Many political pundits just don’t get it about Rick Perry and his relationship to independent voters who will likely decide the outcome of the hot Texas Governor’s race in November. In the view of Texas independents, Rick Perry did not do well on Tuesday, while securing his party’s nomination. The Governor was doing so badly he was forced to viciously attack one of his own, Kay Bailey Hutchison. Moreover, the all powerful Rick Perry was forced to pull a “Glenn Beck” on opponent Debra Medina, an unknown Republican insurgent over whom the Tea Party was split, and who was outspent by 30 to 1.
The real question is what did Rick Perry have to do in order to win his party’s 51%? The result that may well count the most is the continued exodus of voters out of the Republican Party who can no longer stand the political stench created by the Governor.
How do we know this? Four days prior to election day, volunteers from Independent Texans including yours truly, were on the phone calling independent voters in House District 92. These voters had backed Carole Keeton Strayhorn or Kinky Freidman as independents for Governor in 2006. We asked them to kindly vote in the Republican primary for Debra Medina and to help reelect their Texas House representative Todd Smith. On Saturday, I received a call from Smith’s opponent, Jeff Cason, who claimed he didn’t really know who Bob Perry was, though he had just taken $25,000 from him. Ironically, on Monday a jury awarded a Mansfield couple $51 million in a case against Perry Homes. Maybe now Cason knows who Bob Perry is.
Bob Perry’s connections to Rick Perry and the Governor’s appointees to the Texas Residential Construction Commission had been a big issue back in 2006 when Smith asked then State Comptroller, Carole Strayhorn, to review the agency. This investigation eventually led to the abolition of the agency by the Sunset Commission.
Mr. Cason seemed to think that, as an independent, I would be angered if I knew the “truth” about Smith’s failure to pass the Voter ID bill. I might have caught him off guard when I said that from the vantage point of Texas independents the real failing of Voter ID was its dominance of the last session. I further pointed out to Cason that about 4 million independent, non-aligned Texas voters have been disenfranchised for about 40 years. We were much hotter to trot on real reforms like Redistricting Reform — taking the redistricting weapon out of the hands of both parties.
I wouldn’t, for one minute, claim we saved Todd Smith, though we were happy to help. My point is the same as Will Lutz of the Lone Star Report. There is a growing lack of decency and honesty in Texas politics. Political honesty is a prerequisite for any true reform. Cason’s temerity in sending out a mailing implying that Todd Smith was soft on sexual predation deserved a smack down – which HD 92 voters likely figured out for themselves.
I got a note from a member of the Texas media (one of the few who likes Rick Perry) who wrote to me, “Why don’t you just get over it”—referring to Perry’s penchant for privatized toll roads and the Trans-Texas Corridor. Our grudge against Rick Perry goes way deeper than the resentment Texans naturally feel for the Governor’s attempt to grab 500,000 acres of prime, private farmland for the TTC. It goes to the structural problems in our electoral system which breeds more and more polarization. This creates opportunities for likes of Rick Perry despite the fact that they actually enjoy minority (no pun intended) support. An example of my point is the defeat of Victor Carillo, Republican incumbent Railroad Commissioner. It appears that Mr. Carrillo’s only “sin” was his Hispanic last name.
One out every two of those voting in the Republican primary voted for Debra Medina (18.6%) or Kay Bailey Hutchison (33.3%). Kay’s concession speech came with less than 20% of the precincts having been counted. It was clear that regular Republicans, out of weakness in the face of the Medina insurgency, needed to circle the wagons. If we, at Independent Texans, have anything to say about it, the wagons will be re-routed somewhere else in November. We can start with the political reform that gets to the heart of partisan power over the next two years – redistricting.
Prediction: If Bill White figures out how to reach out to independents with real reform propositions on redistricting and more, he will beat Rick Perry. If he doesn’t, Rick Perry will keep fueling the rise of independent politics in Texas and some day we will win.
Message to Texas Tea Partiers: You have an important decision to make. Are you really independent, or will you patch things up like Kay did with Rick Perry and Sarah Palin, who are out to use and then crush you? It’s your choice.
Message to Bill White: Pledge to move redistricting to a special session and have the Governor’s Call contain this simple message – legislators should not be allowed to draw their own district lines. This is an example of what it means to be a small “i” independent (and, as you say, “inclusive”) Governor.
PS For to those wanting to be knowledgeable: The new online Texas Tribune newspaper is providing excellent followup coverage of Texas races, including a nifty tool to search for where candidates are getting their contributions.
