I started to title this one ‘Looking for Mr. Goodbar’ but didn’t think the younger folk would get the meaning. Heck, maybe the older folk won’t. Every single time I try to write about Sen. John Cornyn, someone gets mad. I say good things, the grassroots peeps pile on. I say bad things, I lose so-called friends. Oh, and he and his staff get upset because they are so thin-skinned. Sometimes it’s hard to believe he’s been in politics as long as he has given his tendency to whine when someone says anything negative about him.
But here’s the deal: I like the guy as a Senator and think he’s done a lot of good things for Texas and the country. I’d go over a few of them but it wouldn’t matter – a large portion of the grassroots of the Republican Party of Texas does not like him and would not accept anything that I pointed out. They’d say he was a ‘squish’ or ‘has no backbone’ or ‘he’s an example of the Peter Principle’. So I won’t bother but if you care, you could always look at his lifetime conservative rating. I know, I know, you don’t care. I get it. He didn’t support Sen. Ted Cruz’s 21 hour speech (it wasn’t a filibuster, even you should accept that).
So we all know that the government is ‘shut down’ (now there’s a relative term) and it won’t reopen until Republicans achieve victory and Obamacare is defunded and sent to the trash heap of bad government programs. Of course the problem is that (a) there is no trash heap of bad government programs and (b) there is zero chance that Obamacare is defunded. The best that we can hope for is to come out of this with some type of ‘moral’ victory – what that looks like no one knows but if Republicans cave at this point and come away with nothing (delay, waiver, reduced cost, anything), then Republicans lose any hope of taking back the Senate.
Which, btw, was Sen. Cornyn’s strategy from the beginning. But because he failed to LEAD, he is now put in the position that people are talking seriously about Rep. Louie Gohmert challenging him in the primary. Lord help us but it is no one’s fault but Sen. Cornyn’s.
Sen. Cornyn could have been out front on this and stopped the government shutdown. He could have staged forceful speeches of his own, outlining his strategy. He didn’t and now we are where we are. I had one last glimmer of hope after a call with bloggers last week. One of the people on the call (sorry I didn’t catch the name) relayed to Sen. Cornyn that he was being portrayed as ‘betraying the people’ and he actually got pissed off. Listen:
If he would show that much passion about issues he’d be miles ahead right now. His long-term strategy of trying to win back the Senate is exactly what we need! Instead, he has been quiet (other than a thousand meaningless press releases). Why he is reluctant to fight for his strategy of taking the Senate back is incomprehensible. Recall that during last year’s Senate race, then candidate Ted Cruz said that it was more important that he won than it was that Republicans took over the Senate. That was BS then and it is BS now. But unless people are willing to fight that nonsense, it will rule the day.
Unfortunately, it is too late to focus on what should have been. Like I said, if Republicans cave at this point, all hope is lost. But there are still things that Republicans can do, and they should do, specifically Sen. Cornyn, even if it boosts Ted’s chances in 2016.
I tweeted this to him a couple of days ago:
Suggestion for @JohnCornyn – go stand in front of the WWII memorial, call the press, and start removing the barricade. #txsen #turnitaround
There is still time to do that. Sen. Cornyn should take a pair of bolt cutters to the World War II memorial and start removing the barricades. After all, there is probably no one in Texas politics that has done more for veterans. Let the Obama administration arrest him. Who cares? You have to fight to win at this point.
That kind of statement from someone of Sen. Cornyn’s stature would devastate Harry Reid and the Obama administration. But Sen. Cornyn has to realize that and stop thinking he is still a district judge in San Antonio.
Do you seriously want Louie Gohmert as your Republican nominee next year?
Dale Huls says
So what does Big Jolly got against Louie Gohmert? Do you think he should be primaried?
Freda Dolinger Dyer says
Why did Senator Cornyn sign Senator Lee's Petition and then take his name off? That is why everyone is so upset with him – then he starts putting all over Facebook DEFUND OBAMACARE like it was his idea when we all knew what he had done. Then he puts a picture of himself and Ted Cruz on Facebook. Anyway, people are leaning toward Dwayne Stovall. Have you met Dwayne?
Freda Dolinger Dyer says
Is Louie Gohmert running for sure??
Ed Vidal says
Senator John Cornyn was born in Texas, and he looks like a Texan, but he is not a Texan, because he does not act like a Texan.
