The most qualified candidate for a position can easily lose an election by running a poorly planned campaign, by losing focus, or by letting the opposition distract or divert attention to things that don’t matter to the outcome of the race.
A perfect example of this is happening right now in Bastrop County.
Early voting for a critical special election starts in just a few days, but the Republican chair-elect has spent her time over the past few weeks with the Democrats, planning a joint fundraiser for a local civic group. On May 19, while the Republican Chair-elect was at a CEC meeting convincing Republicans to do a joint fundraiser with the Democrats, Democrats were on the bridge in Bastrop publicly supporting their candidates.
While support for local organizations is a worthy endeavor, the number one priority of a political organization is to win elections, and winning takes time and money.
It’s sad, but apparent, that the possibility of giving the Democrats two opportunities in two months to defeat our Republican candidate doesn’t matter to Bastrop Republican leadership. They’d rather fraternize with the Democrats than defeat them.
With such a short window before early voting in the CD27 Special Election, this wasn’t the time to divert Republican resources away from Get Out The Vote (GOTV) efforts. We’ve yet to see any Bastrop County Republican Party emails or postal mails regarding the June 30 Special Election, the impact of this special election on the November general election, or the candidates involved.
I am fully supportive of raising money and awareness for local civic groups. A cursory review of my bio shows a long history of civic engagement. But right now, Republicans should be laser focused on GOTV efforts to win the CD27 Special Election with more than 50% of the vote.
If our primary winner, Michael Cloud, doesn’t get over 50% of the vote and is forced into a September runoff, it gives CD27 Democrats two chances to defeat him in a two month time span. It’s sad, but apparent, that the possibility of giving the Democrats two opportunities in two months to defeat our Republican candidate doesn’t matter to Bastrop Republican leadership. They’d rather fraternize with the Democrats than defeat them.