Sarah Palin, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum Endorse Ted Cruz for US Senate

Ted Cruz for U.S. Senate Texas Election has already been endorsed by most top Conservatives, conservative groups and tea party organizations from Texas and across the nation.

Within the last week, more big names have also lined up to throw their support behind Ted Cruz including Sarah Palin, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul.

The race is a close race with 4 big names so a runoff election very likely between the top two candidates, David Dewhurst and Ted Cruz.

The Texas Republican Primary Election Day is May 29th, 2012

TX Woman gets over 3000 signatures for Texas Presidential Debate (w/ Mitt Romney & Ron Paul?)

Update: Petition now has over 5000 signatures!

This past weekend at my County Convention in Hardin County, TX, I was pleasantly surprised when a young woman from my county,
Chelsea Willis, approached me and said she had a petition with over 3000 signatures on it. The petition was to try to persuade Mitt Romney to come to a Texas Republican Presidential Debate. The petition is titled "Potential Nominees, attend the GOP Debate (Houston, TX on May 24th, 2012)"

In recent years, Texas has had little say in the Republican Presidential Race. The Texas GOP tried to put Texas on the map by getting together a debate on May 24th in Houston, TX. Mitt Romney was the only candidate to snub this Texas debate.

Even with Santorum suspending his campaign (dropping out of the race), Chelsea knew that the race was not over and many states still have not voted, so on April 14th Chelsea sprang into action by starting an online petition in support of this Texas debate with Gingrich, Paul and Romney. The petition specifically urges Mitt Romney to attend.

Since the start of the petition, Gingrich has also announced he suspending his campaign (dropping out)

Although it now seems unlikely that any other Presidential candidate other than Mitt Romney will get the Republican Nomination, it is encouraging to see that even regular voters in little Texas counties are standing up and trying to make a difference. Getting over 3000 signatures is pretty impressive for this rather low-key controversy.

Even with just Ron Paul and Mitt Romney left in the race, the point is to show Romney that Texas does not like being ignored, so I encourage everyone to go to this link and sign the petition http://www.change.org/petitions/mitt-romney-debate-ron-paul-houston-tx-on-may-24th-2012

Who knows, if she gets enough signatures maybe Romney will actually take notice. I hear that a major news outlet would be interested in a debate with just Ron Paul and Mitt Romney. That would be interesting!

Below is a personal letter from Chelsea Willis regarding her petition:

I created a petition titled "Potential Nominees, attend the GOP Debate (Houston, TX on May 24th, 2012)" because I care deeply about who becomes the GOP nominee.

I understand that the SREC has received a commitment from a major television network to televise the debate, and that the remaining GOP nominees, except Romney, have pledged to be at the debate. In addition, it is my understanding that the SREC passed a resolution that intensely urged the uncommitted nominee to attend the Texas GOP Presidential Debate. In response, I have created an online petition to encourage Romney to debate Gingrich and Paul. The ultimate purpose of the petition is to gather constituent support for the debate, and I could really use your assistance in getting out the word. A substantial number of signatures will convince the uncommitted nominee that attending the debate is in the best interest of his campaign.

To read more about what I'm trying to do and to sign my petition, click here.

It will just take a minute!

Once you are done, please ask your friends to sign the petition as well. Grassroots movements succeed because people like you are willing to spread the word!

Sincerely,
Chelsea Willis

Rick Santorum Dropping Out of Race, Texas GOP SREC Members Still Pushing for Winner Take All

Rick Santorum has made the decision to drop out of the 2012 Republican Presidential race. I believe it has to do with tending to his ill daughter.

This does not affect the push to have an Emergency Texas GOP SREC Meeting to change our rules back to Winner Take All.

The push for Winner Take All has never been about Santorum for me. It has always been about not being bullied, making Texas relevant, and going back to the Winner Take All delegate plan that the Republicans in Texas voted to have at the State Convention.

Sincerely,
David Bellow
SREC

Texas GOP State Chairman Munisteri is FOR Winner Take All – It's Fair & Grassroots Want It - RNC Waiver Likely

The State Chairman of the Republican Party of Texas has come out and expressed support for Texas going back to Winner Take All. He also explained why the Texas GOP has a good reason to qualify for a waiver if needed due to our circumstances, and also explained that the National Convention Delegates (Not the RNC) would vote to make the ultimate decision of whether or not Texas should be penalized.

See Bottom of this Article for the Video and Transcript of What Texas GOP Chairman Munisteri had to Say about Texas Winner Take All

Including this recent support from Chairman Munisteri, the support for Winner Take All has been impressive.

