The Insider

"What the Republican party has going for it now is that it's winning without the minority vote," says Bowie. "We don't have to spend one second getting anybody over to anywhere, because we're winning.

"Now, when that changes ... well, everybody wants to be a winner."

County Judge Eckels, who declined to vote for Willie Alexander's appointment, says the appointee "was set up from the beginning, and we did a disservice to him and to the party by taking the action we did at the commissioners court." If so, you'd never know it by talking to the interim tax assessor, who seems happy to enjoy a few months in the high-profile post before returning to private life. In fact, Alexander is counting on his new political profile for future forays into GOP electoral politics.

"Now everybody knows I'm out there," says Alexander of the publicity blitz that came with his appointment. Noting that he lost the nomination because he did not have the support of the party bureaucracy, the black Republican vows to get acquainted with a new circle of political friends.

"I listened to those folks on the grassroots," says the tax assessor-collector for four months. "They said, 'Hey, we don't know you.' So I'm going to go back at that lower level -- work both ends -- and if the right opportunity comes along, I'll jump in."

Alexander's formula for wooing the black vote for his party in the future is to present himself first, and his party second. "I want people to vote for me because of the ideals I espouse," declares Alexander. "Strong family, less government, private sector leading the way. For those of you who believe as I believe, vote for me, I'm Willie Alexander, and, oh, by the way, I'm a Republican."

The future of the GOP in Harris County likely depends on getting the mostly white party rank-and-file to adopt an attitude with Alexander and other minority hopefuls: "Oh, by the way, he or she is black/brown/Asian, too." Otherwise, they just might find themselves back in that little old phone booth one of these years.

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