The truth is that they had a bad candidate who was a bad campaigner, and he would still have lost even if it had been a two-person race. And Bell would not have gotten enough of Kinky's votes to win anyway -- since many of Kinky's supporters were Republicans (who would have voted Republican if Kinky hadn't run), or Independents (who probably wouldn't have voted at all if Kinky hadn't run).And sadly, many of those party-first Democrats have carried that 8 year-old grudge into this year. They encouraged many of their friends to vote against Kinky (assuming that they would then vote for the party-approved candidate). But most of those people didn't know who the party-approved candidate was -- so they just picked a name they liked that wasn't Kinky (and that turned out to be a complete unknown named Jim Hogan). Hogan got 38.8% of the primary vote and Kinky got 37.7%, while the party-approved candidate finished a poor third with 23.5%.
What excuses have the party-first Democrats used to oppose Kinky? Some say he is not a real Democrat because he has publicly said some nice things about Republicans. That is true, but it is also true of other Democratic candidates. The party-approved senate candidate, David Alameel, has not only supported right-wing Republicans but has given thousands of dollars to their campaigns (a far more grievous sin) -- and yet you don't hear any opposition to his candidacy (and you can bet these same people will be voting for him in the run-off).
Others say he is a comedian, and therefore not a serious candidate. That is true. But he is also a writer, a singer, and a Texan who loves his state and wants to help it. Besides, where is it written that a comedian (or anyone in any other occupation) can't be a good elected official. These Democrats need to remember Al Franken, who was also a comedian, and who has made an excellent United States Senator.
A few even try to float the slanderous lie that Kinky is a racist. That is an outrageous lie! Kinky was out in Texas streets demonstrating for civil rights before many of his accusers were even born. The truth is that these people are just carrying an 8 year-old (and untrue) grudge.
The real question now is who to support in the run-off election. Do you hate Kinky so much that you'll vote for Hogan? If you do, then you're just giving up the Agriculture Commissioner race to the Republicans (without even the semblance of a fight). Hogan raised no money, did no campaigning, and didn't even have a website in the primary race -- and he has already said he would do the same if he is the Democratic candidate in the general election.
The Democratic and Republican combined turnout for the primaries was less than 15% of registered voters (slightly less than 2,000,000 voters). But in the November general election the turnout will be much larger -- in the last off-year election in 2010 the turnout was just slightly below 5,000,000 voters. Do you really think any of those additional 3,000,000 voters will vote for someone who will not even campaign (for himself or any other Democrat)?
If Kinky is the Democratic nominee he might not win (but he might). Either way, he will campaign hard -- for himself and for Wendy (and other Democrats). Kinky will fight, and he'll make the campaign interesting -- and probably bring some Independents to the ticket. That's why I am urging all Texas Democrats to vote for Kinky in the run-off election. Voting for Hogan (or not voting) is just to give up without a fight -- and Texas Democrats have been doing that for far too long.
I ask the question again. Do you hate Kinky so much that you'll just give up?
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