On a day of marches in Dallas, the future of the Republican Party in Texas might have been taking shape at a smaller rally in a downtown Waco square.
Car salesman Duke Machado, 38, of Woodway is an Air Force veteran and a disgusted Republican.
He and some car dealer friends are also tired of their party ignoring young Latinos.
So they started an independent Republican club, plus a website and a YouTube channel.
Their "Anti-May-Day Rally" Saturday wasn't a Tea Party. It was a Tejano Party.
"Not all Hispanics are Democrats!" read the flier from the Hispanic Republican Club of McLennan County.
"Not all Hispanics are for Open Borders! Don't let the Democrats speak for you!"
In a Texas party led by people born in the 1950s, Machado asks Republicans to think about 2050.
"If we don't do something to turn this big ship around in the Hispanic community, Texas will never be a red state again," he said between deals at the Clifton car dealership where he is general manager.
"We're getting no support from the party officials here in Central Texas. That has to change. Our leadership has to accept what's inevitable."
Machado and fellow Republican Bert Hernandez, manager of a Waco dealership, are examples of voters the GOP needs.
They're business professionals interested in limited government and restricted borders -- but not interested in deporting every illegal immigrant or dividing families.
To read the complete column, visit www.star-telegram.com.
Comments