High-profile endorsement for Kay Hutchison

Although I am a die-hard Democrat, I am constantly becoming more and more intrigued by the "competition" between Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. The social media Web site that I utilize the most is facebook, and I am a follower of both Hutchison and Perry (just to keep up with the current events of course). I was comparing their two facebook pages this morning and there was one post on Hutchison's page that snagged my attention.

Today, former Vice President Dick Cheney announced he will campaign for Hutchison starting next month. Hutchison posted this information, as well as a link to the news article from the Austin-American Statesman, about her endorsement by Cheney. He will officially throw his endorsement behind Hutchison at an event in Houston, Texas, on November 17.

Dick Cheney is the highest profile endorsement that Hutchison has received so far in her campaign. I think that Hutchison is incredibly lucky to recieve support from Cheney, since he still has a great deal of popularity with the Republican Party. His popularity is substantially lower with the Democratic Party, and that's not just because he is a Republican. Many Democrats feel that Cheney was slightly pushing for war in Iraq, and feel it was a bit "questionable" that Halliburton (which Cheney was CEO of before he became Vice President) received so many contracts and so much money when we began rebuilding Iraq. Nonetheless, Hutchison couldn't ask for a better endorsement.

But this does not necessarily mean that Hutchison is a step above Rick Perry. Back in February of this year, Alaska's Gov. Sarah Palin announced her support of Rick Perry's campaign for re-election. So, he has had the endorsement of a high-profile Republican, just as Hutchison now has. Even though Rick Perry may have had this advantage over Hutchison in the past months, they BOTH now they both have a high-profile endorsement. This could make things a bit more interesting in months to come.

I could not decide which politician I think could potentially be a better endorsement. I believe that Dick Cheney is very popular with a certain population segment (older, middle/upper class, white males), whereas Palin is popular with a different segment (probably younger, middle/upper class women). I do think it is interesting that Perry is receiving endorsement from a powerful FEMALE politician and Hutchison is recieving endoresement from a powerful MALE politician. So it looks like both candidates may be able to appeal to males AND females equally.

I do not think that either of the endorsements have a strong advantage over the other. I think it will help Perry that Palin has became popular recently (only within the last year) and therefore has received very recent media-coverage. On the other hand, Cheney's most recent widely publicized event was the hunting accident that occurred in 2006. So, maybe Palin actually will continue to attract the media-attention that Perry is wanting.

Who do you think may prove to be the better endorsement? Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin or former Vice President Dick Cheney? Or do you think they will both have their benefits and it may not make a great difference in the long-run? Or do you think that one has a distinct advantage over the other?

What about the Hispanic community Gov. Perry?

Earlier this morning I was perusing through Kay Bailey Hutchison's Web site and Gov. Rick Perry's Web Site to see how technologically-savvy these two Republicans are.

Upon first glance these two Web sites appear to be both equally impressive. But the first thing that caught my eye on Hutchison's page was a big blue link at the top that say "En Espanol," meaning "in Spanish." By clicking on this link, you are redirected to the Spanish version of Hutchison's Web site.

Granted, Hutchison's Spanish version of the Web site does not contain as much information or interactivity as the English version of her Web site. But the most important thing to note is that by using this version of the Web site, Spanish-speakers are now able to navigate through her page by clicking on different links written in the Spanish language.

So, I was very impressed that Hutchison, or the people who run her Web site, decided to include this option for the viewers. This was a very smart move for Hutchison since she is running in a state with nearly 40% of its population being Hispanic, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Hutchison is showing her recognition of the large target segment and is using her Web site to appeal directly to them.

I then moved over to Gov. Perry's Web site, expecting to see the same link, possibly at a different location but still obvious and accessible. After looking through his page for several minutes, there was no such link to be found. I even tried searching for a Spanish version of his site by using Google and Yahoo! but found nothing.

After examining his Web site a little closer I realized that some of his articles, such as one regarding the H1N1 virus, did offer many resources in both the Spanish and English language. But if you decided to look at some of Gov. Perry's priorities, such as promoting Texas tourism, you could not find this information available on his Web site in the Spanish language.

Although I am not of Hispanic origin, I found this discovery rather frustrating, especially since Rick Perry is currently the Texas governor. I was surprised that he would not have his Web site more accessible to people that speak Spanish, especially in a state with such as large population of Spanish-speakers.

Therefore, I feel that Kay Hutchison was being more strategic with her Web site - possibly even looking at Perry's Web site to see what he lacked and what she could include in her own to make it better than Perry's site. What do you think of this discovery? Do you think Perry should open his eyes and see that he is isolating a large segment of the Texas population? Or do you think offering his site in the Spanish language is not that necessary for his campaign?

Kinky Friedman hosts cigar party tonight

Kinky Friedman announced on his Web site that he will be hosting one of his famous cigar parties at 5 tonight at the Spindletop Restaurant in Beaumont, TX. The event will include a meet-and-greet with Kinky himself, a showcase of his cigars and a signing of his new book.

Kinky hopes to be chosen as the nominee for the Democratic Party in the 2010 election for Texas Governor. He has frequently held these meet-and-greet parties in order to drum up publicity for his campaign. Kinky tries to truly make a connection with the citizens of Texas by holding personal events such as these, a technique I do not see the other candidates utilizing as frequently.

Kinky is a man of many talents - not only is he a politician, but he is also a musician, humorist, cigar-enthusiast and author. At the event this evening, he will also be showcasing his new book, Heroes of a Texas Childhood, for purchase and signing. This is a non-fiction work by Kinky himself, describing heroes of his childhood. The people mentioned in the book range from his father to Barbara Jordan to cartoonist Ace Reid.

The main attraction of the event, other than Kinky himself, is his cigars. Kinky Friedman Cigars are handmade in Honduras and are sold throughout Texas. Kinky prides himself on his passion for good cigars. I am not a smoker myself and I know very little about cigars, but by researching through Web sites devoted to Kinky's cigars, I have been lead to believe they truly are wonderful cigars. They come in many different types and flavors and are popular among many different types of people. He also sells them in bundles known as "The Kinksters," a name I thought to be quite clever!

I feel that Kinky Friedman takes a truly different approach to his campaign. While the other nominee-hopefuls are busy fundraising and holding press conferences, inky is out mixing with the people of Texas. He takes on the image of a true-blooded Texan and seems to really want to a make a connection with his audiences.

What do you think of Kinky's image and approach to the campaign? Does it help give him a distinction from the rest of the potential nominees? Or does it show a lack of professionalism/seriousness about the race?