The Current Chairman supports it, the Former Chairman Cathie Adams supports it (Munisteri beat Adams for TX GOP Chairman in a heated race two years ago) Kelly Shackelford, the former Attorney for the RNC, also supports it. Even David Barton, one of the most highly influential and respected Republican in Texas, has come out supporting it. 

Winner Take All is More Fair

Going back to our previous Winner Take All system is also more fair than proportional because our previous winner take all system was not a true winner take all system. It is a modified winner take all that allows each Congressional District in Texas to have a voice. In our previous winner take all system, if a candidate wins 50% or more in a congressional district then they win all the delegates in that congressional district. If they do not win 50% or more in a district then the top vote getter in that district gets 2 delegates and the runner up gets 1. That is local control at its best because the congressional district is the lowest level in a presidential election. Our past “winner take all” system that the SREC wants to go back to is not a true winner take all and it is actually very fair and geared so that each congressional district has a voice.

Grassroots Republicans Support and Voted for Winner Take All and NOT Proportional

Winner take all is what the GRASSROOTS Republicans want. Winner take all has been voted on as our delegation allocation by all the delegates at the State convention. Winner Take all is what Texas WAS and is what has been approved by the delegates from all over Texas at the last State Convention. The only reason we changed to proportional is because we were forced. We just want to go back to what the PEOPLE of Texas have voted to have (winner take all) instead of being irrelevant by staying with proportional (which was not voted on or supported by TX Republicans and was only done to not be penalized by the RNC rules)

I have received some emails from Ron Paul guys saying that we should listen to the grassroots because the grassroots want proportional and that for the SREC to go to winner take all would be and act of elitism and part of a backroom deal.

They are wrong and I have PROOF that the Grassroots Republicans in Texas want Winner Take All and NOT Proportional

My proof is the State Convention.

Every 2 years the 10,000+ Republican Representatives from all over Texas meet for the State Convention. They are the grassroots and they vote on the delegate selection rules. If the "grassroots" want proportional then they could vote to be proportional at the State Convention. If the grassroots did not want to be "modified winner take all" then they would have and could have changed it at the state convention. They HAVE NOT done so. Over the past Conventions, the Grassroots Republican Delegates at the Texas State GOP Convention have CONSISTENTLY voted to keep our winner take all system and not change to proportional.

That is PROOF that the grassroots do not want us to have proportional. Elitism in a backroom deal is what occurred to force TX to become proportional in the first place against our own wishes. The grassroots and the delegates at the State Convention did not vote on that. It was forced upon us. So when someone says it is against the grassroots for the SREC to vote to go back to winner take all, remind them that the SREC members are elected to follow the wishes of the last state convention, and all those grassroots Republicans at the last convention voted to stay winner take all and not proportional!

Sincerely,

David Bellow

SREC SD3

Here is what TX GOP Chairman Munisteri had to say about Winner Take All

This is not a full or exact transcript. Also below this transcript you can click and watch the entire video of the interview with Munisteri so you can see for yourself exactly what he said.

4.8.12-- Inside Texas Politics – Brad Watson interviewed Steve Munisteri, Texas Republican Party Chair (RPT). 

Munisteri explained that he has always been a supporter of Winner Take All. He said that it is not just Rick Santorum supporters that are and have always been for winner take all. Munisteri says he is still undecided.

Munisteri said that Texas has the second most Republican delegates (second to California), more than 3 X the number from Florida, and 6 X more than the number from South Carolina. He believes if Texas moves to WTA that our state will stop being ignored as inconsequential and that Texas can play a big part in the final selection of our Presidential nominee. 

Munisteri said it takes 15 of 62 SREC members to request an emergency meeting. He stated that the SREC/WTA supporters already have the 15, but they are making sure they have a two-thirds majority before submitting their formal request to him to schedule the meeting. Munisteri believes there is already a majority of the SREC members who want WTA. 

Munisteri said the delegate count of 650 for Mitt Romney that is often stated by the media is at least 100 delegates too high because they are using projections from caucuses instead of actual selected delegates. Munisteri says that Romney really only has about 550 delegates and therefore there is still a considerable distance to go before a candidate wins by getting 1144 delegates needed to win the nomination.

Because Romney has refused to participate in the Texas Presidential candidate debate, Munisteri believes this is what has upset Texas voters and has prompted the push for WTA so that Texas would not be ignored. 

Munisteri reminded the listening audience that in 2008, Obama and Hillary battled it out until June before settling on Obama. In 1976 the choice of Ronald Reagan as the Republican nominee went right down to the final vote on the convention floor and no one knew who would be the nominee until the National Convention. Munisteri said that there is no reason to rally around a candidate before the nomination process is over and before there is a winner. He said that the best thing to do is to let the process play out fully so that the best nominee will be selected. He said that in 2008 and in 1976, Obama and Reagan had time to get ready for their general election opponent even though they had long party nomination process.

