The obvious answer may not be so obvious to Sen. Patrick, et. al., or they might, just might, rethink their strategy. The obvious answer is…of course they are helping her! The old wisdom of “any mention is good, just spell the name right” couldn’t be more true than in Mrs. Medina’s case.
And one more thing to note: Mrs. Medina is certainly helping Sen. Patrick. Heck, he might even get a sorely needed boost in the ratings and lift him above the territory of the despicable Terry Lowry’s ratings on his paid-for-time show. I know that I’m enjoying hearing the old Dan, the passionate Dan, the guy that cares about something. That Dan has been MIA since being shut out in his first legislative session and figuring out that he has to go along to get along. That Dan is Boring Dan. I mean, seriously, do you really think the 2005/6 Dan would support Gov. Rick Perry’s re-election? Laughable.
I think another facet of rejuvenated Dan’s passion is a huge dose of envy. In his heart of hearts, I guarantee you that Dan is looking at Mrs. Medina’s campaign and wondering, what if? What if I hadn’t become boring, establishment Dan? That should be me! You know it and I know it. Perhaps as Mrs. Medina continues to rise, rejuvenated Dan will recapture his passion and keep it this time. If so, he should give her a big old hug and thank her. We need rejuvenated Dan and I’m loving it.
Now, back to Sen. Patrick and his crusade of misinformation about Mrs. Medina. Up at 3 am sending out Tweets, grabbing onto a snippet of a sixteen minute interview with West Texas talk show host Robert Pratt, “proving” that Mrs. Medina is not a Republican.
Hardly.
Let’s take a look at what she said. Click here to listen for yourself, the part in question is at the very beginning of this sixteen minute very hostile interview. Here is what Sen. Patrick Tweeted/Facebooked:
I’ve had a lot of comments on this page from Medina fans who debate me on her being a Republican. I believe she’s much more a Libertarian than a Republican. Today she made my case on a Lubbock radio station by refusing to say she would endorse either Rick or Kay if one of them win instead of her. She said there could be someone else. What kind of Republican is this?
If she supports someone other than Rick or Kay, after running as a Republican she will only help Bill White in November. As all Republicans know we can disagree in a primary, but unless an unusal event happens, we come together in the general to defeat the Democrats. We can fight between ourselves in March but we work as a team in November. Medine apparently doesn’t play by those rules.
Here is what Mrs. Medina actually said:
Pratt: “So in other words, even though we do know that the nominee will be one of three people, Rick Perry, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, or yourself, you’re not willing to go on the record saying that if you’re not the nominee you would support the Party’s ticket.”
Medina: “Absolutely not. I think that’s what’s gotten us into the trouble that we’re in. You guys give these incumbents a pass all the time by saying you know people just need to hold their nose and vote Republican in November and I think we’ve seen time and time again, unless Republicans are going to stand up and walk their talk, they’re going to get turned out of office. I wish we’d start turning them out of office in the primary instead of waiting until the general election, but I think the people are speaking pretty loudly – the Party leadership and, and, and some others tend to not want to listen to the voice of the people. I’m here fighting for the people so the last thing I’m going to do is say is hold your nose in November. I’m going to fight real hard to be that nominee and I will vote, as I have been for some years, for the most conservative candidate.”
Pratt: “So, so the most conservative candidate of the 7 Democrats, you believe one of those is more conservative than one of the Republican candidates.”
Medina: “Well surely you understand that there may be other candidates besides a Republican and a Democrat on the ballot come next November.”
That makes the case that she isn’t a Republican? Ludicrous. In fact, I’d bet that an awful lot of people like that comment. A lot. The question is flawed from the start: it assumes that she will not win, is not trying to win, and isn’t even a Republican. Nonsense, pure, utter, nonsense.
On his radio show yesterday, Sen. Patrick took it further, as he is prone to do when he gets rolling (think old Dan). He kept repeating the “absolutely not” over and over and over, saying again that this “proves” she is a Libertarian. Again, laughable. But thank goodness supporters of Mrs. Medina kept calling in, challenging him. It made for good radio and good publicity for Mrs. Medina. Welcome back, rejuvenated Dan, even if it was only for a while.
Now, the rest of the story. If I were Mrs. Medina, I’d put that radio clip on the home page of my website and hope that people played it over and over and over and over….you get the point. This is a candidate that is not afraid to go toe to toe with a good ol’ boy from West Texas hell bent on bringing her down. I like that. A lot.
If you are a Medina fan, here is what you should do: make that clip go viral. Seriously. Put it on your Facebook, your blog, Tweet it, tell your friends by email, whatever – just get it out there. Trust me on this one. Nothing in that clip is going to hurt her with anyone that isn’t a loyalist to one of the other two candidates. If moderates would take the time to listen, even they would have to admit she is a breath of very needed, very fresh air in Texas politics.
Here again is the link: Medina Rocks Good Old Boy’s World – sixteen minutes of pure political fun.
Thank you Mrs. Medina for that freshness. And for rejuvenating Danny, if only for a little while.