[UPDATE 21 July 2010: Randy Shelton has attempted to delete his digital records of these quotes. We have preserved them, and you can read about that and see the evidence here.]
“I realized that the best way to take ahold of the reins of this country is biting my upper lip and pulling that lever for Bill Flores. A RINO is better than the SATAN we have” – Randy Shelton, Hood County (TX) Republican Party Chair, 18 June 2010
Seems that what I’ve been writing about since December is known and agreed upon at the highest levels of the District 17 Republican Leadership. I’m not much for gloating, but I will tell you that I told you so.
Bill Flores has been acknowledged by a District 17 Republican Party Leader as a known RINO in the Republican Party. That means he is no Conservative.
Randy Shelton is the newly elected Chairmen of the Hood County Republican Party. He posted a comment to this blog on Friday, June 18th, in response to American Herald Scott Kimble’s article, “Do The Math District 17 Conservative”.
When I realized he was a leader of the Republican Party (He left his web site address in his comment), I did (as I have done previously with Paul Rieger of the Brazos County GOP and will do in any other similar situation) what any decent fellow would do: I called Mr. Shelton.
I called him because I figured it wasn’t fair to pigeon-hole into the few words of a blog comment, by their own design or accident, somebody who represents such a large group of people. I wanted Mr. Shelton to have the opportunity to get to know me, and for me to get to know him, and for us to know each others’ perspectives so that we could probably determine that we were on the same side. I also called him because his comment intrigued me, especially this:
“I backed Rob, Sill back Rob, and would to this Day vote for him…lets Take our Country Back first then we can worry about who is best to lead us in Congress!!!” (sic)
(I will leave for another day the idea that we can take our Country back when we give it again to the same people (RINOs) who allowed the liberals to take over the country in the first place.)
Mr. Shelton advertises on his web site his affinity for a desire to emulate Ronald Reagan, so I thought he was a shoe-in for a good Conservative conversation. His web site says:
“It is my intention going forward to communicate with you the voter. Like Ronald Reagan, the great communicator a Republican icon of his time. I to will communicate with you on the issues attacking our morals and ideals. With you I will come up with common sense conservative ideas and approaches to spur grass roots movement like nobody has seen since Reagan’s day.” (sic)
I think the RINO is a major issue attacking our Reagan/Conservative and morals and ideals, so I figured Mr. Shelton and me to be two peas in a pod!
Mr. Shelton answered the phone, and I identified myself and said I was calling to see if we could arrange a time in the next few days. He allowed as to how he was busy right then and over the weekend (So was I, as I was about to begin a game of BattleShip with my son!), but since he now had my phone number on his cell phone, he would call me back the next week and make those arrangements.
During the course of the conversation he volunteered this:
“I’m a conservative. I was a Tea Partier before I was elected as a Chairman. I’m all about strong conservative movements. And I know Bill Flores might not be the best choice. And I know where y’all are coming from; as I was there on election night of the same mindset. But I realized that the best way to take ahold of the reins of this country is biting my upper lip and pulling that lever for Bill Flores.”
Mr. Shelton never got back to me, though I made two other attempts to remind him that he had said he would. By this time he had my email address, phone number, and facebook friendship.
I know Mr. Shelton is a busy man. I don’t play facebook applications so I don’t know for sure, but there are a LOT of “leveling up” type of announcements on his facebook wall during the interim from my first contact and now, so I think he probably had some time to call back…
During a facebook discussion about Scott Kimble’s excellent “Do the math” piece, Mr. Shelton said, referencing Flores and Congressman Chet Edwards respectively:
“I Have to echo Bob Hear even though i am a staunch conservative!!! A Rino is Better than Satan!!!!” (sic, “Hear” should be “here”, etc.)
Bob [I have changed the name, ed.], referenced here, had said:
“A RINO is better than the SATAN we have.”
Hmmmm….
