Texas Republicans will select the state’s next senator on July 31, in a runoff between Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and former state solicitor general Ted Cruz. Dewhurst, who has been in power for more than a decade, has of late blasted President Obama’s amnesty-lite executive order and declared that he has always opposed amnesty for illegal aliens.
It turns out, though, that his official website once offered proof of his inconsistency.
In a 2007 speech the he delivered in heavily Latino south Texas, Dewhurst said the following: “I support secure borders North and South and I support a guest worker program for those here illegally. Labor and skilled workers are critical to our Texas economy. Our federal government needs to get its act together.”
No one would quibble with most of that but there’s a highly problematic clause in the first sentence. Notice the lack of any qualifiers for his guest worker program. Nothing for age or, well, anything. As stated, Dewhurst’s policy would be far broader than the one President Obama imposed by fiat this year. This year he is denying that he ever supported such a program.
As the Texas lieutenant governor, Dewhurst has an official website that includes his official speeches. It no longer includes the 2007 speech. The Cruz campaign, however, has preserved it in Internet amber. Down the memory hole, but back in the headlines.
According to a statement that has been making the rounds, “[T]he lieutenant governor’s office requested that all of his speeches be deleted over a year ago.” That’s when he started running for the Senate seat. The deletion has raised questions of whether or not the lieutenant governor is using taxpayer-funded staff to assist his Senate campaign in any way.
However that works out, and it’s unlikely to work out in any legal way before the runoff vote, the voters who will determine the victor in the July 31 runoff are a subset of the overall Texas Republican Party base. Runoff voters tend to be the most activist-minded and the most informed. From the beginning, the Cruz campaign has banked on getting to the runoff and then bringing this strong grassroots base back out to put him over the top.
The revelation that Lt. Gov. Dewhurst has flip flopped on amnesty may just prove to be the issue that propels Ted Cruz into the US Senate.
Update: And the plot thickens.
The speeches from Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst’s state website were pulled down after reporters began calling about his controversial 2007 remarks on border and immigration issues, an aide said.
Spokeswoman Lauren Thurston could not give an exact date for the removal. But she said it happened recently, after reporters began calling the office about a speech that Dewhurst gave in Laredo in February 2007. The Houston Chronicle posted a blog item and a link to the speech on June 27.
Update: Ted Cruz failed to file his personal financial disclosure on time, but has filed it now and it differs very little from last year’s financial disclosure. The campaign calls it an “administrative oversight.”
Classic. Always have an internet archivist on your team.
I’m voting for Cruz and I support a guest working program for illegals. Does that make me of an ilk with Dewhurst? I hope not.
Someone has to pick the grapes and the oranges. Poor blacks and native hispanics won’t do it while they can live on welfare, food stamps, disability and unemployment.
What was he supposed to do when giving the speech, stop and drop into a mode where he listed every qualifier, all in legal jargon so no one could ever be confused or twist his words?
We’re better off tossing Dewhurst under the bus because he is an elitist, establishment Republican and part of the Boosh-esque crowd. Not because years ago he made a speech in South Texas.
Dewhurst has also block any e-verify bills in the state and promoted sanctuary cities. That is the only reason I am voting for Cruz. We don’t need another RINO in this office.
Why don’t we just import workers from Bangledesh to do it? After all we can tell the Mexican consulates here that no one is illegal is their slogan, right? Undocumented and unashamed? Or only for NAFTA-stan residents?
I got a robo-call yesterday. “Hello, I’m David Dewhurst…” and I hung up.
If I get another, I just might listen awhile, to see if it mentions immigration.
heh
I also received a David Dewhurst robo call. I support Cruz but I answered the Dewhurst survey as I was a big supporter. Let’s play the game and tell the robo calls who the MSM supports. But on election day my vote is private. Heh, Heh, Heh
It’s the only way I can get my phone to stop ringing with election crap.
Dewhurst has run a campaign here that never says what he will do but only what Cruz has allegedly done. IOW, smear, smear, smear. No policy positives, just smear.
Guess who does not get my vote. Sad that it is a negative voting opportunity but that is the Establishment RINO Party these days.
Dewhurst lives in white Austin and immune from open borders. He’d let them all in and believes himself safe from the consequences. For now at least. Republicans overlook that minorities vote overwhelmingly Democrat. Yet Republicans work tirelessly to admit these future Democrat voters without fail. Go figure. Eventually Texas will have two Democratic senators.
Today it no longer matters – it’s too late for Texas. Whites are history down here. Ironically, Texas was won by Anglos out-breeding Mexicans. Times have certainly changed. Combined with carpetbaggers moving here from California and the East (each who continues to vote Democrat), Texas is done for by the next census.
For the record, Cruz is no better. Open borders for all except his neighborhood. I don’t care what the man says publicly. Democrats control the language and that’s just the way it is. But we all share the same streets and social programs – everyone cooks in the same pot. The elite and common man will decline together.
It’s important to remind ourselves that “It’s Texas.” It’s not Arizona, and it’s not New Mexico, and it’s not California. It’s Texas and it’s different.
That’s why I’m very optimistic.
For what it’s worth, we’ve been overrun by Hispanics before and we’re still here, still Texans and we will be into the future. Hispanics have always been a part of Texas and they always will be.