As usual, I have no one to vote for. I have a feeling that tRick Perry will immediately start campaigning for POTUS and will be distracted to “Not Mess With Texas”. I CAN NOT vote for Howdy Doody. His sanctuary city in Houston has killed a few cops and quite a few US citizens that had been repeat offenders and should of been deported years ago. Bad move for Houston and surrounding cities. Can you imagine the damage he would do to the whole state? At least tRick Perry pretends to care and did not cave to Mexico when one of their citizens was executed.
Linda, you have done a wonderful job in stopping the TTC, time and time again. If he tries to pull this crap again, you and many others will put the “beat down” on him again. We’re well informed on the issue, thanks to you.
There is virtually no practical difference between Perry and White on immigration. What I wonder about is why Rick Perry has done little to stop the drug violence spilling over the border, which is a no brainer.
The following message was sent to us with a request for anonymity from a Republican precinct chair:
I think he [Perry] is beatable. It won’t be easy–the political graveyard is full of people who thought it would be, and Paul Burka has a fistful of reasons why he has the upper hand. http://www.texasmonthly.com/blogs/burkablog/?p=6511 And that is without mentioning how much of a drag THE ONE has become on Dems everywhere, especially in Texas.
But the reasons that Debra Medina and 49% of Texas Republicans opposed Rick Perry are as valid today as they were March 1.
An election with a long-term incumbent is (ordinarily) a referendum on the incumbent. Perry managed to turn that around and make this election a referendum on Washington, with Kay. He can’t do that with White. He can make this a referendum on Houston, but that’s a lot trickier business.
And with White heading the Dem ticket, a LOT of Harris County Repubs are in deep trouble. They were in trouble before, but this could be the year a bunch of them go down. Even if White loses, if Harris County follows Dallas County and turns blue, the GOP will take a serious hit.
Rick Perry and his team are very, very good at politics. We may disagree with his results, but when his opponents miss that fact, they do so at their peril.
The following message was sent to us from a Republican precinct chair with a request for anonymity:
I think he [Perry] is beatable. It won’t be easy–the political graveyard is full of people who thought it would be, and Paul Burka has a fistful of reasons why he has the upper hand. http://www.texasmonthly.com/blogs/burkablog/?p=6511 And that is without mentioning how much of a drag THE ONE has become on Dems everywhere, especially in Texas.
But the reasons that Debra Medina and 49% of Texas Republicans opposed Rick Perry are as valid today as they were March 1.
An election with a long-term incumbent is (ordinarily) a referendum on the incumbent. Perry managed to turn that around and make this election a referendum on Washington, with Kay. He can’t do that with White. He can make this a referendum on Houston, but that’s a lot trickier business.
And with White heading the Dem ticket, a LOT of Harris County Repubs are in deep trouble. They were in trouble before, but this could be the year a bunch of them go down. Even if White loses, if Harris County follows Dallas County and turns blue, the GOP will take a serious hit.
Rick Perry and his team are very, very good at politics. We may disagree with his results, but when his opponents miss that fact, they do so at their peril.
Another request for anonymity from a member of Independent Texans:
Linda — Certainly we need to redistrict in a different way but you know Perry won’t help with this. As we found out on the TTC and eminent domain issues there are some moderate republicans who are not loyal to Perry. They might be willing to work with White on some issues. There are some independents in rural areas who often vote republican who may vote for White because of Perry’s stand on the two issues mentioned above. To me voting for White is a “no brainer.” One way to show people that Independent Texans have some clout is to join the Dems to help elect White.
In response to the comment above:
White is already talking about how Perry is dividing the electorate. The question is how is White going to help us unity. The only way to do that is to address some fundamental restructuring reforms that Perry wouldn’t touch with a ten foot poll. Redistricting reform is the most relevant reform to talk about with the census upon us. Otherwise no reforms on any policy questions will ever happen.
I don’t know who to vote for and I am still mad at Glenn Beck. May he and Palin find something better to do than mess with Texas.
I would like to see Medina run for the Senate in Hutchison’s place. If she ran as an independent I’ll bet she’d have a good chance of beating KBH if she actually decides to stay and if not stands as good a chance as anyone of winning that spot. We don’t have to always vote for independents but it would be good to see more running for office and that liberals and conservatives may just agree on. I want to see candidates dropping the usual political guise of “I will say anything to get elected”. That’s why I liked Medina better, she sounds more honest and I would say is a diamond in the rough.
