Yellow Rose, Yellow Voters

The Texas Republican primary election has been concluded, and what have we learned? The latest numbers that I have seen show Governor Perry with 52% of the vote, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison claiming 31% and Deborah Medina trailing with 17 per cent. Clearly, the Texas results did not indicate that a visceral anti-incumbent mood was the dominant force because Perry already holds the record as the Lone Star State’s longest serving governor. Perhaps the voting in Texas reflects a virulent anti-Washington position because of KBH’s relatively weak finish, but the totals for Medina are the ones that I find most intriguing…and possibly most revealing.


Ms. Medina has been touted as the darling of the Tea Party Movement. Her platform and her pronouncements generally followed a Libertarian vein as she emphasized a smaller Constitutionally-conforming government. She joyfully played the role of the skunk at the picnic and was doing quite well in the pre-election polling until she appeared on the Glenn Beck radio program. Beck’s aggressive attitude with her, his almost-hostile questioning made Medina appear to be unready for leadership. One portion in particular was damaging to her campaign as Beck asked her about her position regarding the 911 Truthers. The Truthers are a fringe element of the society who appears to believe that the United States government was complicit or responsible for the attacks on September 11, 2001. Beck asked Medina what her position was regarding the 911 Truther movement. She waffled, weaseled and sputtered. Finally, she tossed out the line that she believed that some Truther claims deserved further investigation. Apparently Beck hadn’t taken his meds that morning, and he went semi-ballistic as he denounced her inability or unwillingness to forcefully disavow the Truthers.

Beck’s driving premise for his ostracizing of Medina was that she should have clearly, forcefully and unreservedly separated herself from Truther conspiracies. In a sense, I agree with Beck because to consider that my government may have had ANY input into the 911 murders, is too evil to comprehend. If government involvement were proven, then I would be forced to join in an armed resurrection or to totally withdraw to a place of isolation. For those reasons I reject any half-baked conspiratorial hypotheses that in any way, shape or form suggests the unfathomable. When reviewing the Truthers, it seems reasonable that one should be all in…or all out. Any other position, it seems to me, would result in painful unresolved angst. If one can examine this “issue” unemotionally and objectively, then I would assume that you do not love the United States of America. Just sayin’.

Back to the election: It seems to me that there are three (maybe more) conclusions that can be drawn from the Texas primary.

1.) Except for a small element, the Tea Party/Patriot movement is and always will be Republican. Despite their protestations that they are disturbed by “business as usual,” they will continue to vote for middle of the road Republicans when presented with alternatives.

2.) Medina was a flawed candidate. She allowed Beck to define her, and thus, forfeited her opportunity to garner enough support from the Perry camp to finish second and force a runoff. Of her 17 per cent totals, we do not know how many of her supporters were of the “kook” variety and how many were true freedom-lovers who rejected Perry’s opportunistic populism.

3.) Hutchison’s 31 per cent represents the old base of the Old Party. Name ID and length of service are important to them, and they generally reject finely tuned ideological messages.

There is in Texas a core element of freedom loving voters. On a percentage basis, they are probably much larger than here in Ohio. We have the strong union element that has existed in our political landscape for decades, and unfortunately, such an environment does not encourage independent thought. Our Tea Party/Patriot groups are very active in Ohio, but will, in the final analysis, support unprincipled Republicans because those candidates will master the rhetoric of liberty and continue to support growth in government. So, based on the Texas experiment, what are the realistic expectations for freedom and liberty candidates in Ohio in 2010? Our candidates are hamstrung by a lack of funding and a strong statewide infrastructure for generating votes. We must necessarily campaign as sixty-some individuals who form our campaigns according to our districts, our personal resources, our energy and our commitment. We have no retinue…no cluster of political groupies…to run our errands, drive our cars, design our ads or spread our messages. All we have is a passion for restoring the Constitution as the law of the land. All we desire is for Freedom to once again reign in America. All we need is strength and perseverance.

All we want is a few people who share our passion…who know a few people…who know more people…who know even more people…who know enough people to make a difference in Ohio.

Comment or email:  cnpearl@woh.rr.com