Texas TEA

[Hutch]

It seems another Annointed One has been pulled down off the horse and dismembered by the Rabble.

Hurrah!

Cruz defeats Dewhurst in the Republican runnoff for the Senate seat being vacated by KB Hutchison.

[seeker_two]

Good for Cruz & the TEA Party....and a serious warning for the November elections in Texas. Perry & Co. have made a mess of the state budget and education funding while galavanting on their national campaigns. I think Austin will see a bunch of new faces in the next legislative session....and in November 2014.....

[HankB]

There's a certain strain of GOP insiders that have a streak of entitlement in their nature - they figure they're entitled to positions of leadership, as if its their birthright; they behave like ancient Romans of the Patrician class.

Then they govern as RINOs, or perhaps like Democrat Lite.

This was the perception with Dewhurst, whose fiscal policies seemed more in line with the Dems than Repubs. (Aligning with Dems was why Perry's presidential bid tanked early on, though his Achilles' Heel was special treatment for illegal aliens.)

Cruz isn't perfect, but if we can keep ratcheting things in the right direction, a bit at a time, we should eventually see things improve.

[MechAg94]

Dewhurst waged a very very nasty mudslinging campaign.  He pretty much had talk radio airwaves blanketed with commercials accusing Cruz of everything from selling us out to the Chinese to being involved in the prison bribery scandal up in Pennsylvania.  Even if I hadn't already been leaning that way, I wouldn't have wanted to vote for Dewhurst.  Dewhurst spent a ton of money also.  I heard a chunk of it was his own.  

That said, I heard the turnout was one of the higher voter turnouts for a primary runoff election in some time. 

[Perd Hapley]

Has he a good chance of going to DC?

[makattak]

Has he a good chance of going to DC?

They way I have heard commentary, he's all but guaranteed. It is Texas after all.

[seeker_two]

Has he a good chance of going to DC?

Dems have put another nobody against him, so Cruz is a done deal.

[brimic]

Hurray for Texas!

We have a similar process going on in the North.
We have two strong conservatives, a rino-ish leaning conservative, and an unknown who talks a good game running for an open senate seat.

Of the first two, one  isn't well liked due to personal attacks on Walker during the Gubenatorial campaign 2 years ago (Neuman), the other doesn't have much money but has been a solid leader in the State Assembly with passing Walker's reforms (Fitzgerald).

There's a certain strain of GOP insiders that have a streak of entitlement in their nature - they figure they're entitled to positions of leadership, as if its their birthright; they behave like ancient Romans of the Patrician class.

^Pretty much fits the third candidate Tommy Thompson, who is really well liked in our state, but isn't exactly TEA party material.

The fourth (Eric Hovde) is an unknown with no political background but who talks a good game and models his campaign after how our current TEA party Senator ran.

The democrat running for the seat (Tammy Baldwin) is not very popular outside the People's Republic of Madison.

[Perd Hapley]

We get to pick somebody to oust Claire McCaskill, on Tues. Wish us luck!

[bedlamite]

Hurray for Texas!

We have a similar process going on in the North.
We have two strong conservatives, a rino-ish leaning conservative, and an unknown who talks a good game running for an open senate seat.

Of the first two, one  isn't well liked due to personal attacks on Walker during the Gubenatorial campaign 2 years ago (Neuman), the other doesn't have much money but has been a solid leader in the State Assembly with passing Walker's reforms (Fitzgerald).
^Pretty much fits the third candidate Tommy Thompson, who is really well liked in our state, but isn't exactly TEA party material.

The fourth (Eric Hovde) is an unknown with no political background but who talks a good game and models his campaign after how our current TEA party Senator ran.

The democrat running for the seat (Tammy Baldwin) is not very popular outside the People's Republic of Madison.

If it means anything, DU generally wants anybody but Hovde on the R ticket, and they plan on crossing to vote for Thompson.

[brimic]

If it means anything, DU generally wants anybody but Hovde on the R ticket, and they plan on crossing to vote for Thompson

Figures... I don't dislike Tommy, but right now he would be by far my last choice.

I'm planning on voting for Hovde, unless something really horrible about him comes out. Would be outstanding to send  another rino-establishment wrecking a-hole similar to Ron Johnson to the Senate.

[HankB]

Word is that Ted Cruz served Chick-Fil-A at his victory party.  

Dems have put another nobody against him, so Cruz is a done deal.

They way I have heard commentary, he's all but guaranteed. It is Texas after all.  

When asked, Cruz said that as far as he was concerned, there were only two ways to campaign - unopposed, and as the underdog. Since he DOES have an opponent, he says he's going to campaign hard and take nothing for granted.

Good.

In another race, longtime State Senator Jeff Wentworth was unseated in the primary by about a 2:1 margin by political newcomer Dr. Donna Campbell. Wentworth was A+ rated by the NRA, but strayed on fiscal & other issues.  Dr. Campbell is very much pro gun herself (based on public statements and NRA/TSRA surveys) but is a low tax, limited government conservative, which seems to have resonated with the electorate.

And, much like Dewhurst's hysterical ad campaign, negative and false attacks by Wentworth seem to have been counter productive.

[Azrael256]

I actually hit Cruz's name because of Dewhurst's "Ted Cruz killed my son" ad.  I kinda liked Cruz already, but that one ad finished it.

[grampster]

we'll have a pretty good senate candidate this fall that might be able to unseat Debbie Stab-U-now.  If that happens then we'll have a pretty good chance of fielding a good conservative and try and unseat Lenin err Levin on his next go round.

[seeker_two]

I actually hit Cruz's name because of Dewhurst's "Ted Cruz killed my son" ad.  I kinda liked Cruz already, but that one ad finished it.

Me too.....besides, I never liked her son anyway.....

j/k

[MechAg94]

I get the impression that a lot more Republican voters are paying more attention to who the primary candidates are and what they stand for than in the past.  I think people are more fed up with the candidates who vote different than they campaign.  I hope that trend continues. 

[Hutch]

Not surprisingly, there have been snarky Op-Eds in the WaPo and NYT about uppity conservative/libertarian movement candidates out here in fly-over country.  It's particularly enlightening to read the comments.  "...to hear da Lamentations uff der vimmin".