The Democrats have made their game plan very clear; attack Republican candidates personally and make the race about individual in order to avoid the issues. Given the countries disdain for Obamacare, the stimulus, cap and trade, etc., Democrats are trying to make the elections personal. They are sending their operatives out to dig up as much dirt as they possibly can to avoid a discussion of the issues our country faces. They know that 60% of all Americans want to repeal Obamacare, they understand that 9.5% unemployment is a prescription for disaster for the majority party, and they recognize that cap and trade isn't a popular policy. Yes, we need to respond to the personal attacks; however, we need to focus our campaigns on the issues. This election needs to focus on the economy, a failed stimulus package, a disastrous healthcare bill, and the other radical policies the Obama/Reid/Pelosi Democrats will force on our country if they retain the majority. Republican strategist and Fox News commentator Dick Morris described an ad that would highlight the message: Do you support the $500 billion cut in Medicare in Obama's health bill? Joe Democrat voted yes. Bob Republican says no.

The $800 billion stimulus financed by borrowing? Democrat voted yes. Republican says no.

Cap and trade? Democrat yes. Republican no.

No secret ballot in union elections. Again, Democrat yes. Republican no.

On Election Day, vote for whoever agrees with you.

This is Bob Republican and I approve of this message to bring you the facts.

We must talk about how the country has been radically changed over the past two years. In a typical election, the incumbent has a large advantage, i.e., higher name identification, larger campaign war chest, etc. However, most of the Democratic incumbents side with Obama, Reid and Pelosi 95% of the time. We must make it clear that a vote for the Democrats is simply a vote for the Obama agenda. We must remind voters that this election is not about personalities, but, instead, about principles. The issues matter.

During the summer months we have held strategy sessions with all seven of our Senate Districts. During the sessions we train our Senate District Chairs, Area Leaders, Pct. Chairs and Pct. Captains on implementing our "Take Back America" plan, focusing on volunteer recruitment, voter registration, voter identification, and our get out the vote ("GOTV") plan. Thanks to the hard work of Melissa Rowell, we have held "Meet in Greets" in numerous State Rep. Districts around Harris County. The purpose of the "Meet and Greets" are to introduce our candidates to the community, discuss the issues, and recruit volunteers for our 2010 Victory Plan. Please check our home page for the next event and look for the Meet in Greet in your neighborhood. Our Vacancy Committee is working tirelessly to locate new Pct. Chairs. Currently, we have over thirty who will be sworn in at the next Executive Committee meeting.

Over the past nine months we have hosted numerous fundraising events. We have raised almost $625,000. We have approximately $1 million in pledges for a total of approx. $1.7 million pledged/raised for our 2010 Victory Plan. Our sustaining membership program, Republican Leadership Council (those donating over $1,000 a year to the HCRP), has over 113 members. Click here for information on joining the RLC. This month we hosted the following successful events:

Day at the Ballpark with Senator Dan Patrick.

Night at the Ballpark with County Judge Ed Emmett.

Judicial Appreciation Reception with Attorney General Greg Abbott.

Upcoming HCRP Chairman's Circle Luncheon: Our next event features House Speaker Joe Straus and will held at Polo's on September 22, 2010 at Noon.

I want to thank all who have contributed to these efforts.

There are a lot of things the Democrats are doing in Washington that makes me angry, but the bailout bill, with an amendment aimed only at punishing Texas, is one of the most egregious examples of an out of control Democrat led Congress I have seen. The Doggett/Edwards amendment, supposedly to save teacher jobs, actually will hurt teachers in the long run, and possibly the short term.

The amendment says that before Texas can access $830 million for teachers the Governor must commit to continuing the funding after federal money runs out, and the legislature must continue the same funding levels as well. These two stipulations violate the Texas Constitution. Governors do not appropriate money and the legislature many only do so for 2 years at a time.

Texas Republicans didn't ask for the bailout. However, Texas taxpayers will pay back over $2.1 billion of the bailout whether we take it or not. Obviously, under those conditions we would want to access the money-since we have to pay it back whether we do or not. This amendment by the Democrats was not about helping teachers, it was about trying to help Bill White by positioning the Governor as someone who did not want to help teachers. Now you know the truth.

One last note. Bill White decided not to meet President Obama when he visited Texas last week. Bill was far away in West Texas. I didn't know there were that many Democrats out there for Bill to visit. Bill must be on the new November Democrat candidate diet-no starch, no sugar, and no Obama until after the election. It wouldn't matter anyway. Bill won't lose any weight and he won't become our next Governor!

The HCRP will have four Victory Centers throughout Harris County this election cycle. The centers will be used for phone banking, volunteer organizing, and sign/bumper sticker distribution. They will be located at the HCRP HQ, 3311 Richmond, Suite 218; East Side Headquarters, 301 Broadway; Bay Area Headquarters (Grand Opening on Aug. 24th), 1849 El Dorado Blvd, Houston, TX 77062, and an additional location to be announced on the Northwest side.

I recently had an opportunity to meet with a group of future leaders. The Bellaire Young Republicans are a group of students at Bellaire High School interested in conservative politics. Created to make a difference in their community, the Bellaire Young Republicans Club campaigns for local Republican and Conservative candidates. They have recently been involved in assisting state representative candidate Sarah Davis in her campaign, where they work phone banks and go door-to-door to gain support for their candidate. One of the many goals the Bellaire Young Republicans have is to raise awareness among their classmates and peers, not to mention creating a stable program at their school and hopefully a county or statewide organization, that will act as an example for other teens around their community. The Bellaire Young Republicans are more than willing to lend a hand to any Republican or Conservative candidate or cause. If you're interested, please don't hesitate to email them at: bellairehsyoungrepublicans@yahoo.com.

Bill White this week signaled his preference for higher taxes and more debt.