Chairman Munisteri said that even though states had to submit their rules to the Republican National Committee back in October 1, 2011, a waiver from those rules could be sought by vote of the RNC Executive Committee. 

Munisteri went on to explain that it was the RNC that forced Texas to move to proportional from its previous delegate winner take all hybrid plan because the RNC wanted to punish Texas for scheduling its primaries in March. However, now that our primaries have been moved back to May 29, he believes it is fair to move our state back to its original rules. Munisteri explained that Texas could make an argument that we are not changing our rules by going back to winner take all and therefore should not be punished. We are not changing the rules, we are just going back to our ORIGINAL rules that were in place since the last convention before the RNC forced us to change. He explained that the Delegates at the National Convention have the ultimate power to punish or not punish Texas because there can always be a floor fight at the National Convention to challenge the RNC’s credentials or rules committee; a successful challenge would mean the entire Texas delegation could be seated.

Brad Watson’s interview with Steve Munisteri is the first seven minutes of the video. 

Click The Video Below to Watch the Full Chairman Munisteri Interview:

Texas “Winner Take All” is NOT about Romney or Santorum. It is about TEXAS

Texas MUST go to Winner Take All in order to be relevant in this Presidential Election. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain! This has nothing to do with Santorum or Romney. It is about TEXAS. Also, the RNC and DOJ cannot stop us or scare us!

I am a Santorum supporter and I am a Texas GOP SREC member in favor of an Emergency Meeting to go to Winner Take All, but it is very important to make it clear that I have been for winner take all WELL BEFORE I was a Santorum supporter. In fact, I was never in agreement with Texas being forced by the RNC last year to change from to Winner Take All to proportional. My past blog articles serve as proof that winner take all has never been about Santorum for me because I have been for Winner Take All well before I supported Santorum. My support for winner take all has always been about giving Texas a voice and making us relevant. We are the biggest Republican State in the nation and we are always overlooked! Could winner take all for Texas benefit Santorum? Sure it could. That is why the Santorum campaign is really getting on board with this and it is exciting his base. But it could also benefit Romney if he comes here and campaigns hard because with his money and network he could win Texas and get all of our delegates under winner take all. Winner take all is not about Santorum or Romney. It is about giving Texas a voice and getting candidates to recognize Texas and campaign here and have debates here.

Texas GOP SREC Members are for Winner Take All to Make Texas Relevant, Not to Help Santorum or Hurt Romney

The media is making it look like the push for winner take all is about trying to help Santorum. The truth is that Santorum supporters are not the only SREC members in favor of winner take all. In fact, the entire SREC (including Romney supporters) voted to last month to pass the resolution warning Romney to come to our debate. That is proof that this is not about Romney or Santorum. We are just tired of being ignored. This is about making Texas relevant instead of having candidates ignore us every election. A national debate can give Texas a place in the national race and it is insulting for the frontrunner Romney to reject coming to our Nationally Televised Texas Presidential Debate. Winner take all will make Texas relevant on a national level because all the candidates will want to come to TX to compete for our 155 delegates. Winner take all will shake things up and keep the race alive until Texas votes. Santorum will compete hard in Texas because he wants to keep Romney from getting 1144 delegates and force a brokered convention. Romney will want to come to Texas and campaign here to try to get our 155 delegates to help secure his bid for the nomination. This is not about Santorum or Romney. This is about Texas. Considering all the national attention we have stirred up, I think it is safe to say that it is already working!

The DOJ and RNC will not Hurt or Stop Us from going Winner Take All

In February, I proposed going back to Winner Take All but the SREC voted against it because we did not have an election date set in stone yet and there was fear that the DOJ would push our election day back even more if we tried to go back to Winner Take All. Now that our election date is set in stone, the DOJ does not worry us anymore. If we go to Winner Take All now then what do we have to fear from the DOJ? The DOJ cannot push back our election. The only thing that the DOJ can do is to say no and try to get an injunction to stop us from going to Winner Take All. What do we have to lose? I do not think the DOJ will reject it anyways because if they do reject us then that just sets us up to be able to sue them because it is CLEARLY unconstitutional to tell Texas that we cannot be Winner Take All, but at the same time they allow other states to be Winner Take All.

