On Monday, President’s Day, I had the opportunity to attend former Congressman Allen West’s campaign stop in Belton, Texas, at Sendero Shooting Sports. It was a decent crowd for a Monday holiday, and they were active and engaged with many important questions for the gubernatorial candidate, who was warmly received and repeatedly applauded by attendees. Questions ranged across many issues, from education, school choice, and home-schooling, to the crisis at the border about which his incumbent rival, Governor Greg Abbott, has done scarcely little. West also served as the Chairman of the Republican Party of Texas, and among the first questions, he was asked by a prospective voter whether the rumor had been true: “Is it true that while you were the chairman of the Texas Republican Party, Governor Abbott wouldn’t even meet with you?” The response was refreshing candor from a candidate: “That is a fact.” This highlights one of the problems in Texas politics: The Austin crowd, including Abbott, simply don’t care what the people of Texas want until there’s an election looming. Then what you get is a fan-dance of symbolism. Allen West isn’t interested in useless, symbolic gestures of leadership.
One such act by Governor Abbott has been the much-ballyhooed deployment of 500 National Guardsmen to the Mexican border, but what has that deployment accomplished? Has it stemmed the tide? Has it done anything to secure Texas? Texans know that we have around one-thousand miles of border with Mexico. If you split five-hundred guardsmen into two twelve hour shifts, that’s a man every fourth mile, but by the time you actually consider logistics and so on, this token force of 500 Guardsmen is inadequate by any measure. As West pointed out at this event, Guardsmen are having problems being paid, and they’re insufficiently armed or otherwise equipped to carry out a mission, never mind the woeful lack of manpower. West wryly noted that as was recently reported, Texas National Guardsmen are now discussing unionizing because of the ridiculous conditions under which they’ve been deployed.
West also pointed to the unwillingness of State officials in Texas to do much, always pointing at the Federal Government, while claiming powerlessness and impotence. West scoffs at the notion that the Governor of Texas, or the state in its entirety, is powerless to intervene. One measure discussed was the ability to deny operations to the Non-Governmental Organizations now aiding and abetting Biden’s corrupt administration of our borders and our immigration system. Huge grants have been made to these NGOs, always aimed at letting them do the dirty work of human-trafficking. West advocates putting an end to this in Texas.
Many issues were discussed, including education, and this was another issue in which Federal government strings are attached to so much of the money sent by Washington DC to the states. West said that it’s time to put the Federal government back in it’s proper box, within the four sides of the limits placed by the US Constitution. He also went out of his way to point out that he supports the notion that the money should follow the students, but that the state mustn’t intrude in home-schooling, that works for so many, and frequently produces many of our best and brightest. His notion is to give these tools to all Texans, rich and poor, one and all, so that we can improve the future of Texas. He scorned the Federal strings that require a portion of Federal educations dollars be spent on “Social-Emotional Education,” a new code-phrase for CRT and other nonsensical educational ideas.
It was a very engaged crowd, and West took many questions. It was an excellent event wherein voters could learn more about the candidate and his views, in order to assess his fitness for the office. The candidate didn’t get the questions in advance, making for a lively round of frank talk on the issues. What’s more, it’s clear that West has a good command of the issues facing Texas, and it’s obvious that he’s developed a sensible plan to actually do something, rather than make empty promises and carry out official fan-dances in the manner of Governor Abbott. It was absolutely refreshing, and if West is coming to your area, I’d definitely suggest you attend. We have had nearly three decades of talk from politicians in Austin. It’s time we elect a person with actual military experience and an eye for the kind of tactics that work. He has legislative experience, having been a Congressman, and he also understands the importance of service, given his career in the US Army and his many deployments on our behalf. I happily and unreservedly commend to you Allen West, a candidate for Governor of the Lone Star State, who is out to make that star shine!
You can learn more about his campaign here, including where future events will be happening near you!