was an amazing time. Stand by for lots of video and pictures.

I find some of the rhetoric going on between Senator Hutchison and Governor Perry to be already a bit harsh, so here are the bare bones of the story:

Hutchison told WBAP-AM (820) host Mark Davis that she would officially kick-off her campaign in August.

“Formal announcement: I am in. Then the actual leaving of the Senate will be sometime — October, November — that, in that time frame,” she said.

It was her most definitive statement yet that she would leave the Senate in the middle of her third term.

This being a Senate seat, there will be an appointment made by the Governor, followed by a special election for the remaining two years of Senator Hutchison’s term.  As the disclaimer below makes clear, my recommendation for Governor Perry is to appoint Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams for the position, on the grounds that Williams is a). a solid conservative; b). prepared (thanks to his role as Railroad Commissioner*) to be a powerful voice on energy policy; and c). actively running for the spot.  Oh, and d). he’ll be talking at the RS Gathering. 

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Part 4 and Part 5 of his cap-and-trade review are up.  Part 4 goes in quickly about the differences between the cap-and-trade restrictions of Waxman-Markey and the Clean Air Act (very quickly: it’s the difference between carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide); Part 5 discusses the problems that W-M is going to give Texas specifically.  Still remaining: the Chinese connection and how people can get involved.

Energy policy is going to loom rather large, running up the 2010 elections; should KBH resign her seat to run for Governor, it would be helpful to have this guy in there.  Heck, I wouldn’t mind having him in there now.

Moe Lane

PS: He’ll be at the RS Gathering.

Full disclosure: I am in regular contact with the Michael Williams campaign, and I endorse him as a replacement to Senator Hutchison, should she resign her Senate seat.

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

Michael Williams, current Texas Railroad Commissioner* and candidate for Senate, is doing a multi-part survey of the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill currently before Congress. He’s up to Part III (see also Part I & Part II, of course), and here’s what he’s hoping to accomplish with it:

Democrats in Congress, joined with the Obama administration, are proceeding along parallel tracks to impose CO2 regulations so sweeping as to become the most expensive and expansive environmental reach of government into the lives of American families, businesses and consumers in history.

In May, the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved the Waxman-Markey cap and trade bill that is designed to drastically reduce carbon dioxide emissions blamed for global warming. The full House could complete action on the bill within the next two weeks.

[snip]

The prospect for cap and trade is less certain in the Senate and the EPA, while poised to finalize its landmark finding, has not done so, yet. If enough Americans band together, we can still protect the American economy, jobs, and incomes from undue and unnecessary CO2 regulations.

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Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams is running to replace Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson in anticipation of her vacating her Senate seat to run for Governor, and he’s currently attempting to raise $10,000 by May 31st. Here’s some footage from him from the April 15th Tea Party:

If you like this, or his stance on current issues, feel free to donate.

Full disclosure: I am in contact with the Williams campaign.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

Sen. John Cornyn is worried that Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison is going to retire early this fall to run for Governor, but I’m missing the problem here (via Political Wire):

“My guess,” he told Texas reporters at his Senate office today, is that Hutchison will resign “this fall sometime.”

That would allow Perry to appoint an interim senator and allow a special election to take place in May 2010 instead of this November (which would happen if she resigned this spring or summer).

It seems pretty simple:

• Hutchison resigns.
• Governor Perry appoints Texas Railroad Commissioner* Michael Williams to be interim Senator.
• Williams wins the special election.

Come on, Senator Cornyn. This isn’t exactly rocket science.

Moe Lane

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