No, I don’t think anyone made a fatal error, no did anyone punch another candidate out, although Gov. Perry came very close to knocking Sen. Hutchison out.
Here is my grade for each candidate, based on what I think their goals were for the night.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison – C
For Sen. Hutchison, this was a tale of two debates. The first one was before Belo paused for a commercial break, the second one was after that break. Her goal should have been to convince moderates and independents, plus some conservative Democrats, that she was the best choice. Why she keeps tugging at the hard core conservative wing is anyone’s guess because they simply aren’t buying her message. There is too much anti-Washington sentiment amongst this group to overcome.
Her first half performance was dreadful, just awful. Honestly. She looked weak and timid, very uncharacteristic of her. At one point, my wife said she needed to drop out of the race.
The second half was great, classic Kay. Precise, on-point, sharp elbows – what the heck happened during that break? She had the best closing of the three by far. I’ll give her a C but frankly, her days are over unless Mrs. Medina can continue to pull voters away from Gov. Perry because she isn’t drawing the new voters that she needs. A run-off is her best chance at this point but does anyone see her beating Gov. Perry in a primary run-off? I don’t. She needs to do something between now and February 16th but I haven’t a clue as to what it could be.
Debra Medina – A
The expectations were different this time around. No longer was it simply to prove she belonged on the stage, she needed to prove that her ideas were viable. And regardless of what you will read from the traditional soothsayers such as Burka, she did that quite well. Burka’s headline was bold: Perry Wins! And this is what he said about Mrs. Medina:
Medina came across as more of an amateur this time. Last time she was spunky. This time she was old news. I was impressed that she nailed the question about how much starting school teachers made. The questions weren’t really good for her. She didn’t have a lot of opportunity to score points with the tea party crowd. Her issues are pretty esoteric. Property tax versus consumption tax. Nullification. I think this debate was really set up to be a fight between Hutchison and Perry for the GOP base vote, not the crazies. It was her last chance to win them over, and she didn’t come close to doing it. Perry by a mile.
I don’t know what he was watching, but it certainly wasn’t the same debate I watched. I think these guys that have been around forever expect to see something and then report on it as if it happened as they expected. Her property tax vs. consumption tax is only esoteric for those that are used to doing the same thing the same way and cannot see beyond the borders of their own preconceived notions about voters and what they can and can’t understand.
For some reason, he still thinks that if you support Debra Medina, you are one of “the crazies”. And that she only connects with the “tea party crowd”. I’ve got a suggestion for Mr. Burka – get off of your high horse and head out to one of the hundreds of meetings around that state that these “crazies” are holding each week. You’ll find that they aren’t all that crazy after all.
Enough about Burka and his stale thought processes. Mrs. Medina was quick on the draw, had her facts straight, connected with women (don’t believe me? Watch it online with a woman.), and, in general, was able to articulate her positions well enough to continue to gain momentum. Watch and see.
The only weak spot she had was her closing – instead of speaking from the heart, she read it from her notes, forcing her to look down/up, down/up – not a great television moment. The content was fine but Mrs. Medina is at her best when she speaks from the heart.
Gov. Rick Perry – A
Very good debate for the governor. Gone was the head bobbing chimp grin from the last debate. Sure, he still had his characteristic smirk but it wasn’t unbearable.
And time after time, he got his message across, whether it be the good business climate of Texas or the anti-Washington sentiment against Sen. Hutchison. During the first half of the debate, as I mentioned, he was close to knocking her out. She came back strong enough in the second half to overcome that but again, for all practical purposes, I think her chances are over.
His best moment of the evening, for me, was his response to the question about in-state tuition for children that were brought here by their parents, worked hard in school and wish to attend state universities. This is commonly called the DREAM ACT and it is a great program, my right-wing friends objections notwithstanding. He passionately defended it and didn’t back down an inch. I liked that.
Clearly the front-runner, he did nothing to hurt his position.
There you have it. Early voting starts on Tuesday, February 16th. The last day to turn in your registration request is Monday, February 1st, so don’t wait.