Kay's dinosaurs...

I am not all that familiar with the Houston based Slampo's Place blog but this has been emailed to rickvskay@gmail.com several times by enthusiastic Rick and Debra Medina supporters, and I have to say it really captures the feeling I am seeing out there when Kay trots out her old guard endorsements... they may be important... they may be big deals... it may get under Rick's skin a little bit that even his Aggie football watching buddy is siding with Kay... but it is painfully obvious that Kay's big name endorsements play into her Achilles' heel... and into Rick's strengths....

Her establishment endorsements only allow Rick... who has been in office for nearly a decade... to play somewhat the role of outsider... Rick is the anti establishment candidate of the two serious contenders, and Kay is the candidate of the Washington establishment.

Slampo... who seems like he does not have a dog in the fight because he is probably not a Republican... captures that sentiment colorfully (link). Excerpt follows...

It’s been pathetic––even poignant, if you’re the sensitive sort––watching Kay Bailey Hutchison trundle out her endorsements by these antediluvian, establishmentarian Republicans––Bush Senior (now sadly looking his age), James Baker, and, most curiously, at least to us, Dick Cheney. Surely Brent Scowcroft also has thrown one her way and we missed it.

Antediluvian... you don't see that word much on blogs...

Now Hutchison is reduced to touting her support from the ancients of the Texas GOP––would even half of potential Republican primary voters be able to accurately identify James Baker, if forced to do so at gunpoint?––while her opponent prepares for his big endorsement by the GOP’s slightly tarnished but still almost-shiny-new although occasionally near-comatose Flamin‘ Creature of the Month.

Ouch... no wonder this blog is getting so much email traffic...

I think Slampo puts his finger right on the pulse... Kay being endorsed in 2010 by George H. W. 41 Bush will not gain her any votes. It won't cost her any votes.... but it does remind people of the things that will cost her votes... Kay's insider establishment moderate status. The North Texas Conservative said it first though (link). Excerpt follows...

It comes to no surprise that a moderate Republican would endorse a moderate Republican.

[SNIP]

Kay has recently received the endorsement of former president George Herbert Walker Bush, which really does not come as a big surprise. Getting a H.W. endorsement is like getting a McCain endorsement. Both men have accomplished much in their political careers, and George is a former president, but in the end when you examine the endorsements that Kay Bailey Hutchison has received there are many names of moderate Republicans, not conservative Republicans. The heart and soul of the conservative movement in Texas is the grassroots efforts in the state, and conservative grassroots leaders are backing Governor Rick Perry, because they believe that we need a governor who not only knows the needs facing Texans today, but will also advocate conservative policies no matter which direction the political tide turns.

Another Texas blogger sez the endorsements make him want to vote for Rick or maybe Medina but not Kay (link).

I think if anything the elder Bush endorsement plus James Baker were distractions that ticked time off the clock... Kay's only chance to gain ground won't come from endorsements like that... it will have to come from relentless negativity toward Rick while hopefully not dragging her own positive image down the drain... something that might not be possible especially with early voting taking place in just a few weeks.

Bernie Quigley as usual sums it all up rather well (link). Excerpt follows...

The stakes couldn’t be higher. The Republican primary race in Texas is now virtually a referendum on federalism.

George H.W. Bush supports Kay Bailey Hutchison. Sarah Palin supports the current governor Rick Perry.

“She [Hutchison] was a Lone Star Republican before it was cool to be a Republican in Texas,” Bush said.

Yes, but Perry was a Texan before it was cool to be a Texan. His family goes back to five generations of ranchers in Paint Creek, north of Abilene, while Bush has barely arrived. It was an issue that came up when H.W. decided to run for President whether he was a Texan or a Connecticut Yankee. His appearance in public debates wearing cowboy boots brought muffled laughter. He had to keep telling the press that he really was a Texan.

There in lies the rub... Texans like the elder Bush... they respect him... they love it when he shows up to sporting events and cheers on the home team... but he is not a real Texan hero or anything like that. Rick may have been a Democrat when he started out... but he also was more conservative than the elder Bush... back when parties were less ideological and Rockefeller Republicans were the dominant force of the GOP.