When faced with the choice of selecting old scum or fresh scum I always vote for fresh scum! Although I’m a Libertarian and preferred Medina to win the Republican primary I may vote for the Democrat nominee in November. That may be our best chance to boot Perry!
I’m with Judi on Medina running for Senate to replace Hutchison! I’m sure the Libertarian Party would welcome her if the Republicans are smart enough to support her.
Bill White is not a stupid politician. The thing he did not do is burn his Houston bridges. I’ll vote for him. His controversies were things like “Safe/Clear” which was a public safety issue and deporting illegal aliens when they commit crimes. He did not try to put all of Houston business people out of business.
I have been an independant most of my life, forced to vote in a party primary to get local officials elected, voting my conscience…However, voting my conscience has let nowhere and I continue to see politicians on both sides pander to special interests in return for cash.
As Independants, it is now time to vote strategically. Voting for Nadar or Kinky was a waste of a vote. As was voting for Medina. Tea Baggers may have liked the non-incumbancy of this candidate, but I am not a tea baggar. Medina was a shill. Likely put in place by Perry himself at a time when he thought Kay Bailey was a threat in order to split the vote and avoid a runoff. Really, think about it, who is Debra Medina, and where did she come from?
So once again, Independant support is thrown behind someone who doesnt have a chance in hades.
I am sick of single issue candidates and single issue voters. My life and livelihood doesnt rest on a candidate’s private stance on abortion. My quality of life is dependant on affordable healthcare and the economic strength of my community, neither of which is in effect right now.
So the question is to all “Independants” out there: Are you going to vote smart, or are you going to vote like a tea bagger in support of yet more empty rhetoric?
Non-partisan redistricting is indeed a most important matter. Jon Roland of Coalition for Non-Partisan Redistricting,
http://www.constitution.org/reform/us/tx/redistrict/cnpr.htm
is the only person I know who has come up with a detailed workable plan to have non-partisan redistricting. But my true feelings are anything, no matter how fair and objective, can be made crooked by crooked people.
Not sure the fair redistricting issue would garner voters for White even if he rightly chose to make it a major issue of his campaign.
However, using that issue in addition to White putting forth a full LIBERTY / Sovereignty / Constitution platform, may offer a real chance of getting the highest number of of the Perry and Medina votes.
We have heard White is a “gun grabber.” He would need to dispel that idea in a concrete way.
He would need to state clearly that he is against any programs, federal, state, or local, that would work to destroy or lessen people’s private property rights.
I really believe the Texan’s independent spirit needs to be capitalized upon. We care about independence from the federal government, private property rights, gun rights, and a strongly and fairly enforced border with Mexico as well as making life difficult here for illegal aliens.
Doubt Mr. White would want to revamp his campaign in those directions. To me, he ought to “go for broke” and go ahead and put the liberty issues and the redistricting issue out there in a strong way. He and We know he is going to lose for sure if he does not.
Perry did get some of the liberty type folks voting for him because he did put out a bit of a liberty message, no matter how phony it was.
Medina through her campaign under the bus at the exact moment when her supporters may have been able to get out their and make her get more votes than Hutchison, so that there could realistically have been a runoff.
The issue of 9-11 truth and justice is simply something none of our politicians will touch and none of the media journalists will handle at all or handle is a fair way. What Medina said to Glen Beck was good. What Medina said to the guy who was assigned to take care of Beck’s unfinished business, Mark Davis, is what ruined her campaign at the crucial moment. I would never vote for Medina for anything ever again.
I’m an “independent” who really likes White. I also agree that him taking on some issues that never get addressed- that speaks to us as independent voters- is the way for him to go. Redistricting reform is a great one given that we’re about to see another worthless shoot out at the capitol between the parties unless we reform the corrupt practice called gerrymandering.
I really hope White gets it – so many politicians don’t understand what we independents are really about.
If football were similarly rigged, no one would bother watching!
Can’t someone pin Perry down on property taxes? I’ve heard him say three times that he has lowered property taxes, so I wonder why mine have increased every year since 2004. They increased $354 in the last two years. If your taxes have decreased, please write to Bill White. I’ll bet he won’t get much mail, if any. Also, I was almost relieved of paying any taxes at all due to the TTC. Re: Medina: no property tax/higher sales tax would cause the hundreds of thousands of people who rent to pay a better share of State costs, not to mention illegals and those who are able to work, but will not.
I now equate Democrats as enablers, but will still vote for White.
Redistricting reform is a fundamental issue. As long as politicians can gerrymander districts, the democratic process can’t work.