Would Reagan agree? Or would he equate the two, not as Satans or even the spawn of the Dark Lord, but as Liberals (he would call them “our misguided friends across the aisle,” I think). Used to be a Conservative and a Republican was one and the same. Then the term RINO was created to describe someone to the left of a Republican – which makes the RINO ideologically liberal, relatively. Then the entire GOP moved to the left, leaving us Conservatives to acknowledge that they, too, are RINOs, in the classic sense of the term.
Ergo Reagan, a Conservative, would see a RINO and a Liberal as one and the same, and neither better than the other. Both being our misguided friends…
Well, draw your own conclusions. I don’t think I need to spell this out for you. If you are a conservative, you know the right thing to do with your vote. If you’re a Republican, this won’t matter to you because it’s the culture you are in – “anything for the party.” If you are a liberal, then this has no bearing on your Congressional decision anyway.
But if you are an independent, the sought after magic majority maker in this race, then you have to wonder why Mr. Shelton would say these things if Mr. Flores was the Conservative he claims to be. And you might start thinking Edwards is the better choice because he has the power already…why elect a freshman?
I did not want to publish this in this manner. I gave Mr. Shelton plenty of opportunities to interview further with me, and in my last email I gave him until the close of business on July 1 to call me to make arrangements for an interview.
He chose not to take advantage of that, so these comments serve for the record. And remember our policy on quotes.
I do think Mr. Shelton and I ARE two peas in a pod. I like that he has the ability to say what he thinks without having to parse words, and I hope he continues that. How refreshing! I do not discount Mr. Shelton’s fervor and desire to change the Party from within. In fact, I hope he comes out and boldly confirms what he has told me, as quoted above (to deny it would be a mistake, certainly).
Wanna change the party from within? Keep saying things like this, Mr. Shelton. You are on the RIGHT side!
I think that would put Mr. Flores on public notice that if he does not toe the Conservative line, he’s out next time around – if nothing else he’s been found out and my assertions the last half-year have been proven and meted out by Mr. Shelton’s words.
If Mr. Shelton doesn’t boldly stand behind what he has said, I think we can safely say the Republican (not Conservative) Machine has successfully eaten one of our own. And there will be more room in the pod.
Unfortunately, Mr. Shelton lives in the northern part of the District, and the District will be split in two during the gerrymandering…so his public words and calls for Flores to turn Conservative would go unheeded.
Flores won’t need Shelton next time around.
[UPDATE 21 July 2010: Randy Shelton has attempted to delete his digital records of these quotes. We have preserved them, and you can read about that and see the evidence here.]
Kristofer Cowles has written 306 articles on this blog.
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Even Democrats and liberals will say what we Conservatives want to hear to try to get our votes. Randy does have RINO correct. Bill has only voted for Hillary and himself since moving into this district, by his own admission. Until March of this year he was listed as a Democrat (although a weak one) and suddenly wants to be our represetative running as a Republican. RINO!!!
That a Republican leader in this district will equate Chet Edwards to Satan and openly state that he has to hold his nose to vote for RINO Flores speaks volumes as to how far to the left the Republican Party has fallen. We do not need “Republicans” in congress to defeat the liberal socialist, we need CONSERVATIVES. Bill Flores is not a Conservative!
Even Democrats and liberals will say what we Conservatives want to hear to try to get our votes. Randy does have RINO correct. Bill has only voted for Hillary and himself since moving into this district, by his own admission. Until March of this year he was listed as a Democrat (although a weak one) and suddenly wants to be our represetative running as a Republican. RINO!!!
That a Republican leader in this district will equate Chet Edwards to Satan and openly state that he has to hold his nose to vote for RINO Flores speaks volumes as to how far to the left the Republican Party has fallen. We do not need “Republicans” in congress to defeat the liberal socialist, we need CONSERVATIVES. Bill Flores is not a Conservative!
Unfortunately, Randy is just a product of the current GOP leadership-settle for what you can get instead of what is right. So long as any leadership in the GOP continues to push winning at any cost, we will continue to provide the nails for our own coffins.
