Straus Admits Weakness

"He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck,
Will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy."
Proverbs 29:1

This is astonishing:

Straus, House leaders launch early PR offensive
By David Saleh Rauf

November 9, 2014 | Updated: November 9, 2014 10:05pm

AUSTIN — Team Joe Straus is going on offense.

The Republican House speaker from San Antonio and his top lieutenants have launched a pre-emptive strike leading up to the legislative session designed to buffer an anticipated barrage from special interest groups critical of the lower chamber's leadership.

The effort, involving a series of mailers to be pumped into Republican districts over the next month to highlight “conservative results” under current House leaders, is being footed by a political action committee led by Straus and created to protect incumbents.
Top legislators in the chamber familiar with the effort say it's the first pre-session salvo they've launched together under Straus' tenure, an offensive prompted by previous big money and nasty campaigns targeting the speaker and his allies.

“You can't sit around on your thumbs and let people take potshots at you,” said Rep. Jim Keffer, a Republican from Eastland and a top Straus supporter in the House.

Keffer described the mail campaign as an attempt at “balancing the message” after fiscally conservative and tea party-aligned outside groups, namely Empower Texans, funded by Midland oilman Tim Dunn and run by Michael Quinn Sullivan, have tried to topple Straus and his squad for several sessions in a row.

Straus' strategy has always been to keep as low a profile as possible; that he would do something like this in the first place reveals how weak he thinks he is.