As far as the RNC goes, we are not worried about them either. We followed their rules and went to proportional when our election was before April. Now that our election is after April, due to liberals and a federal court unfairly pushing our election back, we should be allowed to be Winner Take All like everyone else. The RNC has no authority to punish us anyways. Only the national convention can do that. The RNC spokesman try to say that we will for sure be punished, but in reality, they cannot punish us and the only way we can be punished is if someone at the national convention objects to what we did and then the entire body would vote. I do not believe that the majority of the national convention delegates would vote to penalize Texas for going Winner Take All because any state with an April or later Primary is allowed to be Winner Take All.

Proportional is not More Fair vs. Winner Take All

If you run for city council with 2 other people do you split up the city council seat based on the percentage of the votes you get? NO. The person who gets the most votes wins the city council seat. The same thing with the Presidential race, there is no proportional “popular vote” in the Presidential race. If a candidate wins a state in the November General Election then they get all of the Electoral College delegates from that state. The same thing should apply to the Republican Nomination. The Republican candidate who wins Texas should be the candidate that the State of Texas gets behind. Otherwise we might as well throw states rights out the window and just go to a nation-wide popular vote (proportional).

We Have Nothing to Lose But Everything to Gain! Let’s go Winner Take All!

Ultimately, we have nothing to lose but everything to gain. We are completely irrelevant now as it is so no threats of penalties can make us any more irrelevant than we already are. On the other hand, we have everything to gain by taking a shot at changing our rules and possibly putting Texas in the spotlight and making us a must win state that candidates will not want to ignore. Win or lose, we should stand up for Texas and fight back against us slipping off into not ever being relevant. Our message to America should be 'Don't Mess With Texas' the race is not over, bring it on!

Urgent: Texas GOP “Winner Take All” Emergency SREC Meeting

Now it is time to take it to the next step. Now it is time to do something that we should have done a long time ago. Now is the time for Texas Republicans to have a voice and be relevant. It is time to go back to winner take all!

We need 15 members of the 62 Texas Republican Party State Republican Executive Committee members to sign a petition in order to call for an emergency meeting of the SREC to change the Texas GOP rules back to us being a Winner Take All state instead of being proportional.

We already have 15 or more members ready to sign the petition to call this emergency meeting.

Before we turn in the petition and call the meeting, we want to make sure we have enough support from all the other SREC members. Things are looking good so far! Call your SREC member and ask them to support an emergency meeting to go back to winner take all.

Once we see that we have enough support from the rest of the SREC, we will then turn in the petition and call the emergency meeting.

Texas Needs to be Winner Take All to have a Voice and be Relevant

As a member of the SREC and I have advocated for several months and written many articles advocating for Texas to go back to winner take all in order to have any kind of relevancy in the Republican Presidential race. I never wanted to go to proportional in the first place and I made it know at the SREC meeting last year when we voted to go proportional. We were forced to go to proportional though because of the RNC rules that said any state primary election before April would have to be proportion. The liberals and the federal courts have pushed our election back to well after April so now we need to go back to winner take all to be able to have a voice in this presidential race before it is over! Why should other states with April and later elections get to be winner take all and Texas can’t? It is a shame that Texas is the largest Republican state in the nation and we are ignored and never have a say in the Presidential race. We have 155 delegates and if we put all of our delegates behind the candidate who wins Texas then we can really have an impact. Candidates will come to Texas to campaign because they will not want to risk losing 155 delegates in a race where 1144 delegates are needed to win the nomination. 

The Republican Presidential Race is NOT Over Even Though Romney and the Media Says it is

No one is even close to winning the 1144 delegates needed to win the nomination. No matter what Romney and the media says, you cannot win the Republican Nomination until you have 50% or more of all the Republican Delegates in America supporting you. If you cannot win at least 50% of the delegates then that means that 50% of more of America wants someone else and there will be a brokered convention where the delegates can come together and decide who the nominee will me. Texas can have a huge impact if we go back to winner take all. The media says the race is over but it is not. With the vote being split 4 ways in nearly every state election, it is very possible that no candidate will get the 1144 needed to win and that would force a brokered convention. Certainly no candidate will have 1144 delegates before Texas votes May 29^th, 2012. With 155 delegates, Texas could force that brokered convention if, for instance, the voters of Texas give all of our delegates to Santorum over Romney, which is what the polls are showing now.

