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Searching for a link between President Obama and Hitler? No worries. New state GOP chair Cathie Adams has you covered.If you didn't notice when Texas Republican Party chair Tina Benkiser stepped down last month to join Governor Rick Perry's re-election campaign as a senior adviser, you're forgiven. We didn't pay it much attention either. But when the State Republican Executive Committee recently elected radical right winger Cathie Adams to finish out Benkiser's term, we found ourselves actually caring about what the SREC is and how best to avoid its members. Call us crazy, but for a party in desperate need of new leadership, is Adams really the best they have? After all, she was one of the loudest voices during the Republicans scare campaign against President Obama's speech to students. "This is eerily like Hitler's youth movement," Adams wrote in a September 5 e-mail to fellow Republicans. (Some free advice: Never invoke the name of Adolf Hitler. Those who do are often found in a room with four padded walls.) Dallas County GOP chair Jonathan Neerman says the party needs "serious leaders with serious ideas," and Adams apparently doesn't fit that description. "She has been part of an issue group that has gone after Republicans, and I don't know how she can shift gears and go from being an issue-group leader going after Republican candidates and elected officials to now being one where she has to try and grow the party."

Brian HarkinSure, you've probably already heard by now that Mitchell Rasansky might run for Dallas County judge. However, the benefit of not speaking with the former North Dallas council member until today yielded a much more definitive answer about his intentions. Rasansky tells Unfair Park that while he hasn't made up his mind and he still needs to discuss the decision with his wife Rita, he's "thinking extremely, extremely seriously about it" after fielding numerous phone calls from politicians and citizens urging him to challenge Cedar Hill council member Wade Emmert in the Republican primary. "My phone has been ringing off the wall this morning," he says. "I'm probably leaning toward the race." Emmert called him yesterday, Rasansky says, but he has no comment on the details of the conversation. Emmert tells us, "I just wanted to find out if the rumors were true, and at the time, he said he hadn't made his decision yet."

Sam MertenNeerman's right. He does have a lot more gray hair than Perry.When Dallas County Republican chair Jonathan Neerman told us that the election of Cathie Adams as the state party's new chair "set the party back five years," even the editorial board at The Dallas Morning News took notice. A few days later, DMN'er Gromer Jeffers tried to make peace between Neerman and Adams, and then Jeffers brought up Neerman's comment to Governor Rick Perry during Sunday's broadcast of Inside Politics. "Jonathan probably wished he could probably take that back, actually." Perry said near the 15:10 mark. "Look, Jonathan's a great kid, does a wonderful job up in Dallas ..." Jeffers offers Neerman's response to the "kid" characterization in today's paper, but what struck us was Perry's statement that Neerman wishes he could take his comment back about Adams. "I don't [wish I could take it back]. In context of how we move forward as a party, I stand by what I said," Neerman tells Unfair Park. "I haven't spoken with the governor or his office about it, so I'm not sure why he'd make that assumption." Neerman says while he doesn't know the motivation behind Perry's remark, he doesn't believe it was nefarious. "It may be that he has heard criticism and he thinks that I'm hearing that same level of criticism, but I'm not. I'm actually hearing more supportive comments than negative comments." Given that Adams supports Perry and the two are like-minded on social issues, Neerman says he hopes Perry doesn't view his comment as indirect criticism. "I've made clear that I am not taking a side in the governor's race, and I certainly wouldn't criticize any of our elected leaders."

David FinnLess than two months after we introduced you to criminal defense lawyer Phillip Linder, the would-be Republican challenger to Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins has stepped aside and is now supporting David Finn, a fellow criminal defense lawyer and former trial judge and federal prosecutor. At least that's what we've been told by Finn, who says he also has the backing of Toby Shook and others yet to be announced. Finn adds that he doesn't expect a challenger in the primary, so it will be smooth sailing until November. So what makes him think he's got a shot against Watkins? "I like Craig. He's a friend. I've known him for a long time. I've supported him. I've had at least one fund-raiser for him and contributed to his campaigns, but this latest series of stories on Channel 8 on this catch-and-release policy really concerns me as a citizen. When we've got alleged or arrested murderers and child rapists being deported to Mexico before they step foot in court really concerns me." More from Finn tomorrow, along with thoughts from Dallas County GOP chair Jonathan Neerman. We hope to talk to Linder as well.