Now, let’s start talking about seceding. Become our own nation again. F’ the rest of the chronic losers in all the other states. Bring. It.
I’d never call for secession. I’m a Unionist and we go down together. Texas couldn’t maintain its affluent standing without American support. And what would Texas do about the border? Nothing. Mexico would become even more important. Any fragmentation of the United States spells the end of Western Civilization. The Union was forged and war follows any breakup. Not even Texas escapes. I’m also from New Mexico and understand a Mexican majority. Texas is no different in that regard. It’s coming and both Dewhurst and Cruz will facilitate it.
If the wheels are going to come off the country, Texas might as well go it alone.
A lot of people in the 1770s thought the American colonies couldn’t stand without British support and protection.
Please return to NM. Unionist means you will be gullible enough to swallow Obama’s BS and submit to socialist agendas by agreement or force. Not here in Texas. Texas can sustain itself as a Republic without Obama, Harry Reid, Polosi, Leahy, and all the other socialist trying to destroy this country. Can’t vote them out as their states want to be run that way. Not Texas. So “Come and Take It” “1836″
How would secession work exactly? Washington would say fine, Texas – you may leave? It’s been a good ride? Yeah right. The nation and world would fall into utter chaos. Would you fight? Would your indolent sons and daughters bleed for Texas? No, they would not. Texas would wither and Mexico would grow in power. Recall that Texas never prospered alone – they begged for statehood. Also realize that’s it’s too late. As you allowed Democrats control of social policy, Texas became minority/majority. Minorities filled with notions of freedom and self-determination. These aren’t the children of Santa Anna. What are your solutions to this fundamental shift in Mexican psychology? Lord over them? Become patrons and rule with white might? You’d never allow them equal rights and would limit their procreation. It would be bloody, horrific and ultimately a bitter failure. They’d never support their new Confederate masters and your new nation would implode. Mexicans, blacks and poor whites must submit to realize an old man’s fantasy. Leaving the Union would turn them into rebels. You boys talk tough and it looks great on paper. But remember that your children are sensualists and you’ve spent your life watching the Cowboys. Your kind cannot and will not lead a free and independent Texas.
Believing that the colonies and Texas are comparable is laughable. Texas is mostly dirt and rocks – half of the state is under populated. There is very little heavy industry. You cannot compare Texas to New York, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. Imagine those states today had they not fallen to perverse ideals and fatal political philosophies? Texas would cower in their industrial and political might. Plus Mexico and the “The United States” would border Texas. They wouldn’t be flung across the Atlantic and out of our hair. They’d be in our face every day. Geography must be factored into these dreams of delusion and grandeur. It’s as if none of you considered these factors.
Finally, I don’t consider Obama a Unionist and would never follow his agenda. To me, he’s no better than a secessionist. Secessionists ignore our first civil war. Many Texans would celebrate secession as our great cities went dark. Much of this dangerous talk is spewed by baby boomers. Baby boomers act on what feels good to them and them alone. Their water flows, the cable is on and the car is gassed. It’s easy to spew ludicrous propositions from an air conditioned computer room. And remember, Dewhurst and Cruz are the ultimate Unionists. Mention thoughts of secession to them, and see yourself escorted out of the room.
List all the good reasons to dump Dewhurst! Like I said, being open to a guest worker program is not one of them.
Reasons to dump Dewhurst? Top of my list is this story:
http://www.wfaa.com/news/politics/Texas-GOP-senators-speak-out-against-Cruz-attacks-in-letter-161748735.html
“Along with Perry’s endorsement, the Senate caucus letter is another forceful sign that the Republican establishment is lining up firmly behind Dewhurst.”
I’m fairly sure that Dewhurst’s 2007 speech was in line with the Establishment GOP’s position and Comprehensive Immigration Reform. I’m also fairly sure that the rapid removal is a sign of Dewhurst’s firm principles and staunch values.
Very few politicians have a political philosophy. That makes them act according to polls and what will get them reelected. Reagan had a conservative philosophy. Reagan could look at a problem and ask, “What is Constitutional” or “What is appropriate for a conservative? The decision flowed from the answer and was usually easy.
Those without a philosophy lack standards like Reagan’s. They look at polls and their reelection chances for direction.
Reagan had a philosophy. Bush did not. Perry does not. Dewhurst seemingly does not. Cruz does seem to have one.
How do I know?
Perry’s endorsement is an endorsement from a former Democrat who backed Al Gore against Bush. Perry & Dewhurst: Do anything. Say anything. Establishment politicians. There isn’t a shred of conservative philosophy showing in these men. Haven’t you had enough of such politicians?
I have had enough of these ruling elites with their “its my turn to move into that position” entitlement mentalities.
I view Dewhurst as a RINO no matter what he says. If he gets to the Senate he will become John McCain’s best friend in Rinoland.
We need a different breed of officeholder. We need people who believe in and will champion conservative causes. Cruz supported the Second Amendment aka the Heller side of Heller v. Washington D.C. That is evidence he has a political philosophy and it is a conservative one.
The trouble with too many politicians these days is, the only political philosophy they have is,whatever keeps them in office.
just looking at a picture of David Duhurst makes you feel slimey and corrupt.
He has that in common with guy in the white house.