Stay the Course, Mitt

Despite the worried grumblings of some dissatisied Republican primary voters, Mitt Romney's chances of winning the general election this November should give GOPers plenty of optimism. It is, after all, hard to imagine a better scenario to take on an incumbent president. The economy is lagging, unemployment is high, the president's approval numbers are low and the deficit and our national debt is astronomical. The only concern the party faithful should now have in its presumptive nominee is his proven ability to agitate the left and their allies in the media with his occassional offhanded and completely unconscious references to his wealth. This election should be an easy win. However, a victory in November will require a great deal of discipline on the part of Governor Romney and his campaign.

The message this election cycle is simple, and it's borrowed from the left's very own Ragin' Cajun, James Carville: "It's the economy, stupid". Of course, it is. And with little hope that President Obama and his henchmen in the Democrat led Senate will do anything to improve the economy, there can be found little reason for Mr. Romney to talk about much of anything else.

Do not expect that to deter the talking heads from the other side of the aisle or their cheerleaders on the network evening news. Since the beginning of the primary season viewers have been subjected to stories on Mitt Romney's travel habits with his pets, his friends in Nascar, his work as a successful businessman, a mass murder committed 150 years ago and, most recently, his wife's hobby of riding horses. The media found the expenses incurred by that last bit to be newsworthy. Go figure. These, of course, are distractions meant to knock the governor off message. If they succeed, the president will ride the wave of these meaningless stories into a second term.

But that depends on the good governor, who, thus far has managed a campaign focused squarely on the economy and job creation. But one issue has resurfaced that may cause Romney to stumble. When the gaffe prone Vice President forced President Obama to admit he supports gay marriage, a contentios and contemporary issue was resurrected in the American electoral consciousness. Mr. Romney was thus forced to restate his position on gay marriage; a position growing less and less popular as the months and years roll by. And, as required, he restated his position and left it at that.

Wrong answer, Mr. Romney. Nevermind the conservative principles underlying anyone's support of gay marriage. The correct answer to that question was, "I still support marriage between one man and one woman. But the fact is gay people are living in this economy too. Gay people are standing in unemployment lines right next to straight people. I want to put all Americans back to work. That is my focus as president." Instead of making his economic message resonate with gay and lesbian Americans, Mr. Romney allowed himself to be dragged into a hotly debated social issue. While he cannot afford to not comment on the president's "evolution" on the issue, he also cannot afford to allow himself to be blown off message because of the Vice President's big mouth.

You're doing fine, Mitt. Just stay the course.

Rick Perry Goes After Kay Bailey Hutchison's Washington Record As A Big Spender

Governor Rick Perry is turning up the heat on Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison's record as one of Washington's biggest spending Republicans. Fiscal and economic issues is, after all, Rick Perry's strong suit heading into this primary election, which should prove to be a tough and bloody one. I'm supporting Rick Perry, but will obviously vote for Kay Baby in the general election should she win the primary. The following ads sure do hurt, though. Don't they, Kay?







Frankly, Kay Bailey Hutchison has really picked a bad time to challenge Rick Perry for governor. While she isn't getting any younger, the good Senator isn't too old to wait four more years to run when there will be an open primary with no incumbent, one she could almost certainly win hands down. But the fact of the matter is that the battle between these two Texas political heavyweights will come down to the one thing that is on everyone's mind right now: the economy. And on tht issue Kay Bailey Hutchison cannot compete with Governor Perry. Period. He's a fiscal hawk and a committed conservative on economic matters. Kay Bailey's record will kill her chances at the govenor's mansion if Rick Perry continues to hammer her with ads like these. The last thing Senator Hutchison needs is to be portrayed as "one of them," but Rick Perry does that quite effectively in these ads.

Texas vs. California

I came across an article during my daily google search for "why texas is awesome." (That was a joke, I only do that about once a week.) The article, written by Olsen Ebright, Jonathan Lloyd and Jenna Briand, lists the "top 10 reasons" California is better than Texas. Written on November 2 of this year my first thought was why an article of this sort would need to be a collaborative effort between three journalists; especially since this scathing rebuttle will be written by only me, and be totally effective at that. But I digress.

Among the best reasons given are the following uber-convincing "facts"(I'm not making this up):

Number 10 - "People want to come here."

Number 8 - "Our waistlines are under control."

Number 6 - And I quote; "Our governor can beat up your governor."

Number 4 - "Plenty of eyecandy"

Number 1 - "Texas isn't home to George W. Bush"

As you can see, the list is a real intellectual masterpiece. Don't worry, though, I think I can manage responding to this without pointing out that Californians are leaving in droves to come to Texas. I can do it without mentioning that Texas is now viewed as the model of how to run a state. I'll even refrain from using silly (but true) arguments like "Texas doesn't have earthquakes". No, I don't have to do any of those things because it really boils down to this:

"Journalists" in Texas aren't writing pitiful, pansy-ass, laugh-out-loud hillarious articles begging Texans to stay here. Jealous much?