The Wall Street Journal published a new Zogby Poll on the Texas governor's race today. I said about a month ago that I thought Grandma would start to fade in the polls, and it looks like it is happening. I'm just surprised at how fast and far she's already falling. Here are the new Zogby numbers:
Rick Perry...............38.3%
Chris Bell...............20.8%
Kinky Friedman...............20.7%
Carole Strayhorn...............11.0%
Undecided...............9.2%
Of course, these numbers were probably gathered before the Trans-Texas Corridor fight started to make news in the last few days. Strayhorn has been hitting this topic hard, but we'll have to wait to see if it will help her. After all, Kinky and Bell are also opposed to the TTC.
The worry is that Perry's numbers are still too high. In a four-way race, 38.3% is very probably a winning margin. I believe as opposition to the TTC grows, Perry's numbers will start to shrink. I certainly hope so.
Bell and Kinky are running neck and neck, and have been for about a month. And they're doing it on a shoestring budget. Grandma has raised huge amounts of money, but only comes in with 11.0%. How embarrassing.
Why are Kinky and Bell fans excited about being almost 18% behind Perry?
ReplyDeleteKinky will Nader Bell and we'll get another term of Perry. Why is that something to celebrate?
Will the Democrats flock to Kinky if Bell is a distant third on the eve of the election. I don't see it happening.
Will Kinky's supporters flock to Bell if Kinky is a distant third? I frankly don't see them voting at all (or voting in negligible numbers if things look tough for Kinky -- just like Kinky didn't vote because he didn't think the gay marriage amendment could be defeated).
Except for the hatred for Bell which seems to lie at the heart of the weird voter block that will vote for Radnofsky, Van Os, and Kinky, what drives these voters to a candidate who voted for Bush and who lied about voting for Gore? If Kinky was only supporting the Iraq War in 2003, I could forgive that lapse in judgment, but he's been supporting the War as recently as last year. What's up with that? What's Kinky's deal with dismissing the immigration protesters, and what's up with his Mexican generals thing? And what is Kinky thinking with the prayer is school stuff? I don't understand the appeal.
I just don't get it. Is Bell THAT bad, and if so, does Bell get ANY credit for taking on DeLay? Is it just that you Kinky guys think Bell is boring or did he not invite you to his birthday party or what?
Your poll depresses me because I can't stand the idea of another term of Perry and it will only make it worse that he'll win with less than 40% of the vote. That just makes me want to puke. Worse, this poll and the sick-sad way Kinky and Bell supporters treat this glum news as if it were a "win" makes me want to quit reading the newspaper and stay home in November.
MLJ -
ReplyDeleteI am one of those who will vote Kinky, Radnofsky, Van Os, Gilbert,etc., but it is not an anti-Bell vote. It is a pro-Kinky vote.
As for Kinky being Bell's Nader, it could just as easily be argued that Bell is Kinky's Nader.
You seem to think if Kinky wasn't running, all his votes would go to Bell. This is just not true. The republicans would go back to Perry or Strayhorn, and the independents would just stay home.
In the post, I also made the point that unless Perry's numbers start to come down, it won't matter who else is in the race.
You say your vote is a pro-Kinky vote, but what policies does Kinky support that are worthy of support? His website is full of general goals without real ideas. He says he's pro-education. Well, so does Strayhorn, so does Bell, so does Perry. He says he's in favor of improved health care. Well, so does Strayhorn, so does Bell, so does Perry. Where's the beef?
ReplyDeleteDon't we all want to support candidates who support our values? I don't expect that every candidate will share 100% of my views on every issue, but if a candidate is all in favor of the Iraq War and for prayer in school and for building a wall on the border, I want to see some issues where he stands up for my beliefs, too.
I was tentatively hopeful that Kinky was pro-choice, but then he waffeled on Texas' crazy "misinformed" consent law. I was optimistic about his capital punishment statements on behalf of Max Soffar, but then his website waffeled on that issue. I was excited about his one-liner about gay people deserved the right to a miserable marriage and about Kinky's support for Ann Richards and Al Gore, but then it turns out that Kinky didn't vote in ANY of those elections. I'm just heart broken.
Is there any reason to vote at all?
By the way, the reason I said Kinky will Nader Bell instead of saying Bell will Nader Kinky is because Bell has the institutional support of a party. Kinky will Nader Bell in the same way that Strayhorn would Nader Perry if the anti-Perry vote wasn't split so many ways that it virtually guarantees Perry's reelection.
I know and trust Kinky.
ReplyDeleteI don't know Chris Bell.
I don't trust Ricky & Grandma.
It's just that simple.
Are you telling me you are supporting Kinky because you know him personally and not supporting Bell because you don't know him personally? If so, that makes sense.
ReplyDeleteYou can imagine how those of us who don't know Kinky personally are more inclined to see the election as:
The Guy Who (1) Blew The Whistle on DeLay and (2) Will to Raise the Minimum Wage and (3) Will to Raise Teacher Salaries $6,000 and (4) Favors Separation of Church and State and (5) Will Repeal Texas' "Misinformed Consent" Reproductive Health Law
versus
The Guy Who (1) Voted Just Once in a Decade When He Voted For Bush and (2) Ran For Office As A Republican and (3) Has an Immigration Plan to The Far Right of Perry and (4) Flip-Flopped on Capital Punishment and (5) Is Comfortable Joking About "Negroes" in Prison.
It doesn't seem like a close call when you consider their different values, but if your support for Kinky is based on a personal relationship, then I guess it's not based on Kinky's policies.