Why Medina Race Matters

[rbmcdonald]

Our people across the country have an easy time seeing the benefit for them personally of supporting quality candidates from other states, such as Rand Paul. It is not as easy to see the benefit of supporting a Governor candidate such as Debra Medina. I would like to throw out some food for thought about why we should all consider this an important race.

• This is not a pie in the Sky race, this is a winnable race. Some nationally known political strategists have called the Texas Governor’s race one of the best chances in 2010 for a populist candidate to win. The first Republican Governor elected in Texas since Reconstruction, was elected in 1978, at some point in the early to mid ‘90s Texas became a solid Republican State. It is the largest solid Republican State in the Union and easily one of the Reddest of the Red states. A Democrat has not been elected to a state-wide office in Texas in 14 years. Since 1978 there have only been TWO heavily contest Republican Primaries for Governor, yes you heard my right, TWO. The last one was in 1990, almost 20 years ago. The party elite have worked very hard to keep it that way. Heavy pressure was applied to Kay Bailey Hutchison to keep her from running against Rick Perry in 2006. Rumors abound that Perry promised not to run for reelection in 2010. Well jump forward to 2009, and the Rick Perry vs Kay Bailey Hutchison heavy weight battle the party elite so feared in 2006 is all set for 2010. Early campaigning has already shown it will be a bloodbath. 350,000 to 400,000 votes will put Debra Medina in a run-off, which is less than 2% of the total population of the state.
• How does a win in the Texas Governor race benefit those that live in the other 49 states? To illustrate the national visibility a state Governor can have (think Palin on a much larger scale [population, not area]), since WWII there have been 11 Presidents. Their job prior to becoming President? 1 – Military, 2 – Senator, 4 – Vice President & 4 – Governor. A win in the Governor’s race in Texas could become our Normandy. A small beachhead that could quickly engulf the nation.

Robert B. McDonald

Changing the World One Governor at a Time
WWW.MedinaForTexas.Com

[Bern]

Assuming she doesn't Jesse Ventura the opportunity. I really don't know much about her, but I have gauged reaction from more mainstream (ie. less Ron Paul centric) venues and there is concern out there about her being an evangelical extremist/nut.

[jblosser]

To add to the above: Current polls still indicate that 20-30% of likely Republican primary voters do not like either of the two establishment choices. Texas is a majority-required-primary state, which means someone has to get 51% of the vote to get the nomination.

From a strategy perspective there's plenty of reason to support this race. Many of us continue to push for restoration of the Constitutional Federal Republican, including the doctrine of States Rights as described in the 10th Amendment and promoted by Jefferson and Madison in the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions. As much good as Ron Paul has done being our voice in Congress these past 30 years, he has not been able to turn that tide there because he is only one voice among 435. Even if we elected every liberty candidate we are running to join him--even if we elected to Congress one, or two, or three, or FOUR from every state--we would not change that math enough. In contrast, ONE governor who understands the proper role of government can take a stand that DC has to contend with. No, governors do not act unilaterally to create legislative policy any more than presidents do, but they also don't have to win votes owned by special interests to do things within their authority, particularly with the weight of the people that directly elected them already behind them.

Add to that, the state we are talking about is Texas. As much as I love what is going on in NH and MN for liberty, they do not bring the cards to the table that Texas does. We have resources and we have clout, and this kind of win here would not just be a foothold, it would be a fortification.

[jblosser]

Assuming she doesn't Jesse Ventura the opportunity. I really don't know much about her, but I have gauged reaction from more mainstream (ie. less Ron Paul centric) venues and there is concern out there about her being an evangelical extremist/nut.

Smells like a typical whisper campaign. There's nothing nutty about her. Ron Paul hired her for his Congressional Campaign and put her on the Executive Board of the C4L. Her current campaign is all about restoring the proper limited role of government to protect individual life, liberty, and property, and she means it. She's a Christian but she's already taking flack from some on the Right because she went and talked to "teh gays" when invited to do so, even though when asked in that speech she clearly told them that she doesn't approve of the lifestyle, but also wants government to leave it alone because it's not their job.

[Bern]

Don't shoot the messenger. I've known the folks on that other site for several years. It's honest feedback from people who are turned off by the Moral Majority/Religious Right. My advice to the Medina campaign - de-emphasize the ties to her evangelical education/activism (it's on her campaign website).

[thasre]

Don't shoot the messenger. I've known the folks on that other site for several years. It's honest feedback from people who are turned off by the Moral Majority/Religious Right. My advice to the Medina campaign - de-emphasize the ties to her evangelical education/activism (it's on her campaign website).

I would seriously refer them to her YouTube page www.youtube.com/user/medinafortexas. She has a number of lengthy radio interviews she's given and she really doesn't sound at all like a nutcase. Sure she has a handful of ideas that seem a little out there, but that's true of any candidate who doesn't consult a team of campaign managers and pollsters before they even decide what shoes to wear to an event. And the minor pet peeves people might have about some of her positions would be largely unrelated to the Religious Right, I think.

At any rate, the videos are a great source of candid information that should make it easier for people to decide one way or another whether they like her.

[Nathan Hale]

I disagree that this race presents a good opportunity. It would be a good win, because Texas is an important state and governorship is an important post with good opportunities connected to it, but this is not a good opportunity. Here's why:

The Republican establishment already has two competing celebrity candidates who both have huge campaign infrastructures and are going to drum up obscene donation numbers. This will be a multi-million dollar primary. Now, it's possible for a C4L candidate to challenge such a situation. As we see with Rand Paul it's quite possible to go toe-to-toe with an establishment candidate. But as Rand himself admits, he has a measure of celebrity that gives him the ability to do that. Debra Medina doesn't. So while we might be able to drum up six figure fundraising for her, she has no other credentials that cause her to stand out in the race enough to bring her into the top-tier, to say nothing about her dubious ties, if they exist.

This race looks like it's going to be Perry vs Hutchinson, and the media is going to ignore everybody else in the primary. Medina needs a door to open in her favor, and quick. I just don't see anything like that happening in the near future.

[constituent]

Why I haven't supported Debra Medina:

Looks like yet another eternal fundraiser with little or no promise of paying off.

You can flame me for that if you want, but it is what it is ...and I'm not alone in thinking this.

[constituent]

This race looks like it's going to be Perry vs Hutchinson, and the media is going to ignore everybody else in the primary. Medina needs a door to open in her favor, and quick. I just don't see anything like that happening in the near future.

My guess is Kinky V. Hutch. If advancing the cause of liberty is the goal here, time and resources would be better spent bolstering the kinky camp and trying to shape their practically non-existent policy positions.

[LibertyEagle]

Why I haven't supported Debra Medina:

Looks like yet another eternal fundraiser with little or no promise of paying off.

You can flame me for that if you want, but it is what it is ...and I'm not alone in thinking this.

And you think Kinky DOES?

Give me a break, Constituent.

My guess is Kinky V. Hutch. If advancing the cause of liberty is the goal here, time and resources would be better spent bolstering the kinky camp and trying to shape their practically non-existent policy positions.

I voted for Kinky the last time around. I will not do so again. Constituent, did you see his last mainstream news interview? It's posted on here somewhere. His stances are totally against anything this movement has ever stood for.

With Medina, it's all about whether she will have enough money and feet to get her message out and whether she will be able to get into the debates. If we're not even going to help her, then yeah, she has little hope. Too bad, though. She would make one hell of a good Governor.

If we're not even going to try, I guess we'll just get what we deserve. Another round of Perry or one with Kay Bailout.