The Volcano the Seismograph Has Not Picked Up Yet!!
When Bill White entered the race for Governor of Texas a couple of weeks ago, the tectonic plates of the political landscape of Texas made a dramatic shift. There could very likely be a violent eruption either in the March Primary or certainly no later than the November General Election. The initial shift was enough to make two declared Democratic candidates for Governor decide to withdraw from the race. There has not been much public notice given to this dramatic change yet, but failure to recognize what is happening by the Republican Party and its leaders, could cost them their decades long domination in Texas Politics.
Yes, White is being recognized as the Democratic shoo-in. Most coverage on the Republican side continues to focus on the Perry-vs-Hutchison squabble and totally ignores the question of, “how can either of them now counter Bill White in the General Election?
There is virtually no mainstream coverage being given to Debra Medina the “We Texans” candidate for governor. Traditional wisdom is that without raising $5 million or more, a candidate can’t win (or buy) this election. Certainly Medina has not tapped into those kinds of funds (yet.)
However, the serious question that the Republicans should be asking is not “can Medina win in the Primary” .but is there a chance that either Perry or Hutchison can beat Bill White in the General Election in November?
I am not sure if the Republicans are willing to acknowledge yet, that the fact Obama is in the White House today, is because of the conduct of their own party political leaders in looking the other way at the Bush Administration’s repeated violation of the party’s platform and our Constitution. Perry has made sure that Hutchison cannot separate herself from the national disaster of her 8 year voting record, when she voted over 90% of the time in agreement with the Bush policies. Likewise Hutchison has rightly reminded the Texas voters how Perry showed no interest in protecting property rights for Texans by his aggressive “in your face” support for the TTC, which is not dead as he repeatedly claims, but has only had a facelift and a name change to the North American Inland Ports Network. White has been handed a silver platter and the knife to carve them both up in the General Election, just by replaying their own political commercials.
Now lets look at how White will stack up against Medina. While the Republicans vote turn out may not be as large as usual, since the Republican Party is in general disarray both nationally, at the state level and in local communities, there will be a “slim to none” chance of Republicans crossing over to vote Democratic. While it is true Democratic leaders are smelling “blood in the water” at the chance to run against Perry or Hutchison, they are aware that Medina’s campaign has a lot of attraction for many of their traditional voters. Just her name will draw some support. Also many Democrats are very disappointed in the “change” they have received from the Obama administration. It was not the “change”"we know better than the voters.?”
While the ground has certainly shifted in the Texas political landscape in the last few weeks, it is still in the hands of the Republican Party leaders to decide if they will themselves cede their long standing political dominance to the Democratic Party, or will they support the candidate of the people and show the nation that Republicans can still win “big” when they support the principles for which they claim to stand!
You need to change “Mark” White to “Bill” White.