Two pieces of campaign literature ended up in my mailbox this weekend that sent out a loud and clear message.
The Texas Republican Party is suffering from a form of schizophrenia I never have seen …. at least not to this degree. The examples showed up in competing flyers for two Republicans vying for a seat on the Texas State Board of Education.
Follow me for a moment on this, because it’s a beaut.
Pam Little is running against Jamie Kohlmann in the May 28 GOP runoff for SBOE’s District 12 seat. Little is the incumbent. She finished first in the primary but didn’t gather enough votes to win the GOP primary outright., Hence, the two of them are running off for the nomination.
Little has garnered the endorsement of GOP U.S. Rep. Keith Self, a loud-and-proud MAGA Republican who also has endorsed the election of POTUS No. 45 this fall.
What does Self say about Little? She’s a “strong conservative” who has taken a “bold stance against radical ideologies and focused on positive outcomes for students.” Little helped bring back “cursive writing,” she fought and won “to keep the woke agenda out of our social studies standards. Kohlmann, according to Self, has endorsed a “liberal Democrat” for the Dallas ISD school board and gave him money to assist him in his effort to be elected.
Let’s turn to Kohlmann’s ad. She accuses Little of “voting for radical DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) policies” on the SBOE. Kohlmann accuses Little of contributing to “our kids … being brainwashed by woke liberal ideology.”
Sheesh, man!
I am baffled, bamboozled and befuddled. I know Rep. Self a little bit. I know him to be a staunch conservative. He’s a retired Army officer, a West Point graduate and a combat veteran. He speaks forcefully and with a full-throated ferocity in favor of the agenda pitched by POTUS 45. I am left to ask: Is this the kind of fellow who would endorse a thinly veiled “liberal Democrat?” I think not.
All of this simply demonstrates to me that the Texas Republican Party is as aimless, feckless and lacking in ideas as the national GOP.