Mitt Romney has Ticked off Texas Republicans

 This is not about Romney though. It never has been about Mitt Romney. From the beginning, going back to winner take all has always been about giving Texas a voice in the presidential race. The only way we can do that is to be winner take all. I have been for winner take all well before we had any idea of who would still be in the race today. I have advocated going back to winner take all well before Santorum was even doing well in the polls. Going to winner take all has never been about Romney. The only reason Romney has entered this controversy now is because he decided to ignore the largest Republican state in the nation. He has so far told us he does not want to come to our nationally televised Texas debate and has told us the race is over and that he does not need us. Now Texas Republicans are mad and we have a message to Romney. Don’t Mess With Texas! The race is not over! We have 155 delegates so you better not ignore us, especially if we go back to winner take all! The SREC has passed a resolution warning Romney that it will not be good for him is he does not care about Texas and if he snubs our debate. 

Sincerely,

David Bellow

SREC – SD3

David Barton of Wallbuilders, along with Kelly Shackelford and Michael Quinn Sullivan, have released the following message in Support of Winner Take All:

Texas' Role in Choosing the President We in Texas know that we are a significant force in national conservative politics. After all, we have the largest Republican congressional delegation of any state, and ours is a conservative delegation! We also have 155 delegates at stake in the presidential primary – that’s more than the famous first five primary states combined (Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida, and Nevada). Those five states are considered to have set the tone for the entire presidential race, but Texas has not spoken yet – and we can speak with a louder voice and with more impact than all of those states! Under our winner-take-all system, our 155 delegates have a significant impact on any presidential race. But this year, the Republican National Committee was poised to penalize Texas for holding our primary in March (as we always do) by imposing on us a proportional delegate count, so the Republican Party of Texas moved away from our normal presidential procedure. But then the federal courts got involved and delayed the Texas primary until May. So Texas now has an opportunity to regain its unified voice by going back to a winner-take-all primary. Contrary to what you may have heard from the national media, the race for the Republican presidential nominee is far from over. After all, only 37% of delegates have been assigned so far; and the media has been completely wrong on the number of delegates that separate Romney from the others (particularly the oft-repeated Associated Press count) – the actual count shows the gap to be much narrower than claimed. Texas can therefore have a clear and powerful voice in selecting a conservative Republican nominee for president by moving back to a winner-take-all system. All it takes is for the State Republican Executive Committee (SREC) to call a meeting and make the rule change before the Texas primary vote. Please contact your SREC member and ask them to convene and make that change; and also contact the Republican Party of Texas and let them know that you want to see Texas regain its national voice. Please act on this as quickly as possible - Texas, as the biggest conservative state in the country, should be allowed to speak with the loudest voice!! Thanks for all you do to keep Texas a conservative state! God bless! David Barton (former Vice Chairman of the Republican Party of Texas, 1997-2006; National Delegate 2008, 2004, 2000, 1996) Kelly Shackelford (National Attorney; National Platform Committee member 2008, 2004, 2000) Michael Quinn Sullivan (President, Empower Texans*) *For identification purposes only

Texas GOP Passes Resolutions Warning Mitt Romney, Supporting Tom Delay and Approving Abortion Laws

If you are looking for the article about the Texas GOP having an Emergency Meeting to go to "Winner Take All" click on this link: http://hardincountyconservatives.blogspot.com/2012/04/urgent-texas-gop-winner-take-all.html

Below is the article about Texas GOP Passing a Resolution Warning Romney:


The State Republican Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Texas met for a quarterly meeting on Saturday March 31^st, 2012 in Austin, TX.

Several things of importance happened at the meeting, but this article will only cover the resolutions that were passed by the SREC. I will post other articles regarding the other things that happened at the meeting.

There were five resolutions passed at this meeting.

The most pressing and striking resolution that passed was a resolution warning Mitt Romney to go to the Texas Presidential Debate that the Texas GOP is putting together before the Texas Primary on May 29^th, 2012. Gingrich, Santorum and Paul have accepted the invitation to this nationally televised Texas Presidential Debate. Romney has not accepted.

We basically told Romney that if he does not go to the debate then we will take it to mean that he does not care about our large Republican state and therefore he should not get any of our delegates.

That is a strong warning from the largest Republican State Party in America! Don't Mess with Texas Mitt Romney!

The exact wording of the resolution does not say the word "warning", but in my opinion, as one of the people who was there and voted on this resolution, the intent and tone of the resolution was to tell Romney that he had better not ignore us and had better come to our debate or else!

Texas has 155 delegates and if we give our delegates to another candidate then that might be plenty enough to keep Romney from securing the nomination and force a brokered convention. When I say give our delegates to someone else, I mean that the people of Texas might get ticked off at Romney and decide to vote for someone other than Romney and I am not in any way insinuating that the Texas GOP will or can away anyone's delegates and giving it to someone else.

The Texas GOP is bending over backwards to try to get Romney to come here including asking him to let us know what date and location best works for him and the other candidates. We are not dictating to him when and where to be.

