Where the candidates stand

Ten days ago, a survey was released by TexasTribune.org and the University of Texas at Austin on different election trends and popularity of the candidates for the Texas gubernatorial primary race in March 2010. This survey was discussed on the Web site of a Dallas-Fort Worth TV station, WFAA.

According to the survey, of the 800 registered voters who participated in the online survey, Rick Perry has the obvious lead in the Republican Party with 42 percent of self-identified Republican primary voters. Kay Bailey Hutchison is not far behind, with 30 percent. But Debra Medina is lagging quite far behind these other candidates, with only 7 percent.

In my opinion, it is pretty obvious that either Rick Perry or Kay Bailey Hutchison will win the primary vote this coming March. Both of these candidates are incredibly strong, have great leads over all of the other Republicans, and also (tend to) take strong positions on important topics. These two candidates are proving to both be unstoppable forces who are very popular with their publics. Unfortunately, I think Debra Medina may need to accept the fact that she is out of the race.

What I felt was the most interesting information that the survey revealed was information regarding the popularity of the Democratic Party candidates. According to the survey, of these 800 registered voters, the leading contenders are Kinky Friedmen with almost 20 percent, followed by Tom Schieffer with 10 percent. The other main candidate, Hank Gilbert, has only three-tenths of a percent. It was surprising that Kinky holds such a strong lead, but not that surprising at the same time.

Many people criticize Kinky Friedman, saying that he is utilizing his time and money just to generate publicity for his new products (his books, cigars, etc.) rather than promote his race for governor. But, obviously, this promotion is working for him and is promoting his popularity more and more to name him the leader for the Democratic Party.

Not only that, but I also feel that the other two candidates - Tom Schieffer and Hank Gilbert - are not strong candidates themselves. Tom Schieffer is best known as the George W. Bush-appointed Ambassador to Japan (until the inauguration of Barak Obama). He was also a former Democratic State Representative. The fact that he worked for the Bush administration is interesting, considering the fact that he is running in the Democratic Party. And Hank Gilbert was the 2006 Agriculture Commissioner candidate. So, as I said, neither candidate has a strong platform or an interesting biography or personality to push them in front of Kinky Friedman.

Does this mean the primary in March will result in a competition between Rick Perry and Kinky Friedman for governor? Who knows what will happen at this point. I am interested to see if there is a candidate that will jump in front of Kinky Friedman and take first place. And also if Kay Bailey Hutchison will end up pushing Rick Perry out of first place for the Republican Party. What do you think will happen?

Sometimes you just gotta get down and dirty

For the past couple of weeks, I have been working with a group in one of my public relations courses (PR 317) to give a political presentation to our class. One of my group members, Becky Dobyns, had discovered "smear Web sites" for both Rick Perry and Kay Bailey Hutchison. So, I decided to look into these two sites a little more in-depth today. Each Web site is employed by one of the candidates (such as Kay Hutchison) to "smear" their competing candidate (Rick Perry). Not only are these two sites entertaining, they both actually have helpful information.

The Web site that impressed me the most is Hutchison's smear site, which is devoted to Rick Perry and all of the reasons why you should NOT vote for him. When you first go to the Web site, you are barraged with multiple cartoon versions of Rick Perry playing in a big sandbox that is the shape of Texas.

As the snapshot from the Web site demonstrates, the miniature Ricks are doing all kinds of amusing things, such as picking petals off of a daisy and dancing around wearing big cowboy boots. You can't help but feel that you must have somehow accessed a children's Web site! But once you get passed the bright colors, the engaging click-able characters and the childlike quality, you realize this Web site actually is serving a very informative purpose.

If you click on one of the multiple bobble-heads, it redirects you to different information pages, each with information on different issues. For example, the Rick Perry with the crown holding a flag proclaiming "PU" (or "Perry University") is a link to information regarding Perry's treatment of Texas universities. In the words of the Dallas Morning News, "Perry's treating universities like they are his playground." This page on the smear site now contains multiple claims, backed up by statistics and facts from credible sources, on the topic. In this case, the site states that "Perry has stacked university regent boards with political supporters" and "[Texas] Tech regents were pressured to resign because they supported Kay Bailey Hutchison."

After viewing all of this demeaning and insulting information on Rick Perry, the user beings to truly consider Kay Hutchison as the preferable candidate. The cherry on top of this hilariously informative Web site is the interactive option at the bottom which allows users to share their embarrassing Rick Perry moments with the rest of the world. It even has a link to a video clip that allows you to hear one of the most embarrassing Rick Perry moments of all time - when Rick Perry said "Adios, mofo" on national television. I have attached the video the Web site gives for you to enjoy it yourself! This Web site definitely does not disappoint!

Of course, Rick Perry also has his Hutchison smear site for the public to view and play around with, but I find his Web site not nearly as inviting or engaging. His Web site has a much more serious feel and appeal to it, since he is trying to portray Hutchison as a coldhearted and overly-serious politician. Whereas his Web site does not have fun, dancing caricatures of Hutchison, it does have an overwhelming amount of information. He also does utilize video clips, some funny images, and clever wording throughout the site. An example is the dollar-bill titled "Bailout Bucks," which have an unflattering picture of Kay Hutchison on the front, along with information regarding the current economic crisis, such as the fact that Kay voted for a $700 billion bailout.

Since these two sites are poking fun at the competition of each respective candidate, I feel that Hutchison's smear site of Perry does a much better job. It is engaging, interactive, and playful yet serious. Her web site clearly is accomplishing the goal of mocking Perry and indirectly calling him ignorant (adios mofo!). I also really liked the fact that her Web site would be able to attract the attention of and engage someone who may not be necessarily very interested in politics. The playful Web site allows some of the less-passionate voters to obtain information and, fortunately for Kay Bailey Hutchison, this information is in opposition to Rick Perry!