Director of the Republican Party of texas discusses how texas became a republican stronghold over the past halfcentury next on book tv. Booktv. Its about an hour. Good morning. I am Michelle Easton of the Clare Booth Luce Policy Institute and i want to welcome you all to the special lunch featuring Wayne Thorburn and his great new book called red state and inside story of the gop came to dominate texas. You may be wondering why he is the president of the Clare Booth Luce Policy Institute introducing . It was almost 42 years ago when i came to washington, d. C. From new york after graduating from college and my first job was a Young Americans for freedom and my first boss was Wayne Thorburn. Rob who asked me to do the introduction, ron and i have been friends with wayne and his wife judith for decades and wane by the way was a very good first boss. He joined Young Americans for freedom as a College Student in 1961 and eventually rose to become executive director when i worked for him. A