We are just tired of not having a voice in the national presidential race and Romney snubbing a debate in Texas when we finally get a national debate will not make us happy.

I of course will fully support the candidate who wins the nomination and join together to fight Obama, but until then the race is not over and Texas should have a say too!

As always, this blog is written by David Bellow, a member of the SREC, and my opinions are not the official voice of the RPT.

Another resolution of note was a resolution in support of Tom Delay. The liberal District Attorney shopped 3 Grand Juries in order to find one in the liberal Travis County that would indict Congressman Tom Delay for something that was not even against Texas law and no one has ever

Santorum has Better Chance than Romney to Beat Obama, according to Polls

I know some people who said they are supporting Romney because they believe that Romney is the Republican who has the best chance to beat Obama. (that worked so well with McCain in 2008 right?)

Anyways, I vote for a candidate based on their beliefs and not on a prediction on who will win in the future. no one knows the future and things always change. Santorum is more conservative than Romney so I support Santurum.

But, since some people vote based on who they think will win, they might want to consider Rick Santorum.

People say that Santorum is not electable of less electable. They are wrong.

All the latest Polls show Rick Santorum polling better against Obama that Romney.

Not only does Santorum have a higher popularity rating and fares better than Romney against Obama in national polls, but Santorum is actually beating Obama in polls in the four Key Core States while Romney is losing to Obama in polls in these four Core States.

Rick Santorum New Frontrunner in Battle of States: Santorum = 4 Mitt Romney = 3

The following is an email I got from Donna Garner:

SANTORUM HUGE WINNER – 2.8.12

So far, the GOP has held 8 nominating contests for President:

Santorum– won 4

Romney– won 3

Gingrich– won 1

Missouri– tally from yesterday

Santorum– 55%

Romney– 25%

Paul– 12%

Gingrich (not on ballot)

Minnesota– tally from yesterday (88% precincts reporting)

Santorum– 45%

Paul– 27%

Romney– 17%

Gingrich– 11%

Colorado– tally from yesterday

Santorum– 40%

Romney– 35%

Gingrich– 13%

Paul– 12%

Minnesota and Colorado – non-binding caucuses

Missouri– no delegates at stake

LIBERAL MEDIA AND ITS BIASED REPORTING

With Santorum coming to North Texas today (Wednesday) to hold four different rallies, guess how much coverage the Dallas Morning News gave Santorum in Tuesday’s newspaper? Metro section (2B) – bottom, left hand side, 25 lines, 4 inches x 1 ¼ inches.

The leftist media wants Romney to win because they believe Obama can beat him. Knowing this, what voters need to do is to quit listening/reading what the leftist-influenced media produces and start tuning in to places where the REAL STORY is being told – the conservative Internet bloggers, organizations, websites, and social media.

2.7.12– “Santorum Coming to Texas This Wednesday” – Ramparts360 -- http://ramparts360.com/2012/02/rick-santorum-coming-to-texas-this-wed-2-8-12-plano/

2.6.12– “Why Not Santorum: He’s Got Game” – LibertyLinked -- http://libertylinked.com/posts/9505/why-not-santorum-hes-got/View.aspx

2.6.12– “Santorum Refuses To Leave Race: Huge Rallies Planned in Texas” –Teabook -- http://teabook.org/profiles/blogs/santorum-refuses-to-leave-race-huge-rallies-planned-in-texas-this?xg_source=activity

2.5.12 -- “Good News on Santorum” –EducationViews.org -- http://educationviews.org/2012/02/05/good-news-on-sant0rum/

2.2.12 – “Texans Welcome Rick Santorum” – Voices Empower -- http://www.voicesempower.com/texans-welcome-rick-santorum-on-wednesday-febuary-8th-2012/

2.2.12 – “Santorum Thriving, Only Behind Obama 1 Point – Rasmussen” -- NoCompromisePAC-- http://nocompromisepac.ning.com/profiles/blogs/santorum-thriving-only-behind-obama-1-point-rasmussen-2-2-12?xg_source=activity

1.27.12– “Santorum: The Last Man Standing” – TeaPartyNation - http://www.teapartynation.com/profiles/blogs/the-last-man-standing-by-donna-garner-1-27-12

1.9.12– “Rick Santorum, Conservative Stalwart” – National Review Online --

http://www.nationalreview.com/blogs/print/287441

1.18.12 – “Why Rick Santorum” – LibertyLinked -- http://libertylinked.com/posts/9351/why-rick-santorum----by/View.aspx

1.14.12 – “Evangelical Leaders to Endorse Rick Santorum for President” – LifeNews.com -- http://www.lifenews.com/2012/01/14/evangelical-leaders-to-endorse-rick-santorum-for-president/

1.7.12 – Pro-Life Activist Gary Bauer Endorses Santorum” – Campaign for Working http://www.cwfpac.com/ and http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/gary-bauer-will-endorse-rick-santorum_616175.html

150 of America's Christian Leaders Meet at Texas Ranch and Choose Rick Santorum for President

From CNN:

A meeting of Christian conservative leaders resulted in the group backing GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum, Family Research Council president Tony Perkins announced Saturday.

