Primary Lesson

Lesson for Tea Party/Activist Candidates in 2010: What Not To Do 101.

The Texas primary was yesterday. As many folks know, a Tea Party/Activist candidate, Debra Medina, ran against the big names of Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. She was a relative unknown until after the televised debates where she not only held her ground, but gained a following. Who is this woman?! Wow! Smart, fresh, likable and Texas tough; she made many pay close attention to Texas politics again. She was the candidate to the far right of the other two. She was a held-breath hope of possibility to effect change. Texas, nay THE WORLD!, was a'buzz!

Remember the U.K. Guardian spin on Texas Governor hopeful Debra Medina? Man, did they get it wrong. Sarah Palin-esque impact my ass. Not even close. The heat they talked about Debra generating was prior to her flubbing her national radio show moment.

Her campaign was kicking ass and taking names until she made the grave error of hedging her bets on an unexpected question during an interview posed by Glenn Beck about being a Truther. After her hesitation/surprise/guarded answer, she was merely circling the drain. Her hopes, our hopes, evaporated. In that moment, Texans got what we needed. We lost all but 16% of confidence in her. She may very well be the things we saw during the debates, but Texans are a pragmatic bunch. Even if we ourselves have doubts about 9-11, we will not tolerate a leader of our beloved state jeopardizing our well-being without a firm factual basis for what they espouse.

You're a Truther? Fine. Where are the facts that you base this belief on? Show us. Convince us. We can handle the truth. If you can't, or refuse, we don't need a leader making important state decisions on unproven beliefs, based on a conspiratorial distrust of government. We need leaders making hard choices based on the facts before them, regardless of what they personally suspect but can't prove.

The people have spoken; once again the Republican choice is Rick The-Hair Perry. I'm not thrilled about Perry, but of the three candidates he was the most conservative without the kook factor. I'm sad that Medina wasn't the candidate that we thought her to be (sound familiar?!), yet I think she did conservatives a huge-ass favor. Washington, if they're paying attention, discovered that there is room for very conservative voices at the table, that Tea Party/Activist candidates are beyond viable, that many people are willing to vote for them, to take their chances with a newb, with the caveat that the candidates aren't found to be wearing tin-foil hats and talking in unproven theorems (coughGLOBALWARMINGcough) as if they are truth.

Tea Party/Activist folks, are you taking notes? We know you mean business. This is a movement that is not going to twinkle and disappear. You, like many Americans, have had enough of the shenanigans out of Washington and are convinced that the conservative brand of hope and change is capable of turning this country around. Yes, Medina lost, but if you openly learn the lesson of her loss it will energize your base, enabling you to move powerfully forward.

We are rooting for your message, but if you learn anything from this loss understand that we, the voters, your hoped for constituents, are smart. Like never before, we are watching and researching and drawing our own conclusions about who you are regardless of what you hope your image portrays. We are not only watching incumbents and established party candidates, but we are also watching you with the same hard, suspicious, cautious political eye. Learn that lesson and you will be unstoppable.

Class dismissed.