I’d much rather vote for someone who I disagree with on some issues than vote for someone (like Perry) who only cares about money and power. I’m a gun-toting rancher, but I’ll vote for Bill White if he will make a commitment to take on redistricting.
Here is Jon Roland’s basic plan for non-partisan redistricting.
http://www.constitution.org/reform/us/tx/redistrict/cnpr_proposal.htm
Still say Mr. White needs to make liberty issues in addition to redistricting issue the major part of his platform.
The reason there has been no help with property taxes is that they have done nothing to fix the corrupt appraisal policies. The appraisers are given the word to appraise so as to reach the amount of property tax levies that Mr. Perry deigns as necessary. Then the appraisers fix the appraisals around that number — sort of the “Downing Street Memo” property tax appraisal method. Tax rate lowering means nothing in property tax. Appraised valuation means everything.
The Texas Economy is in far worse condition than any of the candidates have let on so far. We are in the midst of a commercial real estate collapse in Texas as well as a general marching on of residential foreclosures.
If Mr. White does not amend his campaign, I will simply not vote in the governor’s race.
Texas has been seriously messed with.
Dear Linda:
Have any Independent Texas voters supported the idea of election day voter registration? Also, has there been much progress made on the idea of an open primary where voters are allowed to cross vote? For example, I could vote Republican Medina for Gov and Democrat Uribe for
Land Commissioner?
I just read your newsletter and look forward to Booting Rick Perry.
Thanks…..Elliot
Acutally, Rep. Anchia has proposed same day registration (during the early voting period only) as a compromise with those pushing the Voter ID Bill — if folks produced the identification that pro-voter ID’ers were asking for. The compromise bill never happened. And yes, we would have supported this.
As for the open primary about which you speak, we have never really addressed this. Many of us would really like to see non-partisan elections like we hold at the City level. The party machines are really of a prior epoc and are holding back the electorate which is increasingly voting for the person, not the party.
These kinds of structural reforms are something that is — for the moment — left out of the debate by the candidates. We know where Perry is on political reform. He is the embodiment of political corruption.
Will Bill White take up “issues” like redistricting reform? I have heard he already supports it. What have you heard Elliot?
Thanks for asking!
Since Rick Perry turned his gubernatorial Primary race into a referendum against Washington and everything it stands for, why did so many of the Texas Tea Party Republican candidates for US Congress do so badly?
Frankly, I see a huge disconnect between anti-Washington Perry polling only 51%, but 12-term, life-long Washington denizen Lamar Smith (TX-21) polling 82% against his well-qualified Tea Party challenger, Stephen Schoppe.
What happened here? Were all the people in District 21 who claim to despise Smith voting in the Democrat Primary? Or is it that the Tea Party folks only show up for the protests?
Yes, it’s true that I have a dog in this hunt, and it would have been a lot easier for me to beat Schoppe in November than it will be for me to beat Smith. And like I’ve been saying for the last three elections, all of us challengers have one job, and one job only — to send Smith home from Washington.
And now we have one fewer real conservative to stand up in November, no matter what Smith has started saying about himself. A true conservative would never have voted for the TARP bailout, even (and especially) if it included a sweetheart Federal income tax exemption on state sales taxes that would raise the deficit even more than just the $787 billion TARP bailout.
And that’s the excuse that Smith has been giving for why he voted FOR the TARP bill both times — we’d save money on our income taxes — while he continues plying his pork pipeline. But now that there’s a Democrat in the White House, he’s voting against every Democrat bill, no matter for what reason, with a fervor equal to his voting WITH the Republican pack for the last 20+ years.
If you’re tired of Washington as usual, you should be ready to vote EVERYBODY out in November. With a little luck, 435 freshman members of Congress won’t be able to spend a dime for the first six months.
How does that sound, compared to the trillions spent on waste, fraud, and abuse by the “tax and spend” Democrats and the “spend and cut taxes” Republicans?
I think Medina’s campaign staff totally under estimated the 911 truthers’s strength. I believe the interview with Glen Beck was a blow, but damage control kicked in and I believe her ship was straighten back up by some very quick thinking by Alex Jones and his staff who flooded the web with encriminating articles and videos of Glen Beck and Sarah Palin. It was not to recover from the second blow from Mack Davis. The word despicable just hung in everyone’s craw. I do believe if she had remained neutral on the 911 issue she would have won a runoff with Perry.
Is there anyone in the wings who may run as an independant in Nov.?
