Cruz victory a wake-up call for Washington

Houston Chronicle ^ | August 1, 2012 | Richard S. Dunham

[Cincinatus' Wife]

WASHINGTON - Ted Cruz's stunning come-from-behind victory over David Dewhurst in Tuesday's Republican Senate runoff sends an unmistakable message to the political establishment in Washington that the next U.S. Senate, like the Republican-controlled House, is going to be more conservative and less willing to compromise with President Barack Obama or even a possible President Mitt Romney.

"This is going to reverberate around the Capitol in Washington and around the country," said Republican strategist Matt Mackowiak. "If you can do this in Texas, you can do it anywhere. This is a hell of a wake-up call for the establishment."

The decisive win by Cruz, a first-time office-seeker, over one of the Texas' most powerful officeholders underscores the growing clout of tea party conservatives in Republican nominating contests and the struggles that both moderate and conservative establishment figures are facing in the current political climate of grass-roots fury at the status quo.

"People perceive a crisis," said Clemson University political scientist David James Woodard, a specialist in conservative politics. "They want leadership, not experience. They're open to ideological appeals more than a résumé."

[SNIP]

GOP strategist Mackowiak said Cruz's success "is going to convince outside groups to get involved in more races" against prominent establishment figures.

Tea party leaders were quick to claim credit for Cruz's victory after he trailed Dewhurst in the May 29 primary - warning other establishment figures that they faced extinction in future purges.

Tea Party Express chair Amy Kremer said Dewhurst's defeat "comes at the hands of the Tea Party" and no "anointed Austin politician" should expect to prevail in primary contests.

And the threats, it seems, should be taken seriously....

[CPT Clay]

“Tea Party is dead” didn’t you get the memo?

[pwatson]

NTTP goes 7 - 2 in the Runoff http://northtexasteaparty.org/

Gail Spurlock and Greg Parker both lost their races; both were long shots from the beginning, but we do choose on principle first and winnability second.
But otherwise, a great night: Jeff Leach, Ben Smith, Barnett Walker won their local races, Collin County gave Ted Cruz a bigger raw vote margin (11,330) than Dallas County (7,121); and David Evans, John Devine, and Christi Craddick all won through. EVERY judicial race went our way.
Our yellow sheets were EVERYWHERE; We cannot say enough to express our undying gratitude to the scores of volunteers that helped with this. These victories belong to them- and the conservative constituency.
The Collin County flyer was downloaded from the web site 1,257 times, over DOUBLE the primary itself. (The Dallas/Denton one was downloaded 385 times). Over 10,000 web page visits in the last 10 days. We had TREMENDOUS- and growing- impact.
And to the political machines in Austin and elsewhere who said we were ‘going away’, we say:
“Excuse us; what did you say?”

And we aren’t done yet. We’ll start having meetings again, now that our innumerable candidate forums, vetting sessions and volunteer efforts will subside. We have new projects and new leadership to introduce and get rolling. Success breeds more tasks- and we will continue to grow and expand the influence of the conservative constituency.

Our story on this can be found at this link. If you wish to comment on your election experience and thoughts, please feel free to do so.

[mo]

“...said Larry Sabato”

Sabato..and all the others that make a living off of “commentating” off the delusional nonsense that goes on in DC all know that a Constitutional Federal Government gives them a lot less to commentate upon.

[WestTexasWend]

Texas Democratic Party chair Gilberto Hinojosa called the runoff “the Republican Party’s Thelma and Louise moment. It may feel pretty exhilarating now, but that landing’s going to be hell.”

...and Mr. Hinojosa, speaking from a cesspool in a crater at the bottom of the canyon that’s been home to Texas Democrats for more than two decades, should know.

[Deagle]

Well, has anyone noticed that the sort-of Conservative site Hot Air’s pundit Alphapundit missed his prediction of 5% or less for this race? I’d guess that this site (no longer a Michelle Malkin site) has become a bit moderate? Heck, he only missed it by 9% or so... Wonder if he/she is a bit out of the mainstream these days or more probably part of the Republican mainstream (that’s what they call the insiders in DC).

Seems that Hot Air has gone from a Malkin Conservative site to a business site (money makers always look for the middle - money makers) looking to appease the majority. Too bad, they are only muddling the middle.