Texas US Senate Race: David Dewhurst is the right choice

With early voting right around the corner, It is time to make final decisions on candidates. Amongst the contested statewide races, none is more important than making the right choice to replace retiring U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. And in that race, the clear choice to represent Texas is current Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst.

Mind you, this wasn’t an “easy” choice, although in the end it was a clear choice. Former Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert is a tremendously skilled businessman and proved that a conservative could win in an urban environment by reaching out to all people without compromising core conservative values. He is engaging, has run a very positive campaign, has put forth solid solutions, and has worked the campaign trail as hard as anyone this year. As they say, any other year or any other campaign…but this is not any other year or any other campaign. And his record, as successful as he was in Dallas, comes up short when compared to Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst.

David Dewhurst’s life is the model that we hope our children will follow. He could have easily taken the wrong road in life – many do after losing their father at a young age. Instead, he soaked up the values instilled in him by his mother, worked his way through college, served in the U.S. Air Force and then in the Central Intelligence Agency, prospered in business, and then turned to public service to, in his words, “create opportunities for everyone” because he has been so blessed.

He has succeeded in creating those opportunities here in Texas and now wants to take the “Texas model” that he and other Texas leaders developed to Washington. He may not get as much credit for our success as he deserves because he is by nature a quiet man, and in this age of loud rhetoric and talk radio blabber, quiet reflection and competence are not ratings winners. But credit he does deserve because without his leadership as presiding officer of the Texas Senate, the “Texas model” might never have been given a chance to succeed.

Perhaps David Dewhurst’s biggest asset is his understanding of details, understanding that can only be had by deep study of the issues. He fully grasps the current state of the economy but also understands the historical reasons for the current state and has detailed solutions for righting the ship. His is a positive model, which goes full circle back to the reason he is in public service – to create opportunity.

For instance, he understands that the true unemployment numbers are understated because the labor force participation rate continues to decline:

The drop in the participation rate affects about 4.8 million adults – adults that are not counted as being unemployed but are in fact, unemployed. But knowing what is happening is only half the job – how to address it?

Fortunately, the unique combination of his early career in the federal government, his business experience, and his decade of running the Texas economy give David Dewhurst a broad knowledge base from which to draw on when seeking answers to complicated budget problems. I recently asked him this question:  “If you were king for a day and could enact any one policy, and only one, that would turn the economy around, what would it be?” With very little hesitation, he said that he would cut corporate tax rates in half. He then went on to talk about the $2 trillion that is sitting in corporate accounts here and another $1.5 trillion abroad – cutting the corporate tax rate would encourage companies to use that money to expand and grow. The philosophy behind his answer is the key – you cannot tax or cut your way to prosperity – you must grow the economy. He is dead on correct and it is a shame that so few people are talking like that. It is a shame that so-called tea party candidates can’t tell you what it would mean for the economy to return to the historical growth rate of 3.28{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} from the dismal 2.43{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} we have been at since July 2009. But it takes experience and a record to understand that.

And David Dewhurst is the only candidate in the race with both the experience and proven conservative record that will allow him to be a positive force in the U.S. Senate from day one.

And the good news for social conservatives is that he is also one of them. No candidate comes close to his record on pro-life issues. As Texans for Life President Kyleen Wright puts it:

“David Dewhurst has been a game changer for the pro-life movement in this state,” Wright said.   “Until he arrived, the state Senate was where pro-life legislation always stalled.  But he was able to break the logjam.  He is a man of character, and of quiet decency.  I’m confident he will continue to be a leader in the U.S. Senate in protecting the most vulnerable among us.”

Ask him about entitlements and once again, he knows the issues and understands that people currently depending upon Social Security must be treated differently than the next generation. We cannot simply cut their benefits off after they have planned their lives around them. He is also well versed in the problems with Medicare, Medicaid, and Obamacare. He would approach healthcare with free market solutions, fight to overturn Obamacare,  and apply the Mayo Clinic Model.

Folks, you can’t get this type of in-depth knowledge from a lawyer that has never served his country and only has book knowledge of the situations he faces. You only get that from a guy that has been there, done that, worked through crisis to resolution, and has a proven conservative record that you can count on.

That man is David Dewhurst. Experience counts and experience matters. I hope you join me in voting for him for U.S. Senator.