Huckabee Essentially Wins Texas Straw Poll
A straw poll at a meeting of Texas Republicans held in Fort Worth, TX on September 1st had some interesting results:
41.1% Duncan Hunter (534 votes)
20.5% Fred Thompson (266 votes)
16.17% Ron Paul (217 votes)
6.4% Mike Huckabee (83 votes)
6% Rudy Giuliani (78 votes)
4.7% Mitt Romney (61 votes)
2.2% Ray McKinney (28 votes)
.77% John Cox (10 votes)
.62% John McCain (8 votes)
.46% Sam Brownback (6 votes)
.46% Tom Tancredo (6 votes)
.23% Hugh Cort (3 votes)
While none of the top tier candidates showed up, including former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, Huckabee managed a fourth place showing in front of those commonly considered to be "tops" in the Presidential race.
Hunter placed first, and in a state mired by immigration problems, one of Hunter's primary issues, this comes as no surprise. He had also been working the state for this poll for some time.
Second place went to the "great hope" Fred Thompson, who won't announce his official status as "candidate" until later this week. I don't understand the fascination for Thompson, especially given his lackluster record, speaking ability, etc. Nonetheless, he came in second. To me, this represents more of a "none of the above" vote than solid support. Once Thompson hits a debate and gets embarrassed by every other candidate, you will see his support quickly wane.
Third place went to Texas native Ron Paul. His supporters continue to claim that black helicopters prevented supporters from voting. Blah, blah. "Native Son Places Disappointing Third" would be the real headline here. Either that or "Harbinger of WW3 Foreign Policy Fails to Captivate Pro-American GOP Supporters".
The real story is Mike Huckabee who like other top tier candidates decided not to attend the event. The results here can be considered the most accurate. Without these candidates begging for votes or wooing crowds of supporters, the results were a natural reflection of voter support. The real story? Mike Huckabee beat the "top tier" yet again... based solely on legitimate grassroots support.
Texas really screwed up this straw poll. They limited voting to delegates (of the past two years) and attendance to each delegate and a guest. Makes no sense. I’m not sure what they were thinking when they expected 20-30k to attend. Mike was smart to stay away.
I do think, though, that the voting turned out to be fairly representative of the current Texas GOP support. I think Duncan Hunter and Ron Paul have to be disregarded. For showing up, they were rewarded with votes.
Outside of that anomaly, Mike vs. Fred seems to be fairly accurate. Because of the restrictions, these were insider votes. Those are mostly Fred’s for now (I have somewhat of an idea about this because I argue with some of these people constantly). Unfortunately, Fred has the winds of the Texas GOP machine at his back. Right now it is Fred’s to lose. However, I think he will. When he does, it’ll be Romney vs. Huckabee and I don’t foresee Mike having trouble there. Not in Texas, anyway.
Btw … I agree with your Ron Paul analysis:
I don’t really disagree with the way the poll was done. If it was designed to be an indication of where the core of the Texas GOP was on the Presidential race, the only real way to judge that would be to restrict voting to those who had proven themselves as active Republicans. Otherwise, it just would have been flooded by anybody and their brother…whether they typically pay attention or get involved in politics or not.
The lack of turnout was more of a result of the major candidates skipping the event, something done because of Texas’ late primary. So, chicken and the egg. Low turnout equals no candidates, or no candidates equals low turnout. The world may never know.
Every September, I recall that is more than half a century (62 years) since I landed at Nagasaki with the 2nd Marine Division in the original occupation of Japan following World War II. This time every year, I have watched and listened to the light-hearted “peaceniks” and their light-headed symbolism-without-substance of ringing bells, flying pigeons, floating candles, and sonorous chanting and I recall again that “Peace is not a cause – it is an effect.”
In July, 1945, my fellow 8th RCT Marines [I was a BARman] and I returned to Saipan following the successful conclusion of the Battle of Okinawa. We were issued new equipment and replacements joined each outfit in preparation for our coming amphibious assault on the home islands of Japan.
B-29 bombing had leveled the major cities of Japan, including Kobe, Osaka, Nagoya, Yokohama, Yokosuka, and Tokyo.
We were informed we would land three Marine divisions and six Army divisions, perhaps abreast, with large reserves following us in. It was estimated that it would cost half a million casualties to subdue the Japanese homeland.
In August, the A-bomb was dropped on Hiroshima but the Japanese government refused to surrender. Three days later a second A-bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki. The Imperial Japanese government finally surrendered.
Following the 1941 sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, a Japanese admiral said, “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant…” Indeed, they had. Not surprisingly, the atomic bomb was produced by a free people functioning in a free environment. Not surprisingly because the creative process is a natural human choice-making process and inventiveness occurs most readily where choice-making opportunities abound. America!
Tamper with a giant, indeed! Tyrants, beware: Free men are nature’s pit bulls of Liberty! The Japanese learned the hard way what tyrants of any generation should know: Never start a war with a free people – you never know what they may invent!
As a newly assigned member of a U.S. Marine intelligence section, I had a unique opportunity to visit many major cities of Japan, including Tokyo and Hiroshima, within weeks of their destruction. For a full year I observed the beaches, weapons, and troops we would have assaulted had the A-bombs not been dropped. Yes, it would have been very destructive for all, but especially for the people of Japan.
When we landed in Japan, for what came to be the finest and most humane occupation of a defeated enemy in recorded history, it was with great appreciation, thanksgiving, and praise for the atomic bomb team, including the aircrew of the Enola Gay. A half million American homes had been spared the Gold Star flag, including, I’m sure, my own.
Whenever I hear the apologists expressing guilt and shame for A-bombing and ending the war Japan had started (they ignore the cause-effect relation between Pearl Harbor and Nagasaki), I have noted that neither the effete critics nor the puff-adder politicians are among us in the assault landing-craft or the stinking rice paddies of their suggested alternative, “conventional” warfare. Stammering reluctance is obvious and continuous, but they do love to pontificate about the Rights that others, and the Bomb, have bought and preserved for them.
The vanities of ignorance and camouflaged cowardice abound as license for the assertion of virtuous “rights” purchased by the blood of others – those others who have borne the burden and physical expense of Rights whining apologists so casually and self-righteously claim.
At best, these fakers manifest a profound and cryptic ignorance of causal relations, myopic perception, and dull I.Q. At worst, there is a word and description in The Constitution defining those who love the enemy more than they love their own countrymen and their own posterity. Every Yankee Doodle Dandy knows what that word is.
In 1945, America was the only nation in the world with the Bomb and it behaved responsibly and respectfully. It remained so until two among us betrayed it to the Kremlin. Still, this American weapon system has been the prime deterrent to earth’s latest model world- tyranny: Seventy years of Soviet collectivist definition, coercion, and domination of individual human beings.
The message is this: Trust Freedom. Remember, tyrants never learn. The restriction of Freedom is the limitation of human choice, and choice is the fulcrum-point of the creative process in human affairs. As earth’s choicemaker, it is our human identity on nature’s beautiful blue planet and the natural premise of man’s free institutions, environments, and respectful relations with one another. Made in the image of our Creator, free men choose, create, and progress – or die.
Free men should not fear the moon-god-crowd oppressor nor choose any of his ways. Recall with a confident Job and a victorious David, “Know ye not you are in league with the stones of the field?”
Semper Fidelis
Jim Baxter
Sgt. USMC
WW II and Korean War
Job 5:23 Proverbs 3:31 I Samuel 17:40
http://www.choicemaker.net/
VOTE HUCK ! He’s The Man! jfb