Governor Debra Medina?

With polls showing a huge surge in support for tea partier, businesswoman and Republican candidate for Texas governor Debra Medina, I get the feeling that she may be the next Scott Brown to sweep the political landscape. Not because she could very well be voted into office to fill a seat long-held by Democrats; the Texas governor's mansion has been solidly Republican for over 15 years. No, Ms. Medina will be the next Scott Brown because, like the new Massachusetts senator, she represents a huge political shift in this country made up of wave after wave of disillusioned voters looking for someone fresh. While officially running as a Republican, no one mistakes her candidacy for anything other than what it actually is. Debra Medina is a Tea Party candidate. Like Daddy always said, "If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck..."

Beginning her campaign with as little as 3% support in the polls, Ms. Medina now enjoys 24% support among Republican primary voters after two hugely successful debate performances. Doesn't sound like much to you? Consider that Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, a hugely popular U.S. senator only garners 4 points more at 28% (and for that matter Governor Perry only garners 39% in the same poll) and you have the makings of a political bombshell levied by upset Texas voters. And it won't take much to shake the boat. If no candidate earns 50% of the vote in next month's primary then the election goes to a run-off to be held in April. If one of those candidates is a Tea Party candidate then the nation's waves of grassroots Tea Party activists just might see their opportunity to have their first viable Tea Party candidate for a major office.

But unlike the huge wake up call that Scott Brown was to Democrats, Debra Medina could be a huge wake up call to elected Republicans across the country that they aren't safe, either, no matter who they are. Governor Perry, after being reelected with barely 40% of the vote four years ago, has become an immensely popular governor and a forceful voice against the intrusion of the national government into our state affairs. He is also largely responsible for the economic behemoth that Texas has become over the last three years. After all, that's why I support him in this election. If Debra Medina is able to unseat this governor, then Republicans across the country are vulnerable to a huge Tea Party insurgency that could alter the future of the party and indeed the nation. If she wins the governor's mansion, well, then God save Texas.

Don't think it's possible? She's already beating the leading Democrat candidate, former Houston Mayor Bill White by 4 points.