Newspapers' poll: Perry has comfortable lead as voting starts [TxGov]

American Statesman ^ | Feb. 13, 2010 | Jason Embry and Corrie MacLaggan

[deport]

Gov. Rick Perry heads into the start of early voting Tuesday with a comfortable lead over his two Republican primary challengers, but he could be in for a tough November fight against the Democratic nominee, a poll commissioned by the Austin American-Statesman and other Texas newspapers shows.

Perry has the support of 45 percent of likely Republican primary voters, while 29 percent back U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and 17 percent support Wharton activist Debra Medina. Just 8 percent are undecided.

The telephone survey was conducted Feb. 2-10, before Medina said important questions had been raised about whether the U.S. government aided in the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Medina later said she has never believed the government was involved, but her initial remarks could weaken her momentum.

In fact, Medina's comments could allow Perry to win more than 50 percent of the vote in the March 2 primary and avoid a runoff, said pollster Mickey Blum of Blum & Weprin Associates, which conducted the survey.

Usually, incumbents don't build support in the final weeks of an election, Blum said. But Perry could break the 50 percent threshold if Medina's comments cause her supporters to break toward Perry or stay home.

Poll results

end excerpts.....

[Arrowhead1952]

...and I think the American people have not seen all of the evidence there. So I've not taken a position on that."

Debra Medina

Who are you going to believe? Your lying eyes or Debra Medina? That picture is photoshopped. < /sarc>

[jaguar21]

I’ve got to call BS there. You were immediately defending Medina after the interview.

At 11:22 Thursday morning you said:
“She said she did not have enough info. She did not admit to being a truther.

Beck set out to destroy Debra from the beginning. He did not ask any question that was pertinent to the election. He’s just trying to clear the way so that Perry wins the election without a runoff. And many of you are falling for it. That’s the real disappointment.”

Later on in the afternoon you said:

“Medina is not the sophisticated politician that Rick and Kay are. This question came out of the blue....nothing to do with the campaign. Of course she was taken back by the question. She thought she was going to be interviewed about her policies and what she would do if elected Governor. Beck was a jerk!!”

“I’m sure this was a set up for Perry so that he could win without a runoff. Hope Medina keeps her support.”

“Glenn Beck was rude and cut her off and did not ask her anything about the campaign. This was not a fair interview. This wasn’t even an interview.”

That doesn’t sound to me like someone who thought they’d have to vote for Perry.

[SeattleBruce]

This will get you started:
http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/29967/
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/09/another-possible-link-emerges-between-top-obama-official-and-911-truther-movement.html

Basically Van Jones is an avowed communist, appointed by Obama as green jobs czar, signed the 9/11 truther petition, and was forced to leave office due to all of the untoward publicity brought on the matter by Glenn Beck and the new media.

I’m a bit incredulous that you haven’t heard about this story.

Despite your ‘I don’t know’ after 8 1/2 years, are you leaning one way or the other on 9/11truth.org?

I know, I know, forgive me the question - my poor English and so forth. :)

[patriot08]

Well, the Ron Paul/Medina mob kept barraging Beck with phone calls to have Medina on until he did. He had many calls from viewers asking him to ask her if she was a 'truther'. He did. Now, they are blaming Beck and Perry for 'sand-bagging' her.

I don't believe for a minute that she was 'set up'- but what if she was? At least we got a deal-breaker bit of info that could save us from disaster. Putting up 'truther' Medina against the Democratic candidate would be suicide.

“That's not the question I heard,” Medina said. She said she thought he was asking about whether citizens should question their government. SAY WHAT?? How plain did Beck have to make it? It was a simple question; do you or do you not believe our government was responsible for 9/11?? All she had to do- as any rational, sane person would do- is answer a simple 'no'.

This idea that Beck (or anybody else) sabotaged Medina is absurd. If you can’t answer “did the govt have anything to do with the 9/11 attacks?” you're not be fit to run for dogcatcher.

For God's sake, have any of you really looked into her platform- her background? Has this woman even been vetted?

She wants legalized drugs.

She backs gay marriage.

She has not spoken to her elderly parents for YEARS. They had to find out she was runing for governor of Texas by reading the newspaper!

http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/medina-hailing-from-beeville-learned-political-skills-on-229907.html?srcTrk=RTR_95609 What does this say about this woman's character? And rumors are begin to surface about husband Noe's past associations.

Take a look at some of the statements she has made: "It’s a shame isn’t it, that Republicans continue to ignore Hispanics especially here in Texas?’

"Who is going to think more about Latino families? Rick Perry, Kay Bailey Hutchison or me, who has a Latino family?”

"Being married, however, to someone with a Mexican American heritage, I certainly embrace the culture.”

