At the debate Friday night the moderators showed a video clip of Debra Medina speaking at a secession rally at the Texas Capitol Building last summer... they may have taken it a little bit out of context... here is the full clip...
I think she was actually saying we should do nullification instead of secession... and the clip they showed in the debate got the biggest applause line of the entire speech...
Still... her delivery of the line that they played during the debate probably closed a lot of minds to her Friday night... she came across as not just really conservative and fed up and angry... she came across as a bit fringey...
Listen to Medina's voice for more than a few minutes and you quickly determine that listening to her for a few years as the leader of Texas is not in the cards...
Medina also risks fringing herself not only because of her ideas like drug legalization... but because she seeks out the support of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his peeps... and because she gives confusing fringey answers on issues like gay marriage that conservatives and libertarians strongly disagree upon...
I hate to even write this because it seems like a personal attack and I would rather talk issues than mere style but Medina's voice and delivery is a really painful version of Peggy Hill from King of the Hill... not just the sound of it but the smart yet overconfident to the point of being condescending sass...
A few days ago I blogged my opinions on whether Kay or Rick could "fringe" Medina and concluded that Medina is too smart to let them do that... but now it turns out Medina may be doing that to herself... it is one thing for a politician to call someone a "major league a--hole" when they don't realize they are being recorded... or even "adios mofo." It is another thing entirely to intentionally use a bad word freely and repeatedly... again... intentionally...
On purpose...
Medina used the "bull----" word in a recent interview and again in a press release (link). On purpose... why would she do that?
This is Kinky Friedman, Jesse Ventura style politics... a prank spoiler candidacy.... not serious or substantive if bad words are what she is resorting to to get attention.
Simply... Kay is doing so terribly that she may drive herself into third place but Medina is not someone who can or will overtake Kay for second place if she continues using these words and courting certain fringe peeps. Yes people are mad about politicians... yes we get it that Medina is mad about politics... yes there are probably a lot of South Park Republicans or Penn & Teller Libertarians who don't mind bad words and even like hearing them... but Medina's persistent and intentional use of bad words is only harming her credibility and creating a ceiling for her support. Who knows, maybe all of her supporters love that kind of potty language but she won't grow that support if she keeps it up.
All and all, Medina is flirting way too much with the fringe, not setting herself up to be a serious rising challenge and credible "Anyone But Rick" alternative to Kay...
Your biased opinion is not going to work. I, as many other Texans, know how to think.
ReplyDeleteMedina...Governor of Texas.