by Jim Bright:
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I attended the Golden Corridor Republican Women’s brunch yesterday where we could meet the seven current candidates running for the Republican nomination for US Senator from Texas to replace Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. Each candidate was given 6 minutes to speak. I evaluated and ranked each of them based on three criteria: conservative ideas, ability to deliver the message, and suspected ability to raise money. Naturally, as the race progresses, this can all change as the candidates improve and refine their positions.
One the consistent themes between all the candidates is they are running to make a difference, to stop Obama, and all boast conservative credentials. We are lucky to be able to choose from such a wide field of candidates for this race.
The top two stand outs were Michael Williams and Ted Cruz, who were the first and last to speak. Michael started off and got the crowd fired off, and Ted closed it out on a high note.
1: Michael Williams and Ted Cruz are tied for first place with me. Both took it directly to Obama. Both delivered an excellent message, albeit Michael delivered it better, and drew more enthusiastic applause from the crowd. Ted delivered a slightly more personal history message of why he wants to protect the American dream. Michael’s conservative credentials are well-established. He has been courting the Tea Party and other conservative groups vote for some time, and consequently is not the darling of the establishment Republican party, which for me increases his attractiveness as a candidate. However, it appears to me that Ted has a better chance of raising money, and consequently I believe a better chance of winning. As I understand it, Ted raised over $1M in the last few weeks, while Michael, with his courtship of the Tea Party and other conservative groups, has only raised $414,000. Based on fundraising and the ability to capture the Latino vote (think Rubio), I think I am giving Ted the edge, although I would be grateful for either one to win.
3: Roger Williams gave an impassioned, pro-business speech. While I loved the words and the passion, I feel the overall tone needs to be more positive. He needs to bring more optimism to it. We need a leader who can clearly and effectively communicate conservative values in a positive, and influential way. I didn’t see that from Roger on Saturday. As I understand it, Roger has been a fund raiser for Conservatives for some time, yet has only raised just under $600,000 over the last few weeks while Ted has raised over $1M. We need someone with the fundraising power to beat Dewhurst if Dewhurst jumps in. This is why I rank him below Michael and Ted.
4: Tom Leppert said all the right things, but I am simply unable to remember the details. Of everyone who spoke, I remember Tom’s the least. It wasn’t memorable because nothing stood out that made me angry because I didn’t like it, or fired me up because I can’t wait to vote for him. I know he said all the right things, but if he is unmemorable, can he win??
5: Andrew Castanuela has a great platform, and a genuine down home feel. Unfortunately, his speech was short on specifics, and I got the impression he is out of his league running for this seat. He might do better running for state house rep, or US House of Representatives
6: Elizabeth Ames Jones – has the right ideas, but terrifyingly short on specifics, weak on delivery, and long on platitudes. It was a very banal speech. She has a lot of work to do to catch the rest of the field as far as the impression she leaves. The audience was notably restless during her 6 minutes.
7: Lela Pittenger doesn’t seem to really grasp what we are up against. She doesn’t understand and has no concept of the fight we are in politically. She understands the consequences of Obamacare and unemployment very well, she has personal experience with it, but does not know how to defeat Democrats, or what the Democrat agenda really is. Her platform is conflict resolution and getting everyone to come together as one. No thanks. I don’t want to get along with Democrats. I want to defeat them. I want to promote conservatism.
UPDATE: Videos from Frisco Tea Party fundraiser that night. First, Michael Williams:
Then, his ‘twin brother’ Roger Williams, both running for the U.S. Senate:
[...] Texas Tea Party member Jim Bright ranks the Senate candidates from best to worst. Best: Ted Cruz and Michael Williams: “Both delivered an excellent message.” Worst: [...]