The group heard pitches from surrogates for Republican candidates on Friday, and voted to support Santorum after voting on Saturday.


"After three rounds of balloting this morning, and vigorous and passionate discussion, there emerged a strong consensus around Rick Santorum as the preferred candidate for this group," Perkins said on a conference call Saturday.

The group of conservative leaders was meeting at a Texas ranch to discuss the 2012 race, although ahead of the meeting it appeared unlikely the gathering would come to an agreement on backing a particular candidate.

Well-known evangelicals flocked to the event, including Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, Perkins, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference president Rev. Samuel Rodriguez and former presidential candidate Gary Bauer. Members of the media were barred from attending.

Perkins expressed surprise the group was able to come to a consensus, but said what resulted would be a stronger chance of beating President Barack Obama.

"I will have to admit what I did not think was possible appears to be possible," Perkins said.
Representatives winnowed the field to two candidates: Santorum and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. The final balloting gave 85 votes to Santorum and 29 to Gingrich.

One of the requirements for attending the meeting was a willingness to support the candidate that emerged as the winner. At least one attendee, American Family Association founder Don Wildmon, has publically endorsed Gingrich.

"There is a hope and expectation that those that are represented here, and their constituencies, that it will have an impact," Perkins said.

The individual organizations represented at the meeting will not coordinate in their efforts to back Santorum, Perkins said.

"It will manifest itself in many different ways," he said.

Perkins said discussion of frontrunner Mitt Romney's Mormon religion did not play a significant role in the weekend's discussion, and that the Romney team sent a surrogate to speak to the conservative leaders
.
"This was not a bash-Mitt Romney weekend, it was focused on the positive," Perkins said. "It's not news that there is not strong support among conservatives for Mitt Romney, and that was reflected here."

Perkins dismissed concerns that the meeting happened too late the GOP race to have an impact, with Romney already having won the first two contests in Iowa and New Hampshire. A CNN/ORC International poll released Friday showed Romney's lead growing over the rest of the field.

"The race is far from being decided," Perkins said. "South Carolina [which votes next Saturday] is a state that is more reflective of conservative voters. So this is good time to see movement toward a particular candidate for conservatives."

Texas Saddle Up Straw Poll Results: 4 Way Presidential Split, Romney Shunned - Ted Cruz Sweeps US Senate Poll - Congressional Polls

SADDLE UP TEXAS RESULTS – IN PERSON

the full list of results can be seen at http://saddleuptexaspoll.com/ I did not post all the state and local race results because it would be really long. Below are the major race poll results

