Posted on 05/09/2012 10:45:15 AM PDT by cotton1706
Richard Mourdock’s big primary victory over incumbent senator Dick Lugar in Indiana suggests that the insurgent Tea Party conservatism of 2009-2010 is alive and well in the 2012 Republican party. (On the other hand, Keith Judd’s showing against President Obama in Tuesday’s West Virginia Democratic presidential primary—the federal inmate won a higher percentage of the vote against the president than Lugar managed against Mourdock!—suggests something wacky is going on among Democrats, at least in West Virginia. Maybe, as Iowahawk suggests, what West Virginia Democrats were saying was, “If I had a son, he’d look like Inmate 11593-051”?)
David Dewhurst, Ted Cruz
In any case, it seems doubtful that Mourdock’s victory will be a one-off. Where might a conservative insurgent win next? Where might Tea Party conservatism again rear its (ugly, to the establishment; fetching, to some of us) head?
Texas. Ted Cruz, an impressive young conservative lawyer—recently solicitor general of Texas, before that a Supreme Court law clerk—trails the incumbent lieutenant governor, David Dewhurst, by about ten points in the latest polls in the race for the GOP nomination for Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison’s seat. Cruz has (amazingly) raised almost as much money as Dewhurst (who is wealthy and can self-fund, however).
And Cruz seems to have all the momentum. If no one gets 50 percent of the vote on May 29, there’s a runoff, and that would mean real trouble for Dewhurst. So the question is whether Cruz can hold Dewhurst short of 50 percent (there are a couple of other candidates running in high single digits), and whether he might even get to 50 percent himself? Dewhurst seems desperate: His main advertising message now is an attack on Cruz because one of the cases his law firm (of 1,200 lawyers) has is on behalf of a Chinese company in a commercial dispute. This apparently makes Cruz a pro-Chinese Communist!
A U.S. Senate with Ted Cruz (and Josh Mandel of Ohio) joining Marco Rubio and Kelly Ayotte, to mention only two members of the GOP class of 2010, will be a much improved Senate. A Senate with David Dewhurst will be more of the same.
So after Indiana, for the next three weeks, conservative eyes will be on Texas.
UPDATE: I regret the somewhat snarky tone of my parenthetical note about Mr. Keith Judd, the choice of 40 percent of West Virginia Democrats. According to Politico, he's pro-Mozart and pro-Nixon! Why wouldn't sensible Mountaineers vote for him over President Obama?
William Krystol is to conservatism what Barrack Obama is to
Social healing.
Nah! They were probably just saying that they preferred a jailbird who only made terrorist threats to a president who actually carried them out.
I think the republcan establishment is beginning to get the message that they better pivot or they’re going to be run over.
Although, I’m not stupid. They got the nominee they wanted and they believe they can co-opt senators, no matter how conservative. And in the past, they’ve been right, since a lot of the new senators bent their knee before the establshment and endorsed Romney.
But their grip is loosening and they know it!
The Senate needs Cruz.
It ain't gonna happen here!
this is an example of people taking positions as well as choosing a candidate before debates or knowing plenty about the candidate. Tom Leppert was a darn good Dallas mayor, he got the city running well again and he knows business, but he is probably going to come in 4th. We ahve had plenty of layers in Washington, Cruz will be right at home, but has John Cornyn really made an impact? I can’t see it not in any laws or removal of gov. agencies. It would be4 nice to see a few more Ron Johnson of Wisconsin in the senate and the car dealer that is in the house - folks with real world savy.
My husband and I are soooooooo behind Cruz.
I’ve heard him speak, and I believe he’s the real deal.
How does anyone know (for certain) the inmate did not win. Would any media outlet print it?
My husband and I are voting for Cruz too. Dewberry or whatever his name is keeps running that same attack ad over and over about working for China. That must be all they have on Cruz.
I love how Cruz now has an ad calling out Dewberry on the China attack.
Same here!
You can tell Dewhurst is a slimy, establishment guy by his commercials.
I agree...he comes off as slimy with these attack ads...kind of like Boehner the weeper.
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