"I believe we too often get into race when it’s immaterial.” (Obummer, is that you?)

I don't believe for one minute Medina's propaganda about wanting to strengthen the border! La Raza probably has her in their back pocket!

Glenn Beck has once again helped the tea-party stay in the Republican mainstreamby by weeding out dangerous fringe thinkers like Medina.

Medina is NOT representative of the Tea Party movement. She USED them- latched herself on to them. She’s a hard core Libertarian who has realized that the Libertarian Party will never win anything and that the only possible way to get herself into office is to do what Ron Paul did and wrap herself in the Republican cloak in hopes that it will fool enough of the voters enough of the time. Thank God Glen Beck outed her in time.

Retrieve your sombrero from the ring and go home Medina. You're Texas toast.

[SeattleBruce]

“Medina has more intestinal fortitude than I suspect you do in that she too is able to say that she “does not know” all the circumstances surrounding 9/11. If you say that you do you are a liar or seriously deluded. Either way I am still voting for Medina.”

I should think after 8 1/2 years, regardless of the black boxes, you should be leaning one way, or the other, as should Medina.

But Medina can’t seem to make up her mind on the matter - talking out of both sides of her mouth within a two day span:

+++++++++++++++++
http://www.dallasblog.com/201002131006132/dallas-blog/is-medina-s-9/11-gaffe-a-game-changer.html

Medina responded: “I don’t have all of the evidence there, Glenn. So I’m not in a place; I have not been out publicly questioning that. I think some very good questions have been raised in that regard. There are some very good arguments, and I think the American people have not seen all the evidence there. So I have not taken a position on that.”

The Medina campaign then immediately sent out a statement clarifying that Medina does believe “that Muslim terrorists flew planes into those buildings on 9/11. I have not seen any evidence nor have I ever believed that our government was involved or directed those individuals in any way.”
+++++++++++++++++

So, Medina HAS taken a position on that, according to her clarification.

Or has she?

Maybe she’ll clarify again - but those two comments, on two sequential days, when taken together, make no sense.

[SeattleBruce]

“So “I don’t know” is not an answer? How sad for you.”

To me, it’s sad that you, and Medina, keep saying “I dunno” after 8 1/2 years. Don’t you have an inkling one way, or the other?

Medina came out the day after, and gave us her inkling...perhaps.

[jospehm20]

The reason Medina answered maybe to a yes or no question is because she was trying to avoid speaking the truth. I am pretty conservative myself, I doubt you are more conservative than me. I realize that perfect is the enemy of good enough. I would rather have somebody in office that I agree with 75% of the time than allow somebody I never agree with to get elected. I believe that people who were worried about “teaching the Republican party a lesson” and did not vote for McCain because he was not conservative enough helped give us BHO. Would I like the perfect conservative to run? Yes. Will I vote for the 911 truther because Perry is not perfect. No. I would much rather have Perry in than whoever the Democrat cabdidate will be.

[The Anti-One]

"Don’t you have an inkling one way, or the other?"

Inklings are not facts. Do you have any 'facts'? Can they be supported by empirical evidence? You know? Things like the "black boxes?"

Point is, I used to be a brainwashed lemming myself until people started asking me to provide proof for what I believed and you know what? I was just as impotent in providing "proof" as you are. So until you can pony up some evidence I suggest you stop responding to me k?

Thanks!

[Squantos]

Dang.......KBH is toast !

A little snik headed up I 40 so be careful !

[SeattleBruce]

"Inklings are not facts. Do you have any 'facts'? Can they be supported by empirical evidence?"

Is this where you are? You earlier said you believed at least 3 planes flew into WTC and the Pentagon. So your doubt is about *how* that happened, I suppose, who was behind it.

It's the truthers contention that the US government was involved, even carried out the attacks against its own citizens. You've had 8 1/2 years to decide if you think that's legit, and you apparently hold out that potential.

"Point is, I used to be a brainwashed lemming myself"

Please tell me how you really feel...:)

Thanks!

"pony up some evidence"

Planes flew into 3 critical buildings and a fourth was taken down into a field (Flight 93). Massive evidence on the 20 terrorists involved clearly show the coordinated attack. AQ took responsibility.

http://www.pnionline.com/dnblog/extra/archives/001139.html "“It's extremely rare that we don't get the recorders back. I can't recall another domestic case in which we did not recover the recorders,” Ted Lopatkiewicz, spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board, told CBS News in 2002. However, officials said little of the jets was recovered."

