A lesson for establishment GOPers...

A lot of people speculated that Rick would win the primary based on social conservatives backing him... and hopefully having more of them than Kay had of the fiscal conservatives.

But then something happened... Rick never talked about social issues. He barely mentioned abortion or other hot button issues. Rick ran his campaign entirely on fiscal issues. He ran Texas well and delivered balanced budgets. Kay was the bailout and earmark queen.

I think Kay herself thought she would win the fiscally-minded Republicans too... but what this shows is that in a year when fiscal issues dominate, being a moderate is just as damaging as being pro choice in a Republican primary... Texas had the luxury of going first and being a test case for the rest of the country...

Marc Thiessen writes about this phenomenon (link). Excerpt follows...

For years, establishment Republicans have urged the party's conservative wing to get over its obsession with social issues and focus on fiscal issues. Well, in 2010 they are getting their wish. The nation is experiencing a popular backlash against the expansion of government and runaway federal spending, and across the country fiscally conservative candidates are taking advantage of this popular groundswell -- in some cases to the detriment of establishment Republican candidates.

In Texas, for example, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison challenged Gov. Rick Perry in the Republican primary and started out with a commanding lead. But Perry successfully portrayed Hutchison as having become part of the Washington establishment -- dubbing her "Kay Bailout" and running an ad tagging her the "Earmark Queen" (to the tune of Abba's "Dancing Queen"). Hutchison responded by declaring that her success in bringing money home for Texas should be "celebrated and appreciated." Apparently, Texans are not in a celebratory or appreciative mood. She lost to Perry 51 percent to 30 percent. (Indeed, anti-Washington sentiment in Texas is so strong that a little-known, underfunded Tea Party candidate garnered 18 percent of the vote).

Don't vote for bailouts, earmarks, or other pork... I am not sure Kay has learned that lesson. She voted with Democrats against earmark reform twice after the primary (link) (link)...

The March 16 vote was for an earmark moratorium for 2010 and 2011. The March 18 vote was to end earmarks in years with deficits...

Kay you are an idiot. Stop thinking earmarks are the path to success... this goes for every Republican. Stop the excessive spending. Or else. If you didn't learn that from Rick vs. Kay then you deserve to lose.