Posted Thursday, Jun. 07, 2012
By Bud Kennedy
bud@star-telegram.com
Somebody is taking over Texas Republicans.
I just can't tell yet who.
Both Ron Paul's young delegates and older Tea Party activists plan to take charge soon, if not by the final gavel Saturday of the state party convention.
They sit in facing exhibit booths in the Fort Worth Convention Center, separated by an aisle and a generation.
"Those [Paul delegates] over there are pretty good at making a lot of loud noise, but they're not going anywhere in the long run," said Ray Myers, 68, of Forney, from one of the 11 Tea Party groups sharing a 600-square-foot merchandise booth.
"They won't last. We're letting the establishment know the Tea Party is here to stay."
About half the convention delegates were elected by Tea Party voters, he said, and they booed Thursday when Gov. Rick Perry recommended Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst for U.S. Senate.
Myers called the Tea Party a "little machine" turning out votes for Houston lawyer Ted Cruz for Senate and for Central Texas Tea Party founder Wes Riddle for Congress.
(Myers called Riddle's opponent, Weatherford car dealer Roger Williams, "the establishment.")
Later in the conversation, Myers hinted at a party split.
"Twenty years ago, we all said that we didn't leave the Democratic Party, they left us," he said.
"Well, the same perception is out there right now about the Republican Party."
Across the aisle at the Paul-friendly We Texans booth, former Paul campaign manager Debra Medina of Wharton rolled her eyes at Myers' comments.
"We've brought a lot of young energy to this party," she said, waving a hand at a cadre of young delegates.
She pointed to a 20-ish man with braided hair.
"How old is that guy with the hair? What about that guy with his iPhone? How about that woman on the computer? If you look at them, you see the future of the Republican Party. Twenty or 30 years from now, they'll be here."
She and Paul's delegates avoid talk of takeover and say they want to work from within.
But an impressive turnout of about 2,000 delegates cheered Paul's speech Thursday, enough to win a floor vote depending on who else is on hand.
From a We Texans booth with leather couches, big-screen monitors and a radio studio, Medina looked across at a Tea Party stand like something from a Canton flea market.
"How," she asked, "could anyone say
we won't last?"
It's no longer just a Grand Old Party.
Bud Kennedy's column appears Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays. 817-390-7538Twitter: @budkennedy
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