Note from Tammy: There’s a lot at stake in the upcoming election in Texas. Ted Cruz, the Tea Party candidate for US Senate 9and my favorite), is getting a lot of attention, but I thought it time to get an overview from a Texan (by way of Virginia) TAM and dennisl59 has generously agreed to clue us in 😉 Thanks Dennis!
**Guest Post by TAM dennisl59**
Howdy Partners! And greetings from ‘Deep in the Heart of Texas! Before we get to the ‘good parts’ here’s a micro-bio: Born, raised in Northern Virginia, 1st stint here in Texas, from ’83-’85 (DFW Area), now this stint from ’96-’04 (DFW Area(again!), then ’04 to present Austin/Round Rock. We still consider ourselves a “Virginian” ’cause we ain’t no native born Texan.
Topic: Texas U.S. Senate Primary Election scheduled for May 28th to replace the retiring(Thank God!) Kay Bailey Hutchinson.
Texas Political Profile: 112th Congress: 32 House Districts, 23 R’s/9 D’s. One Senate seat Republican since 1965, the other since 1995. A Very Bright Red State.
Thursday night Houston PBS presented ‘A Conversation’. Live studio audience, but heard nary a peep out of ’em. The 1st part was one on one for ~12 minutes each, being interviewed by 2 reporters at a desk. The 2nd part was all six(6) fielding questions in a game show ‘lightning round’ format with 30 seconds to answer.
Candidate Overview:
Tea Party Faction: Ted Cruz
Establishment Faction: David Dewhurst
Business Faction: Former Mayor of Dallas Tom Leppert
Values Faction: Former Football Star Craig James
Democrat Sacrificial Lambs: Sean Hubbard and Paul Sadler
2nd Part first: Last Question: Dream Act, yea or nay? All four R’s-nay,
the two D’s-yea. No surprise here. Straight party line cliches’ all the way for all the other questions, so I’ll spare you.
The First Part: Impressions, comments, etc.
Ted Cruz: Tea Party. Right out of the box called Dewhurst a liar. Needs a lesson on how to tactfully call your nemesis a Liar. But hit all the usual TP talking points. He’s praying that Dewhurst doesn’t gets over 50%.
Dewhurst: Slick, Perry’s right hand man. Nice suit. Smells like $$$.
Sean Hubbard: Very young, naive, brainwashed drone. I felt embarrassed and sorry for him. Kept repeating all the familiar stuck on smile Pelosi talking points; almost to the word. Creepy.
Tom Leppert: Why is this guy even running I ask myself out loud. Zero chance of even getting into the runoff election. Boring.
Paul Sadler: Classic ‘Moderate’ Democrat. Ref: Both Virginia Senators, they say one thing, then vote the party line-every stinking time.
Craig James: Another why is this guy even running? I’m guessing he felt compelled to do it as a concerned citizen, that’s a great reason, but a lost cause for him. At least he’s enthusiastic: Right to Life all the way.
So here’s the deal: Anyone of the Republicans would crush the Democrat in the General in November, that’s a given, take it to the bank, amigos. (Hutchison last won with 62% and Cornyn won re-election in 2008, 55%) BUT, who will be a real Conservative after they take the Oath of Office, because it changes people, ex: Scott Brown.
If one candidate does not get more than 50 percent of the May 29 vote, the top two vote winners will face a run-off on July 31.
Predicting(!) a Dewhurst vs. Cruz showdown.
But once we get closer to the election, we’ll give a rundown of who is endorsing who, and that’s going to make a difference, especially if they’re ‘Not Texans'(seriously…) and, of course, what are the betting odds.
To close, I’d like to thank Tammy for the opportunity to ‘do a post’, I sincerely appreciate it!
Happy Trails Everyone!
Thanks Tammy and Dennis for the “scorecard”. I keep hearing names but not being a Texan, have no real idea what’s happening there. Now I can atleast try to promote a decent candidate. I am trying to keep a list of candidates who deserve help, and will be adding Cruz to my list.
I consider myself a Texan because I’m originally from Chicago, I think you can see why I’m claiming Texas as my home.
In the past 3 years, I have become active in my local Tea Party and GOP as a Precinct Chair.
I’ve had the opportunity to meet in person or hear each candidate Dennis mentioned in this article. I agree with his assessment of our candidates.
I was very impressed with Ted Cruz and his background. His dad, A Cuban refugee, came to one of our meetings and spoke about the meaning of freedom.
Cruz seems to have a machine behind him but he will have the challenge of the well known Dewhurst. I heard Dewhurst speak at a Senate-District convention and “slick” best describes him.
Texas has been a strong Republican state but major city’s like Dallas, Houston,
Austin and San Antonio are Democratic strongholds. I fear in the future, Texas will turn into blue state.
Stats show that Republicans very often do not vote straight ticket because they do not know the candidate. Democrats generally vote straight ticket. This voting pattern has caused Republicans to lose races across the country.
“If you won’t vote for a Repubican you don’t know, you’ll get a Democrat you
don’t want”.
To all Tam Texans, early voting begins May 14, with the primary being May 29.
I saw the debate. The ONLY conservative that can win the race is Ted Cruz. True, he did call Dewhurst (who is a Juan McCain type RINO libtard) a liar, but frankly, Dewhurst is a liar. Dewhurst has given Texas it’s first (and most probably illegal) Business Margins Tax, he has blocked photo ID for voting, wasted millions in taxpayer dollars on his big spending, and left our border with Mexico wide ass open.
I’m a bred and corn fed Texan. Never moved. Why would I? We need Cruz.
BTW, we are slowly but surely replacing all those communist libtards who are in charge of Austin. Baby steps.
Dennis,
Thanks so much for this post! Now I have a reliable Texas scorecard ! 🙂
I am a Texan born and bred many generations deep not counting the Indian. (1/32 just like Elizabeth Warren). I proudly have a Ted Cruz sign in front of my house and my office. It is so frustrating that we are such a Conservative state yet we send up RINO’s like Hutchinson to DC.
My Congressman is Louis Gohmert. He is not perfect but he is one of the best.
I’m not a native-born anything – my dad was in the Navy when I was born and we never really stayed put – but no matter where we went, we always landed back in Texas ’cause that’s where my dad is from and all of his relatives still live there. SE Texas, between Katy and Orange (Texans will know the region I’m talking about), has always been home to me because that has been the one constant place in my life. I call myself a Texan because Texas has been in my heart from day one, and when we did live there when I was growing up it was the only place I set down any roots.
Rule #1: don’t dare call us Southerners. We’re Texans.
Rule #2: never break rule #1.
More on-subject, I think Dewhurst will be the victor. I don’t think he’ll win in a landslide, but I predict he’ll win it either way.
Dennis, thank you so much for this. I’m also a Texan living in VA and this has helped with my research while filling out my primary election absentee ballot this weekend. I’m also putting together an email to send to all my Texas friends and relatives letting them know who Ted Cruz is. My family thinks like me so I’m sure Cruz will be getting votes from them as well.
Also, Ted Cruz’ name is at the top of the ballot for US Senate, for what it’s worth.
Excellent post! Thanks for being our man on the ground Dennis. Nov 6 here we come; Tea Party candidates in House and Senate and ABO2012!