The "wasted vote" argument, Gubernatorial Debate, and the Texan State of Mind. A look at old battles won, recent battles surrendered, and We Texans. Kay Baily Hutchinson, Debra Medina and Rick Perry and the probability of a run-off. by Joshua Caleb Barnard
(libertarian)
Saturday, January 30, 2010
As Texans most of us take a great deal of pride in our independence. In so many ways growing up in South Texas was perfect, emphasis on "was." As if it was yesterday I can recall my heart swelling with pride when I heard tale of The Battle of Gonzales on a trip to the Gonzales Memorial Museum. Those Texans stood tall against a tyrannical government, which refused to adhere to its own constitution . . . this is all too relevant today.
Our ancestors stuffed that tiny cannon with what scrap metal they could find, and standing beneath a flag which read "Come and take it," they fired the first shot of the Texas Revolution. The Texans at Gonzales had to know that even if they defeated the one hundred Mexican soldiers that day Santa Anna would send thousands more. They must have known that they could not win, and yet they didn't surrender their principles for fear of losing. The people of South Texas chose faith over fear. Tyranny never did take that militarily insignificant cannon, but in the years since October of 1835 it has slowly taken possession of the most significant weapon of all, our faith.
While most people view faith as a spiritual or even religious construct, it is also a powerful weapon of cognition and choice. Over time the tyranny of monied interest has become wise to the fact that it is impossible to impose upon free people a situation that they find intolerable. At some point the forces of tyranny figured out that the only way to impose the intolerable on free people is to convince them that any real alternative is impossible or naive.
As I sit here late on the eve of the second GOP Gubernatorial Debate, I can't help but to think of what the inevitable public response will be. I know from experience that it will sound something like this, "I really like candidate Z, but they can't win so I will just have to vote for candidate X or Y. I don't really like X or Y, but if they are forced to use their immense resources in the Primary, and a probable runoff, we may lose to the democrats in the General Election, and God forbid that."
I realize that most folks are not familiar with psychological phenomena like the Pygmalion Effect or Observer Expectancy, so let's just say that the reason candidate Z cannot win is because you believe and even speak out that they cannot. With that, the most powerful weapon that is your heart and mind is taken. The most demoralizing thing about this is that we are disarmed via surrender to fear, and without a fight.
Jesus the Nazarene preached that "faith can move mountains," and Mahatma Gandhi told us that you "must be the change you wish to see." Only a person who lacks faith votes for the most viable candidate over the most righteous. I hope that on March 2nd Texans will once again summon the faith to put principle above party, and liberty before probability. So please, for the sake of the greatest State in the Union and the most powerful State of mind, watch the debate tonight and come March have faith in Texas and yourself. If your friends or acquaintances say to you in a disgusted tone, "but they can't win . . ." politely explain to them that they are planting the seeds of faithlessness, fear and tyranny. Then remind them that this is TEXAS.
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Medina is for legalizing drugs like marijuana, cocaine and the rest. She also has zero governing experience... Texas doesn't need to train a governor.
As a decades-long Libertarian, Mark, I can sympathize with what you're saying about the "wasted vote" argument. It comes up to bite us in butt every election.
One way to counter that is to point out that Medina doesn't have to win on March 2: she just has to get in the runoff. She's got as much chance to win as Hutchinson -- the runoff's going to be a referendum on Perry's "conservative" record, and nothing else --Â and (for those voters who're supporting Hutchison just because of her gender), it's time to turn the "wasted vote" argument right back at them.
This guy is right on. Debra Medina is far more competent than either of the other candidates and the debates are showcasing that in a very clear way. I saw a recent poll on News 8 Austin that had 67% of voters saying the Medina was the strongest candidate for governor. Those who choose to listen, research, and learn easily come to this conclusion. Those who don't know her because they "haven't seen her commercials" are the ones who need to take their responsibility to cast a ballot seriously. @ Mark-In case you haven't noticed, the war on drugs isn't going so well....just getting worst and more expensive every year- a new approach might seem warranted to anyone who prefers to focus on results rather than activity. Lastly, after I stopped laughing, I thought about all the other people who had "no governing experience" but somehow turned out to be pretty good leaders....George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams come to mind as a few who decided to stand for what they believed in despite what most would have considered insurmountable odds.  Debra Medina is no different- our state faces dire consequences if we allow the Federal government to continue to strongarm our less than impressive elected officials to bend to it's will. Since most in Austin have chosen politics as a career (never was it intended to be), they must do so to survive..... Medina brings the intangible of choosing politics as a necessity- to restore our Republic to the rule of law it was intended to be. If she is given her due and elected Governor, Texas willl lead the other states in our union in a way that will make our founding fathers proud. Â
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