The most difficult thing to explain to your average Republican voter is how people like David Dewhurst, Charlie Crist and all the establishment, ladder-climbing, butt-kissing, near permanent political staff flacks who grow up to be lobbyists they put around them literally hate you, me, and conservative fighters like Ted Cruz. And newsflash — it’s not just Washington, but in state capitols throughout America, just like Austin.I have many good friends in Austin and one of them overheard the following conversation yesterday a few blocks down from the Texas State Capitol Building. Trust me, folks, this is just a glimpse into what the Republican establishment thinks about us.

There was a guy sitting at the table next to me talking with some girl. I later figured out that this guy is a long time press guy who is now a senior aide to Joe Straus [The current liberal Republican Speaker of the House]. A guy comes up to the table — low 40’s typical lobbyist/politico type and starts some small talk — and to be fair, it was difficult to hear all the details, but the following is an accurate recounting of the tone and overall point, even if I missed a word or two.The Straus aide says to him after some small talk, “Hey, how do you think your old boss is going to do?”The guy looks around, looks at me, looks around… moves closer to the Straus aide and starts talking softly… “Well, I’m afraid not very well… it’s not a good environment.” They went back and forth a bit, and I couldn’t hear it all – but the guy was clearly frustrated… not at the campaign, but the “environment.” He said, “I came here to be part of a working majority… ” and not “to deal with all this kind of stuff” or something close to that.The guy asked the Straus aide how he thought Dewhurst would do, and the Straus said, “It’s not looking good.”The other guy then said something about immigration and how the folks in the Dewhurst office had been working on the issue but it was difficult because of the tea party and “all those crazies.”Then – he added, “But I still haven’t given up – he’s going to spend a lot of money on tv these last two weeks… so…” And then [the best part] he said, “man, the worst part is this guy [Ted Cruz] could be around for decades… and you know how hard it is to knock off an incumbent?”The Straus aide responds “well, hopefully all this partisanship will die down in the future.”

My friend then added, “Erick, this is how they think. This conversation happens every day in every corner of the United States Capitol Building and every state capitol building in America. The establishment thinks we are crazy and something they have to ‘deal with.’ They think we just need to get back to compromising and working together to spend other people’s money so they can get back to their cocktail circuit and find their fat lobbying gig.”And he’s right. This is war, and the current battle is simple: who will be the next U.S. Senator from Texas. The moderate, bumbling establishment pick David Dewhurst, or the conservative, young, Hispanic Constitutionalist, Ted Cruz? Ted beat the snot out of Dewhurst again in the final debate last night. But with the election looming on July 31st, it won’t matter that Ted is clearly the best candidate and clearly the only conservative if you don’t get out and vote. If you live in Texas, get out and vote for Ted and take your friends and family. If you don’t live in Texas, call your friends who do live there and get them to vote. In either case, send Ted money. Send a message to the establishment. We aren’t just something they have to deal with, we are freedom-loving Americans who are going nowhere and are not backing down.