As I was really there to meet Mrs. Glass, I’ll start with there. She and her husband, Tom, seem to be very sincere in their desire to change Texas for the better. As I mentioned previously, Mrs. Glass has run for office once before, in 1982 for Attorney General. After that foray into politics, she focused on her profession as a trial attorney. Once Debra Medina lost in her bid for the Republican nomination for governor, Mrs. Glass looked around and decided that neither Rick Perry or Bill White would be right for Texas, so she stepped up her efforts to win the Libertarian Party nomination.
I think that the biggest difference between Mrs. Medina and Mrs. Glass would be, from my observation, the level of “fire in the belly”. Debra is/was intense in her desire to move Texas closer to the roots of Republicanism, which are first and foremost derived from classical libertarianism. Kathie doesn’t strike me as having that type of intensity – it seems to me to be more of a desire to fill in because no one else is standing up.
Mrs. Glass does have a very good ability to stick to her talking points. Several times during open floor questions, she noted that either the subject wasn’t one of her priorities or that it wasn’t within the realm of the role of the governor, then she quickly moved on to the things that she thinks are important. She was particularly effect at dealing with immigration in this manner, saying her concern was about border security and the federal government had to deal with citizenship.
As far as her being a “libertarian”, she was probably the closest of the three. She talked about the importance of property rights and noted that property taxes should be eliminated because in effect, you never own your property if the government can take it from you if you do not pay the required taxes. And she is exactly correct – it has always amazed me that we allow taxes on property. Where she came up short was on the issue of gay marriage, saying that while it isn’t important to her, marriage is between a man and a woman and she would veto any legislation that came across her desk stating otherwise. Again, although I would agree with her, that is more of a Republican position than a classical libertarian one.
But the big question is, will she have an impact on the race? Although I don’t like to make generalizations based upon first impressions, I’ll have to here and say that no, I don’t think so. Things change, it is a strange year and all, but I just don’t see the fire needed to move voters to make this the first year to have voted for a Libertarian. Again, if it is a close race and if she could pull 5{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} (a longshot, in my opinion), then she could be the key to a Bill White victory. But Mr. White is not showing much of an ability to reach voters outside of the metro areas at this point, so a 43-42-5 race doesn’t look likely. At this point. How’s that for walking the fence?
The other two candidates, David Smith and Steve Susman, were more familiar to me and didn’t present anything new. When asked a question about immigration, both of them stated “What’s the big deal with having to show your papers?”. That, mi amigas y amigos, is anathema to anyone that this this country should be free, much less to a libertarian. Mr. Smith always amuses me with that one, which he sometimes states shortly after attacking Ted Poe for voting in favor of the Patriot Act. Say what? And Mr. Susman’s entire American Small Business Act is built upon an expanded Small Business Administration and easier access to government loans. And for more fun, he wants the Feds to tell locals that they can’t require Burglar Alarm permits and the like. Read all about it here. Like I said, these aren’t your daddy’s libertarians.
I do think that the Libertarian Party will show some small gains this year, perhaps reaching 3 – 3 1/2 {997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} in the governors race. It should be a lot more in this specific year but Gov. Perry has done a remarkable job of somehow making his very unremarkable record into something that resembles good governance. How in the world could the people that attend Tea Party rallies overlook his mandate to force little girls to be injected with trial drugs? Or his attempt to take 584,000 acres of Texas land away from landowners in that boondoggle known as the Trans Texas Corridor? Or his complete reversal and laughing at his rhetoric on immigration shortly after the 2006 election? Boggles the mind that anyone attending these rallies would support him. And yet they are, in droves, and more importantly, they are supporting him with enthusiasm. Is it any wonder that people are skeptical of Tea Party type voters?
Kathie Glass Website: Kathie4Guv.com
David Smith Website: DSmithforCongress.com
Steve Susman Website: SteveSusman2010.ning.com