Green Beret Sees Hispanic GOP Movement As Insurgent

Multi-Media GOPIsForMe.com Gets Name Brand Recognition

"We can mount an insurgency. You see, you have to know how
to mount an insurgency before you can learn how to counter
an insurgency."

The speaker is talking about countering an out-of-town
organizing cadre working the streets of Waco to get out the
vote for long-term incumbent Democratic Congressman Chet
Edwards.

Looking around himself in the Mexican restaurant, Sgt. Bert
Hernandez shrugged and concluded the four-to-one Republican
turnout over Democratic Party totals in the Primary
elections sent a clear message in Congressional District 17.

He says it signals that it's high time to move forward with
the second phase the plan to bring conservative values to
McLennan County and the Brazos Valley by recruiting Hispanic
voters to take up the GOP banner.

"I'll be blunt. We're the only ones with a plan," he added,
shrugging. The membership of the Hispanic Republican Club of
McLennan County listened carefully.

They were receiving their marching orders for the District
17 Congressional run-off race between Rob Curnock and Bill
Flores. But the plan extends further than that, much
further.

From now until November 2, Hispanic Republicans will be
supporting the activities of the TEA Parties, the Republican
Party of McLennan County and individual candidates for
office, "as long as they are conservative."

A certified reserve Woodway Police Officer who patrols that
city's residential streets by night and an employee of the
city's largest Ford dealer by day, Mr. Hernandez is a
veteran of the counterinsurgency war waged by Green Berets
in Vietnam. He operated with Montagnard Tribesmen,
navigating the highlands of that nation organizing and
recruiting everywhere they went.

It's the central core experience of his adult life. For that
reason, he often resorts to military terms particularized to
special operations to describe the evolutions of his
activism.

For instance, insurgency and counterinsurgency were words in
common parlance and circulation during the early years of
his adult life. Now, insurgency has been demonized by years
upon years of the war on terror.

But in this instance, Mr. Hernandez has no sinister puposes.
It's just his way of describing his mission.

In this fight, he says, the mission is to show Hispanic
people that their traditional family values, conservative
values of hard work, respect for authority and the law,
education and thrift, are the same as those of the Grand Old
Party.

"Everyone knows Chet Edwards is on a list of people who get
a lot of money. Everyone knows there is an Organizing For
America office here in Waco. Everyone knows that ACORN has
sent people to work with them...We'll see what we can do to
counter a bunch of people from out of town who are working
for minimum wage."

As to an uncooperative and uneasy truce with traditional
Republican leadership "out on Lake Shore Drive," he said,
"We can mount an insurgency against the Republicans. We
can't mount an insurgency against the Democratic Party
unless you're ready to go totally Marxist."

The idea is to recruit, motivate, organize, teach and mentor
political novices in the intricacies of party politics - how
to become a precinct delegate, become a precinct chairman,
become delegated to the County Convention and get sent to
the State Convention at Dallas this summer.

"In the past, this was all something that was kept in the
dark. This time last year, I had no idea how all this was
done. We're going to show people how simple it really is."

The Hispanic Republicans of McLennan County Club has a
membership roster of about 130 "core cadre." They are
recuiting more each day. So far, they have organized
another club at Bryan with the help of Brazos County
Repubican County Chairman Paul Rieger.

Similarly, the organization is taking a more visible role
each day in the happenings organized by the TEA Parties.

Duke Machado, president of the Hispanic Republicans Club
said that when Mr. Justice Felipe Reyna of the 10th Court of
Appeals was invited by the Burleson TEA Party to appear at a
function there, he agreed to come, but only if Mr. Machado
was allowed to come with him and make introductory remarks
about himself, GOP Is For Me.com, and introduce the judge.

It's name brand recognition and it's coming their way on a
daily basis.

There is a creative, advertising, internet and blog talk
radio component to the operation's traditional telephone
calling, sign placement, transportation services to the
polls and voter registration work.

Their territory is limited only by the boundaries of the
worldwide web and the internet.

It's called GOP Is For Me.com and it consists of a website
that coordinates announcements of news, blog talk radio
programs and video interviews of candidates archived and
ready to be seen at the click of a mouse.

The outfit will host a runoff candidates' debate between Mr.
Curnock and Mr. Flores at the Palladium in a live internet
video simulcast on Wednesday, March 24. Doors at the event
to be held on Austin Ave. will open at 6 p.m. The debate
begins at 7 p.m.

http://www.gopisforme.com