Danny ClancyHere we go again. First it was Phillip Linder. Then it was David Finn. Now Danny Clancy is the latest criminal defense lawyer to announce his plans to do the seemingly impossible: knock off incumbent District Attorney Craig Watkins. The former Dallas County prosecutor and judge says he has been considering it since he heard Toby Shook decided against running himself for a second time against Watkins. Then Clancy received a call yesterday from Finn, who told him he wanted to spend time with his children. "I think David just jumped the gun a little bit," Clancy says. Finn agrees that he made his announcement prematurely, and after a discussion with his four young children (ages 11, 9, 7 and 5), he realized he was being selfish. "I could tell that I was putting my desires ahead of their needs," he says. Clancy stresses that he'll run a positive campaign, and the Dallas County District Attorney's Office needs a leader at the top who has his experience and ability to lead by example. Much like Finn, who is now supporting Clancy, he couldn't resist complimenting Watkins when asked about what he'd do differently, calling the Innocence Project a "blessing," saying Watkins has done an "outstanding" job of bringing the issue to the forefront and labeling it as "a credit to him and his administration." However, he does say Watkins could do a better job of communicating with the commissioners court. "I honestly believe that Dallas County is tired of turning on the news and seeing our DA going toe-to-toe with our commissioners," he tells Unfair Park. "We would all be better served if we were all working together looking for solutions with budget issues instead of trying to beat each other up." So, how long until Clancy's out and someone else is in? "I'm committed 110 percent," he says.

​Nearly three months after he told us that Tanya Watkins -- the wife of District Attorney Craig Watkins -- working as a campaign consultant for judicial candidates posed an "ethical dilemma" for the couple and presented "the potential appearance of impropriety," Dallas County Republican Party chair Jonathan Neerman was quoted in yesterday's Dallas Morning News regarding Tanya's gig. "It's one more brick in the wall," he told The News. "One more reason for voters in Dallas County to oppose Watkins." This prompted an e-mail, which can be read after the jump, from Watkins' campaign sent at 10:22 last night to supporters featuring photos of both Craig and Tanya. In the missive, Craig writes: "I personally take issue with Mr. Neerman" for, among other things, mounting "an attack against my wife and family." Tanya hasn't responded to a message left on her cell phone, and Jamille Bradfield, Craig's spokesperson, says he is out of town and unavailable until Monday. Neerman, however, tells Unfair Park that he's surprised Watkins singled him out because he viewed his comment as "fairly innocuous," especially when compared to the statements in the same story from Craig McDonald and Lynn Pride Richardson, who both called it "a conflict of interest." "It raises the appearance of impropriety when a family member is a political consultant for candidates in Dallas County, and the voters have a right to question that," Neerman says. "If he has such tunnel vision that he doesn't see that voters would raise questions about this, then I can't help him."

Rob Schlein, president of the Dallas chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans​We admit that of the 14 contested primary races for Republican precinct chairs in Dallas County, the odds are that you aren't paying attention to any of them, even if you live in those precincts. Heck, we hadn't planned on it either until we discovered an intriguing battle up North in Precinct 1800, which is bordered by Addison to the west and Preston Road to the east. Turns out that Homer Adams, husband of Cathie Adams, chair of the Republican Party of Texas, is squaring off against Rob Schlein, president of the Dallas chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans. If you recall, Cathie wasn't exactly friendly toward the Log Cabin Republicans as president of the Texas Eagle Forum, a title she held since 1993 prior to taking over as state chair in October 2009. In our December 2008 cover story profiling Dallas County Republican Party chair Jonathan Neerman, she criticized him for reaching out to Log Cabin Republicans in an effort to build the party, claiming that doing so tore away "the fabric of the morality of our community." Earlier in '08, she told The News that the Log Cabin Republicans "do not accept the beliefs of the grassroots of the party." So naturally we wanted to see if Homer shared the same views as Cathie on the matter. When reached on his cell phone, he told Unfair Park, "I'm in the process of cooking right now. I'll have to talk to you later. Thanks." Click.