Greetings from South Texas. Two years ago, I was given the opportunity to serve on the State Republican Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Texas. I represent Senate District 26 which consists of only one county, Bexar. With great pride I feel honored to say that The Alamo is in my Senate District.

joe SolisWilliam Barrett Travis wrote the following words 170 years ago from the Alamo:

Our state party finds itself under attack from an assortment of foes; a district attorney in Travis County who uses public office to satisfy his lust for making life miserable for Republicans; Liberal Democrats who mock our conservative values as out-of-touch even though voters overwhelmingly approve these values through ballot initiatives; and, recently over the last few months, there has been friendly-fire from Nate Crain of Dallas and from other places in the internet world.

Every Republican has a right to complain and voice their discontent about our leadership. That is part of the game. We benefit when the criticism is constructive and forward thinking. At our recent SREC meeting in San Antonio, Jeff Fischer made it very clear. We are raising money at record levels and our spending is below budget. Yet, Nate Crain insists that the state party is collapsing because we are in "debt" and that there is no solution except to fire the leadership. Based on what we have seen and heard at our leadership meetings, the numbers presented by Nate Crain must come from some other planet.

The friendly-fire from Mr. Crain and others is part of Texas politics. (I for one am guilty of taking shots at Republicans who have lost touch with the grassroots.) I offer one piece of advice for those who spend countless hours tossing molotov cocktails at our party leaders via e-mail and snail mail. Consider throwing some of your grenades at liberal Democrats or roll up your sleeves and tell us how you are helping to grow our party.

I support Republican Party of Texas Chairman Tina Benkiser for re-election for three reasons: 1) Chairman Benkiser does a first class job articulating our values to the media, our elected officials and grassroots supporters. She can stand up to Bill O’Reilly or any elected official who tries to convince her that Texans really need video lottery terminals. She draws a line in the sand on many issues and encourages her opponents to "bring it on". I have never seen her flinch when she is in battle.

2) Our Party’s financial status over the past two years has been outstanding. We continue to raise impressive sums from major donors and grassroots supporters who give us $10 donations. Chairman Benkiser has helped our party develop a broad and diverse base of supporters. Why would we want to jeopardize two years of fundraising successes?

3) Finally, Chairman Benkiser has a leadership style that I admire tremendously as do many. She does her best to accommodate those who may not agree with her at our assorted meetings. Instead of issuing endless replies to the barrage of disparaging e-mails about her and the party, she continues to do what she does best. Defend our values, grow our party and keep marching forward. I respect that class which is hard to describe. It just works.

Two years ago, I supported Gina Parker for state party chairman. I respect and admire what she is doing to educate grassroots voters about legal issues and the constitution. The whispers of a rematch make me cringe because this state party has laid the foundation for our ongoing growth through our current programs. I am proud to be part of the team that is helping to cultivate a new generation of non-traditional voters in this state. Those voters will determine whether we remain a dominant party in this state.

Another protracted and personal intra-party fight will cost both sides money, energy and cause unnecessary divisions, especially this year. All of this time and resources should be aimed at defeating the Democrats this fall. This election season we face a grandma, who can’t shoot straight, Democrats who are determined to take down Congressman Tom Delay and intense fights over judicial posts held by Republicans.

All of this brings me back to thoughts of the Alamo. Texans are capable of tremendous feats when we are united, focused and determined to succeed. When we meet again this June we have a golden opportunity to follow in the footsteps of those revolutionary Texans.

May we march forward together and save our fire for the liberal left who wants us to implode. Let me conclude by saying that I pray that we "never surrender nor retreat" against those who want to pull us back to the days when this state was controlled by Democrats. That should fire us up to be united.

Joe Solis is the Founder and Director of SouthTexasRepublicans.com.

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