A RINO is nothing more than a Democrat/Liberal that could not win running as a Democrat so they have convinced the party koolaide drinkers to support them because of their money, name recognition or some other pathetic reason just to put an (R) in the seat.
We can no longer accept this type of leadership and expect the Conservative movement to survive in the Republican party. Bill
Flores is the case study for RHINOism. He brought all the money to the table that the NRCC wanted, most likely bought endorsements, paid “volunteers”, and followed the Democrat playbook on how to beat a Conservative. All the name calling of Chet will not change that!
We true independent Conservatives have no choice in this fall’s election. None of the Above sends the message to “party leadership” that we are out there, we are paying attention and will no longer participate in their games. Sorry Randy, but if Hood County has as many Conservatives as I suspect, you may end up being a single term county chair and have possibly ruined any future political dreams you may have.
The lesser of two evils is still evil!
Unfortunately, Randy is just a product of the current GOP leadership-settle for what you can get instead of what is right. So long as any leadership in the GOP continues to push winning at any cost, we will continue to provide the nails for our own coffins.
A RINO is nothing more than a Democrat/Liberal that could not win running as a Democrat so they have convinced the party koolaide drinkers to support them because of their money, name recognition or some other pathetic reason just to put an (R) in the seat.
We can no longer accept this type of leadership and expect the Conservative movement to survive in the Republican party. Bill
Flores is the case study for RHINOism. He brought all the money to the table that the NRCC wanted, most likely bought endorsements, paid “volunteers”, and followed the Democrat playbook on how to beat a Conservative. All the name calling of Chet will not change that!
We true independent Conservatives have no choice in this fall’s election. None of the Above sends the message to “party leadership” that we are out there, we are paying attention and will no longer participate in their games. Sorry Randy, but if Hood County has as many Conservatives as I suspect, you may end up being a single term county chair and have possibly ruined any future political dreams you may have.
The lesser of two evils is still evil!
While Mr Flores wasn’t my first choice for CD17, I have got to know him since and feel he would certainly do a better job for us than Chet. What exactly are you basing the title “RINO” on as it applies to Mr. Flores? He believes in lower taxes, free market solutions, private sector job creation, Christian values, and repealing Obamacare. That’s certainly good enough for me when you put that next to Chet Edward’s voting record!
Thanls for chiming in Carol!
The issue isn’t whether Flores would do a better job than Edwards. The issue is his Conservatism he claims yet the record speaks loudly that he is, in fact and by his own words, not a Conservative.
I’ve gotten to know Bill, too, as much as he will let me, and every action of his points to his not being a Conservative, thus a RINO. That’s meted out throughout this blog, so I won’t reproduce it here.
Just remember, a man is not who he says he is, a man is who he is.
Thanks again for reading! What are your thoughts on the post’s topic about the Hood County Chair even admitting Flores is a RINO? Perhaps he is the one to contact to see what his justifications are, if you are a Republican. He’s the Party leader…we’re just Conservatives!
Cheers!
While Mr Flores wasn’t my first choice for CD17, I have got to know him since and feel he would certainly do a better job for us than Chet. What exactly are you basing the title “RINO” on as it applies to Mr. Flores? He believes in lower taxes, free market solutions, private sector job creation, Christian values, and repealing Obamacare. That’s certainly good enough for me when you put that next to Chet Edward’s voting record!
Thanls for chiming in Carol!
The issue isn’t whether Flores would do a better job than Edwards. The issue is his Conservatism he claims yet the record speaks loudly that he is, in fact and by his own words, not a Conservative.
I’ve gotten to know Bill, too, as much as he will let me, and every action of his points to his not being a Conservative, thus a RINO. That’s meted out throughout this blog, so I won’t reproduce it here.
Just remember, a man is not who he says he is, a man is who he is.
Thanks again for reading! What are your thoughts on the post’s topic about the Hood County Chair even admitting Flores is a RINO? Perhaps he is the one to contact to see what his justifications are, if you are a Republican. He’s the Party leader…we’re just Conservatives!
Cheers!