(This cartoon image is by Nick Anderson in the Houston Chronicle.)The runoff primary in Texas was concluded last Tuesday (the 27th), and the major media is reporting it as a triumph for the teabaggers. A prime example of how it is being reported is the headline from Reuters, which reads:
"Tea Party cruises to wins in Texas Republican primary runoffs"
Now I'm not saying the headline is untrue (because they certainly did win in Texas, from the top to the bottom of the ticket), but I do think it is misleading. Take for example the race for lt. governor between David Dewhurst (the incumbent) and State Senator Dan Patrick (who won the race). The media is reporting that the "teabagger" candidate beat the "establishment" candidate, making it sound like it was a race between a moderate and an extreme right-winger. But that is just not the truth.
The truth is that "establishment" candidate (Dewhurst) was just as big a teabagger as Patrick, and he has been a teabagger for years now. This election was just the incumbent teabagger against another teabagger who wanted his job. I defy anyone knowledgeable person to show me how Dewhurst is different from Patrick -- how he would have supported different programs or voted differently on the issues. And it was the same all up and down the ballot -- teabaggers were running against teabaggers.
They all tried to position themselves as the real teabagger and their opponent as the establishment moderate, but that was just talk to try and win over the voters in the primary. The fact is they were all teabaggers, and would support the teabagger policies once elected.
Did the teabaggers win the Texas GOP primary? Yes, they did. They won it because they had no non-teabagger opposition. The teabaggers seized control of the Texas Republican Party several years ago, and now no politician at any level can win the GOP primary in Texas without being a teabagger and supporting teabagger policies. That's why every statewide elected Republican official (and those who are running for election this November) is a teabagger. Not because the teabaggers defeated some non-existent moderates in the primary -- but because they have no moderate opposition in the Texas Republican Party.
