For those of you who live outside Texas please forgive this post. We are having an important election and I feel it is important we vote in the right folks.

Five Voting Tips

Here are some general principles use:

1. Don’t vote because you recognize the name. If you recognize their name, they were probably a hooligan caught in some scandal. Or they are the richest candidate. Or the press likes them the most. All bad reasons.
   • If you don’t know anything about either candidate don’t vote for either one.
   • Don’t water down the votes of the informed voters.
2. Print out a sample ballot before you go to the polls. You don’t want to be surprised by a race you don’t recognize. To find your sample ballot just google “YourCountyName County Sample Ballot.” Here are two you may find helpful:
   • Travis County Sample Ballot
   • Williamson County Sample Ballot
3. Vote early. Chances are something will happen on election day and you won’t get around to voting. Make sure you vote by voting early.
4. The challenger is generally safer than the incumbent. Elected officials tend to compromise the longer they stay in office. The challenger who has yet to compromise and is often the safer bet.
5. Bring someone with you to the polls. Most Christians only vote once every two years for president. They don’t realize that was the least important election of the year. Your friends probably don’t know about the election. Bring a friend and double your vote.

My Voting Philosophy

I vote pro-life first, if the race effects life and most do.

Then, I tend to pick:

• Candidates with integrity (when I can tell which is hard).
• Candidates who want to promote liberty and personal responsibility.
• Challengers over incumbents.
• Tea Party folks over Old Guard Republicans.
• Candidates who see the Church as the answer instead of the government.

Statewide Races

Here are my picks:

• Governor: Rick Perry & Debra Medina (I will be personally voting for Debra Medina)
• Supreme Court Place 3: Rick Green
• Supreme Court Place 9: Eva Guzman
• Railroad Commissioner: Victor Carrillo
• Full Voters Guide

Full Voter’s Guide

I put together a one page voters guide you can take with you into the voting booth. It has local races as well as state wide races. If it doesn’t have all your candidates see the resources below.

• Download the Thomas Umstattd Voters Guide (PDF)
• You are welcome to share this guide with your friends.
• It is legal to take this Voters Guide into the voting booth with you.

Helpful Voting Resources

These are some of the resources I used to put together my voting guide.

• Texas Early Voting Locations (March 2010)
• Texas Alliance for Life Voter’s Guide (March 2010)
• Free Market Foundation Voter’s Guide (March 2010)
• Texas Right to Life Voter’s Guide (March 2010)
• Texas Homeschool Coalition Endorsements (March 2010)
• Christian Voter’s Guide

What Do You Think?

• Do you agree with my picks?
• Why?
• Have you voted yet?

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For those of you who follow this blog you know that I endorsed Rick Perry back in September. So why would I now vote for Medina?

Enough people have asked me this question that I have decided to answer it here.

The strategic reason to back Medina.

In the political world there are two types of people: pragmatists and idealists.

Idealists are true believers.

Idealists have a political philosophy and their first loyalty is to that philosophy. They don’t compromise often and you can find them on the far ends of the isle. Public opinion does not sway them. Writing them does little good for their minds are made up.

Pragmatists want to get things done.

Pragmatists are drawn to power like a fat man to a Chinese buffet. They generally pick whatever party has the majority. If the party in power switches look for them to change parties as well.

You can get a pragmatist to make good policy but you generally have to pressure him first. He has to know enacting good policy will increase his power.

Right now Kay Bailey Hutchinson is one of the last of the Pro-Roe v Wade Republicans. Her existence makes pragmatic republicans feel safe waffling on abortion just like Kay does. The dance is always the same: Talk pro-life in the primary… avoid the issue after that.

If Medina gets more votes than Hutchinson it marks the end of Pro-Roe republicans in Texas. Kay Bailey Hutchinson is one of the best known Texas politicians ever. Medina is a no name from a small Texas town no one has heard of. A big reason Kay is falling behind is because she is Pro-Roe.

This has happened before.

When William Wilberforce’s bill to abolish the slave trade finally passed, it was by a 283 to 16 landslide. Why after 20 years of failure would the bill pass by so much? Wilberforce, the idealists finally got enough weight on his side. The pragmatist politicians realized they would get more power by voting for abolition. They all flopped over to his side all at once.

What will happen if Medina makes the run off? The pragmatists will see they can get more power when they are pro-life. They will flop over to the life side of the teeter totter. This may give us the weight we need to see real change.

