SocraticGadfly: Beat-0 is a wild eyed bomb thrower? Greg Summerlin makes me laugh

November 18, 2022

Beat-0 is a wild eyed bomb thrower? Greg Summerlin makes me laugh

So said ConservaDem de luxe Greg Summerlin on my 2022 election post-mortem, probably having come there from Kuff, where I'd posted it.

I'm going to pull-quote the whole thing:

To win future statewide elections in Texas, the Democratic Party needs to nominate moderate, mainstream candidates who can appeal to both rural and urban voters. In short, our candidates should support legal (not illegal) immigration, border security, law enforcement, the military, low property taxes, civil liberties, investments in our infrastructure, better healthcare, and improvements to our educational system (while respecting parental input). Our candidates must support a person's right to own a handgun, shotgun, and/or hunting rifle, but should advocate for restrictions to military-style weapons (e.g., AK-47, AR-15). Our candidates should be pro-choice, in accordance with the guidance provided under Roe v. Wade. They should support renewable energy AND responsible oil and gas drilling (yes, we can both). Our candidates must also publicly reject the radical positions advocated by some members in the progressive wing of our Party (Critical Race Theory, "defund the police", transgenders in women's sports, socialism, open borders, etc.). In summary, if we want to win, our candidates must be tailored to the views of mainstream Texas voters.

Well, Greg?

If the likes of you think critical race theory is some secret tool to make all white schoolkids hate themselves, to expand on his comment and my response? Greg, I'm glad you're an EX HCSO deputy. And, if you think Beat-0 was some wild-eyed radical, when did you leave the Republican Party? As linked in the original but reposted here, Beat-0 WAS a Pander Bear (that's what you want) on O and G. Rurales? Dude went to Muleshoe even though I said it was stupid and that contra both him and you, the votes aren't out there. The reason the votes aren't out there is because most Anglos in those places believe the same bullshit you do.

 If you really think this is a problem with Democratic gubernatorial candidates? I give you, in order:

  • Republican-voting Tony Sanchez;
  • Chris Bell, Republican in sheep's clothing;
  • Bill White, bland national neoliberal apparatchik before becoming bland neoliberal Houston mayor
  • Wendy Davis, Capitol-connected insider and grifter
  • Loopy Lupe Valdez, a "centrist" Dem to the degree she had much in the way of articulated positions on anything, and ex-military and tough on crime
  • Beat-0 the Pander Bear.

There. You need not darken my doorstep again.

Since you ARE an ex-deputy at the HCSO, you either know, from the Commissioners Court there, that "defund the police" is Rethuglican BS, or else you are such an ignorant law-and-order winger you should go back to being a Rethuglican. If you weren't, then THAT's the problem: people like you are lifelong Dems. And, the fact you support the now-about-to-be less than 2 Rethugs on the Comm Court shows how deep your BS is. Seriously; you lost me right there.

But, while we're here on cops? Why don't you ever write about cops shooting suspects, especially suspects who shouldn't be suspects, without cause? (To your credit, you do actually call out Derrick Chauvin; that said, having known or known of multiple small town/small county bad cops and constables, the problem is worse than you would admit. Militarization of police is a problem that I'm sure you wouldn't admit.)

And, one more, on your "thugs attacking cops" in Harris? Robert Soliz was found not guilty Tuesday. Let's see how much you support "law and order" by what you say about the verdict.

Critical race theory? I've blogged about that. Even read a touchstone book, Derrick Bell's "Silent Covenants." That's surely one more than you're read. Per the first link in this graf, I think transgender people in sports is a complex issue, and I don't totally disagree with you. That said, there's probably fire on your part behind that smoke.

The only thing I learned from your blog is that the Chronic was bad enough to endorse Mealer.

The only thing I've learned from you is that probably the likes of Gilligan Hinojosa, instead of picking up paychecks from rurales Dems like Bill Brannon, instead of focusing on GOTV, need to do a better educational job on Republican half-breed ConservaDems like you. If you're spilling this nonsense elsewhere, Greg, whether intending to do so or not, you're recruiting people to vote Republican. So, as I said before, if you were a Rethug previously, you'd help Texas Dems by going back.

6 comments:

Greg Summerlin said...

Gadfly, to win statewide elections, I proposed we nominate moderate, mainstream candidates who can appeal to both rural and urban voters. You obviously disagree. Do you think Democrats should nominate candidates who are more liberal and/or progressive than the majority of the Texas electorate and just focus on our GOTV efforts? In my opinion, that's what we have been doing for the last 30 years and we keep coming up short. What type of Democratic candidate do you believe can get 51% of the vote in Texas?

Gadfly said...

I have told you more than once, WITH evidence, that Beto's no different than the previous five gubernatorial candidates. If you want to complain about the Democratic nomination process, you're "welcome" to dig up a true quasi-Republican ConservaDem and try to get them nominated.

You do, at least, at the end, admit that Beto isn't different than previous nominees.

You do NOT admit that you, Greg, ARE different than at least 51 percent of Texas Democratic primary election voters.

You're welcome to talk about that ... at your own blog.

Greg Summerlin said...

Sure, I acknowledge that I am more moderate/conservative than 51% of the Democratic primary voters. Still, it's not just about winning a primary, is it? It's about winning a statewide race. As far as the entire Texas electorate, I believe I'm in the mainstream, right where our Democratic candidates need to be in order to win. Beto was no wild-eyed flame-thrower, but he was more to the left than the majority of the Texas electorate.

As far as being a retired HCSO Deputy, that's true. It's no secret - I'm proud of my 30 years in public service (I don't post anonymously, like most people). Throughout my career, I worked well with both Democratic and Republican Sheriffs. For anyone who cares, click on the link for about me - https://www.jointprocessingcenter.com/about-greg-summerlin.

Gadfly said...

Actually, no, that's not the answer. Dems will lose lots of non-reflex voters if they go even more in the direction of Republicans-lite statewide candidates, contra your claims.

==

Per Kuff (whom you claim to think is great) part of the problem is administrative, but not just at the state level. Gilligan Hinojosa is part of the problem but not all of it. Rural county Dem chairpersons who do little other than the functional equivalent of picking up a check, and a visit by a state candidate every 4 years, with ZERO get out the vote drive or any other organizational effort, are a huge problem. These are the conservative rurales you think are key and they don't do shit, Greg.

I've written about all this before. People at the Monthly and elsewhere have documented it, and I've talked to people like Bill Brannon, so I know how these rurales operate, myself.

==

Related? Beat-0 wouldn't focus on getting out his base. He never should have been visiting places like Muleshoe, and I've said that more than once. And, the base is not pandering to rurales. It's suburban and exurban areas where there's actual voters.

Beyond that, he was a flawed candidate. So was Lupe before him. Arguably so was Wendy Davis. When you have zero statewide offices, and people with name recognition take a pass, you've got a problem.

==

So, again, your description is wrong and the prescription is both wrong and incomplete.

Greg Summerlin said...

Well, I do enjoy reading the Offthekuff blog. Kuff provides a lot of useful information, reliable data, and insightful analysis. He is obviously very knowledgeable, and I respect his opinions. For national politics, I enjoy reading the electoral-vote.com blog. It's one of the best out there.

Anyway, we definitely need to find a good, statewide candidate who can beat "Cancun" Ted Cruz. Almost anyone else would be better than him.

Gadfly said...

True dat. That said, I may disagree with you on who that candidate is, and since I'm not a Democrat, may well have a better option, depending on who Greens have.