Medina Campaign Continues to Strengthen

Source: Lone Star Times

Ignore Debra Medina at your own peril. That would be my advice to the other candidates in the race for the Republican nomination for Governor of Texas next year.

Her campaign continues to move forward. A simple check of her website, even infrequently, will tell you very quickly that her team is coming together and her vision is becoming clearer. Whether or not the voters of Texas will respond to that vision is a different subject but at least we are getting a clearer picture of a campaign that might offer a viable alternative to politics as usual. That is not an endorsement at all, just an observation.

Compare her issues page(s) to the one page each of her opponents, Rick Perry and Kay Bailey Hutchison. Or to Democratic candidate Tom Schieffer. Obviously, the latter three used the same political format, heavy on rhetoric, light on details. In contrast, Mrs. Medina combines rhetoric with details. Not politics as usual.

If you take the time to read all of that material, it is clear that she is trying to appeal to a broad cross-section of mostly conservative Texans but not necessarily Republicans. But her latest initiative is clearly aimed at conservative Republicans.

One of the constant comments from conservative Republicans is that they elect people to office based upon campaign slogans and position papers, then those same people go to Austin and vote different than the positions they took in the campaign. This process repeats itself during the next election cycle, the politician claiming to have gotten the message, gets elected, then votes against his or her campaign promises.

The Medina campaign has announced a petition drive that they think will help stop this process. She is trying to collect enough signatures to place six initiatives on the ballot in the March 2009 primary which will require candidates to swear or affirm to their support for longstanding Republican principles in these six areas:

Life

Spending

Property Rights

State Sovereignty

Term Limits

Party Platform

I guarantee you that will appeal to the conservative base of the Texas Republican Party. It may, however, put off some of the more moderate Republicans by putting constraints on them, sort of the way some of us Southern Baptists reject the convention’s attempt to define our beliefs.

Financial disclosure reports will be released shortly. I would be very surprised if she has made any headway in that arena, which will ultimately determine her fate. But I wouldn’t worry too much about that report, the next one will be the important one for her. For now, if I were a Medina supporter, I would be pretty excited about the progress she is making.

This campaign needs support from the grassroots.

Sign Up, Donate and Invite Friends

www.MedinaForTexas.com