Pages

April 11, 2022

Texas Dems' leadership battle: Who you got? And does it matter?

Since I'm not a Dem, I hadn't paid attention to the fact that Gilberto Hinojosa has a bona fide opponent to lead the Texas Democratic Party. 

Hinojosa, who has been touting the mantra of "Demographics mean Texas Democrat ascendancy is just around the corner" for at least twice as long as Herbert Hoover's Depression and prosperity claims, is being challenged by Kim Olson as the main challenger.

And, per the Trib, it's getting ugly, with resurrections of a nearly 4-year-old assault claim against Olson complete with calls for her to drop out of the race.

To me, it's a sign Hinojosa is running scared. As he probably should be, given his track record of lack of success.

As for "does it matter"? They're both pretty much ConservaDems, and, while I've bitched about Hinojosa, Olson had at least one unforced error in her 2018 Ag Commish run against Jeebus Shot Sid Miller. And, for ConservaDems who like to run the military up the flagpole and salute it, remember that her career didn't end so perfectly. The real issue behind that, is as a career military officer, what does she think of the "Forever War"? What does she think of its erosion of civil liberties? Could be worse in some ways for Texas Dems, I suppose. Former Libertarian voter MJ Hegar could be in the running. And, at least Hinojosa has a needed real challenger.

Carroll G. Robinson? First, I dislike lawyers who put the pretentious "Esq." after their names. He doesn't do that everywhere, but he does on occasion. Second, like Beto Bob, he's a RuralDem. That's even as rural Texas, truly rural Texas versus exurban Texas, continues to shrink, especially in West Texas. He is right that local Dems in smaller "red" counties need to revive their activism.

Anyway, the fact that Hinojosa is running so scared against such a flawed character illustrates what a free ride he's had for so long. That, in turn, illustrates that the problems with the Texas Democratic Party go beyond just candidate recruitment.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Your comments are appreciated, as is at least a modicum of politeness.
Comments are moderated, so yours may not appear immediately.
Due to various forms of spamming, comments with professional websites, not your personal website or blog, may be rejected.