"there would almost certainly be NO black boxes, they are designed to suvive most crashes, they are not designed to survice having a billion pounds of building fall on them." [http://www.infoplease.com/spot/wtc1.html][see below about pulverization of the 500,000 tons of building]



http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/military_law/1227842.html?page=4#puffs

"FACT: Once each tower began to collapse, the weight of all the floors above the collapsed zone bore down with pulverizing force on the highest intact floor. Unable to absorb the massive energy, that floor would fail, transmitting the forces to the floor below, allowing the collapse to progress downward through the building in a chain reaction. Engineers call the process "pancaking," and it does not require an explosion to begin, according to David Biggs, a structural engineer at Ryan-Biggs Associates and a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) team that worked on the FEMA report.

Like all office buildings, the WTC towers contained a huge volume of air. As they pancaked, all that air — along with the concrete and other debris pulverized by the force of the collapse — was ejected with enormous energy. "When you have a significant portion of a floor collapsing, it's going to shoot air and concrete dust out the window," NIST lead investigator Shyam Sunder tells PM. Those clouds of dust may create the impression of a controlled demolition, Sunder adds, "but it is the floor pancaking that leads to that perception."

Demolition expert Romero regrets that his comments to the Albuquerque Journal became fodder for conspiracy theorists. "I was misquoted in saying that I thought it was explosives that brought down the building," he tells PM. "I only said that that's what it looked like."

Romero, who agrees with the scientific conclusion that fire triggered the collapses, demanded a retraction from the Journal. It was printed Sept. 22, 2001. "I felt like my scientific reputation was on the line." But emperors-clothes.com saw something else: "The paymaster of Romero's research institute is the Pentagon. Directly or indirectly, pressure was brought to bear, forcing Romero to retract his original statement." Romero responds: "Conspiracy theorists came out saying that the government got to me. That is the farthest thing from the truth. This has been an albatross around my neck for three years."

Anti, did you look up Van Jones yet?

[caww]

Well that would be nice if ones such as this would step up to the plate with a history of being effective...not just list off conservative ideas.. but having applied them effectively to make the changes that are needed...Medina certainly does not fit effective ...her guy lost.

[wardaddy]

falling right now...about 2-4 inches....4th this year so far..

[caww]

My understanding is the evidence was settled as to 9/11...so why make it an open issue which Medina did by not accepting the evidence already determined and settled....instead she raised further questioning of 9/11 which put her immediately on the side of the truthers.

Then there’s her sliding around on immigration...drugs..and her speaking out against republicans..she is a libertarian running under the mask of being a Rebublican...which is deceptive...and the list can go on. She’s proving herself to be a fraud.

[caww]

........”Paul fanatics as Paulites..... I think that conservatives have to be very careful before endorsing a Paulite, because when you least expect it he or she will come out against stopping Islamist fanatics from developing nuclear weapons or something and then you’ll end up with a Democrat governor and you won’t get the tax cuts that attracted you to the Paulite in the first place,”....

You’re exactly right! My fears have been people like Medina would hijack Teaparty people, which she claimed their support early and they had not given her that, in fact they stated they had not.

I wrote early on before her first debate of this and that I would fight against her if she continued to wear the mantal of the Tea Party who had not endorsed her. Needless to say her response was to ask for my vote and money.

[The Anti-One]

So you've posted what I already said I knew. What you have not posted is any evidence to support the "theories" listed in the cut and paste job you did. For example. Are there any other major skyscrapers that you can point to that have "pancaked" due to the weight of the floors above after having had planes flown into them? And really... who sent those that piloted the planes into the towers? Do you have any evidence? Pictures of the hijackers behind the controls? The voices of the hijackers talking to the crews or anyone else? Let me guess... You believe in man-made global warming don't you? And evolution? Since you keep trying to change the topic of this thread let's also ask you... was the Shroud or Turin Jesus' burial cloth? Do you believe Jesus Christ is the Messiah?

Parroting those that tell you what to think is not convincing SeattleBruce. I've listened to all the propaganda and have no problems believing the planes flew into the buildings as we all saw. What I want are answers into who actually launched the attack.

Oh why bother? As I've said, you are either a seminar poster working for Perry or some other misguide manipulator hell bent on forcing people to think your way.

My vote is going for Medina and I don't care what she does or does not believe about what happened on 9/11. She could just as easily believe all the BS you do and I would still vote for her. Why? Because what happened on 9/11 has nothing to do with her being able to do the job of Governor and my other two choices are pathetic. As it is I must honestly say that I am happy that she hasn't made up her mind. Shows me that she's not a know it all. She's willing to look for answers and to not just buy into whatever the establishment wants.

And no SB, I have not look up Van Jones. I figure that since you know everything else you will tell me what or who Van Jones is. Once you do I will do my part to see if what you're telling me is in fact the truth but until then I'm not wasting my time.

[The Anti-One]

Well that would be nice if ones such as this would step up to the plate with a history of being effective...