To see what I mean, let’s look at a piece of Texan history: the battle of San Jacinto. On the morning of the battle, Juan Seguin, who led a column of Tejano cavalry, went to Sam Houston and asked for his battle orders. Houston asked him to guard the camp, but Seguin objected vehemently. He said something like: “We do not need no stinking camp! We came here to fight, and we expect you to assign us to a fighting unit.” So Houston assigned him and his men to a cavalry unit, and they fought honorably.
On the other hand, Senator Cornyn strikes me as the kind of guy who would have gone up to Houston on the eve of battle and requested that he guard the camp. After all, General Santa Anna was the lawful President of Mexico, and Texas was part of Mexico. By guarding the camp, Cornyn would be ready to receive the reinforcements expected next year, then the really big reinforcements expected three years thereafter. But who would rally to the cause of a man who is content guarding the camp?
John Cornyn was born in Texas, and he looks like a Texan, but he is not a true Texan, because he does not fight like a Texan. Remember the Alamo! What was their exit strategy?
If their cause is right, Texans do not shy away from a fight, merely because they might lose.
Janet Thomas says
Yes, I seriously want Gohmert for my US Senator. Cornyn followed Hutchison's lead when she was in office, which was moderate and he started to follow Cruz's lead, only because he found out how popular Cruz is, but being a real conservative is just too much for Cornyn. Cornyn is comfortable walking the fence. He's fully prepared to sell out this country on the immigration issue and always has been. The Republican establishment want milk toast politicians who will go along to get along, the Republican electorate wants politicians who will stand their ground. Cruz's defeat of Dewhurst should have proved that to the RNC, but they still haven't learned.
Jim in Houston says
Senator Cornyn has a long history of being a conservative Republican in Texas and representing the interests of the State. OK, we don’t always agree with him on some issues – his tactics on Obama care and his “squish” on immigration reform. But he does respond to his constituents and he is open to opposing, conservative views. Despite all the talk about fielding a primary challenger, Cornyn has the power of his incumbency, his organization, and his record that will make it difficult to beat him. And if your beloved primary challenger is not successful, what are you going to do? Stay home in protest? That didn’t work too well in 2012. Vote for the Democrat? That’ll show ’em. I am afraid that too many people, including some prominent talk show hosts, are poisoning the well for Republicans in 2014, if Cornyn is the candidate.
tom doughy says
So how much more $$ will the good senator approve in raising the debt again? I am giving up on killing zero-care, it will not be defunded, it will not be cleanly repealed. It will soon be so entwined in our structures that removal, much like a neuro-blastoma, cannot be done without killing the host.
Cowards, thieves and idiots rule…vote for no one who has had two or more terms in the sewer we call the Hill.
Rhymes W. Right says
My inclination is to support Cornyn — but I also believe that EVERY politician should be primaried every election cycle, because the people deserve a choice.
Jim in Houston says
I agree on people deserving a choice. Now remind me again, how does that work for the Houston mayoral race?
Robert Pratt says
"Lord help us but it is no one’s fault but Sen. Cornyn’s." Right. Cornyn had no downside in Texas with simply standing with Cruz. His only downside was with a handful of DC insiders in leadership – this is what people perceive: Cornyn put the DC leadership ahead of Texas – it was an Alamo moment where defeat may have been sure but Cornyn went over the wall.
Bruce Kreitler says
Did Senator Cornyn write this?
KC says
IMHO, Cornyn should have stood up with Ted Cruz. So when Col. Travis drew the line in the sand at the Alamo, Cornyn would have been the only one that DID NOT step across. What I find disgusting is that so many GOP political thinkers/pundits/bloggers keep telling the GOP base/Tea Party that there is no hope for defunding Obamacare, and to “get over it.” When Cruz asked that GOP senators to vote against Cloture so that debate on Obamacare could still continue on, Cornyn was right there opposing him. And, the most ridiculous thing . . . Cornyn didn’t have to do that. There were enough GOP senators to back Reid, and “CLOSE IT DOWN” without Cornyn’s vote.
Jeff Sadighi says
We need Louie to stay in the House where he has seniority! No one can trust a Texas senator who actively worked to undermine Ted Cruz! Texans For Stovall has information every voter should investigate! We need strict constitutionalists at all levels of government and especially in DC…