FEDERAL CANDIDATES
CIRCLE ONE CHOICE FOR PRESIDENT
Newt Gingrich		23.8%
Rick Perry		19.4%
Ron Paul		27.9%
Mitt Romney		6.6%
Jon Huntsman		1.1%
Rick Santorum		21.2%
Charles “Buddy” Roemer		0.0%
CIRCLE ONE CHOICE FOR SENATE
Glenn Addison		19.9%
Tom Leppert		3.0%
David Dewhurst		10.3%
Curt Cleaver		0.0%
Ted Cruz		47.8%
Charles Holcomb		0.7%
Ben Gambini		0.0%
Lela Pittenger		7.2%
“Doc Joe” Agris		1.2%
Craig James		9.9%
CIRCLE ONE CHOICE FOR CONGRESS FROM ONE CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT ONLY
DISTRICT 3	Sam Johnson	0.0%
	Josh Caesar	0.0%
	Harry Pierce	0.0%
DISTRICT 4	Ralph Hall	75.0%
	John Cooper	25.0%
	Lou Gigliotti	0.0%
DISTRICT 6	Joe Barton	86.7%
	Joe Chow	6.7%
	Frank Kuchar	6.7%
DISTRICT 8	Kevin Brady	61.3%
	Larry Youngblood	38.7%
DISTRICT 10	Michael McCaul	70.6%
	Ernie Beltz, Jr.	8.8%
	Eddie Traylor	20.6%
DISTRICT 11	Mike Conaway	0.0%
	Chris Younts	100.0%
DISTRICT 13	Mac Thornberry	66.7%
	Pam Barlow	33.3%
DISTRICT 14	Michael Truncale	8.8%
DISTRICT 14	Tim Day	1.1%
DISTRICT 14	Randy Weber	14.3%
DISTRICT 14	John Gay	1.1%
	Bill Sargent	0.0%
	George Harper	9.9%
	Jay Old	1.1%
	Mark Mansius	0.0%
	Robert Gonzalez	62.6%
	Felicia Harris	1.1%
DISTRICT 15	Jim Kuiken	0.0%
	Eddie Zamora	100.0%
	Dale A. Brueggemann	0.0%
DISTRICT 22	Pete Olson	48.5%
	Barbara Carlson	51.5%
DISTRICT 24	Kenny Marchant	0.0%
	Grant Stinchfield	0.0%
DISTRICT 25	Wes Riddle	40.0%
DISTRICT 25	Dianne Costa	0.0%
DISTRICT 25	Michael Williams	60.0%
	Dave Garrison	0.0%
	Bill Burch	0.0%
	Chad Wilbanks	0.0%
	Brian Matthews	0.0%
	Justin Hewlett	0.0%
DISTRICT 27	Blake Farenthold	83.3%
	Don Al Middlebrook	16.7%
DISTRICT 33	Bill Lawrence	0.0%
DISTRICT 33	Chuck Bradley	33.3%
	Roger Williams	66.7%
	Monte Mitchell	0.0%
DISTRICT 34	Trey Roberts	0.0%
DISTRICT 34	Paul B. Haring	0.0%
DISTRICT 34	Bill Tofte	87.0%
	John Grunwald	4.3%
	Marc Young	0.0%
	Adela Garza	4.3%
	Jessica Puente Bradshaw	4.3%
DISTRICT 35	Susan Narvaiz	0.0%
	Rob Roark	100.0%
DISTRICT 36	Kim Morrell	0.0%
DISTRICT 36	Lois Dickson Myers	4.5%
DISTRICT 36	Stephen Takach	2.3%
	Jim Engstrand	84.1%
	Jerry L. Doyle	0.0%
	Mike Jackson	9.1%
	Ky D. Griffin	0.0%

Iowa Caucus Results: Big Win (tie) for Santorum - Perry & Gingrich Alive - Romney Flat - Paul Competing

Rick Santorum had a huge victory in the Iowa Caucus. He came within 8 votes of beating Romney out for first place. This 25% tie (almost a win) win will give Santorum the media attention he needs to compete in future Primaries and Caucuses. Romney and Santorum share the delegates from Iowa with Romney getting 13 and Santorum getting 12. It really is a joke to think that these early primaries and caucuses can carry so much weight. The winner only gets 13 delegates! It takes over 1000 delegates to win the nomination!

There is a long race ahead and I sure hope the media does not conclude who the winner is until after all the states have voted and someone has the over 1000 delegates needed to win. 13 votes means nothing and yet it is silly how much hype that Iowa and these other early states get.

The hype will help Santorum get more exposure and money so that is good for him. Romney comes out bad in this deal because he could not win. As other conservative candidates drop out we will see Romney's numbers stay about the same and some other candidate's numbers go up because there is clearly a large section of "anyone but Romney" voters.

Perry is still very alive after this Iowa Caucus. The winner only got 25% and there were 5 candidates that got in the double digits. Perry ended up with 11%. That shows that the voters are very split between candidates. Perry has lots of money that he can spend on future races. All it takes for Perry to turn the corner is for Perry to survive until some of the big states. By then, some of the other candidates might have dropped out so those candidate's votes could go to Perry as the anti-Romney or anti-Paul candidate. For instance, Texas has a later Primary thanks to the Activist Judges trying to take over redistricting. Many of the states voting before Texas will have half of their delegates taken away because they did not follow RNC rules. If the candidates keep splitting the votes in the early, low population State Primaries, then a big win in a place like Texas could drastically change the race because of the amount of delegates that Texas has.

Ron Paul showed that he is getting more votes than just his base with 22%. Quite frankly, people are getting sick and tired of the status quo and so more and more people are thinking that a drastic change is what is needed. Ron Paul will probably be in the race for a while and he certainly cannot be ruled out.

Newt Gingrich is in the same boat as Perry, except without the money that Perry has. Newt got 14 percent and he could be a guy that people turn to in order to get away from Paul or Romney. That is if Gingrich lasts that long.

Michele Bachmann and Jon Huntsman both got single digits. I guess it is too early to rule anyone completely out, but with little money to get their message out they might not make it very long into the next few months.