Late conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly published her first book, A Choice Not an Echo, in 1964 in hopes of breaking the stranglehold of country club Republicans on the grand old party’s presidential nominating process. Every four years, it seemed even then, the party faithful were presented with a somewhat less offensive version of the opposition’s choice, i.e., Democrat Lite.
Thanks in part to the enthusiasm generated by her book, Sen. Barry Goldwater of Arizona went on to secure the Republican nomination but lost in a landslide to Texas Democrat Lyndon Baines Johnson.
“A choice not an echo” seems to be what Texas state Rep. Yvonne Davis had in mind when she drafted House Bill 2393, which would reduce the number of signatures needed for a candidate to run for president of the state bar from 5,000 to 500 and thereby open up the race to a broader array of candidates.
As TexasBarSunset.com has noted, “Almost always the Texas Bar’s board picks both candidates each year, without consulting the membership.” As a result, “voter abstention rates during the month-long, internet-enabled annual Texas Bar elections hover around 76 percent, too.”
Could it be that members of the Texas Bar would prefer a choice to an echo?
Might they also prefer not having to watch silently as the dues they pay to the Bar are used to promote pet political projects they do not support? Attorneys Tony McDonald, Joshua Hammer, and Mark Pulliam filed suit against the Bar, alleging First Amendment rights violations and citing U.S. Supreme Court decisions.
U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel granted summary judgment to the Bar, but the attorneys appealed, arguing that the Bar has “continued to advance a highly ideological and polarizing agenda” and that “[a]bsent this Court’s intervention, the Bar will surely continue to use coerced dues to support those highly controversial and politically charged activities.”
Maybe the Bar should stay out of politics, and maybe it should let its members choose the president they want, instead of pretending to let them choose.