TribBlog: RINO Hunters

The latest salvo in the speaker race is a slick internet video that argues the House should have a more conservative speaker than Joe Straus. And it suggests the fight to come, knocking over dominoes with the pictures of "Republicans In Name Only" who could be targets in the GOP primaries two years from now.

The ad describes Straus as an impediment to conservative legislation like Voter ID, questions his pro-life credentials, and suggests he'd be lining his pockets if he allows the House to vote on gambling legislation. It also features pictures of some other Republicans — on dominoes — who've been at odds with some of conservatives in the House: Jim Keffer, Vicki Truitt, Charlie Geren, Burt Solomons, Rob Eissler, and Byron Cook, over the line: "Fall of the RINOS: Republican Primaries 2012.

The video is on YouTube, posted by a couple of Straus opponents under the name StopJoeInfo:

The video is also being promoted on the website of a 501(c)(4) nonprofit called Women on the Wall. They bill themselves as nonpartisans focused on "America’s Children & Their Futures, Abandonment of our Founding Principles, Rapidly Decaying Culture & Society, The Sanctity of Life, Loss of U.S. Sovereignty, and Out-of-Control Immigration Policies."

That website is registered to Rebecca Forest of Austin, who has previously been involved with a group called Immigration Reform Coalition of Texas. They lobbied the Legislature last session for tougher immigration and border security laws. She's been involved, too, with other conservatives trying to knock Straus out of the Speaker's post. She was one of a long list of signers of a letter to that effect right after the election.