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Title: Republican Party of Texas Chairman Munisteri leaving post to join Rand Paul's political team (throws Cruz & Perry under the bus)
Source:
The Dallas Morning News
URL Source: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/loca ... rand-paul-s-political-team.ece
Published: Jan 30, 2015
Author: The Associated Press
Post Date: 2015-01-30 11:05:30 by Hondo68
Keywords: None
Views: 1323
Comments: 11
WASHINGTON — Sen. Rand Paul on Thursday picked up the backing of the Republican Party of Texas’ chairman, who is stepping down from his role to take a position as a national senior adviser to the Kentucky Republican’s presidential campaign-in-waiting In doing so, Steve Munisteri bypassed two Texans who are also likely to seek the Republican nomination: Sen. Ted Cruz and former Gov. Rick Perry. Munisteri has known Paul for 34 years, dating back to when Paul’s father represented Texas in Congress, and counts Paul as a friend. “I couldn’t say no to him,” said Munisteri, who will formally leave his post next month and will split his time between Texas and Washington. Munisteri will be tasked with helping Paul fine-tune his communications strategy, as well as help guide Paul’s ongoing effort to appeal to minority and youngers voters, who typically vote for Democrats. “He’s the only conservative candidate that I see who is reaching out to minority voters and young voters,” the 57-year-old Munisteri said in an interview with The Associated Press. “I don’t think we can win a national election unless we do a better job of getting new people into the party.” Munisteri, who was elected to a third term last year, helped the Texas GOP raise $22 million. He joked that his nickname during his tenure as chairman was “beggar in chief.” Munisteri said his roster of contacts will be available to help connect Paul with the deep-pocked donors who define Texas and Republican politics, but he did not plan to have fundraising as his main task. Instead, he planned to help Paul plan a broader strategy. “I have some definite ideas how to lay out a presidential campaign,” he said. Munisteri has worked on White House campaigns in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida — all states considered crucial to winning the nomination. And the Texas GOP is among the best in the nation at recruiting minority voters — a goal Paul has made for his expected campaign. “I am very pleased Steve will be joining our team,” said Doug Stafford, Paul’s top aide. “As a party chair in Texas, he raised the bar for grassroots engagement and performance. His experience in multiple national campaigns will be invaluable to Sen. Paul.” Paul planned to visit Texas this weekend to headline party fundraisers in Dallas and Fort Worth, the latest example of the groundwork he is laying for what is an increasingly likely presidential campaign. Paul has been lining up senior advisers in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. He courted the billionaire Koch brothers last weekend in California while reaching out to party activists who volunteer and power campaigns.
Republican Party of Texas Chairman Steve Munisteri, seen at the party's Fort Worth convention in June, will handle communications on U.S. Sen. Rand Paul's politicial team.
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 5.
#1. To: hondo68 (#0)
Whatever else you may say of Rand Paul, he is the only GOP pol bringing new people to the GOP. The problem is that a small locus of big players in the GOP don't want those new voters. They think they don't need to change at all, vast military spending and unlimited wars around the world are just what the public craves. It's daft but some elements of the GOP actually believe the public just can't wait to get into more wars. The utter failure of the latest wars and the Arab Spring nonsense and the destruction of Libya and much of Syria has done nothing to restrain this constant lust for war by sick GOP pols like the Stain and Lady Lindsey. It's like they just never learn.
Now shift your perspective and look at the GOP all the way back to Ulysses S. Grant's Administration as - at heart - the party of crony capitalist stockjobbing. Who benefits from endless wars of empire? Not the Treasury. Not the people at large. Not even the party's political fortunes, at the margins (but note: they never go to zero, and as long as they have the Courts or the Filibuster - as long as they have one of the four branches of government that can block anything, they can afford to lose ground from time to time, just as long as the citadel of government contract stockjobbing is never breached.) So, who benefits from endless war? Cui bono? Look at the defense contractors and armaments makers and their subsidiaries throughout this long glorious period of profits. We spent as much in Vietnam as we did on the Great Society, but who actually got PAID that money? How did we SPEND it? Not on troop salaries, that's for sure. We spent it on equipment and service contracts. The peacetime defense budged is a quarter-ish of the budget. But in war time, when you put in operational expenses and off-budget items, emergency draws and the like, there are hundreds of billions more funneling into a very few marked profit centers. And THAT is why the Republican Party always have a taste for war: war is INCREDIBLY PROFITABLE for the contractors - the big businesses with monopoly power. They're incredibly well connected, and always have been, and they make a fortune. Does it matter to them, all the bodies and broken limbs, or the damage to the budget and the future? Of course it doesn't! THEY ARE MAKING A LOT OF MONEY. Somebody has to pay, and it ain't them. It's the classic tragedy of the commons: the costs of war are externalized upon the war, but the profits of war are MASSIVE - all that money spent on it gets SPENT and given TO people who provide the armaments and services, and the contractors are a well-connected, protected clan. That's why the Republicans are fond of war: it's the biggest form of corporate welfare for cronies in the budget.
For sure?
There are no replies to Comment # 5. End Trace Mode for Comment # 5.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest“He’s the only conservative candidate that I see who is reaching out to minority voters and young voters,” the 57-year-old Munisteri said in an interview with The Associated Press. “I don’t think we can win a national election unless we do a better job of getting new people into the party.”
#2. To: TooConservative (#1)
(Edited)
It's daft but some elements of the GOP actually believe the public just can't wait to get into more wars. The utter failure of the latest wars and the Arab Spring nonsense and the destruction of Libya and much of Syria has done nothing to restrain this constant lust for war by sick GOP pols like the Stain and Lady Lindsey. It's like they just never learn.
#5. To: Vicomte13 (#2)
How did we SPEND it? Not on troop salaries, that's for sure.
Replies to Comment # 5.
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