We are talking state and nation wide implications here.

What I like about Medina.

I like how:

• Medina is a true believer in life, liberty & property.
• Medina has breathed new life into the Republican Party.
• Medina answered the questions in the debates.
• Medina is well studied. People criticize her lack of experience but never her lack of knowledge. She knows her stuff.
• Medina is an idealist.

I still like Perry.

While the cronyism and forcing STD vaccinations on 12 year old girls makes me squeamish, I generally like Rick Perry.

Every year however cold or empty he always speaks at the Texas Rally for Life. Perry is a true believer in life, regardless of his other shortcomings. Rick is also a family friend and a great guy. I fully intend to vote for him in November, assuming he wins the primary which I expect he will.

What do you think?

• Who do you plan to vote for?
• Why?
• Do you think a Medina/Perry run off will tip the balance of power pro-life?

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Lets break with tradition shall we? Lets look back through history and see what we can learn about what is about to happen in the future.

As King Solomon said,

“History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new. Sometimes people say, “Here is something new!” But actually it is old; nothing is ever truly new. We don’t remember what happened in the past, and in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now.”

The Whig Party

America has always been a two party country. The system favors two parties so this may persist. However, the two parties we started with are not the two parties we have now. Back in the day the two major parties where the Federalist Party (Whig Party) and the Anti Federalist Party.

The Whig Party failed when it started compromising on fundamental issues. Those issues revolved around slavery specifically Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Missouri Compromise. The Whigs were over confident about their power and alienated their base.

Compromise led to division. Division led to greater compromise.

The Whigs were an anti slavery party or at least they talked like they were. But thier records failed to match their rhetoric. Northern Whigs got more and more disenchanted until finally they broke off and started their own party. They called themselves Republicans.

Within 15 years of supporting the Kansas-Nabraska Act, the Whigs were nothing but a memory. The Republicans completely replaced them. That moment for the Republicans may have been when they passed the Prescription Drug Benefit Program in 2006. History will tell us if that was the beginning of the end for the GOP.

Conclusion: The Republicans started as a Pro-Abolition coalition of Whigs.

Popular & Inexperienced Candidates

One former Whig gained favor with the people despite coming from an empty state on the frontier. He lacked experience and had generally failed at politics. But he had one thing for him: he was uncompromising Pro-Abolition. The people flocked to him and voted him into office.

His name was Abraham Lincoln and though a lifelong Whig he was elected as the first Republican president.

The transition from Whig to Republican was not overnight. It took between 10 and 15 years. All that is needed for history to repeat itself is for a handful of popular elected officials to switch from the old party to the new party.

The Tea Party is not going anywhere.

In just two years Ron Paul’s 4% has turned into Debora Medina‘s 24%. Win or loose in March the Tea Party is not through. If Scott Brown showed us anything, it is that you can’t take anything for granted.

Most of the passionate political activists right now are Tea Baggers. Other movements have passion but not like the Tea Party. Passion tends to spread and if it does it is only a matter of time before something will have to budge.

We will either see a change in GOP leadership or some new party.

Abortion is the kicker

The Republican Party was founded on one issue: Ending slavery. It slowly developed a more complete platform.

The Tea Party has one primary issue right now: less government.

We may see this shift. If pro-lifers like Debora Medina, Sarah Palin and Ron Paul keep leading we may see a big shift towards a more complete life affirming platform.

If the Republican Party keeps putting forth pro-choice candidates like Kay Baily Hutchinson and dead weights like John McCain then the shift may be faster than anyone expects.

The correct GOP response:

If the Republican Party wants to avoid the path of the Whig Party then it must do the following things:

• Share information and funding with TP activists. Keep them in the tent.
• Stop protecting compromised incumbents
• Be patient with folks new to the process
• Support term limits

Predicted GOP Response

• Withhold info and funding from TP activists. Exclude them from the tent.
• Protect compromised incumbents.
• Be mean to folks new to the system (treat them like they treated the Ron Paul People)
• Resist term limits

The democratic party has proved itself to be good at absorbing new movements. We will see if the republicans are able to do the same.

What do you think?

• Am I off my rocker?
• Do you think Tea Party candidates like Deborah Medina have a chance in the cycle?
• What do you think about the Tea Party?
• Is the tea party bad for America?

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