People of Texas, I put this post as the first post of the day at RedState and at the top of my Morning Briefing because I cannot emphasize just how important it is.The long term future of conservatism and federalism is in your hands today. You will either hurt us as a nation or help us as a nation. Yes, there is a monumental issue before your State House of Representatives and you must get on the phones today to help us all.On Monday, House Republicans in Texas will decide between Joe Straus and Ken Paxton as their choice for Speaker of the Texas House. Ken Paxton is a clear conservative who will fight for states’ rights, strong federalism, and conservative values and policy.Joe Straus is, at best, an opportunist and at worse a Democrat. Straus became the Speaker of a Republican State House with the votes of a united Democratic caucus and 11 Republicans.This year, Joe Straus has worked overtime to elect liberal Democrats to the State House. His candidates were rejected by the voters.Now you must put the fear of the Almighty and Living God in your State Representative that if he dare vote for Joe Straus for Speaker of the House, or any other candidate put up to steal votes from Ken Paxton, you will primary his sorry butt out of office.With redistricting, the fight over Obamacare, and the fight between Washington and the states all at stake, there is a lot riding on choice between Ken Paxton and Joe Straus. One will assist Rick Perry and his fight against the feds. The other will undermine him.Go here. Get on the phone. Call your State Representative. Tell him to vote for Ken Paxton or get ready to be primaried in the next election.Below the fold, if you have any doubts, I have a review for just why this is so vitally important not just for Texas, but for the whole country.If there is one thing that is a given in politics, it is this. Conservatives know how to win elections and they won big on November 2, 2010. There are few places where they won as big as they did in Texas. Coming into November 2nd, Republicans held the Texas House narrowly, 76-74. That margin increased dramatically in November 2nd and in the days to follow. With a margin of 101-49, Republicans now have a commanding margin in the Texas House. Better yet, a solid majority are conservative.What conservatives have traditionally not been good at is winning the intra-party elections that decide important chairmanships and legislative agendas. I hope that is about to change and I hope Texas leads the way.If you haven’t been paying attention to what is going on in Texas, here’s a quick refresher. In 2009, with the support of 65 Democrats and only 11 Republicans, Republican (in name only) Joe Straus was elected Speaker of the Texas House. I would take the time to rattle off all of Joe Straus’ liberal bone fides, but they are legion. However, there are a few worth noting. On top of appointing 20 Democrats as committee chairmen in 2009,

• Joe Straus voted to make it easier to perform third-trimester abortions (SB 419, vote 672 in 2005).
• Joe Straus supported a Planned Parenthood, NARAL and ACLU-supported sex education bill by co-authoring HB 1842 in 2007.
• Joe Straus co-authored HB 2704 in 2007 that would have legalized embryonic stem cell research and human cloning.
• A Joe Straus appointed chairman killed a very popular Voter ID bill that had already passed the Texas Senate.
• In 2010, while Speaker Straus joined with Democrat John Sharp to host a fundraiser for Democrat incumbent Patrick Rose to defeat conservative Republican challenger Jason Isaac (Rose went on to lose the race),
• Straus lieutenants gave large contributions to Parent PAC, which spent $1M targeting conservatives in the Texas House and on the State Board of Education.

In addition to the above, Straus had a lieutenant threaten solid conservatives like Erwin Cain and others with redistricting if they did not pledge their support to Straus in the upcoming leadership election. I promise you, there are more political skeletons in Joe Straus’ closet. But I do not have the time or space to list them all.Running against Joe Straus is Ken Paxton. As has been noted before, if the tea party movement could build the perfect elected official from the ground up, it would come out acting a lot like Ken Paxton. Fiscally and socially conservative, Ken Paxton has consistently and tirelessly worked for the conservative movement in the trenches of the Texas State House. He has a proven track record of conservatism and I can only expect more of the same from him if he were to win the Speakership. With the recent tidal wave of conservatives winning on November 2nd, they deserve conservative leadership. I also want to remind folks that Texas is getting 4 new federal House seats due to the new census. Texans, do you really want a man like Joe Straus in charge of drawing the lines for the new districts, a man who has shown himself more friendly to Democrats than Republicans?Ken Paxton is going to need your help to win the Speaker election this upcoming Tuesday, January 11th. Joe Straus and his team are working hard to hold onto the Speakership. Call your state Representative today via our action center.If you are in Texas, dig in and help Ken Paxton. He can win with your help.