Free Republic

Hutchison choice softens intensity of GOP primary ASSOCIATED PRESS AUSTIN (AP) - With Gov. Rick Perry and Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn now strapping up for what promises to be a fiery gubernatorial campaign, expectations of shifting across the Republican primary have all but fizzled out. The GOP holds every statewide elected office in Texas and party leaders had been gearing up for a grand game of political musical chairs in case U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison jumped into the 2006 governor's race. Instead, Hutchison opted for another run at the Senate, leaving most GOP office holders sitting right where they...

Did You Know? Countdown to Victory: Currently, Texas is the only state to have 3 African Americans serving in statewide office—all are Republicans: Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson, Supreme Court Justice Dale Wainwright, and Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams. In the 10 years that Republicans have been the statewide majority (1994–2004), 7 minority Texans have held statewide office; yet in the 122 years that Democrats controlled the State (1872–1994), only 4 minority Texans held statewide office. The Texas Republican Party was formed on July 4, 1867, in Houston by 150 African Americans and 20 Anglos. 2 of the first...

But Mr. Kerry doesn't want black voters to know about it. Take his remarks to the Congressional Black Caucus last month. Mr. Kerry pulled out all the old civil-rights buzzwords to try to make George Bush sound like Bull Connor. He argued that President Bush is "taking us back to two Americas -- separate and unequal."He said there's a "Do not enter" sign on the White House door, to keep blacks out. And he raised the specter of voter disenfranchisement, claiming "some say" the president has plans to keep African Americans out of polling places throughout the land. Mr. Kerry's...

John Kerry wants to be president. But he doesn't want to discuss his unproductive time in the Senate. And he isn't offering credible ideas to extend opportunity and promote ownership in our communities. Instead, he's going back into the old Democratic Party bag of tricks and pulling out . . . the race card. Mr. Kerry has tried to paint President Bush as a racist bent on destroying civil rights. But when you look at the real record, you see that George W. Bush has done more to empower African Americans and other minorities than any president in recent history....

DALLAS - (KRT) - In an effort to attract more blacks to their party, the Republican National Committee is rolling out some of its biggest minority stars for a four-city economic development tour starting Thursday in Detroit. Boxing promoter Don King, 2003 Miss America Erika Harold and Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams will join RNC chairman Ed Gillespie in taking "President Bush's message of opportunity and economic empowerment" to black business leaders, according to an RNC press release. The tour concludes next week with stops in New York, Philadelphia and Miami. "One of my top priorities as chairman is working...

Dorothy Oxendine presides over American Gold Star Mothers Inc., a national organization of women whose sons and daughters have died in military service to the nation. (Photo by Mark Abraham) AMERICAN IDENTITY With the Iraq War, a New Generation of Gold Star Mothers BY DELIA M. RIOS More stories by Delia M. Rios WASHINGTON -- As Dorothy Oxendine knows, the most dreaded words a parent can hear are "We regret to inform you ..." She lost her only son, Pfc. Willie F. Oxendine III, to a land mine in Vietnam on May 30, 1968. His death at age 21...

PHOENIX (BP)--An American soldier who was baptized as a young boy and rededicated his life to Christ before being deployed overseas is one of the latest casualties in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Marine Lance Cpl. Michael J. Williams, 31, was killed in action during a firefight around Nasiriyah, Iraq. The Yuma, Ariz., native was reported missing in action March 26 before the military changed his status three days later to killed in action. He was based in Camp Lejeune, N.C., and assigned to the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade. Williams also was a member of North Phoenix...

Names of the four US Marines who died in yesterday's helicopter crash: Maj. Jay Thomas Aubin, 36, of Waterville, Maine Capt. Ryan Anthony Beaupre, 30, of Bloomington, Ill. Cpl. Brian Matthew Kennedy, 25, of Houston, Texas Staff Sgt. Kendall Damon Watersbey, 29, of Baltimore, Md. The Pentagon has just released the names of two more US Marines who were killed in Iraq. I'll post as soon as I find that.