Chad’s Morning Brief: Texas Runoff Election Day, Not All Democrats Are Ready for Hillary, and Other Top Stories
Here is your Morning Brief for the morning of May 27, 2014. Give me your feedback below and tune in to The Chad Hasty Show for these and many more topics from 8:30 to 11am. Remember, you can listen online at KFYO.com or on your iPhone/Android with the radioPup App.
Important Election Dates:
Election Day for GOP and Dem. Primary Runoff: TODAY!
Election Day for Lubbock City Council District 3 Runoff: TBD... Possibly June 21
Election Day
Election Day in the Republican and Democratic primary runoff elections is here. Finally. Voter turnout has been pathetic this year. According to Breitbart Texas, turnout is at about 3.62 percent of registered voters. Republicans have been turning out in greater numbers as was expected because of the races still to be determined. Still, with turnout so low every vote counts for the candidates involved in today's election.
While voter fatigue could be a big reason why Texans aren't going to the polls, it doesn't help that the race for Lieutenant Governor in the Republican primary has been nasty. I can't think of anyone who isn't ready for this race to be over. David Dewhurst and Dan Patrick have spent months lobbing personal attacks at each other with very little substance being discussed. Many voters I have spoken with are tired of both men and wish they would have just stuck to the issues.
I predict that it will be a good night for the more conservative Republicans tonight. Or at least those that are perceived to be more conservative. Those who win tonight will win in the general election later in the year. You will hear and possibly already have heard the argument that a Dan Patrick win would cause Texas to turn blue faster. I've heard the same thing about Ken Paxton (candidate for Attorney General), and personally I don't buy it.
In the race for Texas Attorney General, I have friends who support Dan Branch and friends who support Ken Paxton. Paxton has been under fire for violating Texas securities laws in 2004, 2005, and 2012. The Paxton camp says that this was an administrative oversight and not a big deal. The Branch camp says it is a big deal and could be subject to federal prosecution. You can read Ken Paxton's op-ed to TribTalk here and Dan Branch's op-ed here. The two go back and forth on the issue. Someone is lying and it's up to the voters to decide who.
Today on the show I will visit with most of the candidates seeking statewide office. Here is the schedule:
9:05am- Wayne Christian, Republican candidate for Railroad Commissioner
9:15am- Ken Paxton, Republican candidate for Attorney General
9:35am- Dan Patrick, Republican candidate for Lieutenant Governor
10:05am- Dan Branch, Republican candidate for Attorney General
10:15am- Ryan Sitton, Republican candidate for Railroad Commissioner
10:35am- David Dewhurst, Republican candidate seeking reelection for Lieutenant Governor
Who will win tonight? With such a low turnout anything could happen but as I've talked about before, runoffs go to those voter bases that are highly motivated. I expect Dan Patrick, Ken Paxton, Wayne Christian, and Sid Miller in the Agriculture Commissioner race to win. These aren't endorsements, just my predictions.
Locally, I believe that Ann-Marie Carruth will win her runoff election for Justice of the Peace in Precinct 4.
Who do you think will win tonight?
Not Ready for Hillary
You've probably heard of the "Ready for Hillary" PR campaign that has been going on in Democratic circles for a while now. If you pay attention to the news and top political websites you would see countless stories about 2016 and Hillary Clinton. However, not all Democrats are on board with Clinton. At least they aren't on board just yet. According to POLITICO some Democrats are becoming more vocal in their opposition to Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Everyone knows about the “Ready for Hillary” Democrats — the rapidly proliferating parade of elected officials and activists getting behind Hillary Clinton’s increasingly likely 2016 presidential campaign.
But there’s also a smaller but increasingly vocal group making its presence felt lately — call these Democrats the “Wary of Hillary” Democrats. They’re not outwardly opposing a Clinton candidacy. But they are anxious about the spectacle of a Clinton juggernaut, after seeing what happened when she ran a campaign of inevitability last time.
Some feel a competitive primary, regardless of the outcome, is good for the party. Others say Clinton, who’s been out of electoral politics for five years, needs to be tested. And some Democrats are merely concerned that the party won’t have an open airing of views on economic policy.
The reservations, expressed mostly in private company, have been given voice in recent days by some of the party’s most prominent governors.
“She is an enormously capable candidate and leader, but I do worry about the inevitability, because I think it’s off-putting to the average voter,” Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, a longtime Obama ally, told CNN earlier this month. “And I think that was an element of her campaign the last time. As an enthusiastic Democrat, I just hope that the people around her pay attention to that this time around.”
The public commentary about the risks of Clinton as fait accompli seems less a harbinger of a messy primary fight than an effort to nudge Clinton to the left. There’s no apparent candidate with President Barack Obama’s political skill to catch Clinton by surprise this time. But the Democratic base doesn’t want Clinton to get a free pass, lest she give short shrift to the progressive agenda and tack to the center before the primary campaign is even fully underway.
California Gov. Jerry Brown, who was endorsed by Bill Clinton in his 2010 gubernatorial race but who challenged him for the presidency in 1992, also praised Clinton but suggested she needs to act with care in the coming months.
“She’s got the capacity,” he told ABC News. “But like any front-runner, she has to be cautious and wise in how she proceeds forward.”
Patrick recently told POLITICO “maybe” when asked if he would consider a national run, although not necessarily in 2016. Obama said in March that Patrick, one of his close supporters, shouldn’t rule out 2016. Brown, who sought the presidency three times in the past, had been seen as leaving his options open for 2016, but he told reporters in January that running this cycle is “not in the cards. Unfortunately.”
Whatever concerns Patrick and Brown have about Clinton, said former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, they’re not something she is bringing on herself.
Other Top Stories:
These and many more topics coming up on today’s edition of The Chad Hasty Show. Tune in mornings 8:30-11am on News/Talk 790 KFYO, streaming online at kfyo.com, and now on your iPhone and Android device with the radioPup App. All guest interviews can be heard online in our podcast section after the show at kfyo.com.
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