That's the point. What Perry and Hutchison have been effective doing is walking lockstep with Washington until they realize that their political arse is on the line then they finally do what the people want. I'm looking for someone that will do what the people want every time. If Perry or Hutchison were employees of mine I'd fire them for not doing the job I've given them. Hutchison has already been fired once by the citizens of Texas. Why in the world would anyone want to rehire her? Because you all think she's reformed? Or are you just having buyer's remorse over Perry. Or perhaps you want to keep Perry because you don't think his little indiscretions in relation to sucking up to obama do not justify his firing?

By the way.... Yes Medina's "guy" did lose and unless you voted for obama so did yours. ;-)

[SeattleBruce]

“Then there’s her sliding around on immigration...drugs..and her speaking out against republicans..she is a libertarian running under the mask of being a Rebublican...which is deceptive...and the list can go on. She’s proving herself to be a fraud.”

She’s got a huge issue of trust, imho. The 9/11 thing, and then backpedal/180 degree flip around clarification within 24 hours just adds to that problem.

[SnakeDoctor]

>> Wow, so I can conclude that a candidates fumbled answer on a **useless conspiracy theory** is more important to you than the candidates position on state sovereignty, individual freedom and the Constitution?

You can conclude that those who give credence to anti-American propagandists need not apply for my vote ... as far as I am concerned, her candidacy no longer exists.

Her answer wasn’t “fumbled” — it was wrong. And, even if it was “fumbled” — “fumbling” that answer is functionally equvalent to “fumbling” an answer about Hitler. It was a softball question with a SIMPLE answer.

I believe she is a “truther” ... and thus an aider and comforter of enemies of this republic. But, if she really isn’t a “truther”, she has revealed an inability to give a straightforward answer to a simple and defining question. I think she knows what she thinks about this subject, and I think her position is patently offensive .. but if she truly doesn’t know what she thinks about a pivotal event in the last decade, such incompetence and indecision does not a good Governor make.

SnakeDoc

[SeattleBruce]

“So you’ve posted what I already said I knew.”

You had not talked at all about pancaked skyskrapers - so that baloney. What, you think people can read your mind, or your entire post history. Get real Anti.

“”theories” listed in the cut and paste job you did”

My theories are based on physical facts.

Yours is conspiracy wackiness based on??

I think you agree that the planes hit 3 buildings (but I’m not quite sure how you think that happened, and who did that, as you are pretty coy about the whole matter - just saying ‘I dunno, I dunno’ as your explanation, some 8 1/2 years later.)

My theories are based on conclusions of engineers like David Biggs, a structural engineer at Ryan-Biggs Associates and a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), and demolition expert Van Romero.

Anti-one, what *facts* are your questions/conspiracies based on? Don’t waste our time demanding facts, when you’re not willing to bring any yourself. Blah, blah, blah, the 4 black boxes...if you can’t believe in the pulverization of the black boxes in 500,000 tons of steel and concrete (that’s 1 billion pounds folks), and the fact that steel loses 50% of its strength in a fire with the heat generated by those jets -—

then what kind of facts are you looking for?

“Since you keep trying to change the topic of this thread”

This is patently false. Medina answered the 9/11 question, that was begged by her weird position on the matter. Sorry FRiend, that’s not my fault...LOL!

“Parroting those...”

Hilarious - and what are you doing? Excellent, let’s talk about facts and not ad hominem attacks that are laughably hypocritical.

“What I want are answers into who actually launched the attack.”

Imagine, you’re suggesting probably the worst US government crime in history, and involving mass numbers of complicit actors, and an equally massive coverup...and for what, so W could get revenge for Daddy on Iraq - is that the motive? Or just what is the motive Anti?

Some of the name calling you’ve done:
“brainwashed lemming”
“misguided manipulator hell bent on forcing people to think your way”
“believe all the BS you do”

“Because what happened on 9/11 has nothing to do with her being able to do the job of Governor”

Believing in conspiracy theories, and not making up your mind after 8 1/2 years on such an important topic, does not bode well for someone seeking the highest office of one of the most influential states in the Union. Sorry.

As to this in particular: “misguided manipulator hell bent on”...

Listen Anti - you need to stand by what you believe in. If you think that the US government are mass murderers - what are you doing on this board? You should be leading an insurrection against the mass murderers. Debra Medina, and you in turn, bring this topic on...not me.

I’m simply asking you to support your inflammatory position. And this after 8 1/2 years...

I don’t think you’ll ever come to a workable decision on the matter, based on this dialogue.

[Pantera]

Just got back from this event. It was kind of a beating... it was from 8:30 to 1:30 but there was a lot of good information from the state reps. Perry and Napolitano closed it.