Hi Pat: It is too late for an independent to file to run in this election cycle. They have to had filed a notice of candidacy on the first day in January. Thanks for asking. Linda
The only way to boot Perry is for all the Republicans who dislike what Perry is doing, unite with the Independents and togather vote with the Democrats for Mr. White.
I refuse to vote for Perry. I just can’t vote for someone who supports toll roads as he does. I’m just not sure where White stands on the issues of toll roads. If White is against tolling, then I will vote for him. At this point, I just don’t have enough information on White.
“The only way to boot Perry is” — is to collect more votes for a different candidate, not just the Democrat candidate. I’m not sure whether we’ve got any true independent candidates in the governor’s race now, but we WILL have a Libertarian candidate.
In fact we’ve got five lined up, and we will be choosing one at our state convention later this year. The smart money is on Jeff Daiell, an experienced campaigner and dedicated Conservative who, like Debra Medina, already has concrete ideas and proposals on what to do when elected.
Of course, Perry also has concrete ideas and proposals on what to do when re-elected … get his hair done, maybe get a manicure, and use eminent domain to transfer a few million more acres from private ownership to the hands of foreign nationals.
Using Kay’s family’s concrete.
Whatever is done in Nov. needs to be a collective effort from the Independants. We will lose our strength if we are fractured in our voting.
A good analogy from Bob Chapman the International forecaster. “As long as you vote the person in office out, it will take the neocon lobbyist 6 to 12 months to corrupt the new person.”
Just a thought.
With all due respect to James and his candidacy (and his party – the Libertarian Party), I would urge that in the Governor’s race we consider the fact that we do not have runoff elections. Therefore if we go third party in the Guv’s race, Rick would slip in again without a majority. We need to seriously consider Bill White – just my opinion – and I’d like to hear more from you indies out there. Thanks James! Linda
I can’t imagine why that many Republican voters changed Gov. 39% to Primary Winner 51%. I guess he was right when, several months ago, he said, in effect, that enough people would forget about the Trans-Texas Corridor for him to win again. It would be interesting to see the vote broken out. Did the rural counties go for him? Did the rural counties in the path of the Corridor system go for him? Since the Texas Farm Bureau endorsed KBH this time, I fear what Perry may try to do to their rural constituency if he has the power.
I hope that if his victory in the Republican primary leads to another term, Perry’s “vision” of the Corridor is too far gone for him to resurrect it. Unfortunately, the Corridor is still in statute–TxDOT still has the authority to create it.
At least, in our rural Coupland area, the two precincts around Coupland did not follow the state-wide voting trend. Pct. 433, including Coupland and east of Coupland voted:
Perry 37%
Hutchison 37%
Medina 26%
Pct. 413, beginning just west of Coupland, voted:
Perry 32%
Hutchison 35%
Medina 34%
The vote up and down the TTC-35 and TTC-69 routes were very split and Perry did not do well. Rural voters need to consider using their voting block to give the boot to Rick in the general election. Rural folks on this list – your thoughts?
I agree Linda. I can’t recall any libertarian winning a political race. I think Bill White is the strongest choice we have to beat Bilderberg Perry. A one term governor would be easier to beat. If White doesn’t want to listen to the majority of the people’s wishes.
Medina carried Wood County where I live.
FYI….This website is where I found out Medina carried Wood County. This could be helpful in targeting the areas where Perry was the srongest.
http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/pamphlets/largepamp.shtml
Under Primary Elections select “Election Night Returns”
You can select the 2010 Republican or Democratic Primary election returns.
On this page you can type in a Texas County and get the results for all the primary elections.
Correction….Medina did not carry Wood County.
I voted in the Republican Primary for the first time in my life just to vote against Rick Perry. Had there been a runoff I would have voted for either woman on the Ballot. It didn’t help.
If there is any hope to defeat Rick Perry in November it is with White. Don’t kid yourself that there could possibly be another way. I agree we need another Party but there is no way to consider anything like that for this go around. I shall campaign for White, make calls, write letters, put up signs and use my websites to work for his election. I shall vote for White in November no matter what he says during the campaign. Then we can take him out much easier by beginning today to groom a better choice for four years from now. Unite and fight but for now just remove Rick Perry.
Sputnik
In case anyone reading here doesn’t know Sputnik, he is legendary in the biker community and is the founder of the Texas Motorcycle Rights Association. Sputnik is known by every Texas legislator as a tireless organizer for the rights of motorcyclists and for all Texans. Thanks for chiming in, Sputnik!
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