On February 5, I had the pleasure to hear Lt Gov David Dewhurst speak before all of the Tarrant County Republican Clubs in Fort Worth.  It was refreshing that the Lt Gov got away from his prepared script and ad-libbed some.  He got on the subject of Austin versus Washington and declared, "We are not Washington," to much applause.  Many of us think that the national Republicans have lost its way, but it is much different in Texas.

             The Lt Governor also addressed Republican demoralization in general and said we have to "buck up" and get to work to get our vote out.  He pointed out that many of the races we lost in 2006 were due to a big decline in Republican voters, not a surge in Democratic voters.  If we get traditional Republicans to vote, we win!

             This was all very true and good to hear.  We need motivate our base and not be demoralized and dispirited by national media reports designed to suppress Republican turnout.  After all, we have great conservatives running at the state and local level, from school board to the state house, from City Council to Congress.  So let's "buck up"!

 Mark R. Hanson is the President of the Arlington Republican Club.

            As we continue through the interim, my calendar is beginning to resemble the hectic pace of session again with interim charges being made, appointments to select committees taking place and committee hearings filling the calendar.

             In addition to serving on the Public and Higher Education Committees and participating in those interim committee hearings, recently I was appointed by Speaker Craddick to the Select Committee on Public School Accountability.  The 15-member committee is charged with conducting a comprehensive review of the current public school accountability system and reporting its findings to the legislature not later than December 1, 2008.  The committee will advise the Texas Education Agency (TEA) on assessment practices and the use of statistical methods to determine the state's educational standards.

             Senator Florence Shapiro and Representative Rob Eissler are co-chairs of the select committee.  Commissioner of Education Robert Scott, Commissioner of Higher Education Raymund Paredes, Senator Tommy Williams, Mr. Larry Kellner - CEO of Continental Airlines, Dr. David Splitek, Superintendent of Lackland ISD, Mr. Sandy Kress, Attorney/Partner Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer, Feld, Dr. Thomas Randle, Superintendent of Lamar Consolidated ISD, Mr. Salem Abraham, President of Abraham Trading Company, Mr. Beto Gonzales, Deputy Superintendent of Brownsville ISD, Ms. Susan Lewis, a Northside ISD teacher, Mr. Ronald Steinhart, recent Chairman/CEO of BankOne Corporation, and Ms. Dalia Benavides, Principal of South Elementary/Midland ISD, will also serve on the select committee with me.  

             The Select Committee heard invited and public testimony on issues related to public school accountability during the first hearing scheduled for 9:00 a.m. on Monday, February 18, 2008.  The hearing was held in room E1.036 of the Capitol Extension in Austin, Texas. 

             I look forward to working with the stakeholders to create a fair and equitable accountability system for our Texas schoolchildren.  As my constituents, I welcome any input you might provide on this topic or other issues impacting Arlington as the next session draws nearer. 

 Diane Patrick represents Texas's 94^th House District in the State Legislature.

            I don't know about you, but I'm feeling really disenfranchised during this primary season.  What exactly does that word, disenfranchised, mean?  According to the dictionary, disenfranchised means you are disengaged, shut out, and basically told to "Take a hike!"  The word became part of the national dialogue in the 2000 election when the people of Florida and the Supreme Court refused to let Al Gore steal the election.  I am sure that most of the liberals felt shut out or disenfranchised when they lost.

             Here I am in Texas, one of the most solidly Republican states in the nation, yet I will not get to vote in the primary until March. Instead,  states that are Purple (the color you get when you mix red and blue) and true-Blue states are deciding the nominee of the party before reliably Red states get to vote.  What is wrong with this picture?  Just think about it:  a handful of states with questionable Republican credentials vote early and select the front-runner before most Red states vote.  Texas has 140 delegates, second only to California with 173, which could be awarded to a candidate the majority of Texas GOP voters may not want.

             With the exception of the Iowa (Purple state) Caucus, the early primaries of New Hampshire (Blue state), Michigan (Blue state) and South Carolina (Red state) are open primaries where Independents and Democrats can cross over and vote.  The winner may not be the choice of a clear Republican majority but that of a combination of Republicans, Independents, and Democrats.

             In any event, the primary is essentially over by the time the Texas March primary rolls around.  We are served up the leftovers for our primary ballots, chosen by Iowa and the three states listed above.  Ask yourself, "Are these the candidates that majority of Republicans want? Are you satisfied with the choices that the early primary states have picked for you? Do you feel disenfranchised?"

             Personally, I'm tired of the choices left by the time March rolls around.  I think it is way past time to make changes in the primary process.  First off, we should begin voting in strong Republican states like Texas.  As in other states, the Texas legislature sets the date of the primary.  However, because of the many problems that accompany a primary date change, the bill never made it out of committee last year.

             Whatever inconvenience it might cause to the election officials, the selection of our nominees is too important to worry about that.  We need to contact our State Senators and State Representatives, as well as national party leaders, to make either all primaries on the same date, or move the Texas primary to an earlier date.  The end result would be a better choice of candidates and our choice would count.  In addition to changing the date, they can also close the primaries so that only Republicans can vote in Republican primaries.  What a novel idea.

 Anne Coker is 4^th Vice President of The Arlington Republican Club and owns a company that sells pre-employment tests to businesses.

March 4,Texas Republican Primary and Precinct Conventions
March 27, ARC Meeting, City Council and School Board Candidate Forum at Cacharel
March 29,Senatorial District Conventions
April 24, ARC Meeting, guest James Dark, Exec. Dir. of TexasState Rifle Assn at Cacharel
May 22, ARC Meeting, guest Jonathan Saenz, Free Market Foundation at Cacharel
June 12-14, State Republican Convention, Houston, TX

Feb. 1, Brandon Hill
Feb. 6, Teresa Moore
Feb. 8, Priscilla Mathis, Carl Oehler
Feb. 12, Dale Attebery, Art Berger
Feb. 13, Bertha Westerman
Feb. 16, Andrew Piel
Feb. 19, Gary McGaw
Feb. 21, Walid Joulani