You can’t go home again

The results of the Republican gubernatorial primary in Texas provide more evidence, if any were needed, that anti-Washington sentiment is the order of the day in 2010. The clash of the titans between Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison and Gov. Rick Perry turned out to be no contest. With only about 25 percent of the vote counted, Hutchison has conceded to Perry.
Throughout the evening, Perry’s vote has remained above the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a run-off. Hutchison’s vote has hovered at less than 33 percent, with Debra Medina gaining the remainder. Medina is to the right of Perry.
The inability of a usually popular, long-serving Senator to capture one-third of her party’s vote in a primary illustrates what an awful year 2010 is likely to be for many a Wasington-based incumbent who faces a credible anti-Washington candidate.
JOHN adds: It may well be true that in some ways Medina is to Perry’s right–I haven’t studied her policy positions–but I think (and hope) that her volunteering that there is something to be said for trutherism was a key factor in her poor showing. I take it as a sign that it’s fine to be anti-Washington and anti-establishment, but it’s not OK to